Case Study: GG Freightways (GGFRT) GGFRT is a regional transportation and distribution company in operation for over 30 years. The company serves major cities in the southwestern region of the United States. The ir headquarters
(1), terminals/warehouses (8) and maintenance facilities (2) are noted below.
Corporate Profile
Corporate Name: GG Freightways
Founded: August 1989 Headquarters: Los Angeles CA
Terminals/Warehouses (8): Los Angeles CA, San Diego CA, San Bernardino CA, Bakersfield CA,
Scottsdale AZ, Phoenix AZ, Tucson AZ, and Las Vegas NV Maintenance Facilities (2): San Bernardino CA, Scottsdale AZ
Number of Employees: 750 (includes truck drivers)
Fleet: 400 delivery vehicles (average of 50 per terminal) which include: 80 tractor/semi-trailer units,
160 box trucks and 160 panel vans Total Annual Gross Revenue: $35,000,000
Current economic climate: stable industry, highly competitive business environment, 6% profit
Future financial goals: 8% profit with 8% reduction in operating costs
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Marissa Schmidt
To familiarize yourself with commonly-used shipping terms in the freight industry, visit this site and refer to it as you read the case study and assignments:
http://www.shipnorthamerica.com/htmfiles/glossary/gloss_shipterms.html
Current Business Operations
GGFRT operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sales personnel (40 people, five per terminal) visit
prospective customers to outline company capability, services provided and costs. When a customer
decides to use GGFRT they call the dispatch office with shipment information. Usually they FAX a copy of
the bill(s) of lading to a terminal with information such as origin, destination, product description,
weight and number of packages.
A dispatcher at a terminal makes a list of freight pickups and sends a truck to get the freight. To do this
they use the routing/freight optimization system to determine the sequence of pickups by zip code.
They use local maps within a zip code to map out the specific order of pickups since there may be
several in a zip code area. They have a performance goal of 98% of freight picked up within 24 hours of
availability.
A driver follows the dispatch order for pickups. Many of the drivers complain that the pickup order is not
efficient. When they pick up an order they sign for receipt and either load the freight or guide the
customer’s forklift operators to arrange it properly in the truck.
After freight is picked up it is brought to the terminal where it is unloaded and sorted by destination. A
dispatcher then prepares a delivery ticket (again using the routing system) that is used to load a truck in
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the proper sequence for delivery. Some trucks take freight from one terminal to another while others
make local deliveries. Since some terminals are close to 12 hours away from each other, there are many
“out and back” routes where drivers meet halfway between terminals to exchange freight trailers, which
benefits drivers so they don’t exceed their permitted daily maximum driving hours of 11 per day . About
half of a terminal’s space is used on any given night. Dispatchers have a goal to turn freight around in
the terminal overnight for next day delivery.
When freight is sent out for delivery, the driver follows the delivery ticket order. Often, they are held up
at a delivery destination by traffic or by lack of available unloading space. This can cause the driver to be
late trying to make the day’s deliveries. Sometimes they get to a destination and the facility is closed
and they bring the freight back to the terminal for delivery the next day. It is unloaded and re -sorted by
destination. The dispatchers then add it to the next day’s delivery tickets.
The major freight volumes are between Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles (about 70% of total
volume). Trucks run at about 70% average of capacity between terminals. Local delivery volume is
heaviest in Los Angeles, followed by Phoenix and then San Diego. Local delivery trucks operate at about
80% full while pickups fill about half of the vehicles space. Some customers pick up and/or drop freight
at a terminal/warehouse, with their own equipment.
Truck drivers communicate with the dispatchers using two-way commercial radios. Some also carry
personal cell phones and use them if the radio is out of range. A few drivers also carry GPS devices to
help locate addresses. In general, the drivers are content with the company. Pay and benefits are good,
and they get overtime pay when deliveries run late. Complaints are few and mostly center around either
the sequence of pickup and delivery of shipments or vehicle maintenance.
