Essay: Ethical Implications Of Digital Innovation In Business - Dell Case Study.

Case Study: Dell

Background:

As the business landscape continues to evolve quickly, two concepts are becoming increasingly apparent and are starting to intertwine. The first, ‘digital transformation’, is a term familiar to many, describing the advanced technological processes designed to improve business outcomes and operations. The second, ‘diversity and inclusion’, is rapidly growing as a business imperative.

The heart of Dell’s diversity strategy uses recruiting CRM tactics to share personalised and segmented messaging around their employer brand and Employee Value Proposition (EVP).

In a recent article in Human Resources Director: New Zealand, Senior Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition Marie Moynihan shared, “Our focus is very much on targeting talent with messages of how [what they seek] can be achieved at Dell”.

In one campaign, Dell deployed recruitment marketing to create a pipeline for engineers of an underrepresented ethnicity. They built a custom landing page to communicate what diversity at Dell looks like and how and why Dell supports it as a company value.

The landing page included a registration form where people could join Dell’s Talent community, and the recruiting team promoted the page on social media with messages targeting the underrepresented demographic. People who joined the Talent community from the diversity landing page were linked to a specific talent pool in the CRM.

At zero cost, the campaign’s 24 posts to Twitter and Facebook over a two-month period spurred 112 engineers from that ethnicity to apply to Dell. Dell was able to measure the campaign’s ROI from within their CRM by leveraging its reporting capabilities, including a feature that tracks leads using customised links.

There is limited information available to you now, hence you are required to further explore the case.

You are required to write a report that after researching the above case study, analyses the ethical implications of changes that have occurred in the business due to digital innovation. You should demonstrate how diversity is embraced, respected and managed by including the following details in the main body of the report.

Assessment of IT governance

• Areas of major focus in, and effectiveness of IT governance

• The relationship between IT management and IT governance

• The role of Chief Information Officer (CIO)

• Assessment of (ethical) consequences of digital transformation on diversity and inclusion

Consideration of IT governance issues

• Technologies, e.g., Decision support systems and Business analytics, and IT governance frameworks used to maintain the competitive advantage

• Recommendations

Provide recommendations on your assessment. You must convince management to adopt your recommendations (i.e. ‘sell’ them to management).

Information and communications technology or ICT could be referred to as the extension term form information technology, which majorly focuses on the role of different unified communication and overall integration of the telecommunication or telephone lines and wireless signals or computers (Dutta, Geiger and Lanvin 2015, p. 1). Large economic incentives are required for merging different telephone networks with the respective systems of computerized network with the single unified systems of cabling, proper management and distribution of signals.

The information and communications technology involve all types of communication devices for encompassing the radios, televisions, computers, network hardware, cell phones and satellite systems, so that different appliances and services are well integrated with them like distance learning and video conferencing. Moreover, an ethical approach is required in proper incorporation of this particular technology (Lloyd 2020, p. 11, para. 2). This report will be outlining a brief description for the case study of Dell for proper assessment of the information technology governance, ethical consequences of the digital transformation over major diversity and inclusion and also providing suitable recommendations to the assessment.

Dell is one of the most significant and distinct companies for systems. They have maintained a diversity strategy in their business for recruiting the tactics of CRM and sharing the segmented and personalized messaging for the employee value proposition or EVP and employer brand. They have mainly focused on targeting talents with the messages of their goals that are needed to be obtained in the business. They have implemented recruitment marketing for creating a pipeline for engineers of the underrepresented ethnicity. Moreover, a custom landing page is also built by them for communicating the type of diversity and also supporting it at organizational value. They have included digital innovation and transformation in their business after inclusion of a registration form, in which people can join the talent community of Dell and also promotion of the recruiting team over the social media with different messages after targeting the demographic. Different individuals, who have joined the talent community from the diversity landing page to be linked to a specified talent pool within the customer relationship management. The campaign’s 24 posts to Facebook and Twitter for a two month period spurred 112 engineers from that ethnicity to apply in Dell. They were also capable for measuring the ROI of the campaign from within their customer relationship management after leveraging the reporting capabilities like inclusion of a feature, which would track the leaders with customized links.

