University of Sheffield_Executive MBA Information Management Coursework

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Insert your name and e-mail address
Your name Your e-mail address
Başar Onur Mesci bmesci@city.adacemic.gr
EMBA103
Information Management.
Delegate Workbook

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Table of contents
GETTING STARTED ........................................................................................................................... 3
SESSION 1 : INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 5
SESSION 2 : DIAGNOSIS ................................................................................................................... 7
SESSION 3 : PROCESS MODELLING FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT I..................... 19
SESSION 4 : PROCESS MODELLING FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT II.................... 22
SESSION 5: PROCESS MODELLING FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT III ................... 24
SESSION 6: INFORMATION, CONTROL AND ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES ................................. 27
SESSION 7:OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN E-BUSINESS................................................... 27
SESSION 8: LARGE SCALE INTEGRATED APPLICATIONS ............................................................... 29
SESSION 9 : CHALLENGES IN COMPLEX PROJECTS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS ......................... 32
SESSION 10 : EMERGING TRENDS ................................................................................................. 32
SESSION 11: IMPLEMENTATION AND INTERVENTION INFORMATION SYSTEMS CHANGE ............ 33
SESSION 12: THE NEW ECONOMY AND THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE TECHNOLOGIES........ERROR!
BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
SESSION 13: REFLECTIONS ........................................................................................................... 36
SESSION 14: CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................... 37
APPENDIX 1: ASSESSMENT GRADING GUIDANCE ON THE WORKBOOK ....................................... 39
APPENDIX 2 : AREAS OF REQUIRED CHANGE ............................................................................... 41

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Getting Started1
This Delegate Pack is to designed to help to crystallise and reflect on the
implications of methods for you and your organisation (or one of your client
organisations). The objective is that by following the lecture learning tasks, and
applying them into your chosen organisation, you will identify areas of
improvement and change, and identify some of the information changes and
intervention options that may help to realise performance improvement arising
from the better use and management of information.
In all tasks and activities, we will consider: (i) the usefulness of taking a systems
based approach, (ii) the way you use the concepts, ideas and principles, and (iii)
assessment of what you need to improve the way you use these concepts, ideas and
principles.
By doing this, it encourages reflections on (i) the usefulness of taking a systems
based approach, (ii) the methodological assumptions used in a given more orthodox
approaches to Information Technology.
You are encouraged to work in small teamsto compare your work with that of
others. Obviously, you will be working on different client organisations, so your
work is necessarily different, but the use of methods, ideas and concepts can be
compared, analysed and contrasted in those small teams. These teams are termed
„Innovation ThinkTanks‟. As a member of an Innovation ThinkTank, you will be
expected to:
(i) Apply the principles, ideas, concepts and methods, in order to develop
robust and justifiable intervention actions;
(ii) Critique your own and other members‟ use of the principles;
(iii) Identify practical changes that you can take back to your organisation or
a given client.
Organisation
You should contact 3 (or so) colleagues to form an Innovation ThinkTank. This will
be the locus of energy and activity to help drive the problem-solving and
performance improvement activities.
The ThinkTank, requires you to think carefully about how you are coming to
conclusions about possible change actions. It is an opportunity to share ideas,
1 Please note, this workbook is designed on the premise that it is an aid to inquiry. It does
not provide answers! It is assumed that various texts, internet searches and discussions
will help to complete the workbook. Furthermore, it should also be noted that none of the
tasks and activities have a „correct‟ answer in an absolute sense. Your answer will be as
good as the process of inquiry that is applied.

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methods, techniques etc. You will sharpen your own thinking by considering the
perspectives of other members of your ThinkTank. It will help you continuously
refine your ideas. Remember, no one perspective is „right‟ in an absolute sense, but
we have the responsibility to continue to refine our ideas, and defend them with
logic and precision. Use your ThinkTank to do this. Remember, at all times, you
should take responsibility for sharpening your own thinking!
You and your ThinkTank have huge responsibility - you are undertaking something
fundamentally important – to define workable performance improvements in an
organisation, to demonstrate the value of them and to document their impact. This
is a fundamental aspect of leading change.
Please Note
Topic areas are identified as a title.
Introductory words are in normal type.
Instructions are in italics.
In Appendix 2, there are three sheets which can be used to identify your
areas of action and change. Many consultants will carry such sheets around
with them to help remind them of on-going change actions and ideas. It is
probably a good idea to use the same technique.
Please try and fill in as much as you can of this workbook, using your
research and ThinkTank to help you. You should apply the ideas methods
to your own case organisation e.g. the one that you work for, or a client
organisation.

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Session 1 : Introduction
Instructions
Familiarise yourself with the documentation of the module.
On the website, you will have:
An outline document which details the whole module;
A „template document‟ which you should fill in as we progress through
different topic areas;
Readers and reading lists. For each topic area, you will find a „reader‟, as
well as a reading list;
A “Call for Help” area. This is an area to post questions for your fellow
delegates to help you with. Please use it constructively.

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You should work on your own applying the methods to your own organisation. It is
normally helpful to get yourself involved in a ThinkTank to discuss issues that arise
from each of the themed areas under consideration. In this form, the principles,
concepts, ideas, methods are scrutinised by the ThinkTank, and each member must
challenge each other‟s‟ perceptions as they apply the principles to their own
organisation.
Please specify the names of the people that you are going to work with in your
ThinkTank, and the e-mail address of them.
Name of Colleagues with whom you will
work as a ThinkTank (please print)
Their e-mail addresses
Cumhur Acer acerc@city.academic.gr
Maria Kosta kostam@city.academic.gr
NadicaStavrova stavrovan@city.academic.gr
Insert your ThinkTank Name
Your ThinkTank Name
e.g. “Ace Consulting Corporation”
Solar Dükkan

