Chapter 1 Information Systems in Global Business Today 9

INTERACTIVE SESSION: MANAGEMENT

MIS IN YOUR POCKET
Can you run your company out of your pocket? Doylestown’s information systems department
Perhaps not entirely, but there are many functions was able to establish the same high level of security
today that can be performed using an iPhone, for authenticating users of the system and tracking
BlackBerry, or other mobile handheld device. The user activity as it maintains with all the hospital’s
smartphone has been called the “Swiss Army knife Web-based medical records applications. Information
of the digital age.” A flick of the finger turns it into a is stored securely on the hospital’s own server
Web browser, a telephone, a camera, a music or computer.
video player, an e-mail and messaging machine, and D.W. Morgan, headquartered in Pleasanton,
for some, a gateway into corporate systems. New California, serves as a supply chain consultant and
software applications for social networking and transportation and logistics service provider to
salesforce management (CRM) make these devices companies such as AT&T, Apple Computer,
Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, and
even more versatile business tools.
Chevron. It has operations in more than 85
The BlackBerry has been the favored mobile
countries on four continents, moving critical
handheld for business because it was optimized for
inventory to factories that use a just-in-time (JIT)
e-mail and messaging, with strong security and tools
strategy. In JIT, retailers and manufacturers main-
for accessing internal corporate systems. Now that’s
tain almost no excess on-hand inventory, relying
changing. Companies large and small are starting to
upon suppliers to deliver raw materials, compo-
deploy Apple’s iPhone to conduct more of their
nents, or products shortly before they are needed.
work. For some, these handhelds have become
In this type of production environment, it’s
necessities.
absolutely critical to know the exact moment when
Doylestown Hospital, a community medical
delivery trucks will arrive. In the past, it took many
center near Philadelphia, has a mobile workforce of
phone calls and a great deal of manual effort to
360 independent physicians treating thousands of
provide customers with such precise up-to-the-
patients. The physicians use the iPhone 3G to stay
minute information. The company was able to
connected around the clock to hospital staff,
develop an application called ChainLinq Mobile for
colleagues, and patient information. Doylestown
its 30 drivers that updates shipment information,
doctors use iPhone features such as e-mail, calen-
collects signatures, and provides global positioning
dar, and contacts from Microsoft Exchange
system (GPS) tracking on each box it delivers.
ActiveSync. The iPhone allows them to receive
As Morgan’s drivers make their shipments, they
time-sensitive e-mail alerts from the hospital. Voice
use ChainLinq to record pickups and status
communication is important as well, and the
updates. When they reach their destination, they
iPhone allows the doctors to be on call wherever
collect a signature on the iPhone screen. Data
they are.
collected at each point along the way, including a
Doylestown Hospital customized the iPhone to
date- and time-stamped GPS location pinpointed on
provide doctors with secure mobile access from any
a Google map, are uploaded to the company’s
location in the world to the hospital’s MEDITECH
servers. The servers make the data available to cus-
electronic medical records system. MEDITECH
tomers on the company’s Web site. Morgan’s com-
delivers information on vital signs, medications, lab
petitors take about 20 minutes to half a day to pro-
results, allergies, nurses’ notes, therapy results, and
vide proof of delivery; Morgan can do it
even patient diets to the iPhone screen. “Every
immediately.
radiographic image a patient has had, every
TCHO is a start-up that uses custom-developed
dictated report from a specialist is available on the
machinery to create unique chocolate flavors.
iPhone,” notes Dr. Scott Levy, Doylestown
Owner Timothy Childs developed an iPhone app
Hospital’s vice president and chief medical officer.
that enables him to remotely log into each choco-
Doylestown doctors also use the iPhone at the
late-making machine, control time and temperature,
patient’s bedside to access medical reference
turn the machines on and off, and receive alerts
applications such as Epocrates Essentials to help
about when to make temperature changes. The
them interpret lab results and obtain medication
iPhone app also enables him to remotely view sev-
information.
eral video cameras that show how the TCHO
10 Part One Organizations, Management, and the Networked Enterprise

FlavorLab is doing. TCHO employees also use the tions. Properly configured, the iPad is able to
iPhone to exchange photos, e-mail, and text mes- connect to corporate networks to obtain e-mail
sages. messages, calendar events, and contacts securely
The Apple iPad is also emerging as a business over the air.
tool for Web-based note-taking, file sharing, word Sources: “Apple iPhone in Business Profiles, www.apple.com,
processing, and number-crunching. Hundreds of accessed May 10, 2010; Steve Lohr, Cisco Cheng, “The Ipad
business productivity applications are being devel- Has Business Potential,” PC World, April 26, 2010; and
oped, including tools for Web conferencing, word “Smartphone Rises Fast from Gadget to Necessity,” The New York
Times, June 10, 2009.
processing, spreadsheets, and electronic presenta-

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS MIS IN ACTION

1. What kinds of applications are described here? Explore the Web site for the Apple iPhone, the Apple
What business functions do they support? How do iPad, the BlackBerry, and the Motorola Droid, then
they improve operational efficiency and decision answer the following questions:
making?
1. List and describe the capabilities of each of these
2. Identify the problems that businesses in this case devices and give examples of how they could be
study solved by using mobile digital devices. used by businesses.
3. What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit 2. List and describe three downloadable business
from equipping their employees with mobile digi- applications for each device and describe their
tal devices such as iPhones, iPads, and business benefits.
BlackBerrys?
4. D.W. Morgan’s CEO has stated, “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.

iPhone and iPad Whether it’s attending an

Applications Used in online meeting, checking
Business: orders, working with files
and documents, or obtaining
1. Salesforce.com business intelligence, Apple’s
iPhone and iPad offer unlim-
2. FedEx Mobile ited possibilities for business
users. Both devices have
3. iTimeSheet stunning multitouch display,
full Internet browsing, capa-
4. QuickOffice Connect bilities for messaging, video
and audio transmission, and
5. Documents to Go
document management.
6. GoodReader These features make each an
all-purpose platform for
7. Evernote mobile computing.

8. WebEx