Sample exam 1410ICT
PART C: Case Study Questions
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS
5 questions - [20marks – 4 marks each]
CASE STUDY
GARDENSUPP is a well-established manufacturing and distribution company in New Zealand. Recently
the company secretary, who was well known for innovative ideas decided that senior management
needed an IS to monitor their business performance more closely.
GARDENSUPP was founded 160 years ago as a family business in England and in 1883 a subsidiary was
set up in Auckland, New Zealand. GARDENCO had seven branches in New Zealand and approximately
250 staff, with its main business focus on seed and bulb production, plant health and consumer
products. The company had an international
focus and is both an importer of raw materials and exporter of seed products to over 80 countries.
Questions
1. Classify the GARDENSUPP company according to Mintzberg’s classification and justify your
answer.
Machine Organization: Work is very formalized, there are many routines and procedures,
decision-making is centralized, and tasks are grouped by functional departments.
2. Identify any stakeholders would be involved in IS implementation.
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•
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Employees
Customers.
Suppliers.
Partners.
Regulators.
3. Recommend an Information System to meet the specific needs of the company.
The GARDENSUPP Information System consist of designing and developing a technology
platform providing an online order management covering the import and export
processes, in addition to automation of support sub processes.
4. Outline the main processes involved in your recommended information system.
The envisaged Solution will include the following components:
• Product management: the new IS should provide functionalities to facilitate the record of
different product information.
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Production Management: the new IS should provide functionalities to facilitate the production
management lifecycle from planning to production and marketing.
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Customer Management: the new IS should provide functionalities to record customer
information and manage their transactions.
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Supplier Management: the new IS should provide functionalities to record supplier information
and manage their transactions.
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Sample exam 1410ICT
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Branch Management: the new IS should provide functionalities to record and manage branch
information.
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Order online Management: the new IS should provide functionalities to manage the customer
and supplier online orders.
5. Describe the dimensions of impact of your new information system; identify intended
effects (and negative effects) and describe the impact of the new system on the
organization, groups, and individuals.
Positive impact
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Speed in access to information: allows users, customers , and suppliers to access to product
and orders information in no time.
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Communication –the communication with branches, customer and suppliers will be easy and
much efficient.
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Created a new startup: new markets (easily find new customers). Create new products.
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Cost-effective: reduce the cost of production, storage, shipping.
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Availability –The business can be open anytime anywhere (24×7), making purchases from
different countries easier and more convenient.
Negative impact
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Cybersecurity issues – thieves and hackers can get access to sensitive information and may be
crash the whole system and halt the business.
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Implementation expenses –The information system requires pretty good amount of cost in a
case of software, hardware and people.
----------------------------------------------- Related to Question 01 -------------------------------------------------------The main successful organizational structures that Mintzberg identifies are as follows:
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The simple structure: Has a simple, flat structure. It consists of one large unit with one or a few
top managers. Example: start-up companies, one-person company, family companies
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The machine Structure: Defined by its standardization. Work is very formalized, there are many
routines and procedures, decision-making is centralized, and tasks are grouped by functional
departments. Example: McDonald's
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The professional structure: Rely on highly trained professionals who demand control of their
own work. This structure is typical when the organization contains a large number of
knowledge workers, and it's why it's common in places like schools and universities, and in
accounting and law firms. Example: Universities
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The divisional Structure: Has many different product lines and business units. You'll often find
this type of structure in large and mature organizations that have a variety of brands, produce
a wide range of products, or operate in different geographical regions. Example: Apple
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The innovative Structure: Typically bring in experts from a variety of areas to form a creative,
functional team. Maintains a central pool of talent from which people can be drawn at any
time to solve problems and work in a highly flexible way. Example: Google
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