The Impact of Global Competition in Operation Management
Managing Hardware Assets * Management challenges
By shifting to more up-to-date computer hardware, Organization were able to provide more computing power for their operations. To select the right computers, management needed to understand :
1.How much computer processing capacity its business processes required?
2.How to evaluate the price and performance of various types of computers?
3.To known the financial and business rationale for hardware technology investments.
Management also had to plan for future processing requirements and understand : * 1.How the computer worked with related storage, input/output, and communications technology? * Selecting appropriate computer hardware raises the following management challenges:
1.The centralization versus decentralization debate.
A long-standing issue among information system managers and CEOs has been the question of how much to centralize or distribute computing resources. Should processing power and data be distributed to departments and divisions, or should they be concentrated at a single location using a large central computer? Client/server computing facilitates decentralization, but network computers and mainframes support a centralized model. Which is the best for the organization? Each organization will have a different answer based on its own needs. Managers need to make sure that the computing model they select is compatible with organizational goals.
2. Making wise technology purchasing decisions. Computer hardware technology advances much more rapidly than other assets of the firm. Soon after having made an investment in hardware technology, managers find the completed system is obsolete and too expensive, given the power and lower cost of new technology. In this environment it is very difficult to keep one’s own systems up to date. A considerable amount of time must be spent anticipating and planning for technological change.
Successful use of information systems to support an
By shifting to more up-to-date computer hardware, Organization were able to provide more computing power for their operations. To select the right computers, management needed to understand :
1.How much computer processing capacity its business processes required?
2.How to evaluate the price and performance of various types of computers?
3.To known the financial and business rationale for hardware technology investments.
Management also had to plan for future processing requirements and understand : * 1.How the computer worked with related storage, input/output, and communications technology? * Selecting appropriate computer hardware raises the following management challenges:
1.The centralization versus decentralization debate.
A long-standing issue among information system managers and CEOs has been the question of how much to centralize or distribute computing resources. Should processing power and data be distributed to departments and divisions, or should they be concentrated at a single location using a large central computer? Client/server computing facilitates decentralization, but network computers and mainframes support a centralized model. Which is the best for the organization? Each organization will have a different answer based on its own needs. Managers need to make sure that the computing model they select is compatible with organizational goals.
2. Making wise technology purchasing decisions. Computer hardware technology advances much more rapidly than other assets of the firm. Soon after having made an investment in hardware technology, managers find the completed system is obsolete and too expensive, given the power and lower cost of new technology. In this environment it is very difficult to keep one’s own systems up to date. A considerable amount of time must be spent anticipating and planning for technological change.
Successful use of information systems to support an