Assessment of IT governance

Areas of Major Focus and Effectiveness of the IT Governance

The organization of Dell has decided to include digital innovation in their business for ensuring proper and effective digital transformation. For this purpose, it would be effective for them to ensure that IT governance is maintained under every circumstance. The information technology governance is the major procedure that is being utilized for monitoring and controlling the major decisions of information technology capabilities, so that it becomes easier for the organization to gain maximum effectiveness and advantages without much complexity (Schwalbe 2015, p. 19, para. 1). This particular process is responsible for monitoring and controlling the key IT decisions, which can have positive or negative impact on the business results. The entire concept of this governance is considered as meaningless without recognizing the responsibilities and ownership in the business. The main goal of this information technology governance is referred to as the main source for delivering the risk optimized business values and also engendering the trust of the major stakeholders of the organization.

As Dell will be including digital transformation in their business, it will be quite vital and significant for them to make sure that better effectiveness and efficiency is present for IT governance. The organization would be gaining some of the most distinct and important advantages like aiding in alignment of information technology with the overall business goals and strategies and raising the entire IT profile (Baller, Dutta and Lanvin 2016, p. 1). Moreover, they would also be able to aid in compliance in the business processes and reduce the probable risks and threats related to technology. The organization would even be able to aid in the information technology strategic planning and as a result, the performance measurement would be done in an effective manner. The organizational management of Dell should focus on different areas to focus on with the IT governance, which include recruitment of talent and the customer relationship management. They should ensure that the talent pool is effective in their business and they would be able to gain maximum effectiveness and efficiency without any type of complexity or issue in their business.

IT governance is mainly concerned with the strategic or facilitation of decision making process (Marchewka 2016, p. 4). However, IT management is mainly focused on the operational excellence of the information technology functionality. The major objective of both of these processes is to increase the overall organizational value creation by achievement of the alignment between business and information technology. This IT governance and IT management are referred to as not mutually exclusive. From the perspective of governance, there does not exist a clear distinction within governance and management of information technology. IT management is mainly focused on the efficient and effective internal supply of different IT services or products as well as the specific management of the current IT operations. The distinct framework of Information Technology Infrastructure Library or ITIL is required to be utilized for assisting in the service management of information technology (Schnoll 2015, p. 6, para 2). On the contrary, IT governance is extremely broad area and eventually concentrates on the transformation of information technology for fulfilling the present and future demands of the business for providing internal focus as well as its customers for providing external focus. As a result, the major relationship between IT governance and IT management is needed to be maintained properly for better execution of the business processes within Dell.

Consideration of IT governance issues

The chief information officer or CIO is responsible for making executive and important decisions about different matters like the purchase of the information technology equipment from the suppliers or the creation of distinctive new IT systems. Moreover, this particular chief information officer has the responsibility to lead as well as direct the overall work force of the company (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier 2015, p. 1). One of the major and the most important responsibilities of the chief information officer include providing proper support to the new steps and functionalities of the business, so that better execution of the processes and activities is possible. The computer systems are needed for supporting the organizational unique goals and objectives.

The CIO of the organization of Dell should ensure that the new digital transformation or digital innovation step, undertaken by them is being well executed by them, so that the strategic steps would be completed in a distinct manner. The role of the chief information officer continues in rapidly evolving the respective governance of information technology issues, while making the company more digitalized (Avgerou and Walsham 2017, p. 5, para 1). Several CIOs at the leading companies have evolved their job descriptions as well as the reputation of the position beyond roles such as technical operator and digital enabler for becoming certain change agents, who can get maximum advantages from the business model innovation. The enterprise wide digitalization initiatives with stronger leadership in place can be referred to as quite effective and the organization of Dell would be able to reduce the complexities and issues to a high level in the most effective manner.

