Information Technology

OTISLINE (A) [HBR case # 186304]

Describes the company's use of information technology to strengthen its position in the elevator sales and service market. Also demonstrates how information technology can be used to better manage and control a large geographically dispersed service organization.

1. How important is OTISLINE to the North American operation?

OTISLINE is very important to NAO, because

1. It improved the visibility of OTIS service business and helped management and local office personnel to provide quality service to customers more effectively.

2. It changed the way NAO does business, as the following ways:

A: Information Services, the enhancement of response-time and performance

B: Customer Service, via the change of process of information receiving and handle to promote the efficiency of dispatchers.

C: Dispatching and Control of Service Mechanics, the quality and timeliness of information available to district, region, and NAO management increased significantly

D: New Equipment Sales/service

2. What elements of Otis Elevator's value chain have been affected by the company's use of information technology to date?

A Value chain is a chain of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product or service for the market (Reference: Wikipedia.com), and

The most affected parts are Operations, Marketing & Sales, and Service.

Operation: OTISLINE made it possible to produce "excess" callback reports for various levels of management. Critical problems could be reported to President, so that quick solution can be done on time.

Marketing/Sales: NES made data about competitive losses and performance of new equipment sales representatives easily accessible to management.

Service: OTISLINE addressed 6 service elements, responsiveness, reliability, innovation, communication, teamwork, and customer satisfaction.

In sum, the major impact of OTISLINE system focused on primary activities, which was also the core part of a company.

3. What adjustments in the organization were made to accommodate OTISLINE?

Previously, district, branch, and smaller field offices will be referred to as "field" offices, and as a unit to bear the profit and loss. But, OTISLINE affected almost all of NAO's business