CASE ANALYSIS ABOUT OCEAN FASHION COMPANY

Case Analysis about Ocean Fashion Company

Case Analysis about Ocean Fashion Company

The Company, Ocean Fashion, was formed to conduct the clothing business developed by a local entrepreneur. The business had been moderately profitable over the years, due to conservative financial management and careful attention to customers changing needs. In 2000, the company began to expand by opening a branch in Manchester, which became a regional office in 2006. Since its opening, the Manchester City branch had been the largest revenue producer in the company. Branches were opened in Rochdale, Lancashire in 2007 and Burnley, Lancashire in 2008. In 2000 Ocean Fashion opened a branch in Birmingham. This branch became a regional office in 2000, when branches were opened in Dudley and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. A Welsh office was set up in Cardiff in 2006 and branches opened in Newtown and Swansea the same year (Tynan, 2010, 12).

Now, the case is about a trading system, which is to be implemented shortly in the organization; but due to some conflicts arise between the managers of some branches, the implementation of the system has become difficult. Recently, problems were encountered with a system developed by a member of the staff to handle the trading operations of the company. The Manchester regional branch was refusing to use the system, while several other branches were clamouring for changes to it. The answers to the case are given below:

Q. How has the organisational structure of company affected the development of the coherent information management system?

The Ocean Fashion Information Systems Department is located in London and most operations are centralized there. The Department came into being in 2001 with purchase and installation of the company's first in-house computer for its accounting operations. Before this time all computing was done through a service bureau in London. The new department was put under the direction of Tom Daniels, who was the consultant originally hired to search for and instil the in-house accounting system. He hired two non-computer-trained personnel and a computer operator, who were responsible for the operation and development of the system. At first, most maintenance of the system was done by the vendor, according to specifications developed by Ocean Fashion information systems personnel. During the years the Department grew with the addition of development and support analysts, who were recruited from clerical jobs within the company. In 2003, the first analyst with formal training in information systems was hired. In 2004, because of increased in-house system development and maintenance, the department added three more information systems trained analyst to its staff (Peterson, 1979, 137).

In 2007, Smith hired another consultant to aid in the formulation of an information system strategy for the company. One of the consultant's recommendations was the hiring of a director who would be responsible for the overall corporate information systems function. He felt that this would encourage more strategic use of information systems by Ocean Fashion and give it a competitive edge in the ...