Cisco

Please upload the case to Highlearn.

Suppose you are in charge of selling enterprise routers to European companies. You need data about product availability dates, but you feel the data you are getting from San Jose is not reliable.

In Part A, you will be asked to trace the basic elements of how IT decisions are made at Cisco. In part B, I will ask your opinion.

Part A) Describe to me what needs to happen, in order for you to get your new system, by answering the following questions:

1. Who decides whether to propose a project to solve this problem? Will you make this decision alone? (Hint: I am interested here in your describing the matrixed organizational structure)

2. After you decide to propose a project, to whom will you bring your request?

(Hint: It depends if this is a cross-functional project. Who decides that!?)

3. Assuming that it is treated as a cross-functional project, who will make the decision about approving the project?

4. How will the decision be made, i.e. what criteria will be used?

5. What will you do if it is not approved?

6. To your understanding, where will the money for this project come from?

7. To your understanding, which IT people are going to implement this system for you?

8. To your understanding, who is responsible to maintain the system?

Hint: In all this, if there is something you absolutely cannot figure out, then probably the employees can’t figure it out either, and Cisco has a problem. But if you write you can’t figure it out, and your classmate figures it out,