Volkswagen a Case Study
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
VWoA – A Case Study
VWoA – A Case Study
1.0. Introduction
Alignment of an enterprise’s goals with its IT1 and IS1 systems has been a challenge ever since IT became a business enabler. Proposing an IT alignment requires a thorough understanding of the business goals of the enterprise and the knowledge that alignment is an iterative process which requires constant measurement and honing (Chan, 2002). Enterprises often face the problem of balance of priorities between IT and Business objectives. This report deals with one such case that faced alignment and prioritization hardships resulting in an unclear approach to achieve a corporate strategy.
2.0. The internal crisis at VWoA
Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers had been facing a constant problem of uneven sales figures irrespective of their repeated investments in IT and IS. They faced problems in project dependencies and approval even though they prioritized their projects they were faced with an abyss created between enterprise priorities and functional projects approval. The process of efficient (doing things right) prioritizing and IT alignment seemed to elude the enterprise (Austin, 2007).
3.0. Strengths of VWoA – A radical transformation
Luftman (2000) stresses that alignment of IT and business within an organization is paramount for the effective and efficient functioning of an organization. VWoA2 began to realize its strengths in 2002 after a structural alignment with the formation of the BPTO3 (Chan, 2002) and started response time to changes and demands decreased. They prioritized business goals and started doing things right (efficiency) (Luftman, 2000). Then they turned to effectiveness by choosing the right projects to do with respect to the business goals. This was the first sign of strategic IT alignment in the company (Luftman, 2000; Chan, 2002).
4.0. The complex role of IT and IS
Though IT
VWoA – A Case Study
VWoA – A Case Study
1.0. Introduction
Alignment of an enterprise’s goals with its IT1 and IS1 systems has been a challenge ever since IT became a business enabler. Proposing an IT alignment requires a thorough understanding of the business goals of the enterprise and the knowledge that alignment is an iterative process which requires constant measurement and honing (Chan, 2002). Enterprises often face the problem of balance of priorities between IT and Business objectives. This report deals with one such case that faced alignment and prioritization hardships resulting in an unclear approach to achieve a corporate strategy.
2.0. The internal crisis at VWoA
Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers had been facing a constant problem of uneven sales figures irrespective of their repeated investments in IT and IS. They faced problems in project dependencies and approval even though they prioritized their projects they were faced with an abyss created between enterprise priorities and functional projects approval. The process of efficient (doing things right) prioritizing and IT alignment seemed to elude the enterprise (Austin, 2007).
3.0. Strengths of VWoA – A radical transformation
Luftman (2000) stresses that alignment of IT and business within an organization is paramount for the effective and efficient functioning of an organization. VWoA2 began to realize its strengths in 2002 after a structural alignment with the formation of the BPTO3 (Chan, 2002) and started response time to changes and demands decreased. They prioritized business goals and started doing things right (efficiency) (Luftman, 2000). Then they turned to effectiveness by choosing the right projects to do with respect to the business goals. This was the first sign of strategic IT alignment in the company (Luftman, 2000; Chan, 2002).
4.0. The complex role of IT and IS
Though IT
References: Volkswagen of America: http://www.vw.com/home.html?origref=http%3A//www.vw.com/vwhype/carbonneutral/en/us/