ups and iphone technology

NAME:                                               GAONE TIDIMANE

SCHOOL:                                          MAFIKENG CAMPUS/GRADUATE SCHOOL

STUDENTS NUMBERS:               24815306

PROGRAMME:                                MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

YEAR:                                                2013

MODULE NAME:                             MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MODULE CODE:                             ADNM 821

ASSIGNMENT:                                                 UPS and iphone Technology

Executive Summary------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

Literature Review---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

Information Systems in Global Business Today--------------------------------------------------4

Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure: Hardware and Software------------------------5

IT and Approaches--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5

United Parcel Services (UPS) - DIAD Technology--------------------------------------------------------------------5

Apple's iPhone Technology--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

Specific Challenges and Effects of the Approaches--------------------------7

Apples Iphone Technology----------------------------------------------------------------------------7

Options for using IT to solve the challenges---------------------------------------------------------------7

Apples Iphone Technology----------------------------------------------------------------------------7

Final Recommendations-------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

Apple----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

Specific Challenges and Effects of the Approaches--------------------------8

DIAD Technology-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

Options for using IT to solve the challenges---------------------------------------------------------------9

DIAD Technology----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Final Recommendation--------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

UPS-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Bibliography-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10

Executive Summary

Postal and parcel services have long been among the most trusted third parties, reliably delivering millions of letters and packages to homes and businesses each day. Today’s economic and competitive pressures are forcing postal services and parcel shipping companies to update and restructure existing processes and invest in technologies to meet customer demands for faster on time and definite delivery expanded services. However, this must be achieved while meeting the standard of Universal Service and protecting the system from those who would use it for illegal or treacherous activities

With growth of changing business environment, today’s organizations also need to be more responsive, improve efficiency, and deliver innovative customer service. In order to accomplish these objectives, many business units and IT departments should improve their mobile computing devices in general, the iPhone in particular. This would enable companies to achieve business goals, improve business processes and generate increased revenue.

Introduction

Leaders in today’s most successful organizations recognize that technology must keep pace with what is happening in the external environment. Every original technology embeds the potential for a variety of applications. Some are more immediate and obvious as they answer to existing market needs, such as the substitution of an old technology to improve a product performance. Other more profitable applications are not noticeable at first sight and are only noticed by firms that are willing to query existing market requirements and redefine through the new technology what a product could mean for people.

The main aim of this essay is to find out whether one could use an iphone for work and

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the challenges that need be addressed to make it compatible and safe for use in work processes. On the one hand, I discuss the UPS technology of Delivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD). Propositions for improving this model to solve some of its pitfalls for the success of United Parcel Services (UPS) are also laid out.

Literature Review

Information Systems in  Global Business Today

In a study conducted by the havard business review 2006, most CEOs interviewed were consistent in the answer to the question ‘’ where does your growth come from’’. It was found that companies grew by creating what is known as new growth platforms (NGPs) whereby they could build their product mix, services and business to extend their capabilities into numerous new domains. Interestingly, NGPs come from investing in talent and new technologies. Although the company may not have enough technologies (capabilities) internally or through partnerships, it may opt to acquire smaller companies with specialized technologies to remain competitive in areas where it is lacking.

In the mid 1990s, UPS faced fierce competition from its competitor Fedex who were also in the same line of business. This challenge created a need for new strategic positioning. Later on the UPS team realized that although they are fundamentally a parcel delivery company, they were also a technology business. In other words, they could not divorce technology from their operations. A strategic focus in the right technologies in the conduct of their business would give them a competitive advantage. UPS embarked on a technology that could globally connect information, transportation and payment for the convenience of their customers.

Efforts have been made to define and operationalise the concept of sustainable transport in the urban context, these efforts have tended to fall into two broad domains: those that view sustainable transportation as a policy pathway, and those that view it as a policy end-point. There is an ongoing debate that to be successful, sustainable transport policy must avoid the common transportation policy pitfall of ignoring the larger

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framework in which transportation activity is entrenched. Therefore, the goal of sustainable transportation may be better served by a number of innovations in transportation practice that are occurring in the field. There are four emerging areas of innovation: New Mobility, City Logistics, Intelligent System Management, and Livability. These innovations represent a more systems-oriented approach, and the institutional challenges inherent in these proposals ( Laurie & Claude 2006).

