IFSM 301 - CIO Organizational Structure Memo

Running head: GG Freightways IT Strategic Plan Part 2 1

GG Freightways IT Strategic Plan Part 2 8

GG Freightways IT Strategic Plan Part 2

Kyami Clarke

University of Maryland Global Campus

Professor Sean Sullivan

Spring 2021

IFSM 301 6383 Foundations of Information Systems Management

GG Freightways IT Strategic Plan Part 2

Business Statement

GG Freightways, with a headquarter in Los Angeles, CA, has been in business for about 30 years as a transportation and logistics firm in local areas. In the southwestern portion of the US, the firm represents major cities. Eight of its warehouses are situated in different regions like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Bakersfield, CA, Tucson, AZ, Las Vegas NV, Phoenix AZ, and Scottsdale. And they have two maintenance facilities situated in San Bernardino and Scottsdale. Their management staff includes CEO Marissa Schmidt and about 750 employees in which about 40 sales personnel distributed equally on each terminal, including truck or trolley drivers working 24/7 efficiently and effectively. Daily consultations with the executive team to discuss prospects and challenges and prepare for future priorities. They have approximately 400 vehicles, of which about eighty of them are semi-trailer/tractors, 160-panel vans, and 160 medium-sized box trucks. Their gross revenue is about $35 million/year, and they have a stable industry status, an extremely dynamic market for the industry, and having a 6% annual profit. The company's significant challenges are fleet maintenance scheduling and freight tracking system, on which the organization is working to improve. Their goals are to increase their annual profit from 6% to 8% with an 8% decrease in operations costs to save additional costs. In this assignment, a new strategic plan is proposed, composed of the company's objectives and strategic IT system planning, to increase their process or execution terminologies and improve them.

Business Strategic Objective

The executive committee agreed at a meeting held to change the business strategy for the organization to meet development and expense expectations. To improve profitability and develop the company, they outlined three new objectives they want to implement and add a new strategic objective that will help the organization increase its profit and further expand its business chain.

Business Strategic Objective (BSO) (enter number 1, 2, 3, 4 only)	Fully State the Objective (from the case study); it should not discuss IT for the new objective.	Explanation (in your own words for each BSO; for the new objective only, also incorporate how the management team would use the new objective to improve the business of GGFRT. None should discuss any relationship to use of IT
1	To provide consumers with specific shipping dates and times, they want to monitor freight whereabouts at both the ports and the vehicles.	The organization is working on different ways for this purpose to provide their customer updates about where their parcel is at that very moment, whether it is on track or when it is started towards or reached the required destination also providing the exact time date venue of their parcel, whenever they want to know about it, which would decrease customer complaints about their luggage delay if they knew the reason behind the delay.
2	To lower costs by arranging the collection and distribution of freight in the very same geographical region, they would like to increase the percentage of filled miles in their fleet.	An important object, but there is a lot to work on its progress. Pickup and delivery at the same time will reduce delivery time, energy, fuel cost and decrease miles to cover the vehicle. This can eventually increase the fleet maintenance life, driver’s and customer’s satisfaction.
3	They would like to offer warehouse storage services to consumers who want their customers or enterprise to shorten shipping time by making goods locally available for collection in warehouses or faster local delivery.	This objective targets the benefits hidden behind it for its success and progress. They are also targeting those customers who want their shipment in their hands in less time because they might deliver the shipment further to their companies or clients. For the organization, fuel costs can be reduced, and their local delivery can speed up, which will enhance their performance efficiency.
4 (new objective)	To reduce fuel cost and ease complex maintenance scheduling for the organization, setup of more maintenance facilities at different places where the freight volume is maximum.	This objective sides with the federal statement: (“A new federal requirement to conduct a vehicle safety check every 10,000 miles”). Regarding this statement, a new objective is generated, which will help the organization and the customers by reducing delivery time, and the chances for shipment delays are reduced. The employees will be satisfied with the vehicle maintenance and fewer complaints.

IT Mission and IT Vision Statements

The following are the IT Mission and Vision Statements generated after carefully considering the case study provided:

A. IT Mission Statement: By preserving and introducing government technologies, the IT department advances its goals. They have worked within GGFRT for all stakeholders to deliver excellent operation and assistance (Taiwo, Lawal, & Agwu, 2016).

B. IT Vision Statement: Incorporate new technologies to improve net profitability and minimize its running costs. It offers the essential IT solutions that help GGFRT develop and flourish.

IT Governance

A. Participants: The central bodies involved in the governance will be the CEO, Vice President of Operations, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, Sales Manager, and Fleet Manager.