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Session 2 : Diagnosis
Undertaking a Diagnosis
Undertaking a diagnosis can be considered to be an inquiring activity which
focuses on perceived „problems‟, and the situations that cause the so-called
problems. The inquiry is undertaken simultaneously by both clients and
consultants.
Instructions
Diagnose your client organisational context, identifying the explicit and implicit (or
hidden) problems.
Treat the diagnosis as an inquiry, not a statement of fact.
Don‟t let yourself get into a mode of thinking that is simply „whinging‟. Try to look
at the situation analytically and thoughtfully.
Remember „blaming others‟ is not an intellectual diagnosis. If you find yourself
blaming others, it is likely that you do not understand their situation fully. Try to
understand their situation, and the source of your frustration with them.
Be open with the suggestions of other members of your ThinkTank.
Activity: Write your initial ideas below.
Diagnosing client‟s organizational context:
Solar Dukkan Company is a start-up company registered in Istanbul,
Turkey offering solar power products & systems lead by Christian Wagner and
YusufAytekin. The market for solar power is improving in Turkey where they get
over in average 2640 hours of sunshine in a year. Solar Dukkan has identified two
distinct market segments that they will market their products to. The first segment
is the online shopping and the second segment is people that will utilize skilled
installers to have the system implemented at their home and industries. The online
segment has an increasing growth rate and 5 million potential customers. The
professional install market would increase after November 2012 and expected as
750MW total solar power erection.
Solar Dukkan Company is being led by two professionals; Christian
Wagner&YusufAytekin who have the education and experience to execute on these
renewable energy projects.

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Christian has an impressive academic
background to complete a Civil Engineering
graduation at Fachhochschule Giessen Friedberg,
Germany.
Yusuf is a self-motivated high skilled Electrical and Communications
Engineer. He got European and Turkish engineering and management
experience and has been involved in many testing & development
projects European-wide. He has been working in helicopter production
facilities. An impressive academic background having bachelor degree
from Turkey‟s one of the best practical university, Kocaeli University and
has a master degree from Fachhochschule Giessen Friedberg, Germany.
Solar Dukkan Co. has been established as a corporation in Turkey. The
main shareholders are Christian Wagner&TandoganAytekin as company directors.
Company has identified three keys to success that help the company grow into
a mature market leader:
Providing cutting edge, reliable, and simple-to-install and maintain
solar power systems.
Broadening the market of solar power into a mainstream energy
source in Turkey.
Designing and implementing strict financial controls.
The Team
Our client listed us some issues which we; as the consultant can focus on and
improve. But the prior issue was the time taken to complete sale process in an on-
Christian
Wagner
Business
Develeopment
Executive
Sena Tosun
Sales Manager
YusufAytekin
Operation Manager
Volkan
Aydın
Commissioning
Chief
Murat
Cağferoğlu
Installation
Executive
EnginAyteki
n
SupplyChain
Manager
Yelgin Mesci
Legal
Zeynep
Pekişen
Marketing Manager
View 1.The Team_ Solar Dukkan

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grid connection. Process was taking long time and company‟s profit margin is
getting lower and lower because of long employee working hours, project codes.
The items listed below are part of time taken processes.
Non-Binding Offer Submission
Site Visit
Technical Calculations
Binding Offer
Signing of the Agreements
Applying to State Organisations for Approvals
International Logistics
Domestic Logistics
Erection of Plant
Providing Approval from TEDAS (Turkey Electricity Distrubiton
Company)
Commissioning
Online Tracking
Identifying problems
A diagnosis can start by simply listing out perceived „problems‟.
Activity : Using your ThinkTank to help you, make a list of perceived „problems‟ in
your client situation. Use the space below to make notes of your thoughts.
PROBLEMS:
In renewable energy companies; such as solar energy equipment supplier
and installer Solar Dukkan, there are some main constraints. Meredith and
Mantel (2008) state that: “Like organic entities, projects have life cycles”. From a
slow beginning they progress to a build-up of size, then peak, begin a decline, and
finally must be terminated by some due date‟. Main points of projects are time,
cost, scope and quality. Successful project management means meeting all three
goals (scope, time and cost) – and satisfyingthe project‟s sponsor (quality)!
(Schwalbe, 2007). If you manage these main three well; you will have some
advantages, if not the result may be unsatisfactory and can cause long-term loss
of profit. Project management and one of its main sub-categories; planning, is
crucial for the achievement. Klein (1999) states that: „A Project is complex enough
that performing the sub-activities requires careful considerations‟. These would
provide us a feeling of overall and can highlight when and how to use project
sources. Correlations within work items and its difficulties can be recognized
earlier with planning.
Solar Dukkan teams have got the main responsibility of a project from the
early kick-off to the end of completion. Using tools to manage project is effective
and useful for Solar Dukkan.

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Frame (2003) states that: “There is a strong consensus among project
managers that projects would be better undertaken outside the usual
organizational environments” such as outsourcing. Also within their organization
chart parallel lining in terms of management and responsibility is crucial as far as
we informed the client. In companies which there are categorized skilled teams
such as Solar Dukkan has got, employees who are involving into the projects, may
have some hidden risks and danger zones which may cause as failing of the
project. Preparing an initial project report can help company; its employees and
client to understand how the project will be managed, what is going to be in the
scope and what is not going to be in. There are some finding mainly related with
our problem; delivery times, such as:
Who is the client?
Needs of the client
From where to start
Technical performance requirements
Organizational chart of the project
Budget of work items
Who will review the project and when
And WHEN?

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Problems and symptoms
A diagnosis is more than „identifying problems‟. Rather it is an inquiry into the
fundamental causes (and effect) of the problems. For instance, in organisations,
one „problem‟ is often related to or caused by another problem. So a diagnosis
includes the analysis of „other factors‟ which give rise to a given problem. In effect,
our „problem‟ might be the symptom of something else. Both problem and symptom
should be explored.
Activity :Taking each problem that you identified in the previous step, write down
if it is caused by something else. If so, try to articulate that causes this „problem‟
to arise. Use the space below to express your ideas.
Problems & Their Symptoms:
As can be seen from the algorithm above; there are many steps which have
to be completed in Solar Dukkan projects by Solar Dukkan. Because of that
reason; different key skill teams are involving to project in different points.
Professional project management approach is helping Solar Dukkan to minimize
its failures, but it has to be improved more. In this paper we are discussing how
and when to do this to overcome by late delivery periods and official approvals.
Solar Dukkan has got 8 employees in 2013 and each of these
employees are focusing on separate issues; such as Yelgin in legal,
Chris in BD (Business Development). This; having limited number of
employees can result in profession shifting in loaded times. For
example; Zeynep‟s profession is in marketing but because of heavy
Customer
Welcoming
Offer
Marketing Transportaion
Installation
Service
View 2.Work Algorithm_ Solar Dukkan