In like manner, (Cohn and Hull 2009) emphasize the need for an information model about business objects during their life cycle. These are known as artifacts, for instance, Air courier package information model would include slots for package ID, sender, recipient, arrivals times, delivery time, and billing information. This life cycle model would entail numerous ways that the parcel would be delivered and paid for. In other words, business people could view artifacts as technologies that aid with tracking business operations such as, locations that the parcel has passed through and arrival times which are also provided to customer s.

There is a new dispensation of technology driven business, hence companies today should have a strategic focus towards innovation. (Siegele, L 2008).

Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure: Hardware and Software

Technology faces several significant challenges, many vendors and industry observers predict a bright future for cloud computing. Cloud computing can be defined as the set of hardware, networks, storage, services and interfaces that combine to deliver aspects of computing as a service. It has become a significant technology trend and many observers anticipate it to reshape information technology processes and market place in the next five years. Leavitt, N 2009

At present, the advent of cloud computing makes it possible to access programs, storage processing and applications development platforms over the internet without necessarily having to acquire new hardware. This brings about convenience on the part

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of final consumers just in time. Armbrust, M 2010

IT and Approaches

®    United Parcel Services (UPS) - DIAD Technology

UPS started out its self-developed handheld Delivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD) in 1990. The DIAD is the wireless handheld device that UPS drivers use to capture customer signatures, scan bar code tracking information, and transmit delivery-status information in real time directly to UPS’s global network using a digital cellular connection. The DIAD can process customer packages, time card reporting, and conduct time and motion studies to help improve the performance of the company .The device can broadcast date to the UPS Mahwah data center in three diverse ways:

·      through internal packet radio,

·      a cellular modem in the truck and

·      an internal acoustical coupler as used in a normal telephone line.

The DIAD has triple communications redundancy that ensures real-time tracking in every environment). The DIAD functions in concert with the company’s over 120,000 PCs, which is essential to capture data.

The new UPS device DIAD IV has a special feature being, the Global Positioning Satellite. This technology provide drivers with more detailed directions to pick up and delivery points in order to improve customer service. Moreover, it contains 128 megabytes of memory and a battery that lasts an entire workday. (Dudley et al. 2010).

®    Apple's iPhone Technology

Since the mid-1990s, the mobile phone industry has sought extensive adoption of mobile data services, envisioning a new mobile Internet with its own complex value network delivered through smartphone terminals. With its iPhone, Apple quickly gained smartphone market share while spurring extensive adoption of mobile data services in the United States

It is argued that the success of the iPhone was based on Apple's idea of the mobile

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Internet as being another modality of the existing wired Internet, and its leveraging on existing systems competencies. It is demonstrated how a promise to deliver the real Internet was a main part of Apple's original strategy, and that iPhone users quickly showed an interest in web browsing inconsistent to any other mobile phone in the US or Europe. Thus, propositions for the development of the mobile Internet in other countries were identified, as well as for future value creation and capture in mobile phone value networks. (Mace, M & West, J 2010)

 iphone and ipod touch are multi-touch hand held devices that provide new possibilities for interaction technology.

Specific Challenges and Effects of the Approaches-

Apples Iphone Technology

Although the iphone technology has made strides in the global environment, there a number of pitfalls that need to be addressed for Apple to become even more competitive:

·      Targets only middle and high income earners, demonstrating no commitment to the lower class. This is an opportunity cost, Apple is losing out revenues that it could have earned had it encompassed all social classes in the corporate strategy

·      Data lock in-customers cannot extract data from one site to run on another. This in turn creates inconvenience on the part of the customers when their programs are not compatible with other applications for work purposes. Companies may chose to switch to acquiring readily compatible phones.

·      Data confidentiality and auditability – Iphone data is vulnerable to virus and worm attacks phones. Virus attacks mean that in the end customers risk losing their valuable information and may threaten brand loyalty

·      Security and privacy- Hackers can crack and access highly classified information from the Iphone. Employers will dislike a brand in which unauthorized people can access their information.

·      Competition from similar brands-There is fierce pressure from competitors like BlackBerry who offer similar features like touch screen and reliable internet connectivity and flexibility for the work processes. Thus, users may be indifferent

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in which brand to purchase. This will result in a revenue split or even significant loss in revenue on the part of Apple when customers switch.