B. Roles: the CEO, Marissa Schmidt, will control and oversee the bodies involved in the governance to enhance and improve their vision and mission. Vice President supervises the project management methodologies and strategic objectives designed to increase their profitability. The CIO controls the technological and different IT systems implementation in a project or other company activities where needed. CFO deals with the company's finance, like the cost of operations, productions, and wages, etc., and tries to minimize them as much as possible. The Sales Manager oversees brand partnerships and seeks to improve governance representatives. The Fleet Manager must assess its fleet and address fleet issues and solutions.

C. Governance Methodology: The system used to prepare, pick, manage, and implement IT resources would be using the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) technique. Using the ITIL platform, IT managers will become business support associates (Watts, 2020).

D. Responsibilities: Governance will be accountable for the business budget, development programs, and the corporation's direction (Government Accountability Office, 2016). To review project progress and address goals, they will hold meetings periodically. In designing business plans, senior officers, owners, and board members are included.

E. Prioritization: Projects will be prioritized when plans according to them are made and used in those projects (Machavarapu, 2006). Prioritization Tools like revenue maximization, efficiency in operations, and decrease in operating costs increase their services' productivity and speed. The top management bodies involved in governance should discuss business goals and performance matrix.

Inventory of Current IT Systems

The table discussed below states the current IT systems used in the company with their purpose, goals, and objectives attached to them and the benefits the company gets by using them.

Current System	Function/ Description	Strategic Goal aligned to (strategic business objective from part 2 of this assignment; if compliance noted as business goals were not used, they could still be incorporated in this table.	Business Unit/ Department	Business Benefits	IT Resources only (people, equipment supporting this system)
Freight Tracking System	Tracking all distribution status and paths for delivery.	To optimize on-time shipments, include actual freight and distribution monitoring.	Operations Department	Accelerate the delivery time by allocating deliveries locally to drivers depending on their venue.	Drivers, Operations Manager, and Dispatchers
Precise Financial Reporting System	The present manual data input system has sluggish processing speeds.	Reduce working hours to review finance and accounting records manually.	Finance Department	Higher performance speed and a drop in mistakes.	Finance Managers, CFO, and Bookkeepers.
Fleet Maintenance	The system maintains an inventory of all automobiles and plans scheduled repairs. .	According to federal standards, national fleet safety monitors and helps reduce loading speed.	Operations Department	Decrease the number of mechanical failures and keep consistent with federal laws.	Fleet Manager, Drivers, and Dispatchers.

IT Strategies

The following table states the IT Strategies used by the company to carry on the strategic objectives. The strategies and their alignment with the strategic objectives are also described in the table (Baets, 1992).

IT Strategy (state the IT Strategy)	State the Business Strategic Objective from the ITSP #1 assignment, then Explain the Alignment of the IT Strategy in the first column to the stated Business Strategic Objective	Internal/Business-Enabling (state the words “Internal” or “Business Enabling”)
Example: do not use but leave it in the table when completing this section. Meet compliance requirements by updating current technology or developing/acquiring new technology to meet those mandates	· Business Strategic Objective: Meet FMSCA reporting requirements for driving hours by the company’s drivers · Explanation of the Alignment of the IT Strategy to the Business Strategic Objective: By acquiring or developing technology that will capture and store driver hours electronically, the company will comply with FMSCA regulations and provide this information upon request.	Internal
1. By implementing a Freight GPS tracking system	· Business Strategic Objective: They aim to track shipments' current location both at the terminals and the automobiles to give customers delivery time and date information. · Explanation of Alignment of the IT Strategy to the Business Strategic Objective: This information technology can help monitor the precise position of shipments and increase the punctuality of shipments nationwide.	Business
1. Implementing a system that controls the collection and delivery of the shipments simultaneously and within the same zip code.	· Business Strategic Objective: They are aiming to raise the miles of loaded vehicles to reduce costs by targeting the collection and delivery of shipments at a particular time in the same specific region. · Explanation of Alignment of the IT Strategy to the Business Strategic Objective: This will help the drivers and company to save working hours and decrease delivery time.	Internal
1. Implementing a system in aiding warehouse operators to locate freight within the warehouse	· Business Strategic Objective: They want to provide warehouse location facilities to consumers who wish to reduce distribution time for their clients or company by having products available directly for store distribution or quick local service. · Explanation of Alignment of the IT Strategy to the Business Strategic Objective: This IT strategy would help reduce local shipments and improve consumers' loyalty. A device to enable the owners of warehouses to find shipments.	Business
1. Implementing a system in maintenance centers to automatically alarm and remind the vehicle maintenance driver.	· Business Strategic Objective: Setting up more servicing centers and systems at various sites where the freight volume is highest to minimize fuel costs and promote complicated maintenance scheduling. · Explanation of Alignment of the IT Strategy to the Business Strategic Objective: It will save time and cost for the company and increase the efficiency of the vehicle.	Business

IT Portfolio Roadmap

The table provided below describes the timeline for the new project, which will be implemented in the company's process. The first mobile marketing application from sales will require about two months to complete. The first project system will take six months to finish in the finance section and two weeks more to train and educate the staff. The second project for managers will take about two months. And the last proposed system will take about four months to complete and give the required results.

