1800JUNKVAN Reflection

Although I was not in the class to see the presentation, I have view the slides presented and appreciate the pros and cons list.  It was along the lines of the reasoning that I had initially perceived and their reccomendations are along the same lines as mine.  I will do a better job refelcting on a case that I will actually see this Tuesday.

Zara

I am going to keep this one nice and short.

Zara is a clothing company that coins itself on having the freshest, newest, and most stylish inventory of any other clothing line.  It seems that this is their sustainable advantage because their stores are predominantly located on the most popular streets in the most popular cities, bringing in the trendiest crowds.

Being that fresh inventory is seemingly the staple of Zara's business model, having their IT solutions provided by a system that runs off of DOS could prove to become a core rigidity.  The simplicity of the system has worked up to this point, but with the treat of losing hardware support and Microsoft not deciding to support DOS anymore could prove to have more risk than reward.

Just imagine if Zara lost all hardware support and the potential lost sales in the time it would take to recover.  I really do not see the solution to this case as a "do nothing" solution because the losses incurred in the worst-case-scenario can be detrimental to the company's future. 

Two main issues with the current system under DOS:

1.) The PDA's and the POS do not share information.

2.) Inventory Balnces can not be looked up.

I have not heard of anyone using floppy disks since I was in elementary school and this case is not that old.  With unlimited storage space available through the Internet, there is no reason a business should not be using this avenue to manage their data.  There won't be any lost floppys anymore, the time to upload the information would be cut drastically, and the Zara central offices would be informed about inventory on cue.  In other words, the room for error is reduced significantly by updating their POS system to something other than DOS.  Plus, looking at Zara's financial performance, it does not look like they are losing any momentum with years of consecutive growth.

With such growth, the risk of continually operating on a DOS system becomes multiplied exponentially.  Plus, the other issue of not being able to look up inventory balances becomes a more significant issue beign that Zara likes to have the freshest inventory in their stores.  Just imagine all of the stores are linked to a central inventory system that can be viewed by decision makers and all the apporpriate apparel can be stocked more appropriately in the most appropriate stores in a manner that does not include going through the store and manually counting what is still on the racks.

I have a little experience with managing POS systems.  I worked in Colorado trying to convert a system that was designed for the medical dispensaries to become functional for any small businesses.  The aspect that I had most experience in was trying to get this POS system into liquor stores.  This system offered everything from payroll, inventory, and all other aspects included in running a small business while it also funneled the information into financial reports.  This was all done in a live manner where managers could access the business' database and view the progress remotely.  Sounds like something like this could be used for Zara.  Since I know that one liquor store on this system costs a nominal monthly fee of $109, I don't see why one Zara store could be operated costing the same. 

If you want to check out the company I worked for, it is <adilas.biz>.  It's based out of Salida, CO and it stands for "all data is live and searchable" or just Salida backwards.

Zara need to change!

1800JUNKVAN

After being thrown immediately into action as a consultant in my Strategic Information Systems class, I have grown interested in the format of how each class will be conducted.  Simulating the scenario that exixts where business consultants meet with C-level executives seemed to create value to our class, my group, and myself by providing us with the exposure to this exact scenario that would exist if a meeting like this would take place.  I feel that my group presented the pressing issues faced by Proctor & Gamble and suggested a viable solution with confidence.  The only aspect that I believe hurt us in our presentation was the lack of support in the advantages of the current paper-based system.  Although the whole "do nothing" poses as a solution that may present the least risk, I don't think it was detrimental to our consultancy because our suggestion was to throw the whole paper-based system out and move on to the EDC.  By supporting the paper-based system as the least risky would void our suggestion completely. 