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load RFPs (Request For Proposal), she is taking responsibilities in
sales as well. Zeynep is supporting Sena. And because of that work
load, there may be some missed points in general such as forgetting
to provide binding proposal letter to customer after non-binding
stage.
Solar energy business is a kind of tailor-made processes bot in on-
grid and off-grid connection. That means; EPC Companies such as
Solar Dukkan has to visit project location to propose engineering or
list of equipment offer. Turkey is a kind of big county with 814.578
km² (Turkoglu, 2001) and it is quite difficult and costly work to visit
all of project locations at RFP stages. It is a kind of time consuming
process if the sale process is not realized.
In of-grid solar installations which there is no need for connection to
grid, every consumer equipment of the system has to controlled and
system has to designed regarding to this. As far as our client has
informed; it may be quite difficult to get consumption & frequency
details of equipment‟s for investor and sometime for the EPC
Companies as well.
In on-grid projects state approval is a must and for this different
types of official documents are needed. State approval may take 4 to
8 months in average. This means difficulty of employee working
hours.
There are 3 main approval authorities; EDAŞ, Local Municipality
and TEDAŞ. Each of these authorities can ask for additional paper
which has to be provided by Solar Dukkan client. As far as we have
been informed by Solar Dukkan, it may take some time for investors
to provide these official docs. This has an effect on delivery terms as
well.

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Others‟ expressions of Problems
You might also note that other people will express a „problem‟. Sometimes they are
„right‟, but most commonly, anybody who expresses that a problem exists are often
expressing a frustration, anxiety or need, which may or may not be justifiable. As
part of your inquiry, you should not „believe‟ the expression, but should explore it,
understand it, and consider the degree to which it is justifiable. In particular,
exploring others‟ expressions of problems may help you to analyse other issues and
problems which may otherwise have been hidden from view.
Activity: Identify a „problem‟ which is seen to be a „problem‟ by somebody else. Is
it „real‟ to you? Why do they see it as a problem? Is their „perception of a problem‟,
a problem in itself? Capture your thoughts in the space below.
In-house Problems:
Some employees of Solar Dukkanis informing us that it‟s difficult to follow
up revisions of projects in each step. Company is using some software tools to
follow up the project processes but it has got in average 100 number of active
projects monthly. Employees are forgetting to upload revised data of projects to the
software and it is quite difficult to make these updates on site.
We as the consultancy client of Solar Dukkan offered some new methodologies of
storing data. A new tool; Sugarsync has
been recommended by us to Solar
Dukkan. Manuals and how to use the
software was shown by us to Solar
Dukkan employees. By this software
employees can upload revisions of their
projects anywhere online. A smartphone is enough to make these revisions.
Another problem which was raised by Solar Dukkan employees was time
spending on project‟s 3D Sketches. Technical
employees of company was working on 3D
Max and this software was quite detailed one
for some basic projects. Working hours on 3D
Max was making the project unprofitable.
Google Sketchup software was recommended
by us to company. This was a free licensed
product with an easy use.

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Prioritising „problem areas‟
If you are doing this in a real organisation, sometimes there is a feeling of anxiety
that arising when you explore a given problematic area, depending on how close
you are to it. In methodologies such as „Soft Systems Methodology‟ and INSPIRE, it
is essential that you do not exclude your inner thoughts (e.g. anxieties, feelings of
frustration).Sometimes you inner feelings arise from an anxiety that you could be
exposed or blamed if a problem is not dealt with. It might be that you have a gut
feel that a particular area is „more important‟ than another.
Activity: Working through your problem areas that you have identified, try to
explore which you see as more important than others. Is there one that stands out
above the rest? Note down the most important problem areas, and explain why
you see them as more important than the others.
After studying on the problems which have been discussed above; we as the
consultancy team observed that salaries and bonus methodologies are satisfactory
and well developed within Solar Dukkan. Profit is being shared with all employees
by different percentages. We can say employee management part is satisfactory as
well, but the main problem is work load. Solar Dukkan is a kind of aggressive and
dynamic EPC Company. They are bidding for many projects with low profit margins
and because of that this situation makes the case difficult for employees. But when
we discuss this issue with the management team, they are informing us that their
expectation is to be the solar energy market leader of Turkey with getting many
project references. For getting the project; to win the tender company is offering
cost effective bids to clients. To be cost effective, company is targeting for low
operational costs, in other terms min. number of employees is an operational
target. Because of that, workload per workman force is quite high. Company‟s long-
term plan is to raise profit margins soon and decrease workload per workman force
after getting one thousand numbers of project completion and getting references.
We; as the consultancy group informed Solar Dukkan that for providing a
sustainable work environment it is crucial not to overload it‟s employees. Solution
is easy; 3 ways of doing this:
increasing workman force,
decreasing tendered number of bids,
providing smart software such as automatic tender creator or process
follower
ones.
View 3.Online Pricing Tool_ Solar Dukkan
Source: http://solardukkan.com/technik/teklif/

