Colgate Max Fresh

1. Do you agree with Ruben that IT is a “unique” or “different” business function? (IVK-3)

I agree with Ruben’s view of IT being ‘unique’ or ‘different’. The Information technology is the fastest growing discipline in today’s business environment and encompasses many different roles and responsibilities. simply overwhelmed by the amount of information and the failure to connect between the dots.

IT service is about delivering end-to-end solutions to model problems faced by other disciplines and acts as a basic foundation or foothold. There are no fixed rules or solutions and Burton is correct when he writes the caption ‘skill and talent management’ but he should be able to realize the dimensions to it. IT is characterized by a life cycle and operates within certain frameworks and it is upto the manager to manage this diverse range of specialists and identify who are critical to the core business operations and leverage on their knowledge and motivates them to keep upgrading and learning continuously. For example, Cho and Gita are experts in their field and Fenton who is technical but not interested in management.

An IT manager may necessarily have technical skills but it is necessary that he know how to integrate different systems (people, process, partners, information and technology) to support the business objective. A separation of duties into business activities, information management and information technology is essential to achieve efficiency.

2) What is the right amount of money a company should invest in IT? How can the right amount be determined? How should Jim Barton respond to the CEO’s question: ‘Are we spending the right amount on IT’?

of sales as compared to the 6%.

3) What is the purpose of a ‘chargeback’ system for returning IT costs to a business unit? Why implement such a system?

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