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Business Analysis and System Recommendation

Name: Kyle Amstead

Course: IFSM 300

Date: 27JAN2019

Strategic Use of Technology

Introduction

Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) is a modern technology consulting company that needs to drive strategy through utilizing technology in a bid to aid in hiring and selection processes. As an established technology consulting company that has already attained a growing market share, there is a need for it to put in place a hiring system that enables it to recruit and retain top talents in the IT field. It is a feat that will not only help satisfy its growing base of customers, but also help attain a competitive advantage. As a consulting company that offers IT services, human resources are critical to its success and strategy hence hiring should be a core undertaking that is supported by an efficient hiring system. Currently, the organization is still stuck to its traditional hiring model that is bringing about challenges relating to attracting and hiring top talent in a timely manner. To address this problem, the process will be broken down into four distinct stages. Stage one will examine how the organization can strategically utilize a hiring system in driving business strategy. Stage two will evaluate current processes and workflows and how they can be impacted by deploying the technology. Stage three will identify stakeholders’ expectations from the technology solutions and stage four will recommend the hiring system that will match MTC’s organizational structures. All these stages will be merged into a report that will be presented to MTC’s Chief Information Officer.

Strategic Use of Technology

a. Organizational Strategy

MTC is eyeing expanding to the national level and maintaining its service delivery in a manner that not only cultivates customer loyalty but also brings about a competitive advantage. As was earlier highlighted, this cannot be achieved easily without hiring the right people that understand the needs of the customers as well as the organization’s broad mission. In this right, the hiring process needs to be goal-centered which means that only needed and targeted individuals can be hired and retained. The IT field is a rapidly revolving discipline meaning that experts in the field must be sufficiently skilled and competent. When customers are looking for consulting services they focus on quality not quantity which the employees must offer (Gubbala & Battu, 2012). The current hiring process is not up to the task due to challenges such as recruiting the right personnel and enabling an access to a more diverse talent pool. There are thousands of skilled individuals leaving colleges and universities who may prove their worth to technology companies. However, there should be a system of attracting, recruiting, and retaining such talents. The system will help address the problem hence help the company realize its goals of expanding and maintaining its competitive service delivery. In the long run, MTC will be able to achieve its overall business strategy.

b. Competitive Advantage

A competitive advantage refers to a company’s strength that helps dominate an industry (Schleicher, Baumann, Sullivan, Levy, Hargrove & Barros-Rivera, 2018). In this case, MTC is eyeing dominance and cultivating customer loyalty not only in the areas it currently operates but also in other it is expecting to expand to. MTC is a consulting company meaning it needs to have strength in how it delivers its services to new and old customers. This can be done through having the right employees that are trained and skilled in efficient service delivery. Skills and knowledge are not enough. MTC needs to ensure that the workers can engage the clients successfully and attain a high satisfaction level. The industry is competitive meaning that organizations which will attain dominance must have a higher customer satisfaction level. This can only be done through having the right workers that are motivated, competent, and committed to serving the customers in a manner that meets their needs. In this regard, MTC must hire and retain top talents. This can be done through putting in place an efficient hiring system that performs in line with the overall strategic goals and objectives.

c. Strategic Objectives

The following table outlines MTC’s specific objectives that can be focused on in a bid to attain the outlined goals.

Strategic Goal	Objective	Explanation
Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in IT consulting	Train all employees within the next nine months	This will help ensure that all workers are able to meet the customers’ expectations hence cultivating loyalty. This will enable the organization retain its current customer base and attract more due to its reputation and brand. The hiring system will help assess the needs of each employee hence training will be addressing those needs.
Build a cadre of consultants to provide research and analysis assistance to on-site teams	Hire 50 more consultants in the next 6 months who will provide assistance to onsite teams.	MTC needs to hire more consultants with expertise in research and analysis. These experts will work with onsite teams and provide them with needed assistance and help relating to their work. The hiring system will enable the organization hire the right employees with skills and competence in research and analysis.
Continue to increase MTC ability in providing higher quality consultants to awarded contracts	Focus on accessing a wider talent pool in the next three months.	When accessing a wider pool of talents, this will enable MTC hire and recruit individuals with needed skills and applicable knowledge. When competitively skilled, the workers will continue higher quality services as per clients’ expectations. The hiring system will help it access a wider pool of top talents in the IT field.
Increase MTC’s competitive advantage	Hire 30 more experienced IT consultants in the next four months.	For MTC to attain and retain its competitive advantage, it needs to hire experienced consultants that are aware of the industry dynamics. The hiring system will enable MTC attract experienced individuals in the field.

d. Decision-Making

The following table highlights three levels of management and how their decision-making processes can be influenced by the hiring system.

