Dear All,

Happy Diwali Greetings.

The following two case analyses and design have to be submitted by you on or
before 27th November.
Those failing to submit will be given zero.

CASE 1 (3 marks)
Harvard Cooperative Society

From his office window overlooking the main floor of the Harvard
Cooperative Society, CEO Jerry Murphy can glance down and see customers
shopping. They make their way through the narrow aisles of the crowded department
store, picking up a sweatshirt here, trying on a baseball cap there, checking out the
endless array of merchandise that bears the Harvard University insignia.
Watching Murphy, you can well imagine the Coop's founders, who started the
store in 1882, peering through the tiny windowpanes to keep an eye on the shop
floor. Was the Harvard Square store attracting steady traffic? Were the college
students buying enough books and supplies for the Coop to make a profit?
Back then, it was tough to answer those questions precisely. The owners had
to watch and wait, relying only on their gut feelings to know how things were going
from minute to minute.
Now, more than a hundred years later, Murphy can tell you, down to the last
stockkeeping unit, how he's doing at any given moment. His window on the business
is the PC that sits on his desk. All day long it delivers up-to-the-minute, easy-to-read
electronic reports on what's selling and what's not, which items are running low in
inventory and which have fallen short of forecast. In a matter of seconds, the
computer can report gross margins for any product or supplier, and Murphy can
decide whether the margins are fat enough to justify keeping the supplier or product
on board. "We were in the 1800s, and we had to move ahead," he says of the $55
million business.

Questions
What is a decision support system? What advantages does a decision support system
have for a small business like the Harvard Cooperative Society?

How would the decision support system of a small business like the Harvard
Cooperative Society differ from that of a major corporation?

Briefly outline the components of the Harvard Cooperative Society's decision support
system.
 CASE 2 (7 marks)

Tulsa’s Central Business District

Developing a Research Project

When Bob Griffin, vice president of Williams Realty Corporation, asked the
Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce to meet with him, he had spent much
time thinking how downtown Tulsa was changing. Only a year before, construction
had begun on a $2.6 million central pedestrian mall system. Mayor Robert LaFortune
said that the carrying out of the downtown revitalization project reflected a solid
"partnership of public and private interests .... We have to see great things emerge
both in private development and in general use of this facility by all Tulsans."
The project called for improving Main Street from Third to Sixth Streets and
Fifth Street from Boston to Denver, including landscaping, a multilevel fountain at
Fifth and Main, and brick paving. Throughout the mall there would be rest areas,
drinking fountains, and other facilities, such as telephone booths and a postal service
center. The concept of the central pedestrian system was expected to strengthen the
Main Street segment as the prime rental area in downtown Tulsa.

NEW WILLIAMS CENTER COMPLEX

One of the most obvious symbols of what was happening downtown was the
52-story Bank of Oklahoma (BOK) Tower, the focal point of the new Tulsa skyline.
The Williams Companies had constructed the $18 million tower, the state's tallest
building, and office space was beginning to be leased. This was the first of several
Williams Center projects to be completed.
The Williams Center was planned as a $50 million complex located in the
heart of downtown, consisting of a 52-story office building, a hotel, a shopping
center, and a performing arts center.
Twenty-five thousand square feet would be given over to food service
establishments. There would be a cafeteria and several fast-food places on the first
floor; on the second floor, overlooking a skating rink from the west end, would be a
restaurant that would likely specialize in crepes. A first-rate restaurant would be on
the third, or plaza, level-the same level as Bank of Oklahoma's main banking
facilities.
In addition to casual shoppers, the retail area was expected to draw from
7,000 people working in the BOK Tower plus 500 guests of the hotel.

