IM426 – BUSINESS CASES AND CASE STUDIES IN MIS27 – 29 May 2014

Compiled and/or Prepared by – Celeste Ng

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (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

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (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 BI IBM Cognos 8 BI – integrates and consolidates

transactional data into executive dashboards to deliver information to the management requiring it.

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

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

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

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

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (3)

Describe McNICHOLS data and reporting problems “Its manual quarterly budget process had become

unmanageable. The manual method involved various MS Access

databases for different pieces of the budget and spreadsheets scattered throughout the organization.

The budget lifecycle took weeks to manage, and given limited resources to handle it, they were in rush mode at the end of every quarter.

Collecting sales data and moving it into other spreadsheets to feed into Access was very cumbersome, and

Collecting sales data required constant review to ensure the accuracy of the data.”

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (4)

Why do you think the company was using Access and Excel for its Intelligence and reporting requirements? Personnel skill perspective Software availability perspective

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (5)

Describle McNICHOLS’s business strategy, or how it defines its competitive advantage. How important is customer loyalty? Strategy – manager are challenged to do more

and accomplish more with less. With BI, they can do so with greater functionality and fewer resources allocated to reporting and analytics.

Customer loyalty can be improved – With BI, they can provide the highest level of service to customers internally and externally.

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (6) Were resources improperly allocated under the

manual system? How has the BI system reallocated and improved 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 and improved resources by – Enabling sales analytics ---- they are linked to 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

CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (7)

What might have been the business case for BI at McNICHOLS? McNICHOLS requires a solution that –

Could provide trusted forecast to senior managers, enabling them to make quick and effective decisions

Could guarantee data accuracy, data integrity Could display complex financial scenarios, flexibility,

and ease of use