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Social, political and economic context
All organisation operate in a context... they have economic constraints, are
operating in a particular social and political context. For instance, there will be
role-relationships that may be problematic, there may be power dimensions,
personality clashes. There may be a history to a given organisational situation,
which results in „problems‟. Some of these are revealed through a variety of
expressions of anxiety frustrations, concerns etc.
Activity : Taking a problem area, write down the social and political context that
you see. You might be able to identify specific issues which give rise to the
problem area. Indicate your thoughts below.
Political Context:
We as the consultant have found out that some employees of Solar Dukkan
were not happy with the some approaches of State Organizations during on-grid
solar power plant applications. We have listened well the case and studied
countrywide. Employees were right, state organisations were not moving quick and
transparent. Bu we recommend our client, Solar Dukkan not to share any of their
political views with any source.
Economic Context:
We have asked Solar Dukkan to provide us, consultancy team the list of
customer portfolio. After studying on the list; we have seen that Solar Dukkan has
got a big list of customer portfolio. In total more than 10.000 people and company
have contacted Solar Dukkan for solar equipment. Most of contacted customer
candidates didn‟t purchase product. We have studied more on the reason not to
purchase and we have found out that financing is the reason behind this. We have
recommended Solar Dukkan to provide credit card instalment options to it‟s
customers.
Social Context:
Our consultancy team have realized that Solar Dukkan is using social
webpages daily. We found this approach very efficient.
Social pages of Solar Dukkan are open to public. Company
is sharing daily solar cast and promotions to it‟s customers by webpages listed
above. Besides these we have offered company to be part of some exhibitions.
Forthcoming Istanbul Boat Show is recommended by us. Solar Dukkan is going to
take it‟s part in the fair and will demonstrate its range of photovoltaic products and
charge controllers to exhibitors. Yacht owners can install solar equipment to their
yachts and would not need for diesel generators anymore after instalment of

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photovoltaic cells. After our recommendation to Solar Dukkan; they had applied for
it and approval has received last week. Organizer of the exhibition has shared Solar
Dukkan‟s contribution on web.
View 4.Boat Show Istanbul News
Source: Link

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Develop your diagnosis, and see if you can express it on a
„Rich Picture‟;
Activity: Try to express your diagnosis as a „Rich Picture‟. Use IT tools if you
can, and insert it
www.SolarDukkan.comhas got a list of possible customer candidate portfolio
as more than 10.000. Every single day company is receiving new RFP requests as
65 in average. This means following up the whole sale process is a crucial and
difficult job. But without providing this within company, activities would not be
sustainable. For this we are recommending a tool; PFT (Process Following Tool), a
kind of software whom to be followed up and when. For details follow the diagnosis
below;
DataRoom entry would be followed in each step of the sale process.
We are offering Solar Dukkan to use this tool within their sale process. With
the help of it process can be followed easily by employees with all details needed.
And when questions are raised by customer side, company employees can easily
get answers from the tool and can share these with customer. This sale process tool
also will share information with the next person in charge by emailing details of
process automatic. By this; if there has been a break within process; person in
charge can easily be reminded.
Customer
Welcoming
Offer Marketing Transportaion Installation Service
New data
entry
Details of
the offer
Re
Marketing
Details of
Shippmen
t
Date of
Installemen
t and Name
of Installer
Dates of
Servicing
DATAROOM ENTRY IN EACH STEP

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How do you rate your ThinkTank members‟ attempts so far?
Activity: Use your ThinkTank to compare the „problem situation‟ in your case with
those of others.
How have you done a diagnosis compared with other members of your
ThinkTank?
Have they included things that you have not included?
Have they been able to use Rich Pictures, and if so, how have they used them?
Are they trying to find structure in a human situation which is not really there?
Or, are they missing certain human dimensions, (e.g. Power, anxieties,
frustrations, knowledge (or lack of it?). Or, are they finding „problems‟ which are
??
The team of consultants is consisted of members with different professional
background that nevertheless each of them has specific and valuable experience in
the business environment. The contribution of all was very important to design and
identify all the diagnosis for our client. Most of the team members has identified
and worked on same or similar issues in the organizations where they operate.
As most important is the fact that during the discussions, each of them has
expressed its own opinion and perspectives having in mind the primary objectives
to provide good consulting services for our client. At the end the different opinions
and perspectives supports the team to identify the problems and to create a proper
picture for our client.

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Session 3 :Processmodelling for
Information Systems
Management I
Select 1: organisational process from your case organisation, and outline its inputs,
outputs and transformation. Write it down below.
The organizational process for our client “Solar Dükkan” is the process of
delivering solar equipment or installation of solar plant by developing design. Solar
Dukkan was challenging on delivery time, some of its customers are being waited
up to 8 months of delivery. A research which has done by Solar Dukkan is showing
us that price and delivery time are 2 main parameters which has priority for its
customers. PFT is offering dynamic process following support, and by the help of
this any of data relevant with sale process would be lost somewhere on the line.
Demo PFT has been tried by Solar Dukkan employees and it was really sufficient
for employees and for the company. One of the sale processes; the one which
consists sale of 2 photovoltaic modules, 4 batteries and 1 charge controller unit
was completed in 3 days with the delivery of invoicing as well. This in-house trial
version proofed Solar Dukkan and its employees that there is a chance of
improving sale process.
Within next stages of the PFT software; it has been planned to develop new
modules, the one which customers can login with their ID & password to follow
their purchase details and delivery times.
Existing version of PFT needs some parameters and these are:
Name & Surname
Telephone
Email
Location for delivery
Monthly bill of electricty
Status of proposal
PM or SM of the project
Date of proposal
Revisions of proposal
Proposed price
Comments (In-house)
Updates
Currency rates

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What are the characteristics of the process that have you
identified?2
Is it an „Issue based‟ process, or a „primary task‟ process?
Is it a „project for change‟ process?
Is it a „control process‟?
Justify your answer below.
By creating a concept model of establishing the Rich Picture and by
developing the tool which was named as PFT,we strengthened Solar Dukkan‟s sale
process, in long-term also strengthened of the sustainability of firm. Lencioni
(2005) states that; „building an effective, cohesive team is extremely hard in most
of the organizations. But it‟s also simple‟.Solar Dukkan managers tried to build
the best compatible team in their organization and we supported them. When
customer first contacts with Solar Dukkan or when sales team reach a new
customer; company is following now Solar Dukkan process following tool. During
that process there are stages of project management subheadings and duties in
subcategories which are listed above. Also PFT covers some of these stages are
listed below;
Adverting
Non-Binding Offer Submission
Site Visit
Technical Calculations
Binding Offer
Signing of the Agreements
Applying to State Organisations for Approvals
International Logistics
Domestic Logistics
Erection of Plant
Providing Approval from TEDAS (Turkey Electricity Distrubiton
Company)
Commissioning
Online Tracking
As that can be seen from the above list there are many to-does when
providing a solar power system to the customer. That can be quite difficult
without having the right project management methodology and it may take up to
8 months to finalize the process. There may be some missing point. Our tool and
approach is a control process and by the help of our tool we can overcome from
long delivery time as much as we can.

