The Clarion School for Boys, Inc.—Milwaukee Division: Making Information Systems Investments

Case Study 4-1: The Clarion School for Boys, Inc. – Milwaukee Division: Making Information Systems Investments.

Using the Case Study Template format found in Doc Sharing, submit your assessment of three projects that need to be implemented immediately at the Clarion School and how you would prioritize those projects. (What method and criteria would you use to prioritize the projects?) Your case study should be no more than five pages long, including the title page.

CASE STUDY 4-1 The Clarion School for Boys, Inc.—Milwaukee Division: Making Information Systems Investments

John Young, Controller of the Clarion School for Boys, Inc.—Milwaukee Division, hung up the telephone as the school bell signaled the end of another day’s classes. Young’s conversation with Sean McHardy, the Superintendent and Chief Operating Officer of Clarion—Milwaukee Division, was short and to the point. McHardy had called to confirm that Young would be prepared to present his assessment of the current information systems (IS) at Clarion and propose a direction for information systems at the organization for the next fiscal year at the quarterly Board of Directors meeting scheduled for next week (June 13, 2006) in Chicago.

As an MBA student, Young had learned about the importance of an overall information systems strategy. McHardy’s request, however, required Young to formalize a full plan, complete with an assessment of the current situation as well as future projects and budgets. As Controller, Young knew that the members of the Board of Directors were anxious to hear how Clarion—Milwaukee’s current investment in information technology was paying off. Since 1998, when the Board had approved a sizable investment in hardware and software, there had been little formal monitoring of the system’s benefit.

Young had joined the Milwaukee Division of Clarion in November 2005. His previous job had been as assistant controller in one of the divisions of American Chemical Company (ACC) in...