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POLICY GUIDELINES FOR MNC INFORMATION PROCESSING

19 January, 2016 - 15:18

Issues

