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CHAPTER FIVE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
5.1 Case Analysis
We have collected a large array of information on the Orbi platform and business operations from TAITRA and SSRC. In this section, we will analyze the cases according to our Star Model framework.
5.1.1 Strategy
Change-readiness IT capability. Since the Orbi platform uses a specific wireless protocol, so far it has only been able to work on first floor of the Nangang Exhibition Hall. The head of Exhibition Department of TAITRA stated, ―It is very tough to build a superior wireless transmission environment in an exhibition hall without our government’s support.‖ They also adopted a customized hand-held device to access the system, which substantially increased operating costs. In terms of IT human resource, the problem is that employees don’t have the knowledge and skills needed to handle the new service. Additionally, TAITRA’s clients and the exhibitors do not know how to operate the system, and are thus unable to upload data or make e-DMs.
The SSRC plays a similar role to TAITRA’s IT department in the U2EX project. They are in charge of developing the system and building a training program for TAITRA employees, as well as the exhibitors. Otherwise, the employees would not be willing to spend more time to deal with the new service. These issues have created a sort of resistance to the promotion of Orbi. Overall, TAITRA has not been ready to implement the new mobile services at present.
Organizational learning. The goal of learning in an organization is to build a sound knowledge management system; however, TAITRA’s weakness lies in that, as the staff of Exhibition Department of TAITRA mentioned, ―TAITRA is a huge organization with numerous departments, with knowledge that is not being shared between each department.‖ Though they have built a document management system, senior employees are still used to passing their experiences on through oral description, instead of recording them in the system. As time passes by, changes in personnel or simple forgetfulness may cause valuable information to be lost. This situation has greatly hindered the company’s progress towards organizational learning.
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Quick response to the market. The primary competitors of TAITRA are international exhibition organizers. The scale of an exhibition follows the prosperity or decline of the respective industry. At the moment, in Taiwan, only bicycle and computer exhibitions are considered to be large-sized international exhibitions. For this reason, it is impractical for TAITRA to invest a large quantity of resources in every show.
Additionally, TAITRA is such a huge organization that division of labor is clear and fixed, so they aren’t flexible enough to deal with requests from such a rapidly changing business environment. Furthermore, ―since the terms of the request for the new IT service are still not clear, we would rather wait than commit ourselves to the new system,‖ the CEO of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA claimed.
5.1.2 Structure
―As you know TAITRA is jointly sponsored by the government, so we are somewhat limited in making any changes to our business strategy or organizational structure,‖
the CEO of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA stated. This clear and definite structure, while organized, only serves to increase TAITRA’s inflexibility business-wise.
Skill center. TAITRA has its own IT department that develops internal information systems and new technology. However, the IT members are not able to command the new system, so the SSRC must take charge of building the Orbi platform, training TAITRA’s IT members with new skills, and promoting new services to exhibitors and buyers. ―We act almost as the IT department of TAITRA,‖ said the PM of SSRC.
However, this is just a temporary expediency for TAITRA, until the technology transfers from the SSRC.
Business house. Building a Business House requires interdepartmental knowledge sharing; however, the staff of Exhibition Department of TAITRA stated that in order to access project reports kept in other departments, they need to have an official document that gives permission. Consequently, this difficulty in cross-department communication has resulted in a standstill of knowledge innovation in the launch of new business projects.
Relationship management center. A special group responsible for TAITRA’s customer relationship management (CRM) has adopted the Orbi platform to help them strengthen the connection between TAITRA and the exhibitors. During an exhibition, TAITRA could easily observe the interactions between all the exhibitors and buyers
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and quickly find out which processes are necessary to facilitate their transactions.
―Orbi advances the opportunities of matching up business partners, which makes them more willing to attend an exhibition held by TAITRA,‖ the head of Exhibition Department of TAITRA said.
Project management pool. As we explained in previous paragraphs, TAITRA is a well-structured company, and the duties of each department are clearly defined in the regulations. Since high-level management and interdepartmental components do not exist in TAITRA, even they discover some opportune business chances via CRM, ―it takes a lot of time to evaluate the market value of each opportunity, due to the complicated decision-making procedure involved,‖ the CEO of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA explained.
5.1.3 Process
Due to TAITRA’s wait-and-see attitude toward innovative mobile services, the company is ―still investigating the feedback from our clients to determine if it is a worthy venture to invest in Orbi (the staff of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA).‖
This hesitancy makes TAITRA not only passive towards SSRC’s support, but bluntly unresponsive to the market; and, still the process of holding an exhibition remains as inflexible as usual. According to both the staff of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA and the PM of SSRC, the company ―would rather only provide the necessary information to SSRC, than spend time and manpower to develop a platform.‖
5.1.4 People
For many years, TAITRA has reinforced the method of examination for the recruitment of new employees. The head of Exhibition Department of TAITRA said,
―we believe that one who passes the test is equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to start a career in TAITRA.‖ Though on one hand, recruiting new employees via exam could be regarded as a good tool for measuring one’s ability; on the other, the company might be ignoring factors such as the person’s personality, such as creativity, willingness to learn, teamwork skills, optimism, and hard-working attitude.
In the future, these characteristics may become key to the success of a business project, in addition to the essential knowledge and skills.
For existing employees, TAITRA has a program for newly hired personnel in order to help them become familiar with their own jobs and the enterprise culture. IT
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members are often asked to attend different sorts of training technique course; this sort of continuous on-job training helps to keep employees competitive. When it comes to Orbi, ―we haven’t designed a distinctive program to educate related employees, because the system is still in its experimental phase (the staff of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA).‖ In this project, SSRC also functions as a training center that introduces new technology to both TAITRA and prospective exhibitors, as well. Additionally, the SSRC employs many temporary workers for general services and collection of reflections regarding Orbi platform from both exhibitors and buyers in the exhibition. It is predicted that TAITRA will propose a new education system in order to advance employees knowledge in technology transfer.
In terms of leadership, since TAITRA’s high-level managers consider Orbi as simply supplementary material, rather than future crucial business strategy, they would not be receptive to making any changes in their leading style, let alone empowerment. ―We are not yet sure that Orbi will bring us a great benefit in the exhibition industry,‖ said the head of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA. This rigid system will be of great resistance when bringing such an innovative system into practice.
5.1.5 Reward System
The employee appraisal system is explicitly stipulated in the TAITRA’s organizational norm. The staff of the Exhibition Department of TAITRA stated, ―we always measure our employees’ performance according to the rules; no more, no less.‖ In the case of TAITRA, it is nearly impossible to give an employee extra remunerations for developing an experimental system as of yet; that is to say, a project participant would get no additional compensation for their work, unless Orbi is viewed as a prospective business solution in exhibition industry. In regard to the temporary workers, the SSRC provides some prizes in order to stimulate their work effectiveness, since the PM believes that, ―for part-time workers, the best way to advance their performance by substantial compensation.‖ Through this encouragement, SSRC hopes to quickly and completely collect feedback about Orbi, so they can improve the system accordingly.