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Strategic Use of Technology

Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC)

Name

Course and Section #

February 21, 2021

Stage 1

Introduction

Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) is an IT consulting firm that uses proven IT and management methodologies for achieving measurable results for the clients. The company’s headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland. The firm was founded in May 2008 and has around 450 employees. MTC provides consulting services in business process, IT, and IT Outsourcing Consulting. The Chief Executive Officer is Samuel Johnson. The company obtains its business by competitively biddings on Requests of Proposals that are issued by organizations, businesses and the government. Therefore, highly-skilled job applicants have to be hired because MTC depends on the expertise of workers to work on projects. The company uses a manual hiring process that is slow and inefficient. The purpose of the report is to develop a solution to improve the hiring process. This will be done in four stages including strategic use of technology, process analysis, requirements, and system recommendations.

I. Strategic use of technology

A. Business Strategy

MTC's business strategy involves the provision of extraordinary recommendations and services to the customers through employing skilled consultants. It also stays abreast of the new technologies and business concepts. To provide extraordinary services, MTC has to hire highly skilled consultants. Automated hiring systems would help further the strategy because they would automatically list those who are highly skilled and qualified for the job (Jenson et al, 2019). It would take a shorter time to hire employees there would also be a guarantee that individuals being hired will be highly-skilled.

B. Competitive Advantage

MTC can use the automatic hiring system to enhance its competitive advantage. The system would enable the company to recruit applicants, schedule interviews, and fill the vacant positions in one Human Resource System. An HRIS would make it easy for the human resources and recruiters to be informed of the needs or qualifications of the workers needed to fill various positions. MTC could also implement an ERP system. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a system of various software applications for the standardization or integration of business processes across various departments such as human resources, distribution, and procurement. MTC could have a centralized database to help in the hiring process. That would make it more competitive.

C. Strategic Objectives

MTC should ensure that it has developed a combination of gifted and brilliant IT consultants to meet the strategic objectives.

Strategic Goal (from case study)	Objective (clear, measurable, and time-bound)	Explanation (2-3 sentences)
Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT Consulting	Increase the total number of contracts to win by 15 % in 5 to 7 months.	Increasing the total number of contracts means that more employees have to be hired to work on various projects. A lot of time will be saved and contracts will be centralized by use of the ERP system leading to a decrease in overhead hours.
Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis support to MTC’s onsite teams in the U. S.	Increase international recruiting by 10 % within the next 12 months. By increasing international recruiting, more research can be conducted to support the MTC’s onsite teams.	The new hiring system would allow applicants from around the world to apply online, increasing the number of international applicants. It would enable the recruiters to carefully monitor the applications for these positions, identify the necessary research and analysis skills needed, and screen resumes for these key skills. Recruiters could quickly view the number of applicants and identify when additional recruiting efforts are needed to meet the objective.
Continue to increase MTC's ability to quickly provide high-quality consultants to awarded contracts to best serve the clients' needs	Hire 20 highly-skilled employees in the next 11 months using the HRIS system.	The HRIS system can select the best employees to fill positions and complete contracts to satisfy the requirements of clients.
Increase MTC's competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading-edge technologies and innovative solutions for its clients	Provide virtual conferences to 90 % of clients in the next 6 months using technologies such as GoToMeeting apps and Skype.	GoToMeeting apps and Skype are cheaper alternatives to reaching clients that are miles away. The consultant could troubleshoot virtually leading to a reduction in costs of meals, travel, and lodging.

DECISION MAKING

The senior/executive managers, middle managers, and operational managers have to create cultures following the vision of MTC. This helps them to lead well and the company to be successful.

Role	Level as defined in IS Course Reading	Example of Possible Decision Supported by Hiring System	Example of Information the Hiring System Could Provide to Support Your Example Decision
Senior/Executive Managers (Decisions made by the CEO and the CFO at MTC supported by the hiring system.)	Strategic	Determining the number of IT consultants that should be hired whenever a contract has been won. Ensuring that qualified people are hired to fulfill the goals of the company.	The hiring system could provide information on the needs of contracts. It could allow the Senior Executives to filter the best candidates that would fill various positions.
Middle Managers (Decisions made by the Director of HR and the Manager of Recruiting supported by the hiring system.)	Managerial	Filter resumes of applicants who are most qualified for various positions and forward them to senior executives. Screen the applications to ensure that the best candidates are identified and that they have the skills required to work on projects that MTC could be assigned.	The hiring system could provide information on the available positions, skills, and requirements. The Recruiting Managers and HR directors can filter the applicants based on their qualifications and put job offers according to the qualifications (Masum et al, 2018).
Operational Managers (Decisions made by the line managers in the organization who are hiring for their projects supported by the hiring system.)	Operational	Routing resumes and applications to the hiring managers through interoffice mail Scheduling interviews to ensure that they are appropriate to the calendars of everyone involved. Ensuring that the job applicants are available for the interviews when they are called.	The hiring system will allow Administrative Assistants to see the availability of everyone involved and schedule interviews properly. They will also be able to pass information to applicants and the hiring team. The applicants will be tracked automatically. The hiring process is streamlined by automatic applicant tracking (Kovach et al, 2020).

