"JONES'S YOGURT."   Term Paper ID:20115 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Analysis of [hypothetical] organization. Turnover, computers, expert systems, operational feasibility.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Analysis of [hypothetical] organization. Turnover, computers, expert systems, operational feasibility. Paper Introduction: I. Introduction This is an analysis of an organization that has been growing rapidly and that is now in need of the automation of certain functions for greater efficiency and savings. Mr. Jones started Jones's Yogurt as a small store some ten years ago, and he was so successful that he began opening subsidiary stores and controlled them from a central office. In ten years, the chain has spread across the state and is about to open branches in neighboring states. Throughout this growth period, Mr. Jones has been the central authority, basing the orientation and training of new hires for the various stores on the methods he used personally when he was operating out of his one original store. In this way he exerted quality control and gave the individual stores the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Turnover was at a moderate level for managers, thoughit was still necessary to train a few new managers each month eitherbecause of new store openings or the departure of an already-trainedmanager. There may be problems because of the difficulty in transferringexpertise from one individual to another, a requirement for expertisedistributed over a wide geographical area (service technicians in differentregions), or the need for vigilant and alert expertise over an extendedperiod of time (process control). [2]J. The inference engine is the program thatapplies the rules in the knowledge base to the information in the knowledgebase, recommending a specific course of action. Feasibility Study Operational Feasibility: The organizational structure can bemaintained. An article in the British magazine The Economist makes itclear that a change is coming in business administration with a new kind ofautomation. The PC system in the stores will serve as the user interface,and nothing more complex should be required at the store level. There are anumber of existing expert systems that might be adapted to this particularuse, which would reduce the outlay further. It must function with a minimum of direct humaninvolvement at the central office level, but it must allow for changes asnecessary. I. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 199 ."Smart advice from dumb machines," The Economist (February 11, 1989), 61- 62.----------------------- [1]"Smart advice from dumb machines," The Economist (February 11,1989), 61-62. Geis, George T., Robert L. The system must be constructed to monitor sales volume in each storeon an ongoing basis. Training of new hires wasan essential part of the system, orienting new employees to the stylerequired for the job and bringing them up to speed as quickly as possibleboth in terms of customer relations and in terms of in-store cost andinventory controls. Jeffrey Richardson, "Introduction," in Richardson and Marjorie J.DeFries, Intelligent Systems in Business: Integrating the Technology(Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 199 ), 11-12. There is an outlay for the centralsystem changes and for any necessary adaptation of the existing computersystem linking the central office to the individual stores. The designers then work through the "if-then" rulesused by the expert to reach a decision based on the information at hand.These rules are then fed into the computer, resulting in a system that canduplicate the decision-making processes of the expert in 8 to 9 percentof cases. Problem Definition Statement of Scope and Objectives The use of an expert system is becoming more common in businesstoday, and an expert system is particularly valuable for a company fortraining purposes and for the maintenance of quality control over differentfunctions. [5]Ibid., 219-22 .----------------------- 6 The time involved in the changeover should be no more than a fewmonths and might be reduced to a few weeks if the programming is not toodifficult and if the existing system adapts easily to the needs of theexpert system.III. Jones is spending too much time on day-to-day operations and not enoughon long-range projections and plans. The purpose of the expert systems is to capture knowledge used byexpert managers to identify and solve problems and to make such knowledgeavailable to less experienced managers: "This would make the mostexperienced and productive managers much more efficient. As the number increased, it became more difficultfor Mr. Jones to maintain the hands-on management that he had exerted firstin his open store and then in the growing chain of stores under hisdirection. Introduction This is an analysis of an organization that has been growing rapidlyand that is now in need of the automation of certain functions for greaterefficiency and savings. The system must control hiring and other personnelmatters, beginning with pre-hiring testing and continuing to termination.Training of new hires is to be incorporated. The existingcomputer system can be adapted to the needs of the expert system, which isfeasible for a PC-based system. Throughout this growth period, Mr. Jones has been the centralauthority, basing the orientation and training of new hires for the variousstores on the methods he used personally when he was operating out of hisone original store. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987.Richardson, J. Second, the task involved should beknowledge-intensive (symbolic in nature, cognitive, with knowledge easilypartitioned into categories), heuristic (or based on "rule-of-thumb" rulesthat are useful but not infallible), and subjective. Economic Feasibility: The expense of shifting to the new system canbe minimized by careful planning. The majorexpense, however, is the programming of the expert system. Expert systems haveto be able to work in domains where hard and fast rules are missing or areeven contradictory, and to accomplish this they often employ an area ofmathematics known as "fuzzy set theory."[5] Existing programs embody theseprinciples, and the programmer then shapes the program with the knowledgegleaned from the expert--in this case, Mr. Jones. The systemshould be more efficient than what exists now because it can operate at allhours with a direct link to the central office and the central officesoftware. This automation comesunder the heading of "expert systems," a term for the technology that istaking on a corporate role and that promises to change both the ways inwhich companies compete and the ways in which people work with machines.Expert systems imitate the way people think. Problem diagnosis properly belongs toall three of these functions. Turnover was much higher for store personnel, and though the managerscould train these new hires, Mr. Jones still felt a need to exertcentralized control not only over training but over hiring decisions aswell. Some expert systems cansuggest complex decisions even when the knowledge base includes impreciseinformation or when data or rules may be conflicting. In this way he exerted quality control and gave theindividual stores the same face to present to the public. Jones found it more and more difficult to continue a hands-onmanagement, and that was the matter of turnover. They would spendless time training and consulting with less experienced managers, and yettheir influence and impact on the organization would be multiplied."