PLANNING FOR REVITALIZATION

Bob Griffin was responsible for the development of the Williams Center. He
had asked two members of the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce-Don
Wolfe, manager of community relations, and John Piercey, manager of research-to
meet with him in his office.
The Williams Company was incorporated on February 3, 1949, as the
Williams Brothers Company, the successor to an oil-related business established in
1908. Its headquarters were in Tulsa. The company was primarily engaged in the
chemical fertilizer, energy, and metals businesses. In its chemical fertilizer business,
the company manufactured and marketed chemical fertilizer materials worldwide
(Agrico Chemical Company). Its energy-related activities included operating the
largest independently owned pipeline system in the United States (Williams Pipeline
Company), retailing and wholesaling liquefied petroleum gas (Williams Energy
Company), exploring for and developing oil and gas properties (Williams
Exploration Company), and operating an intrastate natural gas pipeline in Louisiana.
In its metals business the company purchased, processed, and distributed steel and
other metals, principally on the East Coast (Edgecomb Steel Company) and in the
Midwest (Steel Sales Corporation). The company's activities also included investing
in short-term paper, marketable securities, and equity interests. The Williams Realty
Corporation's primary purpose was to develop a major area of downtown Tulsa.
The company had a rich history. In 1908 two young brothers were sent by
their employer, a Kansas City contractor, to begin a highway paving job. When the
bond issue for this project was delayed, the contractor decided to move on-but not
David R. and S. Miller Williams, Jr. The brothers persuaded their employer to accept
their note for the equipment and supplies and agreed to complete the city's project
piecemeal as funds permitted. Thus the Williams Brothers Company was founded.
The company's first pipeline venture, in 1915, established Williams Brothers
as the principal builder in this new field. Ever since, the name Williams has been
synonymous with pipelines.
Williams Brothers expanded beyond Canada and the United States in the late
1930s. An important milestone occurred when the company purchased the assets of
the 6,200-mile Great Lakes Pipe Line Company in 1966 and subsequently expanded
this system to provide more complete coverage of its upper Midwest distribution
area.
The Williams Companies consisted of the founding organization, Williams
Pipeline, Williams Energy, Williams Exploration Company, Agrico Fertilizer
Company, and Williams Realty.

WilLIAMS REALTY WORKS WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Bob Griffin's chief responsibility as vice president of Williams Realty was to
sell the idea that downtown Tulsa was revitalizing and the Williams Center in par-
ticular would be a good place to locate offices and a shopping center.
After the usual informal chitchat about goings-on in the city, Griffin addressed
the group. "I've found out many things since the Williams Companies made the
decision to develop the Williams Center. One is that we need to know more about the
central business district. As I speak to prospective occupants of our space, one
question almost universally asked is "How many people work in the downtown
area?" I have been able to do some rough computations by estimating the average
number of workers per square foot and then multiplying that figure times our
estimate of the square footage in the downtown area. That is the answer I give
people. Nevertheless, we do not have a reliable estimate of how many people work in
the downtown area. Knowing how many people work here is only the tip of the
information iceberg. There are a number of other things I'd like to know about the
downtown area,"
 John Piercey commented, "You know, Bob, the future of Tulsa's central
business district has been a topic of concern for many years. Its present conditions
and its future are perceived to be an indication of the vitality and future of the entire
city. Just a few years ago, Tulsa's CBD was in a state of decline. At that time there
was every indication that Tulsa's downtown was going the way of those in so many
other cities. But the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Tulsa Unlimited started
revitalization plans, hoping to reverse the declining trend. Many major private
investments have been made in the last few years. But most of these efforts have
been made on the basis of intuitive feelings about the CBD. I think you're right. The
lack of timely information is hampering industrial decision making and commercial
marketing efforts in the downtown area. If the Chamber of Commerce is going to
help the central business district, we have to eliminate the information gap about the
central business district. We need information on (1) the quantity and nature of the
downtown population, (2) commercial enterprise (and vacancy) inventory, (3)
business's opinions about the CBD, and (4) shoppers' opinions about the CBD."
Don Wolfe suggested that many downtown firms might be interested in the
type of information that the Williams Companies desired. He said, "I believe the
Chamber of Commerce should develop a statement of information needs and
determine our research objectives; then we can see if any of the firms in the central
business district would be willing to support some research."
John Piercey added, "I think this is going to be an extremely big task. The
chamber's research department is not going to be able to collect such massive
amounts of data. Perhaps we can utilize the services of an outside consultant, perhaps
one of the universities in the area."
Don Wolfe said, "Yes, I believe we need someone who could help us out
substantially in defining our research objectives and collection of the data."
Bob Griffin said, "Fine, gentlemen, I think we've made an important decision."
The Chamber of Commerce decided that the project would require extensive
fieldwork in four interrelated areas:
# A survey of the central business district employers and employees (characteristics,
work habits, and attitudes) .
# A survey of commercial establishments and offstreet parking facilities (type, size,
and location).
# A survey of commercial vacancies (concentrating on ground-floor space, but with
some consideration given to multistory commercial buildings).
# An on-the-street sample survey of shopping attitudes and preferences (which would
also address attitudes toward working and living downtown).

Questions
Do you agree with the Chamber of Commerce's research objectives and proposed
methods of data collection? Why or why not?

Briefly outline a research proposal by listing the appropriate techniques for collection
of these data.