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Identify 4 different types of processes
Activity: Write down 4 models, (i) a „primary task, (ii) an „issue based‟ process. (iii)
a project process and (iv) a control process. Insert your ideas below. Use your
ThinkTank to compare ideas. Why not write down your ideas and then copy and
paste this page into an e-mail and ask your tutor?
1. Primary tasks process:
The primary task process is project management since the company
is trying to finalize sales process as quickest to overcome by late
delivery. PFT is in our case is strengthening whole delivery process
in terms of time and budget. Employees of the company are over
work loaded and every minute of employees are valuable as gold.
Objectives of the company develop sales and finalize the delivery as
soon as possible.
2. Issue based process is the logistics. It has an important effect on
delivery of goods and this sub-category has got also priority within
the process. Quality of the data has an crucial effect on logistics.
This may fail whole process.
3. Implementation of PFT (Process Following Tool) is an objective.
Creating the tool was important but it is also important to use PFT
daily and hourly. This is project process model. This process will
improve the whole system in the company and will ensure the flow of
data and information within the departments.
4. Control processes: The process of control is to provide details correct
with other employees and share the whole data stored within the
system. By sharing the data; the ones which we can be considered
as the quality ones, anyone in the company can follow processes. By
this everyone within company can easily complete their duties within
limited time ranges.

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Session 4:Process modelling for
Information Systems
Management II
Activity: Try to apply the constructs to help to define at least one primary task process
from your case organisation, using the systems constructs.
Construct Your ideas about the application of
the construct to a primary task
process in your given organisation
Transformation,
What is being transformed?
Quality of the process and by this,
customer satisfaction is being
transformed.
Measures of Performance
How is the process judged?
What data needs to be gathered
to judge when it is not functioning
correctly?
Delivery of the goods are changed, in the
past it was taking up to 8 months for
goods to be delivered. Now by the help of
tools and with new methodologies
process is taking less time and it results
with a cost saving in the company. Cost
saving also results as profit and it is
affecting employees working
environment well.
Degree of Systematicness (systematics)
How systematic is it currently?
By the support of new tool PFT (Process
Following Tool) process is being followed
by all employees and by this systematic
approach employees are aware of their
duties.
Client Beneficiaries
Who are the beneficiaries and/or
victims of the system?
Use this construct in a rhetorical
manner, i.e. explore the
effectiveness of the process in
serving different client
beneficiaries.
All of the parties of the system can be
beneficiaries such as, employees,
company owners, suppliers and final
customers, buyers differentiated only by
the level of benefits. By these
approaches, company is delivering the
product earlier and employees can
spend less time on each project.
Company is decreasing its cost for the
processes and it is providing benefits to
all stakeholders such as high NPV on
projects for Solar Dukkan, getting better
bonuses and sustainable working

23. Page | 23
environment for employees and
competitive pricing with quick delivery
periods for buyers.
Besides these; by providing customer
satisfaction, Solar Dukkan can get a
better position within the competition.
Emergence
Can you identify emergent
properties that arise out of its
operationalisation?
Outsource services may be studied
detailed as well. Because the new offered
methodologies are improving the process
in house. By using PFT we can control
which Solar Dukkan employee is
responsible for delivering goods to
logistics company but in such cases
with outsourced logistics, that may be
challenging to get quality data.
Hierarchy
Can you start identifying sub-
processes using the systems
constructs?
There may be some components of new
system. New system is kind of
technological IT approach and because
of that new smart phones may be
needed to use system properly. This can
cause with a new approach and these
costs can result with a new cost
management and accounting approach.

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Session 5: Process modelling for
Information Systems
Management III
You might notice that in Information Management, the study of an organizational
process is done first, and then it is possible to identify resources (including
information) that it needs to function.
Using the primary task process that you have developed previously, attempt to
identify:
Information and technology options for that process;
Other resources that are required to operationalise the process effectively;
Other considerationsfor the effective operation of the process.
As a result of the increase in information sharing and IT usage, the demand
can increase. More people can demand Solar Dukkan products. This increase in
demand also causes a demand increase in transportation. That is quite difficult to
manage and forecast retailers‟ order with the sales. That can be a reason for
bullwhip effect. Lee, Padmanabhan and Whang (1997) refers bullwhip effect as the
phenomenon where orders to the supplier tend to have larger variance than sales
to the buyer (i.e., demand distortion), and the distortion propagates upstream in
an amplified form (i.e., variance amplification). Developing software and
technological products would develop logistics and supply chain management
within Solar Dukkanand ensured that they can be controlled in a more detailed
way by PFT. The main difficulty of supply chain management is accession to
information. As the amount of information shared and accesses is more, supply
chain control from the first producer to the last user can be carried out in a more
healthy way. As technology has a very important place in our lives, managing the
supply chain outside of the technological applications will not be effective. In
these increasing competition conditions, economizing by using the technology can
put the firm in a stronger position that its competitors. A cycle of order follow-up
that is managed by using technological resources can support a firm that uses
this method to create a right planning method, PFT is a tool which was developed
by us for this. Besides these an inter-organizational system (IOS) may be
developed and it is an information and management system that transcends
organizational boundaries via electronic linkages with its trading partners to
share data, information and business applications, provide the capabilities of
electronic transactions including buying and selling goods and services, and