[3]Small businesses and entrepreneurs in particular can benefit from the useof expert systems on a PC-based system because the related hardware andsoftware costs are be within their reach, while the services of a number ofhuman experts such as Mr. Jones might require would be too expensive.Expert systems have been developed in three specific areas of management:resource allocation, problem diagnosis, and scheduling and assignment.[4]The three objectives for the present application are resource allocation,scheduling and assignment, and training, with the latter fitting into thecapabilities of the expert system. The first round of automation automated routine tasks in thesixties and seventies, leading in many cases to reductions in companyworkforces. The designers pick the brainof a human expert to find out what sorts of things he or she needs to knowto make a decision. As the number of stores has increased, Mr. Jones has found that hecan no longer maintain hands-on control with the existing computer system.The work load is too great, and the system is becoming inefficient andcostly. In ten years,the chain has spread across the state and is about to open branches inneighboring states. The most successful applications ofexpert systems technology have been responses to a problem. The computer program itself should include further training andoperational guides so that training can be effected on the job through thecomputer system itself. He had reasonedthat his early success could be repeated in each store in this way and thatthe fact that each store was operated in the same way would make customersfeel at home if they went to different stores in different cities. After an investigation of possibleoptions through the use of some form of management information system (MIS)approach, Mr. Jones has decided to implement a form of expert system thatwill maintain the control desired through computerization of Mr. Jones' ownexpert knowledge.II. There should also beexperts who can perform the task and who agree on and can justify orexplain solutions. Kuhn. In this way, the central office can make suggestionsas to what products to feature during the course of the day in order topromote those products that will sell best at different times and even indifferent stores. Requirements Specifications The MIS system to be implemented is an expert system based on theknowledge of the president of the company, Mr. Jones. [4]Ibid., 218-219. At first, he had been able to continue a hands-on managementstyle with some automation in the form of a computer system that connectedthe individual stores to the central office. Mr. Jones wants to continue to control the hiringpolicies, and expert systems can include testing for new hires withspecific questions used to determine whether a potential employee fits therequirements of the company or not. In addition, the company has experienced some difficulties becauseMr. It isthis centralized control exerted by Mr. Jones that is to be automated. Geis and Robert L. A system was developedwhereby Mr. Jones could monitor sales during the day and makerecommendations as to inventory decisions, scheduling, and even hiring andtraining to see that all of the stores conformed to his central philosophyand to his management style. The work flow also remains the same, and indeed that is the verypurpose of implementing the system--to maintain the operation as it nowexists while removing Mr. Jones from hands-on responsibility. Intelligent Systems in Business: Integrating the Technology. There arevarious questions that can be asked to determine whether a task isappropriate for the expert systems approach. First, it should bedetermined whether expertise on the subject is unavailable or in shortsupply. The system must functionthroughout the day, allowing each store to be connected at all times to thecentral office. DeFries. The existing computer links can be updated andconnected to the necessary expert system software without undue disruption. By the time of this assessment, there were more than 2 stores inthe Mr. Jones' chain. In the remaining cases, the machine recognizes that it does nothave the necessary information or expertise and says so, calling in a humanexpert to solve the problem.[1] The potential for such a system depends on the specific types ofdecision-making tasks set for it. The problem might also derive from ageneral shortage of skilled personnel. Training of managers is necessary to explain thesoftware and the new system, and they in turn will train their new hires asneeded. Individual managers were directed by computerand by telephone. The problem should not be natural language-intensiveand should not require common sense, an optimal solution, or creativity.[2] The control operation of Mr. Jones' Yogurt fulfills these requirements,necessitating the application of the specific knowledge of the one expertto a variety of locations based on simple rules that can be encoded into acomputer program. Jeffrey, "Introduction," in Richardson and Marjorie J. [3]George T. Micromanaging: Transforming Business Leaders with Personal Computers. Mr. Jones felt that were the company larger, with moreopportunity for advancement, some of this turnover could have been reduced. Mr. Jones started Jones's Yogurt as a small storesome ten years ago, and he was so successful that he began openingsubsidiary stores and controlled them from a central office. One of the reasons for such a system was also one of the reasons whyMr. Kuhn, Micromanaging: TransformingBusiness Leaders with Personal Computers (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987), 219. The benefit to be derived is the freeing up of Mr. Jones for areorganization of the corporate management structure to address the futuremission of the company. Personnel requirements remain the same for the company except for theinitial need for computer programmers who understand expert systems todevelop the software based on Mr. Jones's expert knowledge, creating the if-then key that will empower the software to control the operation of thedifferent stores. There are two elements central to an expert system: 1) a knowledgebase; and 2) an inference engine. The coming round will automate decision-making itself, whichcould give workers more time for creative work. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.