Consideration of the IT Governance Issues

The organization of Dell should consider some of the most distinct and important issues and threats related to information technology governance, so that it becomes easier for the management to complete their digital transformation eventually. A proper and effective IT governance is required in every business for aligning information technology with the business strategies with their best practising IT governance models and frameworks. As a result, it becomes easier for the business to gain major advantages and benefits in the most effective manner. It is the core element of corporate governance that has the aim of improving the entire management of information technology and also driving improvised values from the investments within information and technologies (Wu, Straub and Liang 2015, p. 1). Different frameworks of information technology governance allow various companies in management of the risks and threats of information technology efficiently and then make sure that the respective activities related with IT are well aligned with the business goals and strategies. The issues can also be termed as unethical and illegal for the business. The major and the most significant and important risks that can be termed as vulnerable for the organization of Dell for their digital transformation are provided below:

1. i) Software and Hardware Failure: The first and the foremost risk or threat of IT governance that is quite common for the business of Dell for their digital transformation is software and hardware failure. It is required to ensure that the organization is able to deal with such failure in functionalities in the business successfully and hence ensure that the business would be able to deal with the complexities and issues properly. A malfunction in the electronic circuits and elements like tapes and disks can be possible in the business of a computerized system. Moreover, there is a high chance that the organization might not be able to deal with the issues of hardware failure and it would be important for them to repair or replacement of the offending part. As a result, the failure of software is needed to be focused by the management of Dell for better execution of the business processes and operations.
2. ii) Human Errors: The second important and significant risk or threat of IT governance that is quite common for the business of Dell for their digital transformation is presence of human error. Any employee or staff can be facing issues related to system failure due to the deliberate or unintentional error, made by him or her and hence the confidential data or information might be stolen or tampered completely in the business (Stein et al. 2015, p. 1). Moreover, the organizational management would not be able to deal with such circumstances easily in their business and hence the issues might be raised to a high level.
3. iii) Viruses and Malicious Attacks: Another distinct and noteworthy risk or threat of IT governance that is quite common for the business of Dell for their digital transformation is the subsequent presence of virus or any type of malicious attack. The organization might face data breach to a high level, due to the breaching of data and the respective business management would not be able to deal with these issues and threats related to the unauthorized utilization of the computer systems and information. This type of issue can be avoided by undertaking proper steps by the governance team and implementing steps for virus attacks.
4. iv) Tampering with the System: The next important and significant risk or threat of IT governance, which is extremely common for the business of Dell for their digital transformation is subsequent tampering with the system. The entire IT team is responsible for ensuring that the data and information present in the business and company is safe and secured within their systems and computers (Krämer, Tachilzik and Bongaerts 2017, p. 1). However, any external person or employee can easily tamper the system and as a result, lose the confidential data completely. This issue would be quite vulnerable and destructive for the business and hence should be eradicated on time.

Recommendations

The organization of Dell should ensure that they have implemented different effective and significant technologies and IT governance framework for maintaining their respective competitive advantages. The technology of decision support system would be quite vital and significant for them as this particular technology or system is responsible for supporting the organizational decision making activities majorly. This decision support system is responsible for serving the management, planning and operations levels of the business and also help out the individuals in making the decisions regarding certain problems, which should be changed on time, so that the business is capable to obtain maximum benefits (Marchewka 2016, p. 6). The second effective and important technology that is important and significant for the business is business analytics. This particular technology is responsible for driving practical and data driven changes within the business. The technology is the practical application of statistical analysis, which emphasizes on providing actionable recommendations.

IT governance framework is the type of framework, which eventually defines the methods by which the company can deploy, manage as well as monitor the IT governance and hence the business would be able to gain competitive advantages easily and promptly. This particular framework would be responsible for highlighting the elements of their operating model and as a result, the digital transformation would be done successfully and without incorporation of any issue or complexity (Schnoll 2015, p. 8, para 2). It also defines the procedures, rules and principles, which allow the most effective process of decision making. It also provides the framework for addressing the decision making process in Dell and hence enhancing competitive advantages to a high level.

The information technology governance is the distinct integral part of the total enterprise governance. A proper relationship within information technology governance and compliance is required to be maintained for determination of the most appropriate framework to be utilized in the security program. The organization of Dell should incorporate some of the most distinct and important recommendations, so that it becomes easier for them to incorporate digital transformation successfully. The first and the foremost recommendation to the management is to properly coordinate with the stakeholders for development of the implementation plan of their transformation. The second distinct and important recommendation is to incorporate cloud strategy principles into the framework of information technology governance and also implement the enterprise architecture as the main part of IT governance framework, so that it becomes quite easier for them to incorporate IT decision making process. Moreover, it is also recommended to Dell to revise the processes of governances and include various roles and responsibilities of the chief information officer.

