_~T(T~rl’rfr~MAN AG EM EN T Running the Business from the Palm of Your Hand
Can you run your company from the palm of your hand?
Perhaps not entirely, but today many business functions can be
performed using an iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, or other mobile
handheld device.
The BlackBerry used to be the favourite mobile handheld for
business because it was optimized for e-mail and messaging,
with strong security and tools for accessing internal corporate
systems; now that is changing. Companies, large and small, are
deploying Apple’s iPhone and iPad, as well as Android mobile devices, to conduct more of their work and enhancing their
security systems so that mobile users can remotely accessing
proprietary corporate resources with confidence.
For some, these handhelds have become indispensible. Eric
fackson is a champion kayaker who spends half of each year
follOwing competitions and events throughout North America.
He is also president of Jackson Kayak, the leading whitewater
kayak manufacturer. It is essential that he participate in athletic
events, monitor industry trends in the field, and meet directly • with dealers and customers. Jackson’s strong customer focus has
helped the company successfully expand worldwide, with dis
tributors on six continents. With his iPhone and iPad, Jackson
claims he can run the entire l20-person company from afar.
Jackson’s Wi-Fi-equipped RV connects wirelessly to the
company headquarters in Sparta, Tennessee. When Jackson’s
not on Wi-Fi, he uses his iPad 3G cellular connection. The
iPad gives him instant access to his entire operation, so he can
analyze customer data, refresh Web site content, or approve
new designs. Jackson’s iPad includes calendars, e-mail, contact
management, and the ability to create and edit documents,
spreadsheets, and presentations-all the tools he needs to com
municate with the home office, dealers, and customers.
Back at the shop, Jackson Kayak’s managers and employees
find their iPads and iPhones equally invaluable. In the factory,
Chief Operations Officer John Ratliff can compare Jackson
Kayak’s manufacturing equipment side-by-side with images
of replacement parts on the iPad to make sure he’s getting the
correct pieces. The iPhone and iPad have become so indispens
able that the company outfitted its entire workforce, from
customer service, to deSign, to quality control, with iPhones.
Many have iPads as well.
Using handhelds to run the business is not limited to small
companies. General Electric (GE) is one of the world’s largest
companies, producing aircraft engines, locomotives and other
transportation equipment, kitchen and laundry appliances,
lighting, electric distribution and control equipment, genera
tors and turbines, and medical imaging equipment. GE is also
a leading proVider of financial services, aviation, clean energy,
media, and health care technology. This giant multinational
was an early adopter of mobile technology; GE employees use
their iPads to access e-mail, contacts, documents, and elec
tronic presentations. GE’s Mobile Center of Excellence has
developed dozens of iPhone and iPad applications, including
industry-specific diagnostic and monitoring tools and business
intelligence tools that help decision makers find patterns and
trends in large volumes of data. The company’s Transformer
Monitoring app helps manage gas turbine inventory and
electronic transformers throughout the world with the ability
to zoom in from a global map to a specific transformer and
read all of the transformers’ key performance indicators. A
PDS Movement Planner lets service personnel monitor railway
tracks and obtain diagnostiC information on locomotives.
Canada’s leading payroll outsourcing company, Ceridian, has
launched a payroll app called Powerpay that lets its customers
(firms for whom Ceridian handles payroll) review and approve
payroll data using mobile phones or tablets. The app is available
exclUSively to existing Powerpay Web customers, more than
30 000 Canadian businesses, and works on Blackberry, iPhone,
and Android devices. The app provides a secure login process
and includes the ability to preview and approve payroll as well as
employee and corporate level data verification including hours
and earnings, employee deductions and employer contribu
tions, net pay, and company totals. In addition, the Power Pay
app ensures data security as the data are not stored on the device
itself. The app even uses the same familiar interface Ceridian’s
customers are used to on the Powerpay Web page, so there is no steep learning curve. The app also includes on-demand support
from the Ceridian small business services team.
With operations in 60 countries, Dow Corning offers more
than 7000 products and services for consumer and industrial
applications, from adhesives to lubricants, delivered as fluids,
solids, gels, and powders. The Roambi Visualizer app lets Dow
Corning executives use their iPhones to qUickly view and ana
lyze real-time data from their core corporate system, including
sales figures, trends, and projections. It presents managers
with simple, intuitive dashboards of complex data. According
to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Don
Sheets, in 15 seconds he can get a sense of whether there is a
financial performance issue he needs to address.
Dow Corning’s Analytics App for the iPhone monitors
Web site traffic and online sales for the company’s XIAM
ETER brand of standard silicone products. The Analytics App
interfaces with Google Analytics. When Dow Corning rolls out
XIAMETER Web sites across the globe, executives can monitor
what content is and is not being used whether they are home,
travelling, or at the office.
Sunbelt Rentals, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is one
of the largest equipment rental companies in the United States,
with $2 billion of rental equipment inventory. More than 1200
company employees, including sales staff, field personnel, and
executives, are equipped with iPhones to interact with contacts
and stay abreast of calendar events. In addition to using iPhones
for e-mail, scheduling, and contact management, Sunbelt has
deployed a custom application called Mobile SalesPro, which
ties multiple systems and databases into a Single package for
the sales team. This application connects the corporate point
of-sale system, inventory control and management sn;tem, and
enterprise system, integrating data from many different business
functions. Users are able to share sales quotes based on the most
up-to-date information on rental rates and equipment avail
ability. With this application, Sunbelt’s sales team can respond
immediately to customer requests while they are at a job site.
Sources, "Apple iPhone in Business" and "Apple iPad in Business;’ www.
apple.com, accessed September 6, 2012; Erik Eckel, "What the iPhone5
Will Offer BUSiness Users;’ TechRepublic, September 5, 2012; and Doug
Henschen, "Mobilizing Enterprise Apps: The Next Big Leap;’ Information
Week, February 12, 2011; "Ceridian Launches Mobile Payroll App Power
Pay:’ http://www.x:ydo.com/toolbar/23707720-ceridian_launches_mobile_
payroILapp_powerpay, July 6, 20ll, accessed July 27, 2011. Case Study Questions
1. What kinds of applications are described here? What
business functions do they support? How do they improve
operational efficiency and decision making?
2. Identify the problems that these businesses solved using
mobile digital devices.
3. What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from
equipping their employees with mobile digital devices?
4. One company deploying iPhones has said: "The iPhone is
not a game changer, it is an industry changer. It changes
the way that you can interact with your customers and with
your suppliers." Discuss the implications of this statement.
