OCEAN FASHION COMPANY

Ocean Fashion Company

Abstract

Organisational Structure is a topic seldom contemplated by most people working in organisational settings. We all go to work every day, go to assigned locations, and perform our jobs and we don't ever think about how our organisation is arranged. However, Organisational Structure is critical both for a company and its employees. People should think very carefully about the organisational structure of the companies for which they work or of companies for which they intend to work. In the long run, Organisational Structure can spell the difference between success and failure for a company, as well as for the individuals who work there. The purpose of this white paper is to examine those challenges facing Ocean Fashion Company.

Table of Contents

The Case of Ocean Fashion Company4

Effect of Organisational Structure on the Coherent Information Management System5

Financial Control of Information Systems6

Ocean Fashion's Organisational Culture in Terms of the Relations between Manchester and London7

Organisational Issues of a Knowledge Management Strategy9

Leadership of the Senior Management in Relation to Information Strategy10

Factors Affecting Communication in Ocean Fashion10

Role of Communication in the Development of Information Systems11

Improvement in Communication in Ocean Fashion11

Development of Parallel Information Systems11

Reasons for the Expected Problems with the Trading Operation Systems12

Is the trading operations system “fit for purpose”?13

References15

Ocean Fashion Company

The Case of Ocean Fashion Company

The Ocean Fashion Company was established to operate as the clothing company developed by a local industrialist. The company has been yielding reasonable profit over the years, due to conventional style of financial management and careful consideration towards its 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.

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:

Effect of Organisational Structure on 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 ...