Stage 2

II. Process Analysis

A. Hiring Process

MTC relies on the expertise and quality of its employees to provide various services to the clients. Therefore, the company should ensure that right candidates are employees. The current method used by MTC for screening applications is not working efficiently. The company needs a software that can automate the hiring process to ensure that the highly-qualified applicants are hired in a timely manner (Chan, 2020). The table provides the current steps in the manual hiring process of MTC and explains the benefits of using an automated system.

MTC Hiring Process
As-Is Process	Responsible MTC Position	To-Be Process – How the system Will Support and Improve the hiring process	Business Benefits of Improved Process (Align with MTC’s overall business strategy and needs.)

1. Recruiter receives application from job hunter via Postal Service Mail.	Recruiter	System will receive application via on-line submission through MTC Employment Website and store in the applicant database within the hiring system.	A more efficient submission process decreases time needed to receive and begin processing applications. This will present a positive image to potential employees and help MTC compete for top IT talent.
1. Recruiter screens resumes to identify top candidates by matching with job requirements from job description.	Recruiter	The system will screen various job applicants by imbedding a program that has all requirements for the candidates to ensure that the unqualified ones are filtered (Ajunwa et al, 2019).	The efficiency of screening processes improved.
1. Recruiter forwards top candidates to Administrative Assistant via interoffice mail	Recruiter	The administrative assistants will be receiving emails of various notifications that are sent by the system.	This will enhance collaboration between members of the hiring team.
1. Administrative Assistant forwards candidates’ resumes and applications to hiring manager for the position via interoffice mail.	Administrative Assistant	The hiring managers will be notified automatically about the newly screened applicants.	This will ensure that the likelihood of a resume getting lost is minimized.
1. Hiring Manager reviews applications and selects who he/she wants to interview.	Hiring Manager	The system will enable hiring managers to review resumes and applications electronically.	Hiring managers can screen applicants quickly.
1. Hiring Manager sends email to Administrative Assistant on who he/she has selected to interview and identifies members of the interview team.	Hiring Manager	After an applicant has been approved for an interview by the hiring manager, the system will send notification to the administrative assistant to schedule the interview.	The hiring process is conducted quickly and there is more time for scheduling interviews.
1. AA schedules interviews by contacting interview team members and hiring manager to identify possible time slots	Administrative Assistant	The Administrative Assistant can talk to the applicants about the most appropriate times for an interview.	Double booking is avoided and interviews are scheduled appropriately.
1. AA emails candidates to schedule interviews.	Administrative Assistant	. The systems send multiple emails to all applicants and also tracks them.	Improved communication with the job applicants.
1. Interview is conducted with candidate, hiring manager and other members of the interview team.	Hiring Manager and Interview Team	Interview is conducted with candidate, hiring manager and other members of the interview team. (Hiring System is not used for this step.)	n/a
1. AA collects feedback from interviews and status of candidates	Hiring Manager	The Administrative Assistant is sent notifications and emails by the system.	This ensures that there is integrity in the reviews made by hiring managers.
1. Hiring manager informs the AA on his top candidate for hiring	Administrative Assistant	Interviewees that have been selected are sent notifications about the status of their application.	The MTC can modify its hiring approach.
1. Administrative Assistant prepares offer letter based on information from recruiter and puts in the mail to the chosen candidate.	Administrative Assistant	System enables AA to prepare job offer letter by storing the offer letter template and information on each candidate; allows AA to select information to go into letter and put it into the template, which can then be reviewed and emailed to the candidate.	More efficient offer process presents positive image to applicants and decreases time needed to prepare offer letter, and enables MTC to hire in advance of the competition.

B. Expected Improvements

The company’s manual hiring process is time consuming and makes it hard to identify the most qualified candidates. Use of software in the hiring process can address the current challenges that MTC faces. An automatic hiring system will speed up the hiring process and enhance its efficiency. This table provides examples of issues from the case study and how a technological solution can be used to resolve the issue.