The fleet is maintained at the main Scottsdale maintenance shop and at a smaller shop in San
Bernardino. Either one can handle minor maintenance and preventative work. Only Scottsdale can
perform major engine and transmission work. Overall the fleet is in good operating condition. All
vehicles are on a preventative maintenance schedule which places them out of service two days a
month, usually on weekends. Maintenance scheduling is a challenge because it can interfere with the
steady flow of shipments both between terminals and for local delivery. There are no “extra” vehicles in
the fleet.
Administration
The company management team consists of the President, Vice President of Operations, Chief Financial
Officer (CFO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Sales Manager, and a Fleet Manager who oversees
maintenance and safety. They meet weekly to discuss opportunities and issues and to plan for future
goals. Except for the CIO, the management team has been in place for many years
The president of the company just hired its first Chief Information Officer (CIO), Lance, after the previous
IT Director retired. He comes from a nearby manufacturer who is also a major customer. At that
company he was Deputy CIO and primarily responsible for network operations and security.
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Business Strategic Objectives
At a recent meeting the management team decided to change the strategic plan for the business to
meet growth and cost goals. They highlighted three new strategies they want to employ to increase
profitability and grow the business.
1. First, they want to track the whereabouts of freight both in the terminals and on the trucks to
provide customers with accurate delivery dates and times;
2. Second, they want to improve the percent of loaded miles in their fleet to reduce costs by
coordinating the pickup and delivery of freight at the same time in the same geographic area;
and,
3. Third, they desire to provide warehousing services for customers who want to reduce delivery
time to their customers or company by having product available locally for pickup in warehouses
or quicker local delivery.
Federal/State Mandates
In addition, the management team wants to ensure that the company remains in compliance with all
applicable federal and state regulations. The ones they are most concerned about are:
1. The Sarbanes Oxley financial audit and reporting requirements;
2. A new federal requirement to conduct a vehicle safety check every 10,000 miles; and,
3. A Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reporting requirement on the number
hours per day for each driver (or max per week, etc.).
CFO/CIO Goals
The CFO has been charged with the overall project. He has asked Lance to help with this effort by
modernizing information systems to support the new strategies. He has decided:
1. His first step is to update the IT strategic plan to link to the new strategies in the corporate plan.
2. Second, he wants to engage his customers in a proactive way to first, identify and prioritize IT
projects that will help meet the new goals, and then develop a set of requirements for each
project.
3. Third, he wants to decide on the best approach to modernize the information systems that will
meet requirements at a reasonable cost, and for this he will need to make some changes to the
IT organization.
Strategic Direction
As a small player in a large transportation market serving large cities, GGFRT has many larger competitors. They need to improve their alignment of IT with their business strategic objectives as
well as updating their operational processes and IT to become more efficient in serving their
customers and acquiring new ones.
Current Technology
GGFRT is using a mix of older technology products for finance and accounting, route optimization/
freight tracking and fleet maintenance. There are several projects already in the IT portfolio competing
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for resources. The CIO sees a major challenge in balancing available funding, IT staff workload and
project prioritization. The project nearest completion is the adoption of the Precise Financial Reporting
System to replace the aging finance and accounting system. It will be completed in six months. There are
two other projects under way, one for management reporting and one for a mobile application that
sales staff can use to show potential customers information on the fleet, distribution services available
and freight rates, and warehouse options, including a comparison to the competition.
The route optimization and freight tracking system is very important to the operations manager and
dispatchers. The current system allows the input of freight origin and destination information. This is
taken from a bill of lading which contains a plethora of specific information. When the dispatchers en ter
the origins and destinations into the system they are grouped by zip code. The dispatchers then decide
which zip codes will be loaded in a truck and in what sequence for delivery. This takes several hours at
night to accomplish and must be done as quickly as possible so trucks can be loaded and sent out in the
morning for delivery. Arranging shipment sequence within a zip code is done by locating each address
on a map and entering it into the system in the best order. Pickups are handled in a similar manner.
