Management Information System
Question #1: How did Panasonic's information management problems affect its business performance and ability to execute its strategy? What management organization and technology factors were responsible for those problems?
Panasonic’s operations expanded rapidly throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. In Europe, the company has 15 subsidiaries, 14 manufacturing facilities, and five research and development centers, and seven administrative offices. As a result of having so many different sources of data, the company was unable to manage its data effectively. The product and customer data was inconsistent, duplicate, or incomplete. Different segments of Panasonic used their own data management operations that were isolated or different from other locations within the company. Ultimately, this resulted in a decrease in operational efficiency and higher costs from the company. The data required to launch new products in the market are photos, product specification and description, manuals, pricing data, and point-of-sale marketing information. The employees use this data to select product information that suits the needs of the region or country. As a result, with a lack of an adequate database to manage product data, the company was unable to sustain a substantial profit and strategically market new products.
The CEO’s and managers at Panasonic did not anticipate a substantial market demand for their products. They did not seek their employee feedback to determine how the product data and inventory of services could be better managed to seek the needs of the employees, suppliers, and customers. They did not make a thorough analysis of their 5-year business strategy to access whether the company requires new services or capabilities to achieve their strategic goals. They did not perform an adequate IT strategy, infrastructure, and IT infrastructure cost to determine whether the IT strategy takes into account the firm’s five-year strategic plan. Thus, making an
Panasonic’s operations expanded rapidly throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. In Europe, the company has 15 subsidiaries, 14 manufacturing facilities, and five research and development centers, and seven administrative offices. As a result of having so many different sources of data, the company was unable to manage its data effectively. The product and customer data was inconsistent, duplicate, or incomplete. Different segments of Panasonic used their own data management operations that were isolated or different from other locations within the company. Ultimately, this resulted in a decrease in operational efficiency and higher costs from the company. The data required to launch new products in the market are photos, product specification and description, manuals, pricing data, and point-of-sale marketing information. The employees use this data to select product information that suits the needs of the region or country. As a result, with a lack of an adequate database to manage product data, the company was unable to sustain a substantial profit and strategically market new products.
The CEO’s and managers at Panasonic did not anticipate a substantial market demand for their products. They did not seek their employee feedback to determine how the product data and inventory of services could be better managed to seek the needs of the employees, suppliers, and customers. They did not make a thorough analysis of their 5-year business strategy to access whether the company requires new services or capabilities to achieve their strategic goals. They did not perform an adequate IT strategy, infrastructure, and IT infrastructure cost to determine whether the IT strategy takes into account the firm’s five-year strategic plan. Thus, making an