Good Evening
(a) Critically evaluate the decision made by the CEO to use a software package approach to automating the production process at Flexipipe, and explain why this approach was unlikely to succeed. (12 marks)
i have 2 questions regarding the answer to this part:
1. i read somewhere that in p3, they give 1 mark for each point. based on that, i tried to come up with 12 points. did i read correclty?
2. i could only come up with 8 points and i have listed them below ... in my actual answer i elaborated as well.
the points are as follows:
- CEO overrode the procurement process
- the process being automated was not a "standard" process
- the data structures were not compatible
- there was no 'trial run' or parallel run
- there was no training
- there was no 'try before buy' - once critical function was missing
- supplier was not vetted
- there was no formal process to evaluate packages
As you can see, my approach is totally different to the answer given. can u guide me if listing points as above qualify for marks?
thanks!
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Q2, Jun '12 - Flexipipe
9y ago#18 points well explained are better then 12 badly explained.
– CEO overrode the procurement process: little expertise; grabbed first package seen.
– the process being automated was not a “standard” process: yes. non-standard doesn't sit easily with packages. Also packages don't provide competitive advantage if everyone has the same one.
- data structures incompatible: presumably because there was migration difficulty.
- no trial/parallel run. Not a problem relating to the package solution. This is to do with changeover.
- no training. again not a problem with the package solution. See part (b)
- try before buy: this could have uncovered problems.
- supplier not vetted. Again not specifically to do with packages. Could also apply to bespoke suppliers. See answer to part (b)
- no formal evaluation: this might have found a proper package, but again I think teh question was aksing why it was unlikely that ANY package might be successful in this business.
my motivation for writing point by point was the fact that u get one mark per point. yet the answer has only 3 points, which r elaborated.
can u clear my thinking/approach on this?
9y ago#3At this level, despite what the marking guide suggests, 1 mark per point is simplistic. The answer has three section in part (a), but it really describes the problems in detail. Concentrate on describing your points carefully.
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