Strategic Information Management – Barley Construction Digital Strategy

Part A: What new digital technology(s) should Barley Construction look to invest in to help facilitate its new business strategy? (70% of total mark)

Barley Construction’s current information technologies have been developed individually over the last 40 years and are getting increasingly unstable, leading to unacceptable operating inefficiencies. The existing website is also over four years old and has not seen any significant changes besides minor modifications.

With your detailed understanding of the new business strategy, thanks to your group work in tutorials (a copy of the business strategy slides should be placed in the appendix), what new digital technology(s) and/or information management practices should the company look to invest in to help facilitate this strategy? (i.e., The strategy proposed by your group). The Board is expecting the following key questions to be addressed in the report – feel free to add to the list as you see fit.

a. What new digital technology(s) should Barley Construction be investing in and why?
b. How do these link to and support the proposed strategy?
c. What improvements can they expect because of this investment?
d. What rough timescales would the implementation require?
e. Would there be any organisational issues? (e.g., structure, change in job roles/communications required/training, etc.)
f. What key issues/actions/risks should be considered in the implementation plan?
g. What impact would these changes have on their key suppliers, if any?
h. What impact would these changes have, if any, on their customers?

Expert Answers on Above Questions on Strategic Information Management

New digital technology that Barley construction should invest in

The options of new digital technologies available to Barley construction are cloud based ERP system as it will help in centralising the fragmented legacy systems, building information modelling to improve the design of the project with proper visualisation and coordination, project management software to improve its performance in relation to scheduling and resource allocation, IoT any smart sensors for monitoring purposes including safety and side conditions, aI and Data Analytics for predictive maintenance and decision making process, and modern website and CRM systems to enhance its digital presence and client management.

Support to the proposed strategy

The digital transformation and efficiency properly aligns with the proposed strategy of growth and innovation goals. It also positively supports the decision making process based on data which will improve the delivery of the project. The resulting impact would be better customer experience by way of effective communication and transparency, and it will also facilitate scalability for expansion into newer projects.

Improvements to expect

The improvements that can be possible are reduction in the overall operational inefficiencies, better project performance by way of achieving accuracy, cost control and timeline, improved collaboration across different departments, better customer satisfaction and increased profitability through productivity gains and cost savings.

Timelines

The initiative such as the website upgradation and CRM implementation would be carried out within a short duration ranging from 0-6 months, while the implementation of ERP system along with project management tools would require a medium term of 6-18 months approx. The initiatives in the form of complete BIM integration, AI analytics and IoT deployment would require a long term period of 18-36 months.

Organisational issues

There are possibilities of organisational issues from the proposed changes such as resistance from employees, need for training and development, restructuring of roles and responsibilities and possibility of communication gaps during the transition phases.

Issues, actions or risks in the implementation plan

The implementation would require significant investment and there are possibilities of budget mismatch during the process. The consideration of AI systems could lead to data migration risk from old systems, and there may also be integration challenges between the new and existing systems.

Impact on key suppliers

The key suppliers would benefit in terms of better coordination by way of utilising shared digital platforms, greater transparency throughout the process starting from procurement to supply chain management, and stronger supplier relationships.

Impact on customers

The customers would benefit in terms of getting real term project updates, efficient communication, improved quality of service and timely delivery of project, enhanced level of trust because of transparency etc.

This model answer is reviewed by Sarah Middleton, business strategy expert offering guidance and support.
Disclaimer: This answer is a model for study and reference purposes only. Use it for your learning to do your assignment on your own. Please do not submit it as your own work.

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