Case Questions

Google

• The case describes several of Google’s “products” (search engine, Gmail, Google Earth). What do they have in common? What is Google’s line of business?
• What is Google’s revenue model (how do they make money)? Who are its customers? What is Google’s real product?
• Based on the material in the case, how would you describe Google’s strategy? Do they have one?

The last section of the case is titled “What Should Google Do?” What is your answer (it doesn’t have to be one of the options described in the case)? Make sure you explain why you chose that course of action.

 

Discussion: Disruptive Innovations and Systems Thinking

• Systems thinking and how it can be applied.
• The role of feedback in designing information systems.
• The effects of disruptive innovation on industries.

 

STARS Air Ambulance

• Identify three or four of the most critical challenges facing the new CIO and make recommendations for how Khan can tackle each of these challenges.
• What should Kahn’s objectives be for his upcoming meeting with the CEO and how can he prepare to best meet them?

What should Kahn do about departments contacting their “favorite IS staff member” when they need technical assistance? How can he change this practice and still gain the trust and support of the CEO and other senior managers?

 

Cisco Systems Architecture

• Why was an ERP system important for Cisco? What problems was the ERP system supposed to solve? Why was it a management challenge?
• Discuss how the ERP project was “sold” to the board for approval. Specifically, what was their method of justification? How did they set an implementation timeline? Do you agree or disagree with the way they did this?
• What was Solvik’s web strategy? How did the Internet and Intranet strategies tie in with the ERP project? Why was the ERP project essential for their web strategy to succeed?

What makes a good manager for the projects described in this case? How high in the organization should the manager sit?

 

Amazon Web Services

• What are the four major web services described in the case that are offered by Amazon.com? What does each service do? Compare each service in terms of pros and cons.
• Why would a company use these services from Amazon instead of maintaining their own infrastructure? Assume you are the manager for a large bank, think through the pros and cons of using Amazon’s services.

Is Amazon Web Services following a disruptive strategy or do they have a different business model?

 

Radiohead: Music at Your Own Price

• How did Radiohead sell their album “In Rainbows”? Was it successful? What problems could this create for other artists?
• Compare the disruptive effects of digital content in the music and book publishing industries. What are the similarities and differences?
• What “signals of change” did Amazon respond to in creating the Kindle?
• Why do you think it was more difficult for the record labels to respond to their own “signals of change?”

How might Radiohead’s experiment in music distribution be disruptive to Amazon?

 

Knowledge Management at Katzenbach Partners

• What are the key elements of Katzenbach’s knowledge management strategy? Is this a good strategy?
•  What are the critical challenges in Katzenbach’s knowledge management? Describe both organizational and technical challenges.

What are some specific ways in which Web 2.0 technology help Katzenbach’s knowledge management initiatives? Identify specific challenges, technology, and business solutions.

 

Kodak

• Would you characterize the digital camera as more of an evolutionary technology or more of a discontinuous technology? Consider both the technology itself and its effect on the photography industry.
• As a response to Sony, Kodak invested $5 billion in digital imaging R&D over 10 years. Was this the right response?
• Kodak developed a series of new technologies in the 1980s but seemed unable to capitalize on them. Why? To which of the “pitfalls” did Kodak fall victim?

Since the case, the company continued to have problems despite continuing to innovate (see the additional readings). What should Kodak do going forward?

 

Volkswagen of America: Managing IT Projects

• Describe the problems with the way Volkswagen had been managing IT projects at the start of the case.
• How did the new management system change their prioritization processes?
• How is it possible that under this new system a “critical” project (the global supply chain system) was underfunded?