Reflection on Harley Davidson

Harley Davidson, founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and most well known producers of motorcycles in the U.S. The name is known worldwide. Being in the business and a successful company for over 100 years with employees of over 10,000 and steadily increasing revenue which is over $5billion; it is safe to say that they know what they are doing and they have been doing it right for a long time now. However, the CIO felt it necessary to try and restructure the IT internal controls because they might be outdated.

         Given the case analysis and presentation from our consultant last week, I would suggest that it was not necessary to immediately jump straight to that decision and first try to see how the infrastructure could be built from the inside out.

         It was clear after comparing the current controls to those of the COBIT framework, that there were issues. Right there I as the CIO, I would recommend that we start working on an implementation strategy to try and align our procedures to accordance with all the stringent control requirements. The control procedure would be revamped to display the new IT control framework. Weekly meetings and monthly internal audits would be tested to ensure that we are on track.

         I do not think the suggestion to hire consultants and automatically incur thousands of dollars in outside service fees is the correct first step to follow. We formed a new IT compliance department and uncovered our problematic areas. We discovered a good framework to follow and the last step is to implement and test. All this done in house. 

iPad Tech Tools

The iPad is the most innovative tech tool since the invention of the laptop. It is an excellent technological advancement that may one day replace the laptop for the traveling businessman. What makes the iPad so much more desirable from a laptop or other similar technologies is that it is more useful than just work. It has a plethora of apps that can help any person, business, or working individual stay collaborated, productive and organized with the rest of the world in a tablet thinner then your average college-ruled notebook. 

So picture this: busy dad on the go wakes up in the morning and grabs his iPad. On his way to work while sitting on the bus, checking e-mail while standing and drinking his coffee, multitasking between e-mails and clients. To catch up on current events before heading into the office, he goes into the newsstand app and checks out the latest news (no more need for magazine subscriptions). With 20 minutes to spare, he checks into his Flipboard app to do some last minute editing for his 9:30am meeting. Once the meeting is done he needs to prepare for his speech he must present for a few clients. Noticing that he has the speech at 11:30 and another at 1:00 he has limited time to get lunch. So he goes onto his Urbanspoon app and picks a random spot and has it delivered to his office. After a long day at work he comes home to screaming kids. What better then a bunch of fun cool games for them to play to calm them down?

There is a lot of convenience behind the iPad and there are unlimited amounts of capabilities that could be done to make life easier for your typical working mom or dad to just a 12 year old boy who wants to use it for fun and games. I see it becoming ever so popular among companies and as we can see ourselves, right in front of us! Our own Montclair State University considered it to be a great educational tool and I do see how it is very comfortable as opposed to carrying a bulky laptop along with books. I was most shocked when it was introduced into my workplace; since we are a manufacturing plant and technology such as an iPad is not something I would see as a necessity there. It is currently in an introduction phase and only intended for top management, but if successful, may be brought out for departmental use.  

Harley Davidson

Problem/Issue Statement

• What is the problem?

           The problem in the Harley Davidson case stems from the complexity of the IT internal controls in place which are regulated by the federally mandated regulations such as SOX, Health Insurance Portability, and HIPAA, and Gramm-Leach Bliley. The simple controls they have led to poor management and when analyzed by an IT compliance team it was discovered that many gaps existed in their control procedures.

• What is the distinction between the problems and the symptoms?

          The symptoms in this case analysis helps us identify the problem. The symptom was recognized at Harley Davidson when assessing the federally mandated regulations. They had come to find that there were very basic IT internal controls in place. Once they realize that there is a symptom, they will try to do anything they can to see if they can fix the problem. 

• What is the scope of the problem?

          The scope of the problem included many gaps in the existing controls that showed no standardized user process to access data and IT applications. This created many problems for users which opened up potential for security risk. The tracking of revisions to IT information was non-existant so you could not see who made changes to any procedures, nor was there a reason. 

Situation Assessment

• What is the context of the problem?

          The context of the problem was that the IT compliance department was in need of an improvement to their internal controls in order to mitigate the risk of noncompliance to federal mandates.     

• What are the decision criteria?

          The decision criteria was initially to implement some general vendor's computer control model. This was very vague, plus a key member had suggested a different framework know as the COBIT control framework. That was the decision they chose to go with.           

List of Plausible Alternative Courses of Action

• What are the alterative courses of action?

          The alternative courses of action to solve the problem was to successfully introduce more effective  controls that were recommended by the COBIT framework . This would ensure that managers understood why internal controls were necessary and play a major role in successful companies. The other course of action was to hire an IS strategic consulting firm to share their expertise with the Senior leadership on Harley. 

• How does each of these address the key problem?

              Both of the courses of action address the key problem by helping managers understand that the most important factor that separates the big boys with the little guys is the level of leadership by business and senior managers. This helped them realize that their current processes were in dire need to be upgraded. 

Evaluation of Alternatives

• Through what theoretical concepts should one evaluation of the alternatives?

