Organisation and management in the network era Essay

The following impudentlys report contains a brief look into MAS holdings, the troupes history, how they exhaust enceinte and developed and how they beat succeeded in numerous approximates. The report then goes on to address the following questions1. Outline the hear leadershiphip discharges confronting MAS Holdings. 2. In damage of this case, how prat the CIO swear appear in gaining elderberry bush anxiety die hard for IT initiatives? 3. In reviewing an government of your choice, discuss the map played by the CIO and chief executive officer when lead an IT initiative deep down their respective followAn entering to MAS HoldingsMarketsMAS holdings, which was established and lead by progressive and visionary leader Desha numerousa Mahesh Amalean, MAS Holdings pioneered and perfected the manufacture of g girdleents including elegant lingerie in Sri Lanka. The company started with a whizz factory and round of 60, today MAS Holdings now is one of Sri Lankas larges t dress manufacturers. They produce crop, carrying out wear and swimwear in the universe with a net $1 one million million annual turnoer. MAS Holdings now has 38 world-class apparel facilities that spread every ordinate 14 different countries and employing more than 55,000 people, they have grown from a down(p) company to an international powerho subroutine in manufacturing repayable to their sound stage business poser and visionary, diverse development.MAS Holdings are not only the lead story strategicalal rivener for Victorias Secret (VS) but too efficaciously serve numerous global brassierends including Triumph International, tag & Spencer (M&S), DIM marker Apparel, Nike, Speedo, Adidas, Reebok, GAP and Banana Republic. The for mentioned companies are known for quality and excellence end-to-end the world and this is in many ways attributed to MAS Holdings dedication to their brands and commitment to suffer an excellent service to their customers.Design and pr oduct development has evolved to be summon a samara part of the business an area in which MASHoldings has excelled. In summing up to working with traditional vendornetworks, concepts and design briefs in order to induce new product ranges, MAS Holdings to a fault works to create new applied science and products that will be a source of competitive wages, this is done in a bid to redefine the industry Innovation is second constitution to MAS Holdings. From working with Victorias Secret on fast replacement models to lean manufacturing with rapid product changeovers, the companys fully-integrated model all(prenominal)ows it to innovate across the value chain. ProductsMAS Holdings comprise of four business units MAS Intimates, MAS Active, MAS Fabrics and MAS Investments, a set forth non-apparel business. The MAS Holdings Intimates department designs and manufactures niche-market lingerie for high-street fashion retailer and brands, while MAS Active supplies lead brands in oppo sition sportswear. MAS Fabrics, made up of manufacturing facilities for elastics, warp-knit framework, lace, intimate apparel accessories and moulded bra cups, it is here that we see many of the innovative products MAS Holdings produce coming together.MAS fabrics besides complements the Intimates and Active divisions. Through the integrated business model, MAS Holdings innovates new and exciting solutions from state of the art silicon-embedding engineering toorganic and fair-trade products. Some innovative products accommodate the Speedo Fast SkinFS-Pro swim match which was polemically worn out at the2004 Olympics, and subsequently banned. An another(prenominal) innovative product produced by MAS Holdings was the Nike Revolutionary Support Bra the highest-selling sports bra in the USA worn by international tennis playersand athletes.In 2007, MAS Holdings launched its own intimate apparel brand, Amant, which targets the Indian market. MASInvestments oversaw a diversified portfo lio of investments including the development of integrated apparel and fabric parks in the region, retail and outsourced education-engineering services. The divisions are brought together under a common vision and corporate governance by MAS integrated Solutions.A undefeated spin off from the apparel market was MAS Investments which include two IT consulting companies, the Corporate Branding and Retail unit and a diversified investment portfolio. A brief history review shows that in 1990, Mast Industries entered into a joint venture, background up shadow line.The next big leap for MAS Holdings came in 1992 when it entered into a joint-venture partnership with Triumph International and Mast Industries to set up Bodyline, which continues to be its single largest plant for manufacturing intimate in the area. Slimline, a company which emerged in 1993 as a joint venture with Mast Industries and Courtaulds Clothing (UK), has been a key sourcing arm of M&S and went on to establish benc hmarks for excellence in employee traffic and put MAS Holdings firmly on the global map.The counterbalance overseas venture for MAS Holdings was Linea Clothing in the Maldives in 1996. Since then, the group has continued to rack up strategic investments overseas with operations spanning five countries. MAS Holdings initiated vertical integration within the Sri Lankan apparel industry with its joint venture with Mast Industries and Charnwood Elastics (UK) to establish Stretchline, the countrys postmortem supplier of elastics, in 1996. Stretchline is now a globally recognised brand for narrow performance elastics with a global manufacturing base. A partnership with NoyonDentelles of France in 2004 created South Asias startle lace manufacturing facility, Noyon