Freight tracking features are not yet integrated; this should be developed in the future to meet one of
the business objectives.
The fleet maintenance system contains information on each vehicle in the fleet. It includes all vehicle
specifications, a summary of all repairs, a preventive maintenance schedule and an inventory of parts on
hand. This information is entered by accounting clerks, mechanics, purchasing clerks and anyone else
who has time to do data entry. It is not as time consuming as the route optimization/freight tracking
system, but it contains information critical to fleet reliability. The greatest challenge is scheduling
preventative maintenance since it requires vehicles to be down for two days. The dispatchers do not
want the equipment taken out of service because it causes planning headaches. The relationship
between dispatchers and maintenance personnel is strained.
IT Organization
When Lance was hired as CIO last month he took a close look at the current staffing. The IT staff consists
of 24 people, seven of whom are programmers. The programmers are charged with all systems
development and integration work for the company. They have three projects in their current portfolio.
Their skill sets include SQL, .Net and C+ programming, and Web design.
There are eight helpdesk personnel who support the eight distribution terminals (one at each terminal).
They work independently. The remaining staff includes two network engineers, a financial systems
specialist (an expert in Precise Financial Reporting), a computer security expert, two shift supervisors
(who supervise the programmers, network engineers, financial systems specialist and computer security
expert at headquarters) and the CIO and his two personal assistants.
The IT staff supports multiple locations. At the Los Angeles headquarters/terminal there are 15 servers
(they contain all software and data; one stores a backup copy of the data) and 30 PCs for accounting,
marketing, IT, administration and management. The terminal/warehouse operations offices have eight
PCs for dispatchers, one for each of the maintenance offices, one for parts and one for drivers in th
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driver lounge. The other seven terminals have 10 PCs each and connect to headquarters by a virtual
private network (VPN).
IT Portfolio
Precise Financial Reporting System- This new system will replace the current finance and accounting
system. It is an off-the-shelf product that requires the owner to make modifications to interface with
other systems they may own. Two programmers are working on the project. One is setting up the
database and loading the software on servers. The other is learning about the system to write an
interface with the route optimization/freight tracking system. A representative of Precise Financials will
train the accounting staff in its use. This will take about two weeks.
Management Reporting System- Senior management wanted to know financial information daily. Two
programmers have been working on a system to compile the data in a format they can use. They plan to
extract information from Precise Financials when it is ready but for now have focused on the current
system. They will be done in two months.
Mobile Marketing App- The marketing manager asked for an app that sales staff could use to show
potential customers information. This would include things like fleet photos and specifications; pictures
of the eight terminals and information about the distribution/warehouse services GGFRT can provide;
and a comparison of their costs using sample shipments with rates from competitors compared to
GGFRT costs. A programmer and the web designer are working on the project. It will take two more
months to complete.
The current design and development process is best described by the way it worked in the selection and
integration of Precise Financials. The CFO asked the (former) CIO to develop a new finance and
accounting system. The CIO interviewed large, respected companies and, after comparing their
capability to the current system, chose Precise Financial Reporting. Two programmers were assigned,
and a Precise Financial Reporting specialist was hired to work between IT and the finance office. The
CIO receives progress reports every two weeks.
Situation
When Lance was hired, he toured each terminal to see the IT setup and understand local business
operations. It was important to him to know just how each person used the systems. He spent time with
bookkeepers and accountants, dispatchers, drivers and terminal management. Since he came from one
of GGFRT’s customers he knew that customers could offer insight into business improvements that
would be good for both companies. He visited one large customer in each of the terminal’s area of
service to get feedback on how operations between them and GGFRT could be improved. His goal was
to see how he could translate what he learned into systems improvements.
