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MSHIA ISM 6128 – Business Process Design
Professor Weidong Xia
(1)
What key issues and challenges led to the initiation of the Access+
project? Please think about the external vs. internal and business vs.
technological aspects of the issues and challenges.
(2)
What organizational changes that the company should have made (but
failed to do) before and during the project to ensure the success of the
Access+ project?
(3)
What were the strengths and weaknesses of Providian’s approach in
managing the project?
(4)
How would you evaluate the roles (good or bad) that the internal
auditor Peter Storey played throughout the project? Do you agree with him, why and why not (if
you were in his role, what would you have done differently)? Should he be fired, why and why not?
(5)
If you were in charge of the project, what would you do differently?
What have been your experience and observations of IS projects in your
organizations? If you were in charge of
a healthcare IS implementation project in your organization, what would be the
top three things/issue on your agenda list?
These questions are intended to help you think about the
key issues involved in the case and facilitate your case analysis. Please feel free to create your own questions
and highlight interesting ideas that you to share with the class.
Please try to limit
your case analysis to 2 pages and name your Word file as
6128_LastName_FirstName_Providian.doc and submit it using Assignment
Drop Box under “Case 1- Providian” folder before the due time as
specified in the course schedule.
Weidong Xia_MSHIA
6128 Case 1 - Providian questions/ Page 1 of 1
Case Study 1: Providian
Trust- Tradition and Technology (A)
Name
Institutional
affiliation
Case Study 1
After Stephen
Walsh, was appointed the CEO of Providian Trust he was confronted with a rare
corporate conflict that required his intervention. According to McFarlan and Dailey
(1997), the company's trust division was on the brink of operational paralysis
due to the difference in opinion between the leaders of information technology
(IT) project and the internal auditor, Peter Storey. By 1995, the conflict had reached
its optimal point as depicted by the request of the committee members to have
internal auditor removed from his position. The purpose of this essay is to use
this case study on the Providian Trust to answer the following questions.
Question 1
The Trust Division at Providian
Trust Company was facing the challenge of operational inefficiency due to the
use of outdated information system. Before, being dismissed the former CEO felt
it was imperative that the company improved its information management systems
by acquiring a more reliable and efficient system using the Access Plus. McFarlan
and Dailey (1997) determined that these critical issues and challenges prompted
the top executives at Providian Trust Company to set aside an $18 million
budget for the implementation of a new IT project. The company believed that
the acquisition of an up-to-date IT system would improve service delivery.
By
1993, Providian Trust was among the largest provider that was managing over $45
billion in trust assets with a network of 216 offices; even so, the company was
not profitable. This situation was credited to the inability of Providian Trust
to keep up with the improvement in technology and other services. The increased
competitive pressures and customer demands force companies to initiate drives
that would result in the improved provision of quality trust services
(Hirschheim & Sabherwal, 2001). The company felt to gain profitability then
it was imperative that it redesigned the business processes in the trust
division through the implementation of new software.
Question 2
The success of the
implementation of the Access Plus project at Providian Trust was affected by
the failure to consider certain organizational factors. For example, the
project leader Michael LeBlanc, as well as other project leaders, did not
possess adequate fundamental skills in project management. The implementation
of a new information system was an initiative project of change. Due to the
lack of sufficient experience in project management, Michael LeBlanc failed to
evaluate the problem at hand before the onset of the implementation process
(McFarlan & Dailey, 1997). This led to his failure to create a sense of
urgency concerning the usefulness and the need for the new IT system at
Providian Trust.
Besides, during
the formulation of the change initiative team, the steering committee failed to
incorporate the services and the input of the 240 IT specialists at the company
(McFarlan & Dailey, 1997). This situation probed the standing of the change
initiative team considering the team was already missing the services and input
of the IT personnel from the company. The failure of Michael LeBlanc to
communicate how the company stood to gain from the implementation of the new
system resulted in the staff failing to invest their efforts into the process.
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