Projects by Functional Area	Qtr. 1	Qtr. 2	Qtr. 3	Qtr. 4	Qtr. 5	Qtr. 6
Sales -Mobile Marketing Application
Finance -Precise Financial Reporting System -Management Reporting System for managers
(New)Operations -Automated Shipment Retrieval System

Proposed Project

The project I will propose for the warehouse management system off the company, which can reduce operation damage and labor costs and increases the efficiency of work, is Automated Shipment Retrieval System (HACKMAN et al., 1990). This automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) would allow vast amounts of shipment to be transported and significant amounts of goods to be stored. This latest initiative will improve warehouse customer service and reduce the time required for clients to collect their goods. This initiative would strengthen the warehouse structure and enable warehouse managers to procure items easily. This recommendation would also help ensure the trucks are at maximum capacity. At 99.9% percent capability and not 80%, GGFRT company would raise product distribution speeds and fill the automobiles.

Risk Management

By managing this mission, Lance would be off against other threats. There is indeed a possibility that perhaps the expenditure could alter and that the plan's expense may be more significant than anticipated. There is indeed a risk of losing an individual with such a respective essential task along the way. GGFTR hopes that Lance will oversee the whole design and be responsible for keeping track of every barrier that the project might encounter. Also, during project execution, there might be some adjustments to both the proposal, which might alter the timelines and the planned expenditure(Articles of Merit August 2005 Articles of Merit Award Program for Distinguished Contribution to Management Accounting Professional Accountants in Business Committee, n.d.). Lance has to make himself and the management teams and systems cover any occurring risk during their project's execution time. Also, during project execution, there might be some adjustments to both the proposal, which might alter the timelines and the planned expenditure.

A. Risk 1: Financial risk

1. Lance should envisage possible spending increases. It is impossible to predict how often a plan would cost correctly. However, Lance knows that GGFRT intends to remain as near as possible to estimate. Risk assessment is the practice of monitoring and determining future risk or aiming to reduce risk exposure.

2. If this risk is not handled correctly, it could theoretically be situations that would lead to a rise in the total budget. These circumstances are often out of anybody's reach, so once this situation happens, the trick is readiness.

3. Being financially ready for unpredictable circumstances, Lance can reduce this risk. Lance might have a target range, allowing the budget greater flexibility.

B. Risk 2: Scheduling Barriers

1. Inside the group, Lance could face issues that might meet the deadline. However, when they happen, it is easier to tackle setbacks and difficulties, which may create a significant slowdown for the whole project. There will be unexpected situations that occur and lead to missing deadlines, while projects typically have time limits.

2. There will be complications with the outside organizations, which might trigger GGFRT's plan to be postponed. To aid in finishing a task, it is not unusual to collaborate with several other organizations. This is not uncommon for a project to encounter deadlines.

3. Depending on the company's design, it is a danger Lance would have to embrace. Interruptions are a problem out from Lance's hands, and to operate through a bottleneck, he would have to do his utmost (Tang, 2006).

C. Risk 3: Changes in Projects/Plans

1. Lance should realize that there could be conditions that will need to be altered with the project. Reconfiguring the timeline is something that Lance would mutually review and consider modifying until the task is done. It is vital not to be scared to speak "no," in order to decide the best choice for the organization, it is vital to assess the scenario.

2. Having revisions to the plan might theoretically prolong the outcome of the task. Lance knows the significance of delivering the project on time. Any future improvements may only be rendered provided they should not hinder completion time.

3. There might be situations in which improvements may be made just after implementing the project. In this scenario, Lance may refuse the proposal's improvements to reach the project's expected timeline.

D. Risk 4: Employee Loss

1. There is a risk that Lance may lose a critical employee. Having lost a worker will postpone the plan and potentially raise a new worker's expense.

2. This may postpone the process, and extra staff would have to be recruited by Lance. A lag in recruiting another worker may trigger a project barrier and likely prolong critical deadlines.

3. A worker can choose to resign or get sick and get to leave. Providing cross-training if a worker left the job for some purpose will be a smart thing. Throughout the case that anything like this happens, Lance has to have a contingency plan. By assigning two employees to operate as a group or guaranteeing that he has two members with the same competence, Lance may alleviate this issue.