Lanka.Joint-venture partnerships with Prym Intimates (Germany), Dogi International FabricandTextprint SA (Spain) consolidated the regional tot up base for intimate apparel accessories, warp-knitted fabrics and fabricprinti ng capabilities. This diversity in the supply chain has helped blot Sri Lanka and the regional centre of excellence for apparel and sportswear. MAS Linea Aqua, a partnership concern with Speedo International, is one of the first dedicated swimwear plants in the world excelling in performance swimwear. As previously mentioned, it has been MAS Holdings dedication to innovation that has propelled it to the pass of its industry.Q1. Outline the key leadership issues confronting MAS Holdings. As mentioned above, the history of MAS Holdingshas played a role in key leadership issues that confront MASHoldings today.There are several(prenominal) key leadership issues confronting MAS Holdings. Due to the diverse nature of MAS Holdingsoperations and its decentralised structure, it would be difficult to have a item company- wide leadership in place. Malesh Amalean, chairman of MAS Holdings has to deal with the vertical integration of MASHoldings. At the beginning, he succeeded in creating his own company and orienting its company system to an export-oriented strategy.First, he managed to set up contracts with European and American retailers such as C&A or Calvin Klein. Secondly, he organized a first joint venture with a big American retailer, MAST, which allowed him to gain his first contract with Victorias Secret and a strong reputation in womens lingerie manufacturing. Unfortunately, the sudden plus of work for thecompany led to virtually leadership problems,the read of seasoned professional managers. MaleshAmalean has to lose a part of his control over the company by sharing his control over the business to juvenile and unknown managers. He has to trust them in order to take advantage of this situation.The next joint ventures, with Triumph, Noyon or Sara Lee, amongst others, have further increased the issue of control and trust. Although MASHoldings can continue to develop while creation part of a large company, they must(prenominal) chequer to adapt and co mpromise to suit partner firms. This may involve accepting new systems, processes and procedures such as the ones instituted by Triumph. However this deal was not one sided as MAS Holdings had to learn to share their own technologies and knowledge with their partner. This can lead to some outrage of control within the company if not managed correctly.In order not to lose too much power, MAS Holdings was only signing joint-ventures with companies in which they established a trusting relationship, with strong dialogue and a soulal relationship, they also protected themselves by never committing 100% of their production capabilities to one especial(a) company. Furthermore, the company nominately outlined in apiece contract that MASHoldings were trusty for managing the businesses from taking the order stage and MASHoldings also clearly defined the righteousness of separately participant in the joint-venture. This specific repartition of tasks allowed MAS Holdings to build a spe cific structure for all their different tasks which they maintained a desired level of control over.Due to a desire to succeed with this new decentralise structure MaleshAmalean made a decision to allocate leaders to each structure, segmenting the leaders from each other. MAS Holdings run the risk of deviating from its core business model as a progeny of this. This is one of the reasons why MAS Holdings managed to deploy its IT systems to cleanse knowledge sharing and information management capabilities across the organization.As the company develops and grows, they are faced with the issue of loss of control. They attempt to counteract this by implementing strategies to prevent it. Q 2. In terms of this case, how can the CIO assistance in gaining senior Management weather for IT initiatives? The Chief study officer (CIO) of an governing body is the someone responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support the organisations destinations and objec tive (TechTarget). This position is intended to bridge the gap between information technology and the business.It is an evolving role related to performance, evaluation, and turnover. For IT initiatives to be in(predicate), a team rise is essential at the senior level in the organization. Therefore the CIO must try to leave alone a link between the IT department and the companys senior managers (Hunter, 2010). The following paragraphs would discuss ways the CIO can assist in gaining senior management support for IT initiatives in MAS Holdings. CommunicationAt MAS Holdings, the senior management is aware of the flexibility and competitive advantage IT initiatives can bring to the organisation in a rapidly changing market. However, to assist in gaining senior management support, communication is key. The CIO must communicate in the language of business, as this is important to enable the senior management nurse IT funding decisions as puff up as strategic and business decisions. Therefore, the key information on what the IT bug out will enable MAS Holdings to perform should be stated in clear, concise, and real business terms.Stating the alignment with strategies and objectivesInformation technology and business alignment refers to demonstrating concise business related value from IT and set up the capabilities of IT with the objectives of the organisation (Hunter, 2010). In order to do this, the CIO needs to understand the strategies and objectives of MAS Holdings. Strategies of MAS Holdings include a coalition of companies, Backward Vertical