>cases
Sturgel Division
>Abstract
This case profiles Martha, the manager of the Information Services division of
Sturgel. She is trying to determine whether a survey of users should be conducted
annually to assess the quality of service provided to the other divisions of the
company, with the results used to make policy and procedural changes in her
division. If a survey is deemed appropriate, the student is asked to design the
survey.
>The Scenario
“Now that I write it all down, I see we have changed a lot!” mused Martha as she
put the finishing touches on her annual status report. “In fact,” she went on, “the
name Information Services indicates most of the changes. We used to be Information Systems.”
Martha was Information Services (IS) manager for the Sturgel Division of
a major manufacturing company. Sturgel developed and manufactured (mostly
small) household appliances on a 230-acre site in the southeast part of the United
States. While she had managed the IS department for only 15 months, Martha
had been part of the department for nine years, all at the same location.
The late 1980s and early 1990s were a time of many changes for the
information systems departments in most companies, including the Sturgel Division. Technological change drove most of the organizational change: The price
performance of most computer equipment had improved by compound rates of
perhaps 30 percent per year for several decades. This meant that many companies perceived that they no longer needed a “computer center.” Individual users
could simply do whatever they needed to do on a desktop computer in their own
offices.
Martha made a rough list of the major influences she’d dealt with over the
last few years, calling them “IS Transitions.” They included:
• From running the computer to providing information services to the
company.
• From “owning” the data to consulting with user departments about use of
the company’s information resources.
• From...