Interestingly the most complaints came from bookkeepers and accountants. They said the system was
slow and data entry was tedious because accuracy was very important. If they entered wrong
information, it could cause incorrect billing (rates are based on weight and size), improper loading (the
wrong zip code could mean sending freight in the wrong direction unless a dispatcher caught the error),
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and more. They estimated current accuracy at about 95% but they had no way of knowing for sure.
Further, they complained about financial reporting and their ability to meet compliance requirements.
Reporting was mostly a manual process and data they needed from the system was not easily accessed.
Most of them had resorted to keeping small ledgers at their desks to track information they knew they
would need for reporting.
The dispatchers explained that routing wasn’t all that hard, just time consuming. The routing system
grouped all the shipments by zip code. They would take all the shipments in a zip code and look at the
weight and size (how much cubic space each one needed in a truck), plot them on a map and then put
them in delivery sequence. They thought most trucks left the loading dock full and that that the drivers
made adjustments in delivery sequence when needed. Pickups were a bit more challenging. Sometimes
they sent a truck out just to pick up freight and bring it back to the terminal. Other times they contacted
a driver to ask them to stop at a customer to pick up a shipment while they were making deliveries.
Since they didn’t know exactly how much space was available on the truck this was a hit or miss
situation. Drivers were left to decide if they could make it work.
Drivers were the most outspoken, probably because no one ever asked for their opinion. They were also
the happiest of employees (this might explain why they were non-union). They liked being able to make
decisions on the go and they knew the customers very well. In fact, they could call some of them if they
were running late and the customer would stay open so they could deliver or pick up a shipment. They
seemed to have favorite customers and often spent extra time with them talking about common
interests. Generally, they were good ambassadors for the company.
Terminal managers were under constant pressure. Their main goal was to get shipments into and out of
the terminal as quickly as possible. Delivery times were measured and part of their performance plan.
They knew the company had established three new strategies because they were explained in an email
they just got. Lance asked how they might provide warehousing services. Most felt they had extra space
and could take on some storage but keeping track of the shipments might be a problem. They had to do
this manually and the bookkeepers were the ones to keep the records. They felt more bookkeepers
would be needed but they didn’t know how many.
Lance also met with the maintenance and safety staff at the San Bernardino terminal. The maintenance
folks had a large workload and complained that they had a hard time getting equipment in the shop for
preventative work. They did not know when equipment would be available until the last minute so
scheduling was always a scramble because they needed to make sure mechanics were available to do
the work. They had a lot of complaints about shifting work hours and the effect it had on their personal
lives.
The safety manager expressed concerns over driver hours of service. There are federal regulations that
limit drivers to 11 hours of driving at a time. Then they need to take an eight-hour break. The problem
was tracking the driver’s hours to make sure they stayed within the law. Dispatchers tried to help with
this when they scheduled pickups and deliveries but there was no easy way to do it and the results were
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often based on best guess. The safety manager who was ultimately responsible for compliance had
drivers turn in their hours each day but this was always after the fact.
Lance’s customer visits were eye-opening. Most of the customers had automated inventory systems and
could easily track products from raw material to finished goods. They knew exactly what they would ship
and when, usually several days ahead of time. Some customers however needed near instantaneous
shipping. They wanted same-day pickup in a lot of cases and fast delivery. In most cases, they were all
able to produce electronic documents such as the bill of lading and email or FAX it to GGFRT.
During his interview for the CIO position, Lance was told that the previous IT Director had left a good
foundation and that the staff seemed sufficient in number and appeared to be very capable. However,
since GGFRT is developing its strategies for the future, the staff must be able to support the business
strategies as well as the IT strategies that Lance would develop. One of the first things Lance did was to
interview each member of his staff. He discovered that the roles and responsibilities tended to overlap
and that morale among his staff was very low. Lance also interviewed the senior leadership of GGFRT
and learned that his staff was not meeting their expectations for service. The help desk was perceived
as being only somewhat competent and took much too long to respond to problems. Application
developers were very slow in delivering systems, and when the systems were finally delivered, they did
not reflect what the customers needed or wanted. Network outages occurred too often from the users’
perspective. Finally, the Chief Financial Officer told Lance that the IT costs need to be reduced.
