Remy Hategekimana grade report (#108424) Operations and Information Management - Final Assignment (February 2016) Your Assignment ASSIGNMENT (abridged) Background: Loud & Clear (LC) is a worker cooperative group, which has been operating in Manchester for ten years. They provide Public Address systems, mixing consoles, amplifiers, microphones and other equipment for inside and outside events. There are now ten members of the LC group, which is made up of sound engineers and musicians. The group provides a reliable service for events in the UK, they guarantee that the PA systems will be set-up, sound checked and controlled by a qualified sound engineer for the duration of the event. The original idea for this enterprise came from Elsie Black who now manages the LC office. They have a couple of desktop computers and utilise a business website, a rather basic database of client information, business email, a number of electronic documents, a couple of spreadsheets, and a shared online calendar which displays all the event bookings. For some time, the group have discussed opportunities to develop the business, and they are all committed to taking on new challenges. They feel they are well placed to take on the new opportunities that have been brought about by the growing number of events taking place in the North West and around the UK. They have discussed the possibility of Customer Relationship Management software and Enterprise Resource Planning software. However, they need professional help before they can make a final decision. They are also interested in the possibility of utilising Open Source software, but require information on the advantages and disadvantages. Growing the business will mean significant changes for LC and there are some concerns that using business information technology for communications might change the close working relationships which exist between the sound engineers and the office staff. They require a report that can be read and understood by all members of the group (technical and non-technical group members). Your Task: You are a consultant who has been employed to advise LC on the effective implementation of these strategic changes. You are required to produce the following: Part A: Analysis – Business Process Models and Strategy Analysis (25 marks) In this section (~1,000 words) you should develop 1. A series of Business Process Models, which capture the existing and proposed business processes. The models should follow the BPMN notation. 2. Strategic analysis for LC. You should use a recognised analysis technique such as SWOT, PESTLE etc. Part B: Open Source Software Comparison Table (25 marks) In this section (~500 words) you should conduct research into a suitable software solution for LC. You should decide on the set of characteristics which you will use to evaluate the software and your research should consider 4-5 alternatives in detail. This section should be presented as a table. Part C: Report (40 marks) In this section (~1,250 words) you should write a report which provides an overview of the current situation together with a roadmap outlining how the proposed changes to the business can be achieved to the benefit of the business. This should draw on your analysis in Part A, include your recommendation for software, and provide recommendations for ensuring that the strategy is effectively implemented, including consideration of the challenges ahead. You should use appropriate theories, frameworks, models, that have been covered in the module, to inform and justify your recommendations. This section should follow a standard report structure: Title Page – Contents – Introduction - Main Section – Conclusions and Recommendations - References. Part D: Reflection on your contribution to the online discussion (10 marks) In this section you should submit a ~250 word reflective summary, accompanied by your own self-assessment of your contribution to the online elements throughout the module, using the table labelled Reflection Self Assessment Proforma in Appendix A to justify your assessment. The reflective report should include your detailed reflection, supported with evidence from the online discussion. EXPECTATIONS When analysing the case study of LC, you could have considered issues such as the following: - A coherent assessment using BPMN of the activities of the company (both existing and where it wants to be) with regard to the existing business processes involved and the changes entailed - A strategic analysis using a relevant model (with justification of its use) and some thoughtful analysis - The issues and challenges relating to systems integration (existing/legacy systems which run back-end equipment management, bookings of equipment and staff, marketing and sales, client lists, documentation, accounting, payroll) and transition/upgrading of the same to a new platform - The logistics aspect of expansion (need for more centralised equipment storage, soth-based staff) - Suitability of ERP or CRM (or something else) - Suitability of OSS - Selection of selection criteria and a structured exhibit comparing different OSS (and other?) products - Implementation approach (phased or immediate) - In-house IT capability - Consideration of managerial aspects involved (from top level downwards), including HR, training and financial aspects - Cogent Conclusions leading on to clear Recommendations IMPORTANT: As a consultant your paper should be concise and practical, and avoid a theoretical focus, especially given the severe word limits; LC staff are practitioners and will want to hear plain English, not Information Systems "jargon". Your submission should include the elements specified in the assignment (Title Page, Contents, Introduction, Main Section, Conclusions and Recommendations, References). The reflective summary should include an honest self evaluation of your online discussion, quality of postings, how you initiated and developed collaboration/facilitation skills (with evidence of the same) and quality of the reflection. YOUR SUBMISSION WHAT YOU DID WELL - The document was well presented with a cover page, table of contents and numbered pages - The list of references was weak, and would have been improved with evidence of external research that included peer-reviewed sources; you focused too heavily on generalised sources – you must use more academic sources in future submissions - The list of references and in-text referencing did not always follow the Harvard referencing system - The software comparison was acceptable, but would have been greatly improved if you had developed a series of relevance/ranking for the criteria for LC to select a package and by which you then rated the packages WHAT YOU COULD IMPROVE - The flowchart was very generalised and needed to include all steps in the process in detail, including charts for both "before" and "after" - Use indirect speech, not direct; for example, "SWOT analysis of Loud & Clear (LC) PA Systems", not "Let us make SWOT analysis of Loud & Clear (LC) PA Systems" - The SWOT was too superficial; you need to include all strengths, etc (e.g. you could have included high sales growth) not just those you think are the main ones - You needed to discuss the strengths and limitations of OSS in more detail, and with evidence, and provide justification for its use over commercial solutions - You needed to develop some justification (with evidence) for the adoption of ERP and/or CRM rather than simply one or the other - Acronyms (e.g. SLAs) must be defined - I do not think there is evidence to support your statement that "being operating in a service oriented industry it is required that they should use personalized packaged software instead of open source software, because the company had to maintain the secrecy of client information and even its financial data as well" - You must remember that LC is a small organisation with a loose management structure; it needs very clear solutions and hand-holding – for example, who would install/implement the new system, or how will the sound engineers receive their instructions in future - Your reflective summary needed more insights on your development and evidence of facilitation skills in the Forum discussions Mark: 40