1. IM426 – BUSINESS CASES AND C ASE STUDIES IN MIS 27 – 29 May 2014 Compiled and/or Prepared by – Celeste Ng

2. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS

3. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS (1) Custom fabrication= 客製化製造 perforated and mesh metal= 穿孔網狀金 屬 Commercial construction= 商業建築 Metrics show profitability= 指標顯示盈 利 Scattered throughout the organization= 分散在整個組織 Octopus with long tentacles= 章魚長觸角 Cumbersome= 笨重 Data integrity= 數據完整性 Complex financial scenarios= 複雜的金 融方案 Transactional data= 交易性數據 Key performance indicators(KPIs)= 關鍵 績效指標 Gross profit= 毛利 Margins= 邊際利潤 Customer inquiries= 客戶查詢 Invoice counts= 發票數量 Sales analytics= 銷售分析 Municipalities 市 Wholesalers 批發商 Inventory availability 庫存供應 24-hour turnaround time 二十四小時周轉時 間 Manual planning 人工規劃 Manual budget 手動預算 Spreadsheets 電子表格 Reached throughout the organization’s districts 達到整個組織的地區 Executive dashboards 執行儀表板 District managers 區域經理 Extended 擴展 Tracking of the profitability of all aspects of the business 跟踪業務的各個環節的盈利能 力 Intelligence and reporting requirements 智 能和報告要求 Single web-based portal= 單一以網路為基礎 的入口網站 Order dashboards= 訂單的儀表板

7. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS (2) The purpose of this case study: Illustrate how real business problem faced by a company named McNICHOLS (http://www.mcnichols.com/viewer.htm) was solved using an information system (IS) – called IBM Cognos 8 BIhttp://www.mcnichols.com/viewer.htm IBM Cognos 8 BI – integrates and consolidates transactional data into executive dashboards to deliver information to the management requiring it.

8. Reference: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wdfhelp/v6r1m0/topic/com.ibm.dashboard. doc/dashboard_framework_getting_started.pdf

12. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS (3) Describe McNICHOLS data and reporting problems

13. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS (4) Why do you think the company was using Access and Excel for its Intelligence and reporting requirements?

14. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS (5) Describle McNICHOLS’s business strategy, or how it defines its competitive advantage. How important is customer loyalty?

15. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS (6) Were resources improperly allocated under the manual system? How has the BI system reallocated resources? Resources improperly allocated because – budget process required 7-10 days to complete at the end of each quarter; and several hours in each month BI system reallocated resources by – Enabling sales analytics ---- they are linked budgeting modules, making it easier for managers to monitor KPIs. Integrated views of all business and financial data, provided in a single web-based portal. Improved accuracy and quality of data. Marketing, production, and order dashboards that enable real- time tracking of the profitability of all aspects of the aspects of the business. Managers that have a good handle on actual transactions forecasts, and targets

16. C ASE 8: R ESPONDING TO “N EED IT Y ESTERDAY ” C USTOMERS WITH BI A PPS (7) What might have been the business case for BI at McNICHOLS? McNICHOLS requires a solution that –