Options for using IT to solve the challenges

Apples Iphone Technology

·       Apple should look to design affordable Iphones for the lower class and smaller businesses and not lose out on this potential market

·      Apple should ensure that their Iphones programs are compatible with a wide array of applications in the workplace

·      Apple should deploy a built in firewalls and encryption and continually update Anti viruses to secure client information

·      Developers should put in place standard security practices which require disclosure and inspection.

·      In the wake of competition from similar brands, the company should opt to employ unique techniques and processes  that cannot be easily duplicated by other firms

Final Recommendations

Apple

·      To cater for the lower class and small companies, management of Apple should set aside funds in the next two years to invest in cheaper technology of building an affordable iphone. The same objectives should be shared and delegated to the IT team to start forecasting their resources and brainstorming.

·      In the next model of iphone, IT management should be given the responsibility by the Executive to include iphone programs that enable compatibility with other internet programs more especially for purposes of the workplace. This will reduce problems of data lock in.

·      A new policy has to be drafted in the three months time after careful consideration to say; every new model of Apple phone should have a built in firewalls and encryption and continually updated Anti viruses to secure client information. Should the costs be high, a partnership could be considered.

·       With immediate effect management and IT team should revisit their security practices and upgrade where necessary to include and comply with standard

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security practices. This can be posted in their websites for customers to access them to secure their personal and work data. This can improve brand loyalty.

Specific Challenges and Effects of the Approaches-

DIAD  Technology

Similarly, the UPS technology of DIAD was spot on and probably the best within the parcel delivery fraternity. However, there are limitations to the system that are critical to the success of UPS.

·      Alternative tools in case the DIAD is disrupted- reliance on this technology may create problems if it is damaged or lost in the process. It would then mean the drivers will have to depend on paper to capture loads of information which may cause delays in his schedule of pickups.

·      System is vulnerable to be tracked by hackers/ robbers- the lives of the drivers are at stake should they be tracked and kidnapped. Even the parcels can be stolen and that can destroy the relationship with customers.

·      Battery lasts only for a short while- For a busy company like UPS where they are numerous pick-ups in a day; a battery that lasts only for a working day would not suffice in peak days of the business where overtime is an option. That being said, this battery may bring the business to a standstill under the circumstances, hence losing out on deadlines.

·       Laser-based barcode scanning technology where a person tries to find the right angle to read a barcode is at times unreliable and may require the user to enter the barcode manually.

Options for using IT to solve the challenges

DIAD Technology

·      UPS to put in place an alternative incase the carrier’s signal gets lost .

·       UPS should deploy a built in firewalls and encryption and continually update Anti viruses to secure client information.

·      UPS should introduce battery that lasts for at least three days

·      Image recognition technology-there is need to upgrade the barcode scanning technology.

Final Recommendation

UPS

·      Management to delegate IT department to upgrade DIAD technology which enables instantaneous switching of cellular carriers in the event a carrier’s signal gets lost so it can remain connected to the UPS network all the time. This should be done in the next financial year.

·      A new policy has to be drafted in the three months time by management to say; every new model of DIAD should have a built in firewall and encryption and continually updated Anti viruses to secure delivery information.

·      The IT department to embark on a research to find an alternative battery that lasts for at least three days. This will assist in times of overtime and peak business days. However, to be cost effective funds should be set aside in the next financial year to do a study.

·      Management should asses the costs and benefits of switching to a new technology that can capture an image and extract information from it quicker than a person trying to find the right angle to read a barcode.

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Bibliography

Armbrust, M. &  Fox, A. 2010w. “A view of cloud computing”: Clearing the clouds away from the true potential and obstacles posed by this computing capability, 55 (4): 50-51.

 

Cohn, D. & Hull, R. 2009. Bussiness  Artifacts: A Data-centric Approach to Modeling Business Operations and Processes. Watson Research Laboratory: Hawthorn, Newyork.

Dudley, B. & Larsen, T. 2010. An analysis of the effectiveness of e-commerce: Jacksonville University Press.

 Leavitt, N.2009. Is cloud computing really ready for prime time?

Lourie,D.L.& Sheer, Claude. 2006. Harvard Business Review: Creating New Growth Platforms. http://www.hbr.org. (Accessed 7 July 2013).

Mace, M. & West Joel. 2010. “Browsing as the killer app”: Explaining the rapid success of Apple’s Iphone, 34 (5-6): 270-280.

Siegele, L. Let IT Rise: A special report on corporate IT. The economist (October 2008).

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