Alcan IT Management Structure
What are the pros and cons of the current Alcan IT management system?
Alcan is perhaps the single most successful global enterprise in the IT industry today. But, despite its success and penetration, it has its own set of pros and cons. Perhaps the biggest negative aspect of Alcan is the level of decentralization in the company. With each sector of the business being an individual unit, with its own IT structure, diversities, management structure, there was little to no communication amongst the business units which was not something that the new director -- Robert Ouellette -- much appreciated. This leads us to the most significant move in the Alcan Corporation i.e. The appointment of Robert Ouellette as the new Director. His first move was to analyze the costs and financial investments of the company in the IT sector. It was here that the most significant weakness of the Alcan Corporation surfaced.
The overall perception of the expenses by the CFO was that the total investments were up to $200 million annually. Even though, this was way off base, the actual spending was nearly $295 billion annually but the expenses were being recorded wrong as the operating expenses of the groups were included in the costs of goods sold. This oversight and misrepresentation was one of the biggest cons of the company. Furthermore, with each individual business unit investing in different SAP projects, the overall complete investment amounted to over $500 million which was adding more pressure on the resources and capital of the company. An even bigger downside with the Alcan management system...
Alcan IT Management Systems Analysis Alcan's growth as a global conglomerate in the aluminum and metal fabrication industry follows a similar trajectory of many companies whose business models forced rapid, highly distributed business models at the expense Information Technologies (IT) management systems consistency and performance. Alcan's IT management systems and underlying infrastructure have become balkanized as the company has grown into four separately functioning and highly autonomous business units. In evaluating
Alcan Case Although there are many drawbacks to Alcon's current application management, there are justifications for the current IT management system. The current Alcon application management structure, prior to Robert Ouellette's overhaul, emphasizes a culture of decentralization (Dube, Bernier, & Roy, 2009, Pt. A). This decentralized model is logical, in part, because it allows each practice group to structure its own strategic IT plan and choose its infrastructure based on
Alcan Case Study Alcan IT Infrastructure Case Analysis The strategic challenges that Alcan is having to overcome in order to continually grow profitably is common across enterprises that have grown through mergers, acquisitions and lack of unified Information Technology (IT) strategic planning. The result is often a balkanized, diverse IT architecture that lacks integration at the system and process level, weakening enterprises from getting to their goals and objectives. Alcan has
Alcan's continued revenue growth is the result of the combined success of increasing sales in four main business units, in addition to growth through acquisition. The cumulative effects of these two factors have served to create a profitable business and one where a highly decentralized organizational structure dominates (Chang, Wang, 2011). The catalyst of the organization becoming so decentralized is the continued revenue gains made across four businesses, each competing
Hydro-Quebec's IT Management: Hydro-Quebec is a firm that generates, transmits, and distributes hydroelectricity in the Canada's largest electricity generation network. As the firm seeks to become a leading company in energy across the globe, it also conducts innovative research in its specific field. In addition to being one of the leading firms in Canada's largest network of producing, transmitting, and distributing electricity, the firm is also one of the largest electricity
Types of Takeovers There are several consequences of whether a takeover is considered hostile or friendly. These consequences are more in the practical business realm than legal ones. Hostile takeovers are riskier for the acquirer than friendly ones. In a friendly takeover, the bidder will have a better chance to examine the company and its health. If the board is amicable to the situation, they will provide a full disclosure of
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