REAL WORLD CASE Running a Business on Smartphones: A CPS case study In early 2006, San-Antonio, Texas-based CPS Energy, the nations largest municipally owned energy provider, was by all accounts riding the road to riches. The company had the highest bond ratings of any such utility provider. Its workforce and customer base in general expressed satisfaction. And most important, it was profitable. In other words, there were no external signs that the company was about to launch a technology program that would redefine the way it did business and reshape its workforce of roughly 4,000. There werent external signs, but for those in the know, including Christopher Barron, CPS Energys VP and CIO, it couldnt have been more clear that a change was imminent and that the future of the company might depend on it. We had a much larger workforce than a business our size maybe should have, Barron says. Barron looked at other companies with large mobile workforces like its own, companies like UPS and FedEx, and saw a huge disparity in the way his business was operating. For instance, specific CPS workers had little or no access to IT systems and resources while away from the office or warehouse. They were often required to visit work sites or customer locations to diagnose issues or suggest fixes before reporting back to the appropriate departments or parties, which would then initiate the next step of the resolution process. That could mean dispatching additional workers, and the whole ordeal could take days. If we kept with the amount of manuallabor that it took for us to accomplish that work, we would not be in the position to be competitive in the future, Barron says. From this realization, the companys Magellan Program was born. The Magellan Program was envisioned by Barron and his colleagues as a way to better mobilize and connect its traditionally siloed workforce to the people and systems they needed to do their jobs. The goals of the program: extend CPSs networking infrastructure, build its own secure Wi-Fi networks in offices and warehouses, and deploy smartphones and custom mobile applications to all CPS staffers who didnt currently have a laptop or other mobile device. For Barron, the first and most significant challenge in deploying smartphones to such a large user base was getting executive buy-in. One of our biggest headaches has been, and continues to be, the perception that the technology brings little to the table other than e- mail, and it costs a lot, Barron says. For a CIO to try to eliminate all the resistance from a senior executive might take forever, Barron says. So rather than try to get to the execs and mollify all their fears about cost, usage and safety, weve gone to specific groups, engineers, line workers, office workers, and because its so cheap weve been able to give the devices out on experimental basis. There is so much value in these handheld devices and two or three applications that they prove themselves, he says. You just have to get them into the hands of the people that actually need to use them in order to demonstrate that. Three innovative ways CPS staffers employ their smartphones are as digital cameras at work sites, as GPS tracking mechanisms, and as emergency notification receivers. In the past, CPS might have had to dispatch a small group of generalist workers to a service call to make sure the correct person was there. Today, a single worker can visit a site, take a photo of a damaged piece of equipment or infrastructure, and then send it back to headquarters or the office. Then an expert diagnoses the issue and sends along instructions to fix the problem or dispatches the appropriate worker whos available immediately via voice e-mail and SMS text via smartphone. The Magellan Program, through the use of smartphones and other technology, has or will empower all employees, no matter what work they perform, to become part of the greater companys thought network, Barron says. Each person is now like a node in our network. The company is also seeing significant gains in supply chain efficiency related to Magellan and the smartphone deployment, he says. For instance, smartphones help speed up the purchase order process, because in the past a specific person or group of people needed to be on-site to approve orders. Now the approvers can be practically anywhere with cellular coverage. The companys supply chain buyers can also visit warehouses to work with the people who actually order parts, leading to faster order times and more proactive supply chain management overall. In just one year, the time it took to close purchasing and procurement deals decreased by more than 65 percent. Also, inventory levels were reduced by more than $8 million since the Magellan Program began. In addition, both employee and customersatisfaction levels are up, Barron notes, because staffers now have more access to corporate systems and information and feel closer to the business. Because CPS can now resolve more customer issues with fewer processes, theyve reduced the time it takes to complete most service calls, leading to happier customers. In fact, the company received the highest score in J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Survey. Source: Adapted from Jonathan Blum, Running an Entire Business from Smartphones, FORTUNE Small Business, March 12, 2008; and Al Sacco, How Smartphones Help CPS Energy Innovate and Boost the Bottom Line, CIO Magazine, July 11, 2008.

Read the case to prepare a two-page word report based on the questions below.

Q1. Write in one paragraph a summary of the case Running a Business on Smartphones: A CPS case study. Include FIVE (5) relevant facts from the case study in your answer.(10marks)

Q2. Relate the inputs, processing and outputs realized through the Megallan program in view of the current work practice of CPS staffers.(10marks)

Q3. Compare the strength and weakness found with the FIVE (5) elements of Information System relevant to the case with a suitable example.(10marks)

Q4. Describe FIVE (5) reasons why the employees of CPS initially resisted the idea of having the smartphone technology at their workplace.(10marks)

Q5. Explain FIVE (5) ways how smartphones have helped CPS to be more profitable.(10marks)

Q6. Evaluate any FIVE (5) competitive strategies that CPS could apply to develop new products or services by having the smartphone technology. Include relevant examples to support your answer.(15marks)

Q7. Deduce the benefits of CPSs wireless network infrastructure and the Magellan Program to the business and its supply chain activities. Provide any suitable illustration to support your answer.(15marks)

Q8. Justify how the rise of smartphones and mobile apps in Malaysia has helped local energy providers in servicing their customers based on the case facts.(15 marks)

Q9. Cite at least TEN (10) online articles, journals with suitable using APA referencing format in your report.(5 marks)