25. Page | 25
facilitate communications and decision making for the purpose of increasing
efficiency, effectiveness, competitiveness, and profitability for participating
organizations (Eom, 2005). Into these systems; bar codes can be integrated as
well. With bar coding system we can have information for the price and source of
product. McFarlane and Sheffi (2002) state that “The numbering systems used on
today‟s bar codes are generally limited to manufacturer and product type
identities and cannot include a unique identifier or serial number for specific
items”. And with use of barcodes, reverse logistics which is a way of re-providing
raw material can be managed in mid-term planning. Dekker, Fleischmann,
Inderfurth and Van Wassenhove (2004) found that majority of firms are taking
reverse logistics into the planning more often in nowadays.
Version no ManufacturerProduct Type
View 5.QR code and its details.
The costs play a significant role in the development and renewal of logistics
methodologies day by day. The main logistics cost can be listed as storing costs,
breakage, default and loss costs, late delivery costs, penalty and error costs,
information system costs, personnel costs, overstock costs and main asset costs.
Any firm that works in a detailed way on these costs and that strengthens the
management of logistics & supply chain by cutting back on expenses will gain an
advantage in the competition. The method that will put the firm in an
advantageous position in the competition is defined below in this purpose and
scope. In this example, the purposes needed in logistics & supply chain
management application are shown.
Transport Costs Rate of Delivery on Time
Storing Costs Alternative Methods
Delivery Time Data Security and Rapid
Access Core Competency
Breakage, default and loss
Supply Chain Stocking
View 6.Purpose of Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
INCREAS
E
REDUCE

26. Page | 26
How far can you get with your current process model?
Referring to your previous task, explore how difficult you found it. Was it easy, or
difficult? Did you have sufficient detail about the process? If you found it difficult,
why do you think that was so? Do you need to develop better or different process
modeling? If so, why not explore how to make better inquiry…
Insert your reflections, thoughts and ideas below.
Flow of information options
Over the numerous meetings with our client and discussion with our ThinkTank
group through implementation of our experience we have provided new
methodologies to client. Client was happy about the new process and feedbacks are
proofing us that PFT is working well and providing cost effective solutions to the
company. Application of the new method was easily installed and tool covers the
below data in it.
Name &
Surname
Telephone
Email
Location for
delivery
Monthly bill
of electricty
Status of
proposal
PM or SM of
the project
Date of
proposal
Revisions of
proposal
Proposed
price
Comments
(In-house)
Updates
Currency
rates

27. Page | 27
Session 6: Information, Control
and Organisational Processes
Taking one of the processes in your client organisation…
Is the control structure appropriate?
Is the information about it appropriate/clear/existent??
Is there room for control action?
What changes would you recommend (if any)?
Is there a role for improving information and/or technology for improving
control?
Discuss and justify your perceptions below.
Every single day company is receiving new RFP requests as 65 in average.
This means following up, controlling the whole sale process is a crucial and difficult
job. But without providing this within company, activities would not be
sustainable. For this we have recommending a tool; PFT (details within above
paragraphs), a kind of software whom to be followed up and when. Objective is to
get customer satisfaction and provide less costly processes.
This tool was found appropriate to Solar Dukkan‟s sale process. With the
help of it process can be followed easily by employees with all details needed. And
when questions are raised by customer side, company employees can easily get
answers from the tool and can share these with customer.
Customer Satisfaction
Delivery
Offer
Customer
Welcoming

28. Page | 28
Session 7:Opportunities and
Challenges in E-Business3
What do you see as the opportunities for e-business in theyour client
organisation?
Are there opportunities for enhancing B2B integration, B2C or enhancing
supply chain performance?
Enhance your diagnosis, to reflect your conclusions.
Is there a role for modelling processes using systems constructs in the
application and development of E-Business?
Insert your ideas below...
Our client is using e-commerce very active. In Google‟s ranking, company‟s
e-commerce online sale page is the top
ranking at desktop and mobile versions for
the keywords of solar, solar energy and solar
energy equipment prices in Turkey. By
increasing demand delivery periods may
increase as well. We as the client offer online
chat box to e-commerce web page and by
this company can easily answer customer
queries very quick. This would provide
efficiency of time usage. And by online chat
box customers can have employees who are
caring about their projects. Online chat
employees can enter entry data to our PFT
and this quality data would be transferred to
sale person. Solar Dukkn pages are being
appeared to customers around as 2.000
pages daily. Details of the last week can be
found below.
View 7.Solar Dukkan’s Google Search Appearance.

29. Page | 29
View 8.Solar Dukkan e-commerce pages appearance daily.

30. Page | 30
Session 8: Large Scale
Integrated Applications
Consider the value to your client organisation, of an
ERP
Web-shop
Supply Chain integration (e.g. via ERP2)
What is the potential role of systems based modeling of processes in (i) answering
this question, and (ii) in applying large scale integrated applications?
Justify your answer below.
Potential system applications
Number of supplier is around 10 for Solar Dukkan. Company is using online
sales very dynamic. Company is promoting that business daily. We as the
consultancy team are proposing ERP strengthening to the company. By the new
revision company can control supplier and buyer process better.
Some of the short term methods that Solar Dukkan firm can follow in the
supply chain management are given below. Taylor (1997) states that „In order to
study the benefits of logistics improvements which may later be suggested and to
help in determining where to target effort, it is necessary to assess the current
performance of the supply chain.‟ These methods that are listed by us for Solar
Dukkan will contribute a lot to the competition of the firm with the other firms.
Strengthening the distributor network of Solar Dukkan in Turkey and in this
way, increasing the capacity of the market. The distributor network that
expands will render the accession to the clients easier, it will increase the
service quality and fasten the delivery speed.
Providing at home the products that are imported from abroad. It may not be
possible to supply the photovoltaic cells at home in the short term. Inverter
and steel frame may be provided at home. If equal quality is achieved, this
may decrease the costs of logistics and supply chain. The delivery periods
may be shortened.
Storing at home in a way that would allow the 50kWp installation at certain
points. It is believed that the sales will increase in the cities of Mersin,
Samsun and Izmir. So these cities can be among these storage points in the
short term.
i. Storage, distribution and service point in Istanbul is Marmara Region,

31. Page | 31
ii. Storage, distribution and service point in Samsun are Black Sea
Region and Central Anatolia Region
iii. Storage, distribution and service points in Mersin are East Anatolia
Region, Southeastern Anatolia Region and Mediterranean Region
iv. Storage, distribution and service points in Izmir are Aegean Region
&Mediterranean Region
View 9.Map of Turkey, Solar Dukkan Warehouses
SD Istanbul Warehouse
SD Samsun Warehouse
SD Mersin Warehouse
SD Izmir Warehouse

32. Page | 32
Session 9 :Challenges in
complex projects in Information
Systems
Do previous projects in your client organisation appear to be unholistic?
Can we learn from a systems approach?
In answering this question, you might like to think about (i) the assumptions by
project management methods, that the process of a project is systematic, and (ii)
the resultant skills that project managers are expected to have.
Insert your ideas below, with justification.
Our clients challenge would be entering existing and completed project‟s
data to PFT. Client has got more than 10.000 contacted customers so far now. To
enter all datawhcih was sourced by previous MS Excel files may take some time for
Solar Dukkan employees. This can result in ineffective time consumption. Besides
this, that may be difficult to find out revision on projects.
We as the management client are offering to company to open new
headcounts such as trainee positions within the company. These colleagues may
stay in the company and provide contribution to sales after completion of their
trainee periods. These may also be functional to company.

