The Bronson Insurance Group was originally founded in 1900 in Auxvasse, Missouri, by James Bronson. The Bronson Group possesses a variety of companies that underwrite personal and commercial coverage.
Annual sales of the Bronson Group are $100 , 000, 000. In recent years, the company has suffered working losses. In 1990, the company was greatly invested in computer systems and software. One of the complications the Bronson Group encountered (as well as many insurance companies) was obviously a conflict between established manual procedures as well as the relatively recent (within the past twenty years) introduction of pc equipment. This conflict was illustrated by fact that much information was captured on computer but paper data were nonetheless kept for practical and legal causes.
FILE SALES PERSON The data file department applied 20 document clerks whom pulled files from stacks, refilled utilized files, and delivered documents to various departments including commercial lines, personal lines, and claims. Each file clerk received the file. Man or women delivered documents to underwriters on an on an hourly basis basis the whole day. The average record clerk was paid $8, 300 each year. One special file clerk was used full time to search for requested data files that an additional file attendant had not been able to find in the anticipated place.
It had been estimated that 40 percent of the wanted files had been these no hit data requiring a search. Often these kinds of no hit files had been eventually identified stacked in the requester’s workplace. The primary customers of the data file clerks were underwriters and claims attorneys. UNDERWRITING Firm management and operations analysts were consistently told that the greatest problem in the company was your inability of file man or women to supply data files in a fast fashion.
The whole company throughout viewed the productivity and effectiveness in the department as unacceptable. An underwriter used 20-50 files per day. Due to their distrust with the files office, underwriters maintained to hoard often used data files. A count number by procedures analysts identified that each underwriter kept by 100-200 data files in his or perhaps her business office at any single time.
An expert would obtain a file simply by computer and work on different business before the file was received. Benson employed twenty-five underwriters. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM Upper managing was deeply concerned about this problem.
The LOS department experienced suggested employing video disks as a possible answer. A video disk system was found that might be sufficient for the Term II Exam Papers IIBM Institute of Business Managing companies needs at an expense of about $12 million. It was estimated that the system would take 2 years to install and make suitable for existing data systems. An additional, less eye-catching was applying microfilm.
A microfilm system would need underwriters to attend a single keyboard to request paper copies of data files. The cost of a microfilm program was $5 million. 1 . What do you recommend?
If the company implement one of the fresh technologies? For what reason or obtain? 2 . An operations expert suggested that company staff shared a dump around the clerks mindset. Explain.
Caselet 2 Harrison T. Wenk III is definitely 43, married, and provides two children, ages 10 and 14. This individual has a master’s degree in education and teachers jr . high school music in a small area in Kansas. Harrison’s daddy passed away two months ago, departing his only child an unusual business opportunity. According to his father’s can, Harrison features 12 months to become active in the friends and family food-catering business, KareFull Katering, Inc., or perhaps it will be sold to two key employees for any reasonable and fair selling price.
If Harrison becomes engaged, the two personnel have the option to acquire a significant, although less than the greater part, interest in the firm. Harrison’s only participation with this business, which in turn his grandpa established, was as an hourly staff during secondary school and college summers. He could be confident that he can learn and maybe enjoy the promoting side of the business, and could support the long-time head of accounting/finance.
But he’d never really enjoy day-to-day procedures. In fact , this individual doesn’t determine what operations supervision really involves. In 1991 Kare-Full Katering, Incorporation. had $3. 75 , 000, 000 in product sales in central Ohio.
Net profit following taxes was $ 105, 000, the eleventh consecutive year of profitable businesses and the seventeenth in the last two decades. There are 210 employees in this labor-intense organization. Institutional agreements account for above 70 percent of sales and include partial foodstuff services for 3 colleges, 6 commercial establishments) primarily manufacturers and banks), two lengthy -term attention facilities, and five level schools.
Some customer position employs a permanent operations manager; others will be served through the main kitchens of Kare-Full Katering. Harrison believes that if he becomes mixed up in business, one of the two key employees, the vice president of operations, is going to leave the firm. Harrison has made a decision to complete the ultimate two months of this school year and then your time summer about Kare-Full Katering along with institutions with the own meals services to assess if he would like to become involved in the commercial. He is especially interested in discovering as much as possible regarding operations.
Harrison believes this individual owes that to his wife and children to fairly assess this option.