Hawkins
8
Part I: Information Systems in the Digital Age
8
INTERACTIVE SESSION: PEOPLE
Meet the New Mobile Workers
How much of your job can you do from the palm of the iPad to make sure he's getting the correct pieces.
your hand? Probably more than you think. There are The iPhone and iPad have become so indispensable
many job functions today that can be performed using that the company outfitted its entire workforce, from
an iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android mobile customer service, to design, to quality control, with
device, both for rank-and-file employees and their iPhones. Many have iPads as well.
managers. Businesses large and small are benefiting. Using handhelds to run the business is not limited
The BlackBerry used to be the favorite mobile to small companies. PepsiCo manufactures and sells
handheld for business because it was optimized for brands including Pepsi, Gatorade, Mountain Dew,
e-mail and messaging, with strong security and tools Tropicana, Quaker, and Frito-Lay worldwide and has
for accessing internal corporate systems. Now that's over 300,000 employees. The company uses a complex
changing. Companies large and small are starting to web of interlocking distribution systems to move its
deploy Apple's iPhone and iPad as well as Android products from its manufacturing and warehouse facili-
devices to conduct more of their work. They are
ties onto trucks and then into stores in time to meet cus-
enhancing their security systems so that mobile users tomer demand. PepsiCo runs about 17,000 distribution
can remotely access corporate systems with confi- routes each day. The iPhone and iPad help employees
dence. And they are developing more far-reaching of PepsiCo's North America Beverages division ensure
applications to take advantage of the stunning mobile that the right products arrive in the right locations as
and graphic capabilities.
quickly and efficiently as possible.
Many of the recent mobile applications have been In the past, PepsiCo drivers and merchandisers
for e-mailing, or for supplementing existing workplace began each day by picking up printed schedules with
tasks, like digital flight manuals for airplane pilots order quantities and tasks to be performed at each out-
on iPads or checking in guests at hotels. But now, as let, from unloading cases of soda to setting up new
mobile technology becomes more affordable and easy product displays. It was difficult to accommodate
to use, it's spreading core work functions as well, such last-minute changes in orders because communicating
as marketing materials for pharmaceutical reps, cus- with the delivery drivers was difficult when they were
tomer account software for service technicians, and on the road.
apps for farmers to test the quality of cow's milk.
PepsiCo North America Beverages created a cus-
Jackson Kayak is the leading whitewhater kayak tom in-house app for the iPhone called Power4Merch,
manufacturer. Its president, Eric Jackson, is a cham- which immediately notifies merchandisers when
pion kayaker who spends half of each year following a driver has arrived at a store. The merchandiser's
competitions and events throughout North America. iPhone has an electronic timecard, and he can see his
Eric's job requires that he participate in athletic events, schedule, the store details, the account profiles, and
monitor industry trends in the field, and meet directly everything he needs to know to service the store.
with dealers and customers. With the iPhone and PepsiCo managers use iPads with custom
iPad, Jackson claims he can run the entire 120-person applications to monitor their teams' performance;
company from afar.
pull up pricing, planograms, and contracts; and
Jackson's Wi-Fi-equipped RV connects wirelessly help coordinate deliveries with merchandising. The
to company headquarters in Sparta, Tennessee. When Manager's Briefcase app provides territory sales
Jackson's not on Wi-Fi, he uses his iPad 3G cellular managers with electronic versions of all the paper-
connection. The iPad gives him instant access to his work and resources they need to manage their teams,
entire operation, so he can analyze customer data, including store audits, employee coaching forms, and
refresh Website content, or approve new designs, automated notifications to merchandisers. A manager
Jackson's iPad includes calendars, e-mail, contact can make manpower assignments directly on the
management, and the ability to create and edit iPad. The iPad automatically sends a notification
documents, spreadsheets, and presentations-all the to the merchandiser's iPhone informing him he has
tools this executive needs to communicate with the an additional stop to make, for example. In the past,
home office, dealers, and customers.
managers had to spend much of their time on the
Back at the shop, Jackson Kayak's managers and phone, checking e-mail in the office, and checking
employees find iPad and iPhone equally invaluable. paperwork. With the iPad, the manager starts and
In the factory, Chief Operations Officer John Ratliff ends his day with his team.
The second iPad app, called SPOTLight, gives
can compare Jackson Kayak's manufacturing equip-
managers instant access to their Web-based SharePoint
ment side-by-side with images of replacement parts on
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represents a copyright violation
lated
Chapter 1: Business Information Systems in Your Career
9
Com
content. They can pull out pricing, display planograms,
customer development agreements, or new contracts.
PepsiCo's iPhone and iPad systems are integrated
with its established corporate information systems.
The company uses Mobile Device Management from
AirWatch to securely deploy and manage its mobile
applications and also takes advantage of the built-
in security on iPhone and iPad to protect them from
unauthorized access.
PepsiCo's main competitor, beverage-bottling
company Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (CCE), is ben-
efiting from mobile technology as well. CCE uses
mobile field service software from ServiceMax Inc.
to streamline the work activities of its technicians,
who service restaurant soda fountains and fix vend-
ing machines.Previously, after a technician visited a
customer on site, he would go back to his car, transfer
information from paper notes into a database on his
laptop, and transmit it to Coca-Cola's aging centralized
software system. Many technicians spent an extra half
hour at the end of each day polishing their paperwork.
In 2012 about 100 CCE employees started using
ServiceMax apps on iPhones to dispatch technicians
to a day's worth of service calls, provide detailed cus-
tomer information, automatically update lists of ser-
vice parts stored in their vans, and transfer informa-
tion to the billing department. The new system cut
administration time for service technicians by a third,
and employees are freed up to service other compa-
nies' equipment in addition to CCE's own. ServiceMax
charges about $1000 per person per year for a sub-
scription.
Sources: Shira Ovide, "Meet the New Mobile Workers." The Wall Street
Journal, March 11, 2013; "Apple iPad in Business," www.apple.com, accessed
April 18, 2013; and Aaron Freimark, "Apple Offers More iPad Management
Features Than You Might Think," searchconsumerization.com, April 2, 2013.
ca
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What kinds of applications are described here? What
business functions do they support? How do they
improve operational efficiency and decision making?
2. Identify the problems that businesses in this case
study solved by using mobile digital devices.
3. What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit
from equipping their employees with mobile digital
devices such as iPhones and iPads?
4. One company deploying iPhones has said,
"The iPhone is not a game changer, it's an industry
changer. It changes the way that you can interact with
your customers" and "with your suppliers.
Discuss the implications of this statement.
pion
1B
Whether it's attending an
18
online meeting, checking
orders, working with
files and documents,
iPhone and iPad Business Applications
or obtaining business
1. Salesforce Mobile
intelligence, Apple's
iPhone and iPad offer
2. Cisco WebEx
3. SAP Business ByDesign
unlimited possibilities for
4. Work
business users. A stun-
5. QuickBooks Online
ning multitouch display,
6. Adobe Reader
full Internet browsing,
7. Oracle Business Intelligence
and capabilities for
8. Dropbox
messaging, video and
audio transmission,
and document manage-
ment, make each an
all-purpose platform for
mobile computing
OSTANCA SANDA/Alamy
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