Business Continuity Planning

After understanding the risks that can occur during the project implementation and the impacts it will have on it, business continuity planning begins in which risk assessment is conducted. The report is made known as RAR (Risk Assessment Report). Business Impact Analysis is also included in it so the operation's consequence can be analyzed, and the right solutions or remedies can be recommended. All of this is controlled by the risk management department.

A. Steps involved in Business Continuity Planning

· In the BCP, the Recovery Time, Maximum Tolerable Downtown, and Recovery Point Objectives will be under Lance's control. Run a risk examination to evaluate possible risks, effects, the likelihood of the risk, risk calculations, and vulnerabilities. Damage estimation in quantity and quality approaches. Risk analyses utilizing Conduct Risk Control identify threats and hazards. Lance may create techniques to counter risk through this phase. Avoid, Accepts, Transfer, and Minimize are indeed the four dangerous replies Lance would use. A Paper on Risk Assessment will be finalized and submitted to managers. Risk assessment and tracking would require consistent results to fight and help eradicate risk and flaws. To build plans, analysis, BCP, RAR, and BIA documents, Lance would have to provide continuing preparation.

B. Personnel involved with the BCP.

· The team includes the GGFRT's top management personnel such as CIO, CISO, CSO, CFO, Information Security Manager, Facility Manager, Administrator, Auditor Database Administrator, and other IT staff, which will help in GGFRT's projects.

C. 3 Important Technological Systems

The three important IT systems are: Route optimization/freight tracking system, Financial and Accounting System, and Fleet maintenance system.

1. Route optimization/freight tracking system: This system helps track the shipments and vehicle's current location and keep the customers and the company informed of their arrival-departure time(Method and system for providing shipment tracking and notifications, n.d.).

2. Financial and Accounting System: This system helps keep the transactions' records and improves financial data errors.

3. Fleet maintenance system: This system involves the vehicle's repair and maintenance scheduling and reminder system.

D. Steps to ensure the IT System’s continuity

The following are the steps that involve the assurance that the technology systems will keep on working efficiently and give the desired results:

· Lance would make sure the multiple servers and other sites have a recovery mechanism.

· An alternative workplace position is also accessible, far from the central city.

· In addition, Lance has a hard backup of the information contained within the fleet management system that includes fleet data.

· There is a route optimization/freight monitoring method that involves a GPS used whenever there is a network disturbance by carrier paths.

References

Articles of Merit August 2005 Articles of Merit Award Program for Distinguished Contribution to Management Accounting Professional Accountants in Business Committee. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.icjce.es/images/pdfs/TECNICA/C01%20-%20IFAC/C.01.073%20-%20PAIB%20-%20Other/FMA_2005_Articles_of_Merit.pdf#page=20 Baets, W. (1992). Aligning information systems with business strategy. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 1(4), 205–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/0963-8687(92)90036-v Government Accountability Office. (2016, November 8). Best Practices in Information Technology Strategic Planning. Retrieved January 12, 2021, from University of Maryland Global Campus: https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/541520/viewContent/20543007/View HACKMAN, S. T., ROSENBLATT, M. J., & Olin, J. M. (1990). Allocating Items to an Automated Storage and Retrieval System. IIE Transactions, 22(1), 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/07408179008964152 Machavarapu, S. (2006, July 15). Prioritizing IT Projects Based on Business Strategy. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from CIO: https://www.cio.com/article/2445554/prioritizing-it-projects-based-on-business-strategy.html Method and system for providing shipment tracking and notifications. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://patents.google.com/patent/US7809377B1/en National Computing Centre. (2005). IT Governance; Developing a Successful Governance Strategy. London: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved January 12, 2021, from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/541520/viewContent/20543038/View Taiwo, A., Lawal, F., & Agwu, E. (2016, March). Vision and Mission in Organization: Myth or Heuristic Device? The International Journal Of Business & Management, 4(3), 127-134. Retrieved January 18, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312603042_Vision_and_Mission_in_Organization_Myth_or_Heuristic_Device Tang, C. S. (2006). Perspectives in supply chain risk management. International Journal of Production Economics, 103(2), 451–488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2005.12.006 Van Grembergen, W., & De Haes, S. (2004). IT Governance and Its Mechanisms. Information Systems Audit and Control Association, 1-7. Retrieved January 12, 2021, from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/541520/viewContent/20543002/View Watts, S. (2020, February 20). IT Project Prioritization: How to Decide What to Work on and in What Order. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from BMC Blogs: https://www.bmc.com/blogs/it-project-prioritization/