Integration, and streamlining the supply chain. The specifics of potential IT initiatives should be clearly stated and explained how it may be strategically applied to save the MAS Holdings goals and objectives. In cases where IT travails are not aligned, but may still be important, the CIO needs to tell senior managers why and how. Alignment is usually facilitated through and through with(predicate) communicati on. Specifying the anticipated bene paroxysmsUsually senior management do not specifically care about the technology itself, but how it would enable the organisation accomplish its goals. MAS Holdings work with a coalition of companies, so apart from competitive advantage, IT initiatives would provide a transparent model which allows information and knowledge to flow within the MASHoldings group companies and through the value chain, from customer down to various suppliers.This would make the retail business more efficient cost competitiveness and zip up would be enhanced, while providing flexibility. MAS Holdings biggest customer, Victorias Secret needed to dilute the concept-to-market duration of its products. An ERP solution would help produce a demand-planning system that would have the right product on the shelf at the right time. Showing the focus on MAS Holdings top prioritiesThe CIO must understand the organisations priorities, and the identified IT initiatives must addre ss these priorities. MAS Holdings priority is to understand how each of their partners work, what is important to them, and what their expectations are. Therefore in order to gain senior management support for IT projects, the CIO should show an understanding of the culture of the MAS Holdings and its partners, and to provide the IT solution that would support that.Q 3. In reviewing an organisation of your choice, discuss the role played by the CIO and CEO when leading an IT initiative within their respective company. The company we have chosen to review is Marks and Spencer. We feel this is a specifically good fit as they fall under the MAS Holdings umbrella of brands. Marks & Spencer CEO Marc Boland Marc Bolland, originally from Holland is the current CEO of Marks & Spencers. He was noted in 2010 as one of the intimately influential people in business and in 2011 he was named as most admired business leader in the UK by Management Today magazine.He worked for Heineken and Morri sons before Marks & Spencers. When Marc took over at Marks and Spencer in 2010, he faced the quarrel of meliorate sales and increasing profits. His aim was to do this through development the most up to date and innovative technology. Marks and Spencer set Cheshire Oaks as their flagship technology store. Cheshire Oaks is the first Marks and Spencer store to make extensive use of all the latest technology and innovations in multi-channel to create an enhanced, more well-to-do and inspirational customer shop experience.The Cheshire Oaks and subsequent stores have adopted and apply technologies HD screens throughout the stores showcase the latest looks offered. Browse and Order screens allow catalogues be viewed and ordered from. Staff equipped with iPads to assist customers with item searches Leading technology such as the Virtual Makeover and Duvet and Pillow Selector bread and butter Marks and Spencer at the forefront on technology. QR codes and free customer Wi-Fi also featu re throughout the store.It is essential that Marc Boland works with the CIO when he is implementing or improving any information technology process or policy. Collaboration between CEO and CIO is essential. Marcs role is to approve of and support IT initiatives. Backing the technology and using his expertise and resources efficiently will help any slaying succeed. Marc must be an sure leader and ensure that the team and himself donjon up to date with the constantly changing world of E-Commerce and technology. Being an informed leader will help Marc in his role of ensuring Marks & Spencers keep up to date with their competitors. Customers value and demand the newest and most up to date technology. Providing services that meet the demand is a key role in Marcs goal of improving the situation Marks & Spencer fix themselves in when he acquired the C.E.O. role.Marks and Spencer CIO Darrell stein Darrell stein is CIO of Marks & Spencers and he plays a crucially important role in lea ding I.T. initiatives throughout the organisation. Although Chief Information ships officers will always be abstruse in I.T. initiatives, Steins vision, enterprising spirit and ambition ensure many supremacyful I.T. projects under his tenure.Stein is the key man that led I.T. change within Marks & Spencer resulting in it being a very successful organisation today. Stein was initially brought in as an I.T. director with some responsibilities for logistics, barely he moved away from the logistics side so he could ease up his full attention to I.T. Using his knowledge and experience, he shortly prove himself surpassing the I.T. systems company wide, no easy task for an organisation with over a thousand stores and almost 10billion in annual revenue.Stein learned lessons from new-fashioned high profile disasters in the retail sector, and his approach is to look at all aspects of a project while planning the project, he is also gnarly in getting the right people in place and empl oys a tactic of not moving too fast, his successful techniques have been proven with the high success rate of projects which he has co-ordinated. Crucially, he also realises how much that I.T. projects which dont work, hurt the organisation on a day to day basis. Perhaps the most rewarding I.T. initiative that Stein was a leader in implementing was the roll out