       In this particular case, I would say that the VRINE model would be an appropriate theoretical concept to use in order to evaluate the alternatives because we are an existing successful company which needs to re-evaluate our current position to assess where we are. Our main concern is to be above competitors. 

• How does the evaluation relate to the decision criteria developed?

        The evaluation relates to the decision criteria because they attacked the problem by choosing the right decision. 

• How imaginative can/should the evaluation be?

         The evaluation should have some imagination but should also concentrate on factual points which will help address the key problem. 

Recommendation

• What is a quality recommendation?

         A quality recommendation would be one that would result in good outcome with the best resources in use. In the Harley case, I think the recommendation by the CIO to hire a strategic consulting team was a quality recommendation while the other one was a logical recommendation. 

• What is a logical recommendation?

        A logical recommendation would just be the most obvious recommendation to a certain problem. In the case of Harley, I think suggesting to implement better internal control seems like the logical one. 

Presentation

• If I were presenting, how would I sum up the case?

         If I were presenting this case, I would sum up the case by saying:

               Harley Davidson has identified the symptoms to their problem. After implementing a control framework as a guide, they found the underlying issues and in the end came up with the solutions to fix them. 

• What key visual aids would I present?

        Using Powerpoint i would present a framework of the previous problematic controls and show a framework for the new one. 

• How would I “sell” the recommendation?

     My main selling point for the recommendation would be to show the success of other companies using the new framework and the success it brings. 

• What other delivery considerations should I keep in mind?

    I would also consider using any information I could find about the methods used to implement the new framework and try to go in detail on the benefits of using it. In addition I would show some facts on the consulting team I would hire. 

Google Documents - Innovation For Success

• ·       What types of business would find Google docs useful?  Why?
•       Google docs is a very effective tool for file sharing that many different types of companies can use to effectively share documents with either the whole company or maybe a select department. This application is called "cloud sharing" so everything is stored in one place on the internet over a secured encryption so they have strict control on who is accessing the documents. Some businesses that would find google docs effective are law firms and financial audit firms. These types of business deal with lots of documents, presentations, and files and are constantly on the go at client locations. It is crucial for them to have access to files at any given moment and this application allows a simpler way to exchange information between co-workers that would keep it confidential at the same time.
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•       What is an example of a business situation where Google docs would be very useful?
•       In an auditing firm, documents are sent between auditors, partners and clients. With files uploaded to google docs, it would make it easier to work on client work from remote locations with several auditors working on the same kind of project instead of having the client email several different emails to all auditors working. We all know that financial information is very sensitive so it would be crucial to have the files secure and google docs does just that.

• ·       How (positively or negatively) could Google docs impact the resources of a business?
•        As mentioned previously, Google docs would have a positive effect on the resources of a business. By storing all files required in one spot on the internet there would never be any confusion as to where to go or worry about losing files. Organization, security, and ease of access to files would free up the stress of day-to-day activities that come with running a business. Say you forgot your laptop charger and your battery is dying and you needed to finish up a spreadsheet on fixed assets for your clients. If you have the file shared on this app, all you have to do is get to the nearest internet cafe or library and use their computer to access your file. The ease of movement to anyone that can obtain internet access is a major plus.

BLOGGING - Expression of the mind

Many people blog everyday for a variety of reasons that range from personal satisfaction, which may include a hobby, or actually earning an income from it. I have personally never blogged before, so this is my first time going through this experience and learning as I go. At the moment, I blog for the academic benefits. As MBA students, we can aggregate our our thoughts on our site and we can easily access each other's site to read what we have on our mind's. We are a team and sharing our thoughts is a wonderful way to combine our various backgrounds and expertise to broaden our knowledge.

Blogging has many benefits that are achieved with practice. The more you blog, the more refined your writing skills become. As you become a frequent blogger, you open the doors to connect with many other potential bloggers that will help you increase your knowledge base. I am looking forward to reading my colleagues blogs and read their great idea, thoughts and viewpoints on each class discussion. We only have so much time in the classroom so this is a way to stay connected outside of the classroom.

As we progress in the semester, it would be cool to have the whole class engaged in each other's blog's to the point where we can comment on our opinions. This is very rewarding because it is inevitable as if you got an opinion, someone else is bound to have an opposing one. If we can engage in debate over a case study, we will start to gain interesting alternative perspectives and it will help both the author and reader to develop the knowledge on the specific subject.

Anticipation for success

The first semester of my MBA schooling has come and gone. It was a very rewarding, exciting, yet scary experience. Going into it I was not sure how I would be able to manage a full-time career, social life, maintain health & fitness, and carry on a stable relationship with my girlfriend, while pursing my MBA degree. Well a quarter of the year down and I must say it was hard, but manageable. Requires much discipline and time management. The positive energy I received from co-workers, my boss, and friends upon completion while maintaining almost a 4.0 was overwhelming and only pushes me to yearn for more. I am looking forward to this exciting new semester of wealth and knowledge that you will bring to us.