A case study of J-Trading
J-TRADING is a US-based arm of a Japanese keiretsu that is focused on commodity trading between the East and North America counting about 350 employees in the US. It has experienced problems with its information technology (IT) infrastructure and help-desk functions. IT employees were not motivated to work on these rather mundane tasks leading to quality and cost issues. J-TRADING CIO decided to solve the problem by outsourcing both functions. The case relays J-TRADING's outsourcing journey through its ups and downs discussing the process of vendor evaluation and selection, task transition, relationship management, and business outcomes. The case provides full financial details necessary for financial analysis and asks students to evaluate the sourcing decision itself as well as vendor selection and governance processes. It also asks students to elaborate on alternative sourcing approaches such as offshoring and cloud-based solutions.
Important Note: This case is full of information. Some of it is specifically relevant to this week's material, and some of it will be revisited down the line in this class. For now, on your second read- through, focus specifically on these parts of the article that are connected to this week's reading. It will make answering the questions easier.
Some of the headings you want to pay attention to include (but may not be limited to):
The IT departmentü
IT Outsourcingü
Future Outsourcing Strategyü
Outsource the PC Helpdeskü
Read the materials and Answer these four questions
Your response should be 2-3 paragraphs for each of these questions.
1. Discuss whether decisions to outsource help desk were the right one for J-TRADING strategically.
2. Discuss whether decisions to outsource data centers were the right one for J-TRADING strategically.
3. Use the data in appendices to perform the financial analysis of the data center outsourcing decision. Does the analysis support the outsourcing decision for the data center?
4. Cloud-computing and cloud-based services were not widely available in 2002. Today, would you recommend it to J-TRADING to consider cloud-based offerings for its infrastructure sourcing problem? Why or Why not?
Subject | Computer Science | Pages | 14 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Question 1
The purpose of outsourcing was mainly to increase effectiveness. But the desired trend was not emerging. This decision proved fruitless as the intended financial position was not realized. Additionally, people working IT section were overtasked thereof lowering their morale. The task that they were performing were recurring over and over again. Consequently, a lot of time was wasted in handling immediate tasks. The help task was faced with an issue of prioritizing the most important task. Due to this backlog of an unattended task, J trading falls short of adopting the new technology.
The departments were expensive to run since most of the workers were dissatisfied by the setting the help desk. This lack of motivation, the output in the IT department was low, and the cost of production was high. Consequently, the workers in this department were not encouraged to improve their productivity.
Question 2
From the foregoing, it is obvious that the adaption of outsourcing as a way to increase production was not successful. The data center in the company was forced with numerable challenges as such high production cost and providing substandard products was not in line with customers’ expectations. Additionally, the staffs were not inclined to work hard as the result negated every effort put. The operation cost increased, thus inhibiting the day to day management of the affairs.
As a result of consistent loss-making, the company decided to stop some people from working for the company. The aim was to lower the daily operating cost of the J trading. Largely, the expectation was that by reducing the number of the staffs, the profit will increase, thus prolonging longevity of the business. The communication was another setback in the company since most of the employees could not communicate easily. Subsequently, this made acquiring of the new staff difficult. Cumulatively, there was stagnancy in the daily operation of the business. The business remained vulnerable to the emerging social as well as economic trends.
Question 3
According to the business statements of the J trading, the figures are not reflective of the effort put. The marginal profit is falling rapidly, thus hindering the business activities of the company. As result, there is a need to change strategy and engage in more profitable means of production.
The profitability before the decision to adopt outsourcing was high. However, the expected results were not indicative of any significant change in the business. The company was faced with the decision of readapting the strategy to outsource
Question 4
To run the business efficiently, J trading should opt to use cloud computing as a way of storing data. Ultimately, this decision will offset the current conditions. The management should make sure that the emerging technology is adapted to the benefit of the business.
Conclusively, by using cloud computing, the J-TRADING will manage to reduce the ineffectiveness in daily to daily management of the business. This decision to use cloud computing will reflect favorably on the books of accounts.
References
Jaiswal, V., & Levina, N. (2012). J-TRADING: full circle outsourcing. Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 2(2), 61-70.
The outsourcing decision matrix: Analyzing the make or buy decision. (2016). Retrieved from http://file:///C:/Users/Deno/Downloads/Article%202%20-
17.
QUESTION
In what ways are prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping still with us today? When you find yourself being stereotyped by someone you are talking to, how do you deal with it?
ANSWER
Prejudice, Discrimination, & Stereotyping
In the modern world, stereotypes and prejudice entail pervasive and pernicious influence to both considerate behaviors and responses to others (Fiske, 2015). Sexism in the modern world is a clear identity that stereotypes nonetheless exist. Personality traits within our cultural context explore some elements of stereotypes. In this case, females are meant to be accommodating and emotional while males are meant to be self-confidence and aggressive. Certain assumptions like men are more adventures than women and homosexual men are effeminate illuminates the existence of prejudice in the modern world. It is also experienced in discriminatory actions like police bestowing more attention on African American than white. Implicit bias or explicit bias endures a customary way to perceive the existence of prejudice. Discrimination can furthermore be identified in various behaviors. Age gender, ethnicity, religion, and politics endure the primary ways to identify discrimination in the modern world (Whitley & Kite, 2016). In a workplace, gender inequality is noticed. White people earn more than black people regardless of their gender. Minority groups and marginalization within our society represent a coherent identity of discrimination in our modern world. Certain groups of people possess some powers than others.
Dealing with stereotyping
When I distinguish something in someone, it is substantial to require an unconscious assumption about him or her before executing any move. My first move is to first accept those stereotypes and practice an approach to correct them. I would rather think about something constructive about him or her. The next move is to quest for motivation. This does not mean talking to a therapist but to explore on the assumptions about him or her. I would also expose myself to diverse experience by stepping out as established routines to presume the existence of unique types of people (Fiske, 2018).
References
Fiske, S. T. (2015). Prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping. Fiske, S. T. (2018). Controlling other people: The impact of power on stereotyping. In Social Cognition (pp. 101-115). Routledge. Whitley Jr, B. E., & Kite, M. E. (2016). Psychology of prejudice and discrimination. Routledge. |