IM 305 SEMINAR CASE TWO
RUNNING THE BUSINESS FROM THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
Can you run your company from the palm of your hand? Perhaps not entirely, but there are many
functions today that can be performed using an iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, or other mobile handheld
device
The BlackBerry used to be the favorite mobile handheld for business because it was optimized for
e-mail and messaging, with strong security and tools for accessing internal corporate systems. Now
that’s changing. Companies large and small are starting to deploy Apple’s iPhone and iPad as well
as Android mobile devices to conduct more of their work. They are enhancing their security
systems so that mobile users can remotely accessing proprietary corporate resources with
confidence. For some, these handhelds have become indispensable. Eric Jackson is a champion
kayaker who spends half of each year following competitions and events throughout North
America. He’s also president of Jackson Kayak, the leading whitewater kayak manufacturer. It’s
essential that he participate in athletic events, monitor industry trends in the field, and meet directly
with dealers and customers. Jackson’s strong customer focus has helped the company expand
successfully worldwide, with distributors on six continents. With the iPhone and iPad, Jackson
claims he can run the entire 120-person company from afar.
Jackson’s Wi-Fi-equipped RV connects wirelessly to the company headquarters in Sparta,
Tennessee. When Jackson’s not on Wi-Fi, he uses his iPad 3G cellular connection. The iPad gives
him instant access to his entire operation, so he can analyze customer data, refresh Web site
content, or approve new designs. Jackson’s iPad includes calendars, e-mail, contact management,
and the ability to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations—all the tools this
executive needs to communicate with the home office, dealers, and customers. Back at the shop,
Jackson Kayak’s managers and employees find iPad and iPhone equally invaluable. In the factory,
Chief Operations Officer John Ratliff can compare Jackson Kayak’s manufacturing equipment
side-by-side with images of replacement parts on the iPad to make sure he’s getting the correct
pieces. The iPhone and iPad have become so indispensable that the company outfitted its entire
workforce, from customer service, to design, to quality control, with iPhones. Many have iPads as
well.
Using handhelds to run the business is not limited to small companies. General Electric (GE) is
one of the world’s largest companies, producing aircraft engines, locomotives and other
transportation equipment, kitchen and laundry appliances, lighting, electric distribution and
control equipment, generators and turbines, and medical imaging equipment. GE is also a leading
provider of financial services, aviation, clean energy, media, and health care technology. This giant
multinational was an early adopter of mobile technology. GE employees use their iPads to access
e-mail, contacts, documents, and electronic presentations. GE’s Mobile Center of Excellence has
developed dozens of iPhone and iPad applications, including industry-specific diagnostic and
monitoring tools and business intelligence tools that help decision makers find patterns and trends
in large volumes of data. The company’s Transformer Monitoring app helps manage gas turbine
inventory and electronic transformers throughout the world, with the ability to zoom in from a
global map to a specific transformer and read all of the key performance indicators. A PDS
Movement Planner lets service personnel monitor railway tracks and obtain diagnostic information
on locomotives.
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With operations in 60 countries, Dow Corning offers more than 7,000 products and services for
consumer and industrial applications, from adhesives to lubricants, delivered as fluids, solids, gels,
and powders. The Roambi Visualizer app lets Dow Corning executives use their iPhones to quickly
view and analyze real-time data from their core corporate system, including sales figures, trends,
and projections. It presents managers with simple, intuitive dashboards of complex data.
According to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Don Sheets, in 15 seconds he
can get a sense of whether there’s a financial performance issue he needs to get involved.
Dow Corning’s Analytics App for the iPhone monitors Web site traffic and online sales for the
company’s XIAMETER brand of standard silicone products. Analytics App interfaces with
Google Analytics. When Dow Corning rolls out XIAMETER Web sites across the globe,
executives can monitor what content is and isn’t being used whether they are home, traveling, or
at the office.
Sunbelt Rentals, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is one of the largest equipment rental
companies in the United States, with a $2 billion inventory of rental equipment. More than 1,200
company employees, including sales staff, field personnel, and executives, are equipped with
iPhones to interact with contacts and stay abreast of calendar events. In addition to using iPhones
for e-mail, scheduling, and contact management, Sunbelt deployed a custom application called
Mobile SalesPro, which ties multiple systems and databases into a single package for the sales
team. This application connects the corporate point-of-sale system, inventory control and
management system, and enterprise system, which integrates data from many different business
functions. Users are able to share sales quotes based on the most up-to-date information on rental
rates and equipment availability. With this application, Sunbelt’s sales team can respond
immediately to customer requests while they are at a job site.
Questions
i. What kinds of applications are described here? What business functions do they support?
How do they improve operational efficiency and decision making?
ii. Identify the problems that businesses in this case study solved by using mobile digital
devices.
iii. What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from equipping their employees with
mobile digital devices such as iPhones and iPads?
iv. One company deploying iPhones has said: The iPhone is not a game changer, it’s an
industry changer. It changes the way that you can interact with your customers and with
your suppliers. Discuss the implications of this statement.
v. Discuss the Tanzanian small business status as far as running the business from the palm
of your hand is concerned.
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