Shana Pote

Q2: In the presence of fierce rivalry among competitors, what should you do in order to better compete with them and achieve high profitability?
A: I will make my service or products uniquely. With product innovation, our products may differentiate with other competitors. For example, I can change my product external packing being more attractive.
Q4: Why do companies sell bundle?
A: Firstly, because of bundle, company can sell more products or service than before which increase profit. Secondly, it increases the market share which also brings profit. Thirdly, it benefits for customers who usually buy bundle products/service at a lower price. Finally, when they use products/service, it is hard for them to change which will cause a higher switching cost.

The case states on Page 8 that “The next step in our evolution will be the management of information flows between all the participants.” What does it mean by information management? Why is it important?

This is b/c Otis Elevator wants to transform its company from elevator & escalator manufacturing production to deliver & perform maintenance installation. Otis Elevator’s info mgmt. will help recreate its company to receive & transfer info operations into product operations due to the technology of the internet. The importance by Otis Elevator is to have its info mgmt. to alter & refine by the money, time, & value to be invested into its products & services. This will help provide the company to be prompt & sharp at the same time.

The case states on Page 8 that “To achieve continuous transformation, the e*Logistics program makes sure the business process change sticks. … With the e*Logistics program, best practices from SIP are baked into the organization and institutionalized to achieve that continuous transformation.” What does it mean by “stick” and “baked”?

“Baked” is by how Otis Elevator is able to institutionalize into the e*Logistics program throughout its computerize system to be efficient & functional. “Stick” is by how Otis Elevator is able to change its business practices in order to have the e*Logistics system to be transformed & transported very quickly for its clients, employees, & managers to receive valuable info.

Would the change from manufacturing to a service company at Otis be easy? Who would be unhappy with this change?

Yes, this transformation from manufacturing to service by the Otis Elevator will be easy b/c it will help save money, time, & value in order to maintain its plants not to be operational. Moreover, it will provide extra cash to finance its service operations such as customer relations, maintenance repairs, equipment installations, logistical programs, hiring employees, etc. Sadly the unhappy side of the change by Otis Elevator is to layoff its factory workers, who manufactured their elevator & escalator machines into production to be capitalized & exploited.

What are the examples of “switching costs” that reduce the bargaining power of buyers?
One example would be when a service provider offers better services/prices to beat its competitors. In such cases, the bargaining power of buyers reduces as they are forced to stick with the same company for better offerings. Another example would be when there are limited service providers in the region and customers have little flexibility to choose from them.
In the presence of fierce rivalry among competitors, what should you do in order to better compete with them and achieve high profitability?
To compete better, it is first important to understand the target market and find out what customers are looking for in the service/product. Based on that outcome, the company should strategically focus its presence and offering by giving them more benefits such as freebies, better service, improved experience, customer service that will improve their customer base and ultimately shoot up their profits
Why is an elevator service business more profitable than a manufacturing, based on the five forces?
Elevator business is definitely more profitable due to lack of high competition in this business segment. When compared with manufacturing, this business segment has plenty of competition, substitute manufacturers and a fluctuating demand and supply cycle.
Why do companies sell bundle?
Selling bundle is a strategic initiative by a business to attract customers for its sales. This allows it to have more market capitalization and consequently gives more profitability over the longer run.

I would like to discuss the question, “Which skill is easier to learn, IT or Management?” since I missed my opportunity to speak yesterday. As some of my classmates discussed yesterday, I too, believe that IT skills would be easier to learn than management skills. I believe that management skills are acquired through experiences and through time. I think that it takes someone more time to acquire good management skills than IT skills because to successfully be able to manage a growing company, someone in a management position should have years of experience managing or dealing with different people, managing different projects, working in various companies and industries, and being able to consistently multitask various things at once. Every individual is different which is why the question is certainly biased but I personally think that IT skills can be acquired in less amount of time and is easier for an individual to learn via classroom versus experiences.

The question I chose is “Which skill is easier to learn? IT or Management?” From my perspective, Management skill is harder to master. IT general includes telecommunication skills, computer technology, and sensing technology. The most familiar part is computer technology. For instance, MIS 2502’s content such as SQL, ERD, SQL, and Data Cube are easy to get if you follow instructor’s lecture. However, you just follow principles in books which may help. But you may be fail it because it is highly rely on practice or experiments. In different counties, groups, culture, hierarchy, and even people, management various. If someone is master in one industry, the management method has a high probability malfunctions in another industry. Management has more variables, however, IT has fewer variables.

Should a CIO be chosen among technically-trained managers or business-background managers?
CIO should have both technically-trained (computer science) & business-background (mgmt. science) in order to comply & communicate by how the CIO is operated & managed in a major corporation.

Which skill is easier to learn? IT or Management?
IT is easier to learn b/c a person can learn through a textbook in order to process the step by step levels.
Mgmt is not easier to learn b/c a person must engage & learn it through experience.

Why do you think the board of directors chose Mr. Barton as a new CIO?
He understands by how business mgmt. operates in order to have good communication skills & hands on experience.

What does it mean by “IT management is about management”?
How IT mgmt. should be operated in the business mgmt. level than computer tech level.

What does it mean by “IT department is positioned to understand how the business works better than any other department”?
IT dept. is able to position itself to be connected & functioned with several depts. (acct, finance, hr., or mktg.) in a major corporation.

What are the common characteristics of the CIOs, who we saw in the videos, in Walmart, Harrah’s and the United States?
The CIOs are very business professionals to communicate & operate in their corporate industries.

Q: Which skill is easier to learn? IT or Management?
A: I believe the easier skill to learn is IT. I believe this because IT is by the book. It is something you can learn on your own, read up on, study, and be tested. On the other hand, I believe management can only be taught to those who possess the right traits and not everyone is cut out for management. For example, I believe managers need to possess excellent people skills, something that is not taught but rather learned through life experience. Confidence, leadership, and the ability to listen to others I believe are all traits of a successful manager, and cannot be taught easily.

I would like to discuss the question : “Which skill is easier to learn? IT or Management?”

I believe that either IT or Management have the same difficult to learn by book (reading). The difference between IT and Management can be notice when applying those skills learned on books in a real scenario (practice). For exemple, if you are learning programming skills it is easy to follow books and tutorials and get to a good result like a block of code, website or a running database. Different from that, to be a great manager you must have an extensive set of skills from planning and delegation to communication and motivation which you need practice, time and a lot of experience to learn. People change, business change and almost every day there are many different scenarios inside a company. The manager must have years and years of experience to learn how to deal strategically with quick changes.