Environment Case Information Technology Coursework

Environment Case Information Technology - Coursework Example Technology is catching up with humanity. Microsoft (2010) studied a business model called the hybrid organisation. It is a company designed to maximize their human resources through smart design of buildings, adopt a flexible approach to where work gets done, seek long-term goals rather than fill in short-term scorecards, and reject (or at least question) outmoded practices such as rigorous groups and roles. The findings indicate that the organisation is best positioned to take whatever the economy and other external stimuli had to throw at them. The case of Hydro-Quebec’s radical IT management change in the last two decades is reflective of such case. More out of necessity, rather than choice, it restructured its IT Management to adapt to the new government rules and customer demands. Fortunately for them, they did it early and they did it successfully. Not only were they able to retain their leadership, they were also able to stay ahead of any threat in all its core business es. IT Management is highly affected by internal and external factors but the two are often hard to segregate. Bullish Globalization Globalization refers to the increased integration and fusion of economy and society between countries that result to a better flow of international finance. By opening up markets, organizations get access to a variety of business products and services which allows them to have superior competitive position with lower operating costs, to gain greater numbers of products and services. The end beneficiary is supposed to be the consumers. Hydro-Quebec experienced the first blow of globalization when the U.S. electricity market was deregulated, the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) required that companies wanting to sell electricity on the American market must open theirs to American suppliers. Their leadership on the production and distribution of electricity in Quebec was threatened so they were forced to reorganize. They set up five divisions: Production, TransEnergie, Distribution, Equipement, Petrole et gaz, and Technologie et developpement industriel (Dube, Bernier, & Roy, 2007). Each division was responsible for its own profitability but they were still to work under the same company. They decided to set up Shared Services Centre (SSC), a unit responsible for the procurement and services as well as the IT department. They decided to keep 100 percent of their IT management and operations within the company. They didn’t yet see the need to go out or outsource. Their business didn’t go beyond Quebec and America anyway. Other companies didn’t have that luxury. Procter & Gamble, DuPont, Cisco Systems, ABN Amro, Unilever, Rockwell Collins, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals are some of the companies that enjoy the benefits of globalization. While they remain a US company, their manufacturing center, clinic operation, research and development, customer service, and Business Process divisions are all in Asia (Enga rdio,2006). When labour cost is Asia is less than a twentieth of the labour cost in their home country (Bureau of Labor & Statistics, 2011), there really seems no other intelligent option but to shift operation. There will be infrastructure changes, of course, like setting up high speed connection between countries, training new people, and buying new software but even if you multiply those costs by two, you still wouldn’t come close to the efficiency you will get. Efficiency of Technology Accenture’