I look forward to seeing how the consultants present their information regarding 1800JUNKVAN because I see a similar scenario that we presented in regarding P&G.  How should this company upgrade their current business process to maximize efficiency without causing too much noise in each aspect of the operations?  Is the whole "do nothing" option a viable one here as well?  Each option that was presented in the case study had a learning curve in the implementation period, but each option also offered a reduction in data inefficiencies.  For me, the obvious answer to the problems would to use an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) because it offers more advantages than the others claiming "to integrate business processes by covering every aspect of the business.  But again, this might be because of our current knowledge, not the knowledge that existed when Kingo was required to make this decision.  We have seen companies use programs such as SAP Business One succesfully and these platforms are considered sound operations platforms by many companies today.  But again, these platforms were still young at the time of Kingo's decision so this would be a risky decision for him that he would probably lose sleep over.

Being that I will be in the audience, I look forward to seeing the business processes mapped out by the consultants so we can see where the inefficiencies exist with their current operations.  I would assume that each option will be evaluated thoroughly with a discussion on the advantages and shortfalls of each option.

 The parts of the case that seem like the most pertinent issues are:
-the companies growth is superceding their capabilities causing lapses.
-phone calls of complaining customers.
-the necessity to upgrade to an easy-to-use system that is reliable.

With those issues, 1800JUNKVAN is looking at a scenario where they will not be able to expand efficiently and where they risk the chance of losing loyal customers.  Being there are many options for junk removal, noting competitors such as 1800gotjunk, the market seems to be very sensitive to price.  Losing loyal customers should be a main concern for Kingo as well as keeping the cost down to remain competitive.  These two things seem to vary indirectly because if Kingo choses the better, more costly option, it may require to raise the standard price for a customer (this should not be considered an option).

I think the most valuable exhibit that I would like to see is the potential revenues that are being lost due to these data inefficiencies.  Is that number large enough to make the move to a more costly system?  In trying to put together the numbers for P&G, I tried to put together a cost analysis, but fell short on a couple aspects that may have caused numbers to look a little "fudged".  But for purposes of making the decision, numbers are the most attractive to a C-level executive.  SHOW ME THE MONEY! 

The fortune teller side of me sees 6 swim lanes with each option presented in a parallel fashion, allowing us to compare each option in a side-by-side fashion.  The goal here is to obtain 100% data efficiency.  Maybe a statistic that is representative of success rate (%) for each business process to help us understand the success rate of data transfers with each option.  If this is presented in correlation with customer satisfaction, this result alone might be powerful enough to convince any C-level executive to make a move to the most efficient option.  I look forward to it. 

Advantages to Using Visio

As a required assignment to my Strategic Information Systems class at Montclair State University, we were asked to download Microsoft Visio and take the initial tour of all the functionalities of the software.  Being that I was lucky enough to be a part of the first group to serve as consultants, I took it upon myself to create some organizational charts relative to the Electronic Data Capture system that P&G uses to complete their clinical trials for investigative new drugs.  Here's what I came up with.

 As you can see, I was able to construct two very fluent and informative flow charts to explain some vital information about the Electronic Data Capture system that P&G employs.  Visio allowed me to select different colors to add fluidity to my charts and the creative freedom to organize my thought process.

But I am not here to show off my computer skills and how quickly I can learn a certain Microsoft program, although this may help to mention on some job interviews.  I am here to praise the functionality of Microsoft Visio.  Coming from an educational background with a number of years teaching in a public school classroom, I see perpetual use to Microsoft Visio in creating visual aids to all types of learners, especially the visual ones.  Statistics state that the percent of learners who consider themselves visual is upwards of 65%.  Visio is the tool that maximizes the potential to create supplementary materials for nearly every educational topic, requiring a small sense of creativity.

I literally just took approximately five minutes to create a flow chart for the categorization of quadrilaterals for any geometry class.  I am so impressed with how simple Visio makes these efforts.

Although Powerpoint now has the capabilities to create flow chart, it does not seem to have the "user-friendly" aura that Visio offers for these types of charts.  The world of education should already be using resources such as Visio to save time in lesson preparation, to exhibit information in a simple and concise manner, and to present a majority of visual learners with an exhibit that helps them retain the information more fluently.  I say all this with disregard to the current budget crisis that most schools are facing knowing that a school district would rather keep one more custodian on staff than to obtain a license for some Microsoft developer software.  This is another issue that I have with the world of education... it's more of a "get by with the resources available" when it should be "what is the best way to deliver this material to maximize student learning?"  Teachers are creative and they have the potential to increase student achievement if they make the effort to implement so cutting-edge software and other resources. 