of SAP computer software within the company. SAP was initially rolled out in the pay department, and after its initial success, it was expanded to other departments within the core business system.Steins role was to justify the implementation of the software, as well as convincing the board at M&S that the wakeless initial investment in SAP would lead to a idler line benefit to the company and boilersuit cost savings in the long run. Stein also faced a challenge in integrating SAP into the existing business process and his full support and backing of the I.T. project was key to its success. When Stein initially rolled out the SAP system in the finance department it led to minute of arc savings. Stein cut M&Ss procurement outlay by a quarter as a direct result of the implementation of the SAP system (TechRepublic, Top 50 CIO). Due to its success in the finance department, Stein rolled out SAP systems to other business areas including HR, supply chain and the foods division.This wide scale roll-out became part of a 2020-Doing the right thing initiative which in essence, is an I.T. &supply chain overhaul that cost 400million in 2011 alone (M&S completes first phase of 3 year SAP rollout, 2010).Steins role in this long term project is key and he is the catalyst for I.T. change within M&S. Stein was also integral in pushing through the I.T. change projects with the goal of lowering overall company operating costs. His ethos of not seeing himself as a technology person, but as a business person who utilizes technology to benefit the company, has been fundamental to M&S and its rebranding strategy of mor e for less.Stein helped reduce running costs through implementing I.T. initiatives, and this led to money being freed up within the business and being invested in other sectors, such as business development projects. It is clear that Darrell Stein has been a fundamental player in leading I.T. initiatives in M&S and his reputation some(prenominal) within the company, and the wider business world, tight the decisions he takes are looked at with optimism and excitement from his colleagues, and with caution from his competitors. Stein has time-tested to focus on building the trust and strong relationship the M&S brand has with its customers, he sees this as key to keeping bunglesome customers, whose return business is vital to the companys continuous success.He has done this through developing feedback channels with customers through more interaction, he has also focused on building the e-commerce aspect of the business, and it is largely due to the measures Stein implemented that M &S has come upond 75% annual increase in its online sales turnover. Stein is now in a position within M&S where he has contributed to them becoming market leaders through, in part, his leadership in pushing through I.T. projects.As mentioned above, it is dogmatic that Darrell Stein works in harmony with Marc Boland to ensure that two of the most influential men in the company work together to achieve organisational goals. Key to the pushing through effective I.T. initiatives in M&S was the close professional relationship Boland and Stein had. Both men regularly communicated with each other about implementing change and integrating the I.T. into the business model.The ample communication channel reinforced any project the men were involved in and made the implementation of technology very smooth. All scenarios involving the new technology would have been talked about prior to its implementation. Communication was a key factor to success in many projects such as the introduction o f the virtual makeover application. Boland and Stein were also both innovators, they looked to set themselves aside from competition through innovative thinking and applying new techniques in the retail sector. Having a CEO and CIO with such a good relationship was essential to some of M&Ss innovative approaches as technology was a key tool used in implementing the change.One such project was the introduction of M&S TV online, which promoted customer interaction with the overall aim of boosting sales. M&S TV pioneered many of the campaigns you see today, for instance, they were first to do a video on where does the milk on the shelves come from? Meet the farmer. These videos made the customer believe they are shopping local and such ads can be seen today by firms such as McDonalds, for their beef, and Supervalu for their produce.The dedication both men had to their jobs was also crucial to many successful projects. Both men had a passion for what they were doing and firmly believed all measures they put in place were for the benefit of the company. In conclusion, we feel both Marc Bolland and Darrell Stein added to Marks and Spencers success, and their co-operation and partnership has boosted innovative techniques and introduced new technologies to the firm.References If infallible answering a question so not sure? -TechRepublic, CIO 50 most influencial, innovative tech chiefs. www.techrepublic.com/cio50/Darrell+Stein/6385891/ -M&S completes first phase of three year SAP roll out, king of beasts King, Computerworld UK, published May 10- www.computerworlduk.com/news/applications/20416/marksspenser-completes-first-phase-of-three-year-SAP-rollout/ ReferencesBrief How can CIOs correct their presentations to senior management? URL http//www.rms.net/lc_briefs_cio_present.htm Hunter G. (2010) The Chief Information Officer A Review of the Role. Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations TechTarget Definition of Chief Information Officer (CIO) . URL http//searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/CIO .Watson.N,Story.J. 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