In preparing for class, your first priority is to write a two or three page paper on the question assigned to you; your second priority, to be able to contribute to the discussion on the remaining questions.

FIRST SESSION: the specifics of the case itself

Case study from chapter, 4, "Baxter Healthcare Corporation: ASAP Express," pages 162-172.

1. The Work-Centered Analysis Framework The effective management of an information system involves more than just technology (hardware, software, and networks). It also involves the information, the participants, the business process, the products/services, and the customers. With regard to the ASAP system (up to and including ASAP 5 and ASAP Express), describe each element in the WCA framework: (a) the technology (hardware, software, networks), (b) the information, (c) the participants, (d) the business process, (e) the products/services, and (f) the customers. Also, describe any problems or challenges that these elements pose.

2. What are the information requirements that the Tel-American system and its successor, ASAP, were intended to satisfy? What are the information requirements that ASAP Express was intended to satisfy?

3. (a) Prepare an analysis of the competitive forces facing Baxter Healthcare Corporation in 1987. (For a quick review of Michael Porter's framework for doing an industry and competitive analysis, see pages 89 to 97, especially Figure 3-2.) (b) Explain the likely impacts of ASAP Express on the competitive forces facing Baxter.

4. IOS and Generic Strategy There are three generic strategies for achieving above-average performance in an industry. (Review pages 156 to 157 and examine Figure 3-3 on page 93.) Which of these strategies did American Hospital Supply Corporation pursue with its Tel-American system and with Tel-American's successor, ASAP? Which of these strategies is Baxter Healthcare pursuing with ASAP Express?

5. What factors made the ASAP system successful? What should be done to ensure the success of ASAP Express?

SECOND SESSION: drawing general lessons from the case

Chapter 4, "Interorganizational Systems," pages 151-161.

6. Interorganizational System (IOS) Development Cash, McFarlan, McKenney, and Applegate make the following statement (p. 152): "The growth of interorganizational systems is due to various technological, economic, and organizational changes." Assess how well their discussion, subsequent to this statement, explains the growth of interorganizational systems in the healthcare industry. If you feel that there are reasons for IOS growth in the healthcare industry which Cash et al. do not mention, then identify and explain these reasons.

7. IOS versus DDP Cash, McFarlan, McKenney, and Applegate provide general descriptions of how IOS are different from distributed data processing. What are these differences and what are some concrete examples, from the Baxter Healthcare case, that specifically illustrate these differences?

8. Organizational Impact of IOS's Initiating or using an IOS can trigger internal changes in an organization. Cash, McFarlan, McKenney, and Applegate describe the following concepts: first-order impacts, second-order impacts, third-order impacts (page 157). Applying these concepts to the facts that the case makes available, provide some specific examples of the organizational impact of interorganizational systems at the American Hospital Supply Corporation and the Baxter Healthcare Corporation through 1987.

9. Partnership of Three Constituencies Cash, McFarlan, McKenney, and Applegate state (page 52): "Much of the complexity of IT management problems stems from managing the conflicting pressures of three different and vitally concerned constituencies: IT management, user management, and the general management of the organization." Describe who these three constituencies are in the Baxter case. Do the facts of the case support or refute the claim by Cash et al. that these three groups experience "conflicting pressures"? Explain.

10. IOS Participation Profiles There are not only opportunities, but also potential dangers, for a business organization that participates in an IOS. Cash, McFarlan, McKenney, and Applegate state that, technologically, participation in IOS's falls into three levels: information entry and receipt; software development and maintenance; and network processing and management (pp. 158-160). (a) Speculate on and explain what you believe to be the risks or dangers associated with each level of participation. (b) Explain the risks or dangers that Baxter Healthcare faces in its undertaking of ASAP Express.