In the Westjet Airlines case (Munro, and Khan, 2013), five aspects of the situation affecting the adequacy of the IT infrastructure are:
Half of the 240 IT staff was reassigned to concentrate on specific business areas: this will result in more efficient processes and procedures, structure, and having the right technology. The business-facing IT groups can be completely responsive to business needs and priorities, while the systems and applications are supported by common infrastructure.
Five new business unit CIO roles would be created and assigned to support their respective business units: this will result in more efficient processes, procedures, and structure. The business unit CIOs can ensure that each business unit …show more content…
The effectiveness of the governance model should be evaluated using organizational development. Change methods that focus on the people include sensitivity training, survey feedback, team building, process consultation, and intergroup development.
Pinnacle West Case
According to Chen and Chang, 2012, three factors that can strengthen the relationship between organizational structure and business information systems are:
Clarification of mutual objectives: the organization must see I.T. as a resource to help transform the business. Using I.T. to have one central data warehouse can integrate several facets of the business.
Clarification of mutual culture: the organization must view customer service as being very important. Communication between the organization and their customers is key, as well as communication between the business and I.T.
Clarification of incentives: the organization must give clear goals to the IT and business employees. This will help integrate both entities to achieve common goals.
According to Chen and Chang, 2012, three business risks that can occur when the organizational structure and business information systems are not …show more content…
managers do not communicate, they may be on completely separate pages when it comes to their activities. Business managers may have their interpretation of technical activities (limited) and I.T. managers may believe that they do not require knowledge of business or planning. According to Chen and Chang, 2012, two examples of how this relationship between organizational structure and business information systems can give companies a competitive advantage are:
When I.T. and business employees both understand how the company makes or loses money, money is used carefully and is not thrown into I.T. projects that have no return on investment.
Organizations with an inclusive company culture have better employees. Happy employees result in harder-working employees. This creates a competitive edge upon companies that may not have the same internal culture amongst their staff.
Three specific examples where the business information systems are (or are not) aligned with the organizational structure in this case are:
The traditional functional model is costly and ineffective (ancient infrastructure with rising demand)
Miscommunication between the business people and the I.T.