33. Page | 33
Session 10 :Emerging Trends
Which new technologies might be of relevance to your client organization, and
how might it affect
The process already identified, and
The potential project plan in your recommendations?
Justify your answer below.
Based on the long discussion and the interest from the management team of
our client our team of consultants motivates itself to make deeper analysis and to
provide the best solutions. The proposed solutions relating to the Information
technology are listed below:
Mobile Applications: Regarding the issue of the smart phones with which
our client is excited, there is a need for creating new mobile solutions for our client.
These apps can be provided to users via Google Play Store or Apple Application
Store. Inside the groups which our client is using dynamic, it can present and
promote all the activities that the company is performing according to the corporate
social responsibility program. This media are really powerful, useful and require
minimum investment and will ensure the company easily to communicate with the
stakeholders.
Supply Process: represents a good opportunity to the company, without
taking into consideration the location to receive orders and offers online. This will
decrease the time period as well as the cost to the client.
Online Platform for Customers: The online platform will support the sales
department to receive feedback from the clients. The online platform will decrease
the human force and the cost for travelling around the world and visiting the
clients separately.
Exhibitions: Our client is now attending new exhibitions after our
recommendation. Boat Show Istanbul is one of them. We will study result of
exhibition‟s and check our clients satisfactory after the exhibition.

34. Page | 34
Session 11: Implementation and
Intervention Information
Systems Change
Types of change
The practice of organisational change often involves includes attempting to change
some or all of these simultaneously.
 Attitudes of people;
 Knowledge and skills of people;
 Activities and tasks that people undertake;
 Communication between people;
 Information;
 Power which makes human societal structures operate in particular ways;
 Control to try to align activities to purpose;
 The enabling technologies
 Roles relationships
The above are categories, and the actual changes that you make will normally fall
into one or more of these categories. Further, changes will usually mean actions by
a number of key groups and individuals.
Activity: Using your findings about what needs to change that have been
identified so far, fill in the following table (over).
Area of change (taken
from your “what needs
changing” sheets
What type of change is
it, using the bulleted
categories above
Who needs to be
involved (roles, groups
or individuals)
Implementation of Process
Following Tool
Communication between
people
Information
Roles relationships
All three types of change
require the involvement
of: Executive-team and
Project-management team
Implementation of
standardised workflows
Activities and tasks that
people undertake
The enabling
technologies
Both types of change need
the involvement of:
Project-management team
and Working-team
members
Increased control and
monitoring
Strictly established
policies and procedures
Regular controls
Corrective and
preventive actions
Assessment of the
performances
Clear company strategy,
mission, vision and values
Increased traceability
from the employees within
the management systems
Disciplinary actions,
rewards and recognition

35. Page | 35
Session 12: The New Economy
and the Role of Knowledge
Technologies (Optional)
Is there a role for e-learning technology, to help to improve your organization or
your processes? Insert your ideas below.

36. Page | 36
Session 13: Reflections
Identify the most important learning point that you have taken so far. Insert your
ideas below, e.g. this can, (i) the use of methods in general, (ii) your use of
methods, (iii) the nature or contribution of a systems approach to information
management (i.e. „information systems‟), (iv) a discovery about your own
knowledge or limitation of it, (v) an identified area that you need to discover more
about.
In this workbook the team of consultants‟; we analyse the current situation
and the conditions of our client company Solar Dukkan by identification and
presentation of the problems. The assessment of the problems and the pin pointing
one by one is presented through Rich picture, used as a basis for development and
improvement. Consequently to that we have identified the processes included in
modelling of the Information system. All the proposed changes, recommendations
and possible failures are listed in this workbook and would support our client to
act properly.
It is really interesting and challenging overloaded 2 weeks for the team to
discuss and develop the possible solutions for the client. In addition to that we
have to stress that it was a really challenging to review all the aspect of the various
functions.
Certainly, one of the most interesting concepts in Information Management
is Software Developing. It can be applied in every sector, in all kinds of business
models and regards all the processes of such a complex concept as a company.
Our software PFT (Process Following Tool), gives the opportunity to the
people involved in the process modelling, of visualizing the organization along with
all its components and characteristics. In addition, contains a powerful tool,
reminder, which assists the analyst to identify opportunities of acting,
disadvantages of certain situations or even the need for additional control
constructs, by running various scenarios with different saleprocess elements.
When you have completed the above task, post it onto the area on the website.
This can be In this session, everybody should make a minimum of one post on the
most important learning point that they have made.

37. Page | 37
Session 14: Conclusions
Go to the Consultancy Academy website and if you want to become an Asociate,
please register yourself!
www.consultancyacademy.com
Reasons for registering
The Consultancy Academy are dedicated to developing the best people for
bringing about changes to our problematic world. We need great consultants,
entrepreneurs and leaders, to drive change, create wealth and develop
organisations. The Consultancy Academy is a network of consultants with this
goal. The Consultancy Academy is keen to expand its reach, its network and its
businesses around the globe.
Competition in energy sector is very high, especially in Turkey. We have completed a study
for our client www.solardukkan.com to become market leader or protect it’s top position in
Turkish solar energy market. Installed capacity is increasing day to day in Turkey. There is a
possibility for Turkish energy companies become international players. The emerging trends
and technologies require from the company adjustment and flexibility intending to increase
the competiveness on one hand and continually to improve the processes on other hand.
The case of our client is very interesting and challenging company that is not so immune of
the financial crisis impact. The developed skills and competences of the management and
the employees are playing crucial role in establishing strong bases of the processes and are
ensuring the long term company objectives for continual improvement.
One of the key activities in the company business processes is appliance of the total quality
management with our Process Following Tool. The same can ensure stability and good
traceability between the processes with implementation of IT technology systems. Our client
has started using our tool PFT and first 1 month was found very functional from the company.
They are happy with PFT and has recently informed us that new methodologies such as PFT
are providing to company cost efficiency and it has a great impact on sales, customer
satisfaction, and profit margin. We would be happy to press all our thanks to Solar Dukkan
employees whom have been supporting our work from early stages.