Role	Level (Course Reading)	Example decision-supported by hiring system	Example of information the hiring system could provide
	Senior/Executive managers	Decides to make MTC’s services expand internationally to Asia.	The system shows that majority of applicants have worked abroad in some major Asian destinations and have cultural competence.
	Middle Managers	Decides to make IT consultants work with other specialists such as marketers and sales person.	The system shows that applicants have team-building skills hence can be hired and cross-functional teams created.
	Operational Managers	Decides to divide labor based on skills set.	The system indicates that the applicants have specific skills set suited for specific tasks and activities.

Section Two: Process Analysis

Hiring Process

MTC Hiring Process
As-Is Process (Part 1)	Responsible MTC Position (Part 1)	To-Be Process – How the System Will Support and Improve the hiring process (Part 2)	Business Benefits of Improved Process (Align with MTC’s overall business strategy and needs.) (Part 2)
1. Job vacancies are advertised through online systems owned and controlled by intermediaries	Recruiting officer	MTC will be able to advertise the positions itself hence will have absolute control of what happens.	Management of information relating to job applications will be more efficient.
2. There is no direct contact with job applicants prior to interviews	Recruiting manager	Using the system to contact the applicants directly will act as a motivator to applicants	The system will help cultivate better interactions with potential employees
3. There is no pool of potential candidates	Recruiting panel	The system will help create a pool of potential employees that can be contacted whenever there are vacancies.	The recruitment and selection process will be fast and easier.
4. Applicant’s mails arrive late.	Recruiting officer	The system will enable applicants submit their applications online	The applicant’s information will be acquired fast and managed easily.
5. Sorting out application forms take unusually longer	Administrative assistant	The system will categorize applicants with respect to majors and skills.	Sorting out applicants will be managed much easily.
6. Filing of the application forms is tiresome and time-consuming	Recruiting manager	The system will file the application forms as they are being received	Time will be saved and can be used for other functions
7. MTC does not keep contacts with jobs applicants	Administrative assistant	The system will help MTC keep contact with candidates who may not get hired.	Such contact will act as a motivator in case such candidates may be required to fill in some positions in the future.
8. There is no virtual tool for interviewing candidates remotely.	Recruiting manager	The system will have a tool for remote interviewing of candidates.	It will be possible to interview candidates that are less mobile due to factors such as family commitments.
9. There are challenges in scheduling interviews	Administrative assistant	The system will schedule interviews based on factors such as number of applicants	Scheduling for interviews will be efficient hence avoiding constraints being experienced
10. Time between advertising job positions and hiring is unusually longer.	Recruiting panel	The proposed system will reduce the time through easier management of collected information	Any gaps will be filled in quickly hence affecting performance positively.
11. The recruiting panel does not access to candidate information,	Recruiting Panel	The system will provide real time information with respect to every candidate.	The panel will learn about candidates before interviews hence they it will be easy to arrive at best suited candidates.
12. The job advertising strategy by MTC is not supported by data.	Administrative assistant	The proposed system will inform the job advertisers about the lacking skills and competencies among the pool of candidates.	Job advertising will be done based on skills and competencies that lack hence target specific candidates.

Expected Improvements

Area	Current Issues (from the Case Study)	Improvements (due to use of technology)
Collaboration:	As noted from the case study, there is no collaboration between the hiring team and the potential candidates. They only meet during interviews which should not be the case. There is no platform for the parties to interact.	The proposed system will create a platform by which the hiring team and the potential candidates can interact and collaborate in planning for the whole recruiting process such as scheduling interviews.
Communications:	From the case study, it is seen that there is no direct communication and interactions between the recruiting panel and the targeted candidates. Normally, such a behavior demotivates the potential candidates as they feel that the organization is not fully committed to seeking their competencies and skills (Gubbala & Battu, 2012).	The system will pull together a pool of candidates that the company can communicate and interact with as they will leave their emails and phone number. They can be reached out for anytime.
Workflow:	Currently, there lacks information and data that the hiring team can work on. This means that it is not easily possible for the hiring team to plan, schedule, and share roles and responsibilities. They do not have a mechanism for collecting and managing data that could be used for planning and scheduling.	The proposed system will help them collect information relating to all potential candidates hence they can plan for various activities without constraints.
Relationships:	At MTC, there is no culture for working relationships between the hiring team and the potential candidates. This is due to the fact that there is no avenue or a platform that can help them do so. There is no ready and easily accessible information relating to applicants that could be used to establish relationships.	The proposed system will create a platform that will form the basis of relationships between the hiring teams and potential candidates. Their personal information will be used for establishing communications and interactions where over time, they will cultivate relationships.

References

Gubbala, M., & Battu, N. (2012). Employee Welfare In Industry: Industrial Workers Perspective. London, UK: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing.

Schleicher, D. J., Baumann, H. M., Sullivan, D. W., Levy, P. E., Hargrove, D. C., & Barros-Rivera, B. A. (2018). Putting the System Into Performance Management Systems: A Review and Agenda for Performance Management Research. Journal of Management 44(6), 2209-2245.

Gubbala, M., & Battu, N. (2012). Employee Welfare In Industry: Industrial Workers Perspective. London, UK: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing.