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.