Information Systems for Managers

Information Systems for Managers
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
Information Systems for Managers
Chapter 2
Major Issues
Mistakes on the part of Fancy Consultants & Company.
* Blake did not have prior experience handling a major project. The company was unrealistic to imagine that Blake was capable of handling such a major project as an intern. After training his for two weeks, the company thought that he had acquired the necessary skills which was a major mistake.
* The company sent one individual to address a complex assignment. Since Blake was an intern, he needed to be accompanied by another experienced employee. However, the company trusted Blake alone on a project he could not deliver.
* The time allocated on the assignment was not sufficient. One week could not address the issue appropriately. The company seemed to be in a hurry to complete the project. They set high expectations to complete the project in a week.
* Blake was allocated to another project before he had fully implemented the project. He had to hand over the project to his classmate Jack Scarso meaning it was still under implementation. Replacing Blake with Jack before finishing the project interfered with the continuity of the project.
Mistakes on the part of Blake.
* He did not take time to understand the new system. Instead, Blake jumped into conclusions after undertaking the topical analysis. The general manager gave Blake only a basic understanding of the situation, and he used this information to make decisions regarding the system.
* Blake did not involve all the users of the system. While he took the time to discuss with the general manager, he did not take time to understand the requirements of the other system users.
* Blake spent only a week and left the project before implementing it fully. He failed to advise the company to allocate him more time to ensure the system was working as expected.
* He failed to remain in touch with his replacement Jack. There was no proper communication between the two; hence it was impossible for Blake to identify the problems which developed after he left. Jack failed to inform Blake of the problems that were developing. Blake got to know about the problem from his boss a month later because he was not in touch with his replacement Jack.
* He did not follow up with the management of the Royal Hotel to inquire about the implementation progress.
* Blake failed to offer proper training to the system users. Hence, it was challenging for hotel employees to transition to the new system. The managers of the Royal Hotel did not seem to understand Espresso. The failure to train the management and the employees made it impossible for them to implement the new system.
Discussion Questions
Question 1
* Since the Royal Hotel was relatively small, the new system was too complex for them to handle. The employees found it challenging to handle such a system with full functions. Given that the employees had no prior experience handling such a complex system, it was difficult for them to work efficiently with Espresso.
* The failure of Blake to train the employees on the new system made the problem worse. The employees found it difficult to use the new sys...