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Back to the FruithomeThe Corporate Information's Office has risen in importance over time from almost an afterthought to one of supreme importance to one somewhere between these two extremes. The position's prestige arose as companies increasingly switched from paper records to computer-generated ones. As late as 1995, this post went to a purely technical person charged simply with training of employees and working with reluctant hardware.
When most firms switched to company-wide LANS and, eventually, internet based sales and marketing, the position became that of "CIO." As the name suggests, it sounds very much like a "CEO," and in some companies this position became nearly as important as that of the president, particularly in very tech-oriented firms such as Oracle or Microsoft. In most firms, the CIO functioned as a peculiar kind of vice-president because, unlike sales or manufacturing, he neither generated revenue nor spent it, but he could dramatically alter the effectiveness of the entire company. In fact, a failing CIO could "bring down," to use the computer term, an entire company particularly in a very technical industry. Once they brought the CIO to the Board room, CIOs became an importance bridge between a purely technical and an office culture, a trusted advisor to the often technically-challenged President. The importance of the CIO peaked in the Internet boom when companies staked their futures on technical products.
With the Internet bust in 2000, the pendulum swung back in the other direction. Many firms today work with aging hardware and see little good reason to upgrade, so the CIO spends more of his time working with purely technical issues. Further, with a more realistic assessment of the Internet's potential and with the rising technical skills of other Board members, the CIO's importance as a strategist and bridge has somewhat decreased.
As a depiction of the current situation, while granted the title of CIO, the K-Business model puts the CIO directly under control of the president. In most companies, his importance will not equal that of the VPs, though the choice of product and the amount of dependence on computers may alter this.
The CIO may perform as many as three different functions. However, only two of these will likely occur during the Company meetings: technical training and trouble-shooting.
On a typical evening, the CIO will start off answering technical questions raised by his fellow employees. The CIO will look at the files of the employees in question and try to determine the nature of the problem, i.e., why the sales totals don't add, the attendance numbers more than equal the company personnel totals, etc. Usually, the CIO will wait a few minutes for production to start before working on these issues. He will update his log of problems and solutions which the President will then sign at some point during the meeting. Note: Now that this is automated, the CEO can simply type his signature.
Having solved the immediate technical problems, the CIO should make a quick check to make sure all officers have updated print-outs of their record. Then, he will proceed with his rounds of making sure that every officer can perform his functions on computer. By checking about 4 forms or 2 officers per night, the CIO can complete an entire cycle in about a month. Once through completing his check of records, the CIO can devote his meeting to troubleshooting problems if they arise and to working as a manufacturing employee.
Now that each company has its own company computer, maintenance of that computer and technical problem therein will fall upon the CIO.
Prior to going through the checklist with employees, the CIO should acquaint himself with ALL of the forms required by the other employees. These consist of either spreadsheets or word files. While the CIO can arrange his own schedule to monitor these, the following need IMMEDIATE attention as of the first week:
(1) the CS's stock record which needs he/she must begin to fill out the second week (2) the VPoHR's master attendance form which he needs to use by the second week. (3) the VPoM's production record which he will hopefully use by the second week. (4) the Purchasing Manager's (or VPoM's) Purchasing Log, Variable Cost, and Fixed Cost worksheets which the Company may use in costing the units. (5) his own Technical Costs worksheet (if applicable)Most Companies have a capital expenditures budget which allows spending on computers, webservers, etc.. K-Business companies may choose to similarly invest though, given the short term of Company life and comparative costs, most firms will simply choose to use its one school computer.
A Company might also choose to invest in a website. If it does this, the CIO will either need to construct the website or find it. The CIO's equipment includes a worksheet for determining the value of doing this. The total figures would enter into any fixed cost considerations. If the Company chooses to keep a website, the supervision of this site will fall upon the CIO though he may have others assist. The Corporate Secretary (CS) needs to maintain Stockholder contact and a Company website might help with this.
Note, however, that company website or not, the CS must turn in Midterm reports and Final reports directly to the sponsor so that they appear on the K-Business website. Posting on the company website is possible and professional, but optional. Posting such reports on the K-Business website is required.
During the summer of 2005, Dr. Dan began, with a limited budget to purchase K-Business computers. The total project could not exceed KD100 altogether. A similar budget exists (probably) to maintain and upgrade the computers in future years.
Such a limited budget entailed making some sacrifices. Other than a couple of CD Roms and a mouse or two, none of the computers uses new hardware. Still, one can consider them as probably working and mostly reliable. They do not have the latest and greatest hardware and software though, again, future years may result in upgraded years.
They computers exist primarily for K-Business and will remain in Dr. Dan's classroom for this purpose. However, this does not mean that other student will not try to "play around" with them a bit. A company might try password protecting them, but with so many officers using them (5-6), the password protection idea will likely fail. During the research paper months, students may use these computers to work on research papers.
The four computers will form one network NOT linked to the school network. This will allow some sharing of resources, especially printer(s) as they become available. In addition, one computer has a native USB port to allow quick downloading of company files.
The maintenance of these computers falls to the CIO. The CIO will periodically check to make sure that all files exist on the computer as well as that they represent the most "up to date" version of company records (see below). While these computer represent the PRIMARY means for company record-keeping, this does NOT excuse the company from the necessity of keeping back-up copies.