Area	Current Issues (from the Case Study)	Improvements (due to use of technology)
Collaboration:	The Hiring Manager states that recruiting is only one area he is responsible for and he isn’t as responsive to HR as he could be. Therefore, he counts on the Recruiters to help manage the process and keep him informed. Current manual system causes considerable communication breakdowns and takes additional effort and time to stay on top of the hiring process.	An efficient system with all information in one place, easily accessible via a dashboard, and updated in real time could make his recruiting job easier; and he could devote time to effectively working collaboratively and proactively with HR on his staffing needs.
Communications: Explain how a hiring system could improve internal and external communications	There has been loss of applications because communication systems are not properly established. The resumes might be buried in emails or they get lost in the interoffice mail.	The system will ensure that there is efficient and effective communication among the hiring team members. When a central system is used, the likelihood of emails getting lost will be reduced (Chan, 2020).
Workflow: Explain how a hiring system could improve the MTC hiring process by providing a consistent structure for each participant to perform his/her part in the hiring process.	The Administrative Assistant explains that he is sometimes buried in paperwork during the hiring process (Chan, 2020). He would like the process to be more efficient and streamlined.	Technology could be used to eliminate paperwork in the hiring process. It will also streamline the hiring process.
Relationships: Explain how implementing an enterprise hiring system could foster stronger relationships with applicants/potential employees.	MTC’s success depends on the company’s ability to satisfy the demands of the clients and ensure that it is reliable and credible.	The hiring system will ensure that highly-skilled candidates are hired and strong relationships are boosted with the clients.

III. Requirements

C. Stakeholder Interests

The table below gives various problems that are related to the current hiring process and the technology solutions that could help address the problems.

Role	Specific problem related to the current hiring process	How a technology solution to support the hiring process could address the problem
1. CEO	Ineffective hiring of staff members for contracts.	A technology solution would ensure that new workers would be hired efficiently and effectively.
2. CFO	Inefficient and costly hiring system	The technology solution would ensure that hiring speed is increased and less time is spent hiring workers.
3. CIO	The current hiring system is not globally viable (Ensher et al, 2020)	The technology solution would enable the hiring system to hire staff members globally.
4. Director of Human Resources	Failure of the current hiring system to meet the hiring standards.	The automated hiring system would be able to meet the standards due to its efficiency.
5. Manager of Recruiting	Inefficiency and inability of the hiring system to hire required personnel in a specific period.	The new hiring system would be efficient and able to hire required staff members within a specific period.
6. Recruiters	Loss of some resumes in the current hiring system.	The new hiring system will eliminate the problem of lose of resumes because it will be electronic.
7. Administrative Assistant	Difficulty in making applicants’ data and status accessible.	The new hiring system will ensure that tracking of data and status of applications is easier.
8. Hiring Manager (Functional supervisor the new employee would be working for.)	Inefficient and ineffective process of screening applicants and scheduling interviews.	The technological solution will ensure that interviews are scheduled electronically (Kulkarni et al, 2019).

A. Defining Requirements

Requirement ID# only	Requirement Statement	Stakeholder (Position and Name from Case Study that identified this requirement)
	User Requirements – (What the user needs the system to do)
EXAMPLE	The system must store all information from the candidate’s application/resume in a central applicant database.	Recruiter – Peter O’Neil
1.	The system must schedule all interviews electronically	Hiring Manager
2.	The system must efficiently perform applicants’ screening.	Recruiter – Peter O’Neil
3.	The system must show status of applications.	Recruiter – Peter O’Neil
4.	The system must be easy and simple.	Hiring Manager
5.	The system must have an applicant tracking system.	Recruiting Manager- Sofia Perez
	System Performance Requirements – (How the system will perform)
EXAMPLE	The system must be implemented as a Software as a Service solution.	CIO – Raj Patel
6.	The system must be compatible with the existing architecture.	CIO- Raj Patel
7.	The system must effectively be integrated within the current system.	CFO- Evelyn Liu
8.	The system must complete processes electronically.	AA - Tom Arbuckle
9.	The system must ensure that applicants’ information is secured.	CIO- Raj Patel
10.	The system must protect all information in it.	CIO- Raj Patel

REFERENCES

Jenson, R. L., & Johnson, I. R. (2019). The enterprise resource planning system as a strategic solution. Information Strategy: The Executive's Journal, 15(4), 28-33.

Kovach, K. A., & Cathcart Jr, C. E. (2020). Human resource information systems (HRIS): Providing business with rapid data access, information exchange, and strategic advantage. Public personnel management, 28(2), 275-282.

Masum, A. K. M., Beh, L. S., Azad, M. A. K., & Hoque, K. (2018). Intelligent human resource information system (i-HRIS): a holistic decision support framework for HR excellence. Int. Arab J. Inf. Technol., 15(1), 121-130.

Ajunwa, I., & Greene, D. (2019). Platforms at work: Automated hiring platforms and other new intermediaries in the organization of work. In Work and labor in the digital age. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Chan, S. L. (2020). Information technology in business processes. Business Process Management Journal.

Ensher, E. A., Nielson, T. R., & Grant-Vallone, E. (2020). Tales from the hiring line: effects of the internet and technology on HR processes. Organizational dynamics, 31(3), 224-244.

Kulkarni, S. B., & Che, X. (2019). Intelligent software tools for recruiting. Journal of International Technology and Information Management, 28(2), 2-16.