38. Page | 38
REFERENCES
Dekker, R., Fleischmann, M., Inderfurth, K., Van Wassenhove, L. N., 2004.Reverse
Logistics,
Quantitative Models for Closed-Loop Supply Chains. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Eom, S. B., 2005. Inter-Organizational Information Systems in the Internet Age.
London: Idea Group Publishing. Available at:
<http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=mSis0rOzvzUC&pg=PA320&lpg=PA320&dq=
Mohr,+J.J.+and+J.R.+Nevin.+%22Communication+Strategies+in+Marketing+Chan
nels:+A+Theoretical+Perspective,%22+Journal+of+Marketing,+(54:4),+1990,+pp.+36
-
51.&source=bl&ots=aNBE7CyGZK&sig=lgqXBS5pTYJoU6lNP1lnKOrUrJI&hl=tr&sa
=X&ei=0VC5T82dEYj3sgb35_SPCA&ved=0CFYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Mohr%2C
%20J.J.%20and%20J.R.%20Nevin.%20%22Communication%20Strategies%20in%2
0Marketing%20Channels%3A%20A%20Theoretical%20Perspective%2C%22%20Jou
rnal%20of%20Marketing%2C%20(54%3A4)%2C%201990%2C%20pp.%2036-
51.&f=true> [Accessed 4 April 2012].
Frame, J. Davidson, Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best Use
of Time, Techniques, and People, 3rd edition, Jossey-Bass, 2003, ISBN 0-787-
96831-5
Klein, Robert, Scheduling of Resurce-Constrained Projects, Kluwer Academic
Publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-7923-8637-X.
Lee, H. L., Padmanabhan, V., Whang, S., 1997.Management Science.Vol. 43, No. 4,
Frontier Research in Manufacturing and Logistics. California: Informs. pp. 546-558.
Lencioni, Patrick M., Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for
Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators (J-B Lencioni Series),Jossey-Bass, 2005, ISBN
0-787-97637-7
McFarlane, D., Sheffi, Y., 2002. The Impact of Automatic Identification on Supply
Chain Operations.
Available at:
<http://web.mit.edu/sheffi/www/TheImpactofAutomaticIdentificationonSCOperati
ons.pdf>
[Accessed 5 May 2013].
Meredith, R. Jack and Mantel, Jr., Samuel J., Project Management: A Managerial
Approach, 7th edition, Wiley, 2008, ISBN 0-470-22621-8
Schwalbe, Kathy, Information Technology Project Management, 6th edition, Course
Technology, 2009, ISBN 0-324-78692-1
Taylor, D. H., 1997. Global Cases in Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
London: Thomson Learning.
Türkoğlu, N. "Türkiye‟ninYüzölçümüveNüfusununDepremBölgelerineDağılışı." Ankara
ÜniversitesiTürkiyeCoğrafyasıAraştırmaveUygulama Merkezi Dergisi 8 (2001): 133-
148.

39. Page | 39
Appendix 1: Assessment grading
guidance on the workbook
Guidelines on Assessment Grading of this workbook.
Distinction
Excellent introductory awareness of a Systems Based approach to Information
Systems change.
Excellent depth and attention to detail, sufficient for practical application.
Excellent flow in which conclusions of one part of the application of the
methods, flowed well into the next.
Excellent awareness of related concepts, theory or literature.
Excellent awareness of the implications of the methods at a personal level.
Excellent conclusions drawn which considered the generalisable issues.
Merit
Shows good awareness of a Systems Approach
Showed good depth and attention to detail, sufficient for some areas of
practice.
Good flow and structure, with corresponding application of methods and
arguments.
Evidence and awareness of some related concepts, theory or literature.
Good awareness of the implications of the methods at a personal level.
Some generalisable conclusions were drawn.
Pass
Awareness of a Systems Approach but with errors or ambiguities
Some useful detail, demonstrating some useful application to practice,
Appropriate structure, although the integration of argument/methods would
improve the plausibility of conclusions drawn.
Some awareness of related concepts, theory or literature.
Implications at a personal level were evident, although needs expansion.
Generalisable conclusions were evidenced although needs more attention in
the piece.

40. Page | 40
Marginal Fail
A Systems approach was not used well / there were errors in the use of the
systems approach
Pockets of detail, which may be useful in practice with a little more attention
to detail.
Flow and structure, and the logic of the argument was rather weak.
Limited awareness of the concepts, theory or related literature, which
inhibited the effectiveness of the piece.
Implications at a personal level was evidenced in pockets.
Generalisable conclusions were rather too implicit or lacked sufficient detail.
Poor Fail
Inadequate use of Systems ideas/poor understanding of them.
Rather weak on detail/depth and thus most of the work is impractical.
Rather little evidence of a logical structure and as a result a rather weak flow
of argument.
Weak understanding of related concepts, theory or literature.
Rather weak implications at a personal level.
Weak conclusions were drawn.

41. Page | 41
Appendix 2 : Areas of Required
Change
Use the following sheets to document the areas that you see as required change
in your client organisation and/or yourself in achieving the changes. Duplicate
them if needed.
Area that you think
needs to be
changed
Justification
Outsourced
Logistics
Our client is managing its logistic services as outsourced.
This may result in lack of information within delivery
processes.
Online sales via
Paypal
Our client is managing its online sale transaction via PayPal.
We are recommending our client to provide availability of
national banks‟ post machines as well within their webpage.