In the event of severe hardware failure, Dr. Dan will try to repair the machines. However, given the nature of the hardware, CIO's need to make sure that multiple copies of important files exist.
The CIO should enforce a very strict policy regarding computer-generated records. While the Company should maintain paper records, the company computer MUST have the most accurate, recent copy of company records. The following is strongly suggested as a company policy:
(1) Officers should, each week, UPDATE the company computer. (2) After updating the company computer, they should make a copy on floppy disk to take home. (3) The floppy version should be immediately copied to the officer's home computer. (4) The CIO and CEO should, on a bi-weekly basis, copy ALL company records to their own computer, using either the USB port or the direct cable connector (null-modem cable). (5) In the event that a company officer, typically the CFO, needs to work on his records between meetings, he should immediately update the company computer before the next meeting begins. (6) Naming policies. Every officer's record has a master copy and a named, initial copy denoted "xxx00.,doc" or "xxx00.xls." Initially all of them start at "00" (i.e. 00). Each time a file changes, the number should increase until it reaches 99. Thus the CFO's book value of the stock will start at bok_v00.xls. The twentieth version will be bok_v20.xls. This is important because with some files, the officer should maintain multiple versions. In the case of an error, then he/she can go back to the earlier version. Note that all of these names use the "old fashioned" system of 8 letter names. Old OS's can read these names in the case of something happening. (7) If an officer fails to follow through on any of these policies, the CIO should recommend withholding his salary for one month.While these rules may seem very drastic, a company with neither good written records nor good computer records will fall prey to many problems. These simple steps will guarantee that the company has records. Then, if something unfortunate happens such as (a) an employee accidentally writing an older file over a newer (b) a disc failing, etc.., the Company will recover.
The CIO should have a Company vote on and explain these policies as soon as possible.
Some companies use a very highly concentric, centralized model of information, a mirror of the old days of the giant mainframe computer. The K-Business model more closely mirrors that of a more modern "flat company." Thus, the VPoM completes the Variable Cost of Labor worksheet but with the help of the VPoHR. The president completes the Break-Even Worksheet, but only with the aid of his entire officer corps. This means that the CIO must make sure of the accuracy of these records.
All officers receive records in two formats, Excel and Microsoft Works. The CIO may choose to standardize on one program or the other, but he must make sure all employees can use that program. In either case, these spreadsheets can easily interact with word processors to make producing company reports very easy. All spreadsheets, in theory, will arrive at the correct and desired totals, BUT the moment the employee starts to alter them, the formulas may no longer work. Thus, when in doubt, the CIO should check the original, master spreadsheet to determine the intent of the formula. Each spreadsheet assumes two products. The CIO may encourage employees to delete all extra lines, blanks, etc.. This will reduce the size of the records, but it will increase the chances of formula errors.
A CIO may choose to have each employee ask for his assistance outside meeting hours. In this case, the relatively small size of all files except the sales record will enable easy emailing, repairing, etc.. He can email them to the CIO, address their problems, and email the files back.
During the Monthly Board Meeting, though he works directly below the President, the CIO should make an individual report. This report should include his efforts at training employees, a quick review of any "trouble-shooting."
At these meetings, also, the CIO should proclaim and sell his technical policy. If any problems or misunderstandings ensue, a CIO would ideally want to force the Board to vote.
This details the CIO's report of each instance of assistance to employees. Another column details steps to prevent further problems. The CFO will sign the last column. Each time the CIO makes a "call" during the evening, he will need to reprint the log before the following meeting. He should also include any "housecalls," files sent between meetings.
When the CIO troubleshoots during the meeting, he must maintain extreme care with the files. For instance, if the VPoS brings in a copy of the Sale's Master Log, it should NOT have the file name of sale_mas, but of sale_m04. If the CIO makes any changes he must increment the name of the file, i.e., to sale_m05. The same holds true of any file emailed. Otherwise, the officer may lose the update. Final versions must be kept on the computer.
This log details the training efforts of CIO on each of the Officer's records. Once the CIO instructs the officer, he need not do so again. When he completes the cycle, he can probably make a final print of the log as future training will only occur on the Log (above).
This form only needs completion if the Company decides to undertake some capital purchase, whether buying a computer or a website. The CIO simply fills in the columns and presents the figures to the President.
The Corporate Secretary prepares the Monthly Reports. The CIO will typically make some comments as part of that document. More importantly, the CIO needs to assist the CS if the company chooses to post the report on the website in lieu of emailing it to members.
Depending on the product chosen, the CIO may function primarily in the support role or as a very active part of the management. Typically CIO's will choose for themselves one of two different roles: (1) nerd on board or (2) MIS
The nerdier approach will mean that the CIO typically sticks to his beloved machines (if he can learn to love the company computer) and solving problems involving them. A CIO very comfortable with this approach needs to maintain some caution that he does not make himself more work by not contributing enough to Corporate policies and plans that might help with his workload.
A MIS (Management Information System) emphasizes the CIO's role as bridge between management and machine. A more MIS CIO will insist on his place in decision-making and typically cement a close relationship with the President. A MIS manager needs caution in remembering that some technical problems NEED his solutions. Without them, the Company may not have the power to enforce his solutions anyway.
Given the disparate nature of information in the K-Business model, the CIO will typically keep a very close relationship to the President. Without a competent CIO, the President will have a tough time getting all of the information, let alone processing it.