Management Information Systems Final Paper
Final Paper
MBA 513 Management Information Systems April 14, 2010
I am proposing a plan for an Information Technology personnel expansion to Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. versus a specific Information Technology system to be implemented companywide. Acorda has good information technology systems in place throughout the areas that directly impact the field sales organization. However, Acorda does not have enough personnel within its IT department to support all of the areas within the company that are in need. This has been more evident and is especially true since Acorda doubled the outside field sales team from fifty sales representatives to 100 sales representatives. I would like to outline a plan to triple the head count within our IT department from three to ten employees. From my perspective, as an employee of the company, Acorda has a large gap between business personnel and IT personnel. According to our book, Business Driven Information Systems, “One of the greatest challenges today is effective communication between business personnel and IT personnel.” (Phillips, p. 15) Acorda has great programs and systems in place, but when organizations IT department is understaffed, even the best IT initiatives implemented continuously fall short. Acorda has various departments that depend on specific information to function. Acorda has an information-sharing culture. “Information-sharing culture is employees trusting each other to use information (especially about problems and failures) to improve performance. (Phillips, p. 13) I believe that the culture has remained this way due to the nature of it being such a small biotechnology company. The organization has around two hundred and fifty employees. The book explains that the gap is due to the difference in vocabulary between business personnel and IT personnel. I believe that there are not enough people within IT to communicate eve the basics effectively within
MBA 513 Management Information Systems April 14, 2010
I am proposing a plan for an Information Technology personnel expansion to Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. versus a specific Information Technology system to be implemented companywide. Acorda has good information technology systems in place throughout the areas that directly impact the field sales organization. However, Acorda does not have enough personnel within its IT department to support all of the areas within the company that are in need. This has been more evident and is especially true since Acorda doubled the outside field sales team from fifty sales representatives to 100 sales representatives. I would like to outline a plan to triple the head count within our IT department from three to ten employees. From my perspective, as an employee of the company, Acorda has a large gap between business personnel and IT personnel. According to our book, Business Driven Information Systems, “One of the greatest challenges today is effective communication between business personnel and IT personnel.” (Phillips, p. 15) Acorda has great programs and systems in place, but when organizations IT department is understaffed, even the best IT initiatives implemented continuously fall short. Acorda has various departments that depend on specific information to function. Acorda has an information-sharing culture. “Information-sharing culture is employees trusting each other to use information (especially about problems and failures) to improve performance. (Phillips, p. 13) I believe that the culture has remained this way due to the nature of it being such a small biotechnology company. The organization has around two hundred and fifty employees. The book explains that the gap is due to the difference in vocabulary between business personnel and IT personnel. I believe that there are not enough people within IT to communicate eve the basics effectively within
Bibliography: Abs-inc.com. (2010, April 10). www.abs-inc.com. Retrieved from www.abs-inc.com Payscale.com (2010, April 12). www.payscale.com. Retrieved from www.payscale.com Phillips, B. &. (2009). Business Drivem Information Systems, second edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.