McGill University, B.Com. & M.B.A. programs
273-432 & 273-636, Information Systems Administration, Winter 1997
STUDY QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11

Case: United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

2. (John Alexander, Glen Goldman.) Perform a WCA analysis of USAA before its innovative and successful implementation of IT and perform a WCA analysis of USAA after its innovative and successful implementation of IT.

3. (Shayne Mitchell, Popi Makris-Lambrinakos.) Using the Porter framework, which has been presented in class, perform an industry-and-competitive analysis for USAA. In other words, from the perspective of USAA before its innovative and successful implementation of IT, describe the intensity of rivalry and competition in USAA's industry; describe USAA's bargaining power over its customers; describe USAA's bargaining power over its suppliers; describe the threats to entry by new firms to USAA's industry; and describe the threat of new products/services (from competing firms) that could serve as substitutes for USAA's products/services.

4. (Sami Rejeb, Jane Lu.) What were the information requirements that confronted USAA and that the innovative and successful IT was intended to satisfy? Also, were there any information requirements that the otherwise successful IT failed to address and, if so, what were they?

5. (Arthur Wong, Maya Chechelnitsky.) USAA is widely recognized as a leader in the use of information technology (IT) within the insurance industry. What factors contributed to USAA's successful use of IT? In other words, what did USAA do right?

6. (Abbas Khalil, Mireille T. Nguyen.) Leadership and a strong executive vision characterize the use of IT within USAA. Describe some of McDermott's key actions or decisions regarding the use of IT within USAA.

7. (Scott Godfree, Mihai Maicaneanu.) Describe the relationship between the IS strategy and the business strategy at USAA.

8. (Anh Thi Nguyen, Danny Wong.)Some applications of IT merely automate old manual procedures. Other applications of IT do new things. What was the case at USAA? (Provide examples for your answer.) Which of these applications were strategic and how were they strategic?

9. (Kenneth Yau, Todd Savage.) Referring to the list (distributed in class) of 19 ways in which information systems can increase efficiency and effectiveness of internal operations, identify the ways in which information systems increased efficiency and effectiveness of internal operations at USAA.

10. (Karim Samaali, Stuart McLean.) What are the challenges that USAA faces in the years ahead? How well positioned is ISD to help USAA meet these challenges?