Conclusion

Hence, a conclusion can be drawn that each and every organization requires proper IT governance or information technology governance for better alignment of the technology and business strategy. This type of governance is the formal framework, which provides a specific structure to the companies for being sure that major IT investments re supporting business goals. With this type of governance, the companies could easily produce measurable outcomes towards better achievement of the goals and strategies. A formalized program is responsible for undertaking the interests of the stakeholders into account and the requirements of staff as well as different procedures, followed by them. As a result, the respective companies would be able to deploy the infrastructures of IT governance. Moreover, the structure of the business and organization would be benefitted in this specific procedure. The above provided report outlines a brief discussion on the case scenario of Dell with relevant details like ICT and ethical approach in the business.

References

Baller, S., Dutta, S. and Lanvin, B., 2016. Global information technology report 2016. Geneva: Ouranos. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/German_Castro_Bernal/publication/307511712_The_Global_Information_Technology_Report_2016/links/57c7077108ae28c01d4f7da2/The-Global-Information-Technology-Report-2016.pdf 

Dutta, S., Geiger, T. and Lanvin, B., 2015. The global information technology report 2015. In World Economic Forum (Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. P80-85). Retrieved from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.357.1969&rep=rep1&type=pdf 

Krämer, A., Tachilzik, T. and Bongaerts, R., 2017. Technology and disruption: How the new customer relationship influences the corporate strategy. In Phantom ex machina (pp. 53-70). Springer, Cham. Retrieved from https://exeo-consulting.com/pdf/exeo_Technology%20and%20Disruption%20CRM_2016.pdf 

Lloyd, I., 2020. Information technology law. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rKXaDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Lloyd,+I.,+2020.+Information+technology+law.+Oxford+University+Press.&ots=iTHQgZlTaz&sig=sQwV3gbOFIffi_RDSe6plhyVUc4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Lloyd%2C%20I.%2C%202020.%20Information%20technology%20law.%20Oxford%20University%20Press.&f=false 

Marchewka, J.T., 2016. Information technology project management: Providing measurable organizational value. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://wcw.cs.ui.ac.id/teaching/imgs/bahan/itpm/CLASS13.pdf 

Schnoll, H.J., 2015. E-Government: Information, Technology, and Transformation: Information, Technology, and Transformation. Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=isMqBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Schnoll,+H.J.,+2015.+E-Government:+Information,+Technology,+and+Transformation:+Information,+Technology,+and+Transformation.+Routledge.&ots=aE7ScJJJMk&sig=nhvb9LXhekLiHMaSm6OCSWHkKPw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Schnoll%2C%20H.J.%2C%202015.%20E-Government%3A%20Information%2C%20Technology%2C%20and%20Transformation%3A%20Information%2C%20Technology%2C%20and%20Transformation.%20Routledge.&f=false 

Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mPeoBAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Schwalbe,+K.,+2015.+Information+technology+project+management.+Cengage+Learning.&ots=FMsuWs0U0f&sig=SeQvY2hBcoRwG2Gv2XZ6-OlqTfE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Schwalbe%2C%20K.%2C%202015.%20Information%20technology%20project%20management.%20Cengage%20Learning.&f=false 

Stein, M.K., Newell, S., Wagner, E.L. and Galliers, R.D., 2015. Coping with information technology: mixed emotions, vacillation, and nonconforming use patterns. Mis Quarterly. Retrieved from https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=busadmin_fac 

Wu, S.P.J., Straub, D.W. and Liang, T.P., 2015. How information technology governance mechanisms and strategic alignment influence organizational performance: Insights from a matched survey of business and IT managers. Mis Quarterly, 39(2), pp.497-518. Retrieved from https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.25300/MISQ/2015/39.2.10 

Xiang, Z., Magnini, V.P. and Fesenmaier, D.R., 2015. Information technology and consumer behavior in travel and tourism: Insights from travel planning using the internet. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, pp.244-249. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0969698914001131?via%3Dihub