So what I am saying is that if I had access to Microsoft Visio when I was teaching high school geometry, my lessons would include more functional, more appropriate, more visually attractive learning supplements that offer the potential to help my students, my school, and colleagues. 

So how do we get teachers to use new software to recreate educational material in a more approriate manner?  This is a question of whether school budgets will allow this and whether teachers are willing to break away with the methods that they have grown comfortable with.

Good Luck Blogger!

"It doesn't seem like blogs have as much "power" as they used to, especially with the ease and speed of sources like Twitter and Facebook. Most important, however, I don't have the passion for the blog that I once did. While I will surely miss hearing from the authors I've learned so much from, I think I will find other ways to interact." http://www.jessicaschley.com/2012/04/are-blogs-thing-of-past.html

 

I posted a caption from this source because I agree with what is being said by this author. I believe that blogs can be a great tool to share some of your greatest thoughts and ideas, but there are many other tools that seem to have the "trump card" on blogs. To me, blogs are long-winded and tend to share too much information with the public. With the rise of all the social media resources, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., there are more efficient and better directed avenues that one can take to connect with peers or coworkers over the internet and/or take a creative wander through your thoughts. With so much information being thrown at us electronically these days, there is hardly time to read 150 characters (as per Twitter). If the goal of your blog is to have an audience read it and comment on it, why would you write anything more than just a concise thought? conversation starter? pressing issue?

 

A blog takes consistent maintenance, fluency, and creativity to gain any sort of following. If these aspects are non-existent in your blog, it is near worthless to read. This also depends on whether you decide to make your blog private or public. I also feel that most blogs have no direction or thesis and are just an accumulation of gallivanting thoughts or emotions typed by an author that wants the public to read and agree or disagree upon. We are Americans. We lose interest easy and move on quickly. If our attention is lost, a blog is just something that is taking up storage space.

 

With all that said, I do not believe that blogs are worthless. I see the advantages of them, but I do not believe that people are using them correctly. I have a friend that started a website related to cooking modern recipes and began a blog to get people reading about it. She definitely had her mother, her sisters, and her closest friends read it; but maybe nobody else outside of her inner circle. Blogs are a great way to connect people to you and your thoughts, but I see them as an ancillary tool to a person’s social media endeavors.  If you chose to go public with your blog, you should self-advertise via other social media tools, such as Twitter and Facebook, to gain more publicity.  If one obtains the desired amount of online traffic, then the pressure is on!  Maintain your blog, be creative, and write about things that are worth reading or lose your flowing to a blogger who grabs the attention of their followers. 

 

As for applying blogs to the business or office setting, I see danger.  I used to be a high school teacher and I have seen people fired for information made public on their Facebook accounts.  Obviously, an administrator does not want to see pictures of their favorite teacher doing inappropriate things, especially when their students or parents are their Facebook friends.  I see the same problem with blogs.  If the goal is to share some important thoughts or information, we should filter what gets submitted into the cyber world because you never know who is going to read your blog.  This again reinforces my notion that there are other sources out there that serve the same function as a blog and are a better alternative.  It is our nature to gossip and share too much information because we get excited, but sharing should be caring.  Caring as you should filter what is said on your blog because you never know who is reading each post, whose stealing your ideas, and whose desk a print out of your blog can end up on.

 

So I say that blogs on a grand scale are 80% worthless because people do not direct their thoughts in a manner that creates any value to the reader, therefore losing their attention.  As for the 20% that have potential value; these authors stay concise in their words, consistent in their thoughts and direction, and have a purpose that they are passionate about.  The two key things that a blogger must be concerned with is grabbing the attention of their audience and maintaining their attention.  This may be considered a part-time job!