Case Problem FREEWAY FORD
You are a sales representative for Automobile Software, Inc., a national firm
that markets a
software package for car dealers. One day while talking with James Kahler,
the sales manager for Freeway Ford, you learn that his firm has a problem
with its inventory. The manual records it maintains do not accurately reflect
the inventory status-the numbers and types of automo- biles and trucks on
the lot. When a new shipment arrives, it takes several days to update the
inventory records. A salesperson might have a buyer who wants a particular
car, and the car may be on the lot, but the salesperson will never know it. A
sale is lost because of poor infor- mation. Another problem arises when two
salespersons sell the same car to different buyers. This happens because the
inventory records are not updated immediately after a sale.
You know that your software package, called SMART (Sales Management
for Automobile Retail Trade), will solve the problem. Once a dealer gets
SMART, the computer records are updated from a keyboard terminal as
soon as a new-car shipment arrives or a sale is made. The computer records
always reflect exactly what is on the lot. Versions of SMART are available
for both the PC and the Mac. The cost of the software plus hardware is well
within the reach of a metropolitan new-car dealership. .
Your next step is to approach the new president of Freeway Ford, Phil Rains,
and give your sales pitch. As you begin to tell Rains of your product's
merits, he stops you and says, "Listen, I'm new on the job. I'm a recent
graduate of a top Pacific Coast school, with a degree in systems theory. If
you could just explain how yout product will help us, in systems terms, I
think I can understand. Now, go ahead."
ASSIGNMENT
Describe, in systems terms, how SMART can benefit Freeway Ford.