Lance knew he had many challenges. He was determined to identify essential projects and then
prioritize them for management review. The outcomes would affect almost every aspect of the
business. His IT portfolio was about to grow, and her organization will need to change to meet the
challenges.
Your Task
From the perspective of the CIO for GGFRT, you will be completing many tasks over this semester.
• In the ITSP #1 assignment, your main goals will be to develop a new business strategic objective that you feel is one that GGFRT needs to accomplish. You will write IT Mission and
Vision statements and develop an IT Governance Board, select an IT Governance
Methodology, choose your team and discuss their roles on the board. You will also choose a prioritization tool to rank projects and discuss criteria that is important while prioritizing
those projects along with a few other tasks.
• In the ITSP #2 assignment, your main goals will be to choose IT strategies, aligning them
with business strategic objectives from the ITSP #1 assignment. You will complete an IT roadmap of the current project schedule and add a new project that you will deem
important to GGFRT’s operations. You will discuss risk of implementing projects from the
CIO perspective and create steps of a Business Continuity Plan along with a few other tasks.
• For the CIO Memo assignment, you will discuss your leadership philosophy and management style, address IT strategies and discuss how each will benefit the business,
create an organizational chart based on the information presented above for the 24
employees in the IT Department, explain how a CIO Organization differs from an IT
Department, note Key Services (functions, positions) that will be included/eliminate in your
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new CIO Organization, create a new CIO organizational chart, and discuss key milestones (related to the Key Services’ section) for accomplishing your new CIO organizational
structure along with a few other tasks.
• In the IT Decision Paper assignment, your project will be presented (from the ITSP #2 assignment), the strategic alignment of your project to one of the business objectives (from the ITSP #1 assignment) and IT strategies (from the ITSP #2 assignment) will be discussed, discussion of where your proposed project would fit into the IT roadmap (from the ITSP #2 assignment) will be discussed, how your project will share data, integrate, or replace an existing or proposed system will be discussed, benefits the project will provide to GGFRT, requirements of the project, anticipated cost/size of the project, performance measures of your project and the system development life cycle steps of your project along with a few other tasks.
GGFRT is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 301 Case Study. 6/25/2019 for University of
Maryland Global Campus
GG Freightways (GGFRT) IT Strategic Plan, Part 1
Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the “GG Freightways Case Study” and all the course content from Weeks 1 and 2.
Purpose of this Assignment
This assignment gives you the opportunity to apply the course concepts to begin the development of an Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP) to support the strategic direction of GG Freightways (GGFRT). This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:
· identify, define, and explain the concepts of information technology governance and management
IT Strategic Plan for GG Freightways
Lance, the new CIO at GGFRT, has asked you to write an IT Strategic Plan that she can use to guide the direction for her organization. The ITSP will be developed in two parts. This assignment covers Part 1; Part 2 will be covered in the next class assignment. Together, they will form an ITSP that has been tailored to the course material covered in this class. You may work for an organization that has an ITSP, and it would be a good idea for you to look at it, but it will likely be structured a little differently from this one. Each organization develops an ITSP that will work for them.
Assignment
You will develop Part 1 of the ITSP for GG Freightways (GGFRT), using the outline below. Each of the topics to be included in your outline is covered in the course content readings assigned thus far. In addition to the course materials, at least two external resources (resource other than those provided in the class) must be used. Two or more cited references will earn top credit. Use a separate References page to list just the references you have cited. Remember to use the APA formatting rules and correctly cite and reference your sources with APA format. Use the Grading Rubric to be sure you have covered everything.
Please use this outline to build your IT Strategic Plan. Use the numbering and headings shown below.
Part One
1. Business Statement – Summarize in one paragraph, in your own words, the business of GGFRT. Include the location of the company/terminals/maintenance facilities, fleet information/details, and current/future financial climate/goals (with cost savings). Refer to Case Study.
2. Business Strategic Objectives – In the Case Study, the management team has identified three (3) new strategic objectives. Using the following table (copy/paste it into your assignment), List/fully state the three (3) objectives, then, in your own words , in full sentences , add a brief explanation to each one. Next add a new strategic objective of your own – one that you consider important to the current and future health of GGFRT’s business. In the explanation, it should be a statement of how the management team would improve the business of GGFRT. It can be one of the three federal/state regulations that the company wants to remain in compliance with, or a new one that you choose. Write a brief introductory paragraph prior to the table. The paragraph must come first before your table, to explain what the table is providing.
The format below should be used for the presentation of this section:
| Business Strategic Objective (number 1, 2, 3, 4 only) | Fully State the Objective (from the case study) | Explanation (in your own words for each bso; for the new objective, also incorporate how the management team would use the new objective to improve the business of GGFRT: |
| 1 | | |
| 2 | | |
| 3 | | |
| 4 (new objective) | | |
3. IT Mission and IT Vision Statements – Write two short paragraphs with separate IT mission and IT vision statements for the Information Technology Department at GGFRT. Label one “IT Mission Statement:” and one “IT Vision Statement:”. The format should be:
a. IT Mission Statement: (stated in full sentences)
b. IT Vision Statement: (stated in full sentences)
Use what you learn from the case study to create your own idea for the IT Mission Statement (current IT goals); and use the case study situation at GGFRT to write the IT Vision Statement for the IT department (future IT goals).
Refer to the course materials on mission and vision, particularly the reading on “Creating a Future Vision for the Chief Information Officer”. If you need help on a mission statement, do a little research on the web; you will find many examples of IT mission statements.
4. Governance – Using the course content materials and the case study, describe, following the format below for each section, how the IT governance process should work for GGFRT. Lance wants to engage the other senior leaders, so include:
a. who the participants are,
b. what each of their roles are on the governance board (why each is a member of the governance body, not their general roles in the company),
c. what specific governance methodology should be established/justification (i.e. COBIT, ITIL, etc.; documents in various weeks’ content), discussing your choice based on projects/case study
d. what responsibilities the governance body would have, and
e. how they would prioritize IT projects (prioritization tool, general criteria that is being considered for determining project importance, specific systems being planned should not be noted as the priority)
Refer to the course materials on governance and you should supplement those documents with external research. IT Governance methodologies are covered in Week 5’s course content.
5. Inventory of Current IT Systems – Using the information in the Case Study, you will use the table provided to describe the current systems in use (not the systems being planned or in process of being completed, servers and PCs are hardware, not systems) and the IT resources allocated to their support. Copy and complete the table below, creating additional rows as needed to cover all current systems at GGFRT (if needed), then write a brief introductory paragraph prior to the table. The paragraph must come first before your table, to explain what the table is providing.
| Current System Spring 2019 | Function/ Description | Strategic Goal aligned to (business strategic objective from part 1 of this assignment | Business Unit/ Department | Business Benefits | IT spring ‘19 Resources (people, equipment supporting this system) |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | | |
The “right” and “wrong” answers should do with if you correctly incorporated the course concepts from the course content materials and addressed all parts of the assignment. The content of the mission and vision statements you create is not as important as that it makes sense considering the course content and the Case Study. Use the Rubric below to be sure you have covered all aspects of the assignment.
Formatting Your Assignment
· Create a title page that includes: The company name, title of assignment, your name, Course and Section number and date.
· Use the numbering format in the assignment instructions above, for these sections:
1. Business Statement
2. Business Strategic Objectives (table format)
3. IT Mission and IT Vision Statement
a. IT Mission Statement
b. IT Vision Statement
4. Governance
a. who the participants are,
b. what each of their roles are on the governance board (why each is a member of the governance body, not their general roles in the company),
c. what specific governance methodology should be established/justification (i.e. COBIT, ITIL, etc.; documents in various weeks’ content),
d. what responsibilities the governance body would have, and
e. how they would prioritize IT projects (prioritization tool, criteria that is being considered for determining project importance)
5. Inventory of Current IT Systems
· Write a short concise paper: Use the recommendations provided in each area for length of response. It’s important to value quality over quantity.
· Content areas should be double spaced; table entries should be single spaced.
· To copy a table: Move your cursor to the table, then click on the small box that appears at the upper left corner of the table to highlight the table; right click and COPY the table; put the cursor in your paper where you want the table and right click and PASTE the table.
· Ensure that each of the tables is preceded by an introductory sentence that explains what is contained in the table, so the reader understands why the table has been included (if included in the instructions).
· Use at least two resources with APA formatted citation and reference. Any course content should be from the class reading content, not the assignment instructions or case study itself. For information on APA format, refer to Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources.
· Begin a Reference Page for resources required for this assignment. Use APA format for your reference page.
· Running headers are not required for this report.
· Writing should always be in third person.
· Compare your work to the Grading Rubric below to be sure you have met content and quality criteria.
· Submit your paper as a Word document, or a document that can be read in Word. Keep tables in Word format – do not paste in graphics. The paper should be uploaded to the ITSP #1 assignment folder.
· Your submission should include your last name first in the filename: Lastname_Firstname_ITSP1
GRADING RUBRIC:
| Criterion | 90-100% Far Above Standards | 80-89% Above Standards | 70-79% Meets Standards | 60-69% Below Standards | < 60% Well Below Standards | Possible Points |
| Business Statement | 5 Points The summary description of the business in the Case Study is complete, clear and concise and sets the stage for the remainder of the ITSP; demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis and critical thinking. | 4 Points The summary description of the business in the Case Study is clear and concise and sets the stage for the remainder of the ITSP. | 3.5 Points A summary description of the business in the Case Study is provided. | 3 Points The summary description of the business in the Case Study is unclear, not concise, and/or does not set the stage for the remainder of the ITSP. | 0-2 Points Little or no summary description of the business in the Case Study is included. | 5 |
| Business Strategic Objectives | 9-10 Points This section includes an effective and well-written introductory paragraph that is applicable to the Case Study and the table that follows. Three (3) business strategic objectives are listed and fully stated. One new objective, highly relevant to the Case Study, is listed, also fully stated, and clearly relates to how the management team will improve the business; work demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis and critical thinking. | 8 Points This section includes an appropriate introductory paragraph that is applicable to the Case Study and the table that follows. Three (3) business strategic objectives are listed and are fully stated. One new objective, relevant to the Case Study, is listed; it clearly relates to how the management team will improve the business. | 7 Points This section includes an introductory paragraph that applies to the Case Study. Three (3) business strategic objectives from the Case Study are listed. One new objective, relevant to the Case Study, is listed; it relates to how the management team will improve the business. | 6 Points Fewer than three (3) business strategic objectives are listed or they are not drawn from the Case Study; the table lacks an introduction; the new strategic objective is not relevant to the Case Study; and/or new strategic objective does not relate to how the management team will improve the business. | 0-5 Points Few or no business strategic objectives are listed; the table lacks an introduction; a new objective is not added; and/or objectives are not related to the Case Study. | 10 |
| IT Vision and Mission Statements | 18-20 Points IT Vision and Mission Statements are clearly written and highly relevant to the Case Study; and demonstrate strong understanding of course concepts, analysis and critical thinking. | 16-17 Points IT Vision and Mission Statements are clearly written and relevant to the Case Study; demonstrate understanding of course concepts, analysis and critical thinking. | 14-15 Points IT Vision and Mission Statements are both included and are relevant to the Case Study. | 12-13 Points IT Vision and Mission Statement do not cover both vision and mission, are not relevant to the Case Study, or are lacking in demonstration of understanding of course concepts, analysis and/or critical thinking. | 0-11 Points One or both IT Vision and Mission Statements are not included, and/or do not relate to the Case Study; and/or are poorly written and do not convey the information. | 20 |
| Governance | 23-25 Points The Governance Section presents a well–supported and convincing explanation of a governance process for the business in the Case Study that engages other senior leaders in the organization. This section includes a thorough discussion of all five (5) topics: participants, roles of participants, what governance methodology should be established/ justified along with a cited source, responsibilities of the governance body, and the prioritization criteria/tool/ process for IT projects; is highly applicable to and appropriate for the Case Study; and demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis and critical thinking. | 20-22 Points The Governance Section presents a good explanation of a governance process for the business in the Case Study that engages other senior leaders in the organization. This section includes a clear discussion of four (4) topics: participants, roles of participants, what governance methodology should be established/ justified responsibilities of the governance body, and the prioritization criteria/tool/ process for IT projects; and is clearly applicable to and appropriate for the Case Study. | 18-19 Points The Governance Section addresses how the CIO will engage the other senior leaders and includes three (3) topics: who the participants are, what their roles are (why they are members of the governance body), what governance methodology should be established, what responsibilities the governance body would have, and how they would prioritize IT projects (criteria/tool/ process). . | 15-17 Points Governance section does not include all required content (two (2) or less) (participants, roles, methodology, responsibilities, and prioritization criteria/tool/ process for IT projects); is not applicable to or appropriate for the Case Study. | 0-14 Points Little or none of the required information is presented in the Governance section; and/or it is not relevant to the Case Study. | 25 |
| Inventory of Current IT Systems | 18-20 Points This section includes an effective and well-written introductory paragraph that is applicable to the Case Study and the table that follows. The completed table contains all required information accurately extracted from the Case Study; demonstrates thorough understanding of course concepts, analysis and critical thinking. | 16-17 Points This section includes an appropriate introductory paragraph that is applicable to the Case Study and the table that follows. The completed table contains all required information accurately extracted from the Case Study; demonstrates understanding of course concepts, analysis and critical thinking. | 14-15 Points This section includes an introductory paragraph that applies to the Case Study. The completed table contains all required information extracted from the Case Study. | 12-13 Points This section is somewhat incomplete (lacking in introduction or required table, or table content is incomplete); is not applicable to the Case Study; or is lacking in demonstration of understanding of course concepts, analysis and/or critical thinking. | 0-11 Points Little or no information is provided on the Inventory of Current IT Projects; table is missing; and/or information presented does not apply to the Case Study. | 20 |
| External Research | 9-10 Points Two (2) or more sources other than the class materials are incorporated, are substantive and are used effectively. Sources used are relevant and timely, contribute to the analysis and support conclusions. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style. | 8 Points At least one (1) source other than the class materials is incorporated and used effectively. Source(s) are relevant and contribute to the analysis. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style. | 7 Points At least one (1) source other than the class materials is used and properly incorporated into the text. Reference is cited using APA style. | 6 Points A source other than the class materials may be used, but is not properly incorporated, and/or is not relevant or timely; and/or APA style for references and citations is not followed. | 0-5 Points No external research is incorporated or reference listed is not cited within text. | 10 |
| Report Format | 9-10 Points Report is very well organized and is easy to read. Very few or no errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; presented in a professional format. | 8 Points Report reflects effective organization; has few errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; presented in a professional format. | 7 Points Report has some organization; may have some errors in sentence structure, grammar and spelling. | 6 Points Report is not well organized, and/or contains several grammar and/or spelling errors. | 0-5 Points Report is extremely poorly written, has many grammar and/or spelling errors, or does not convey the information. | 10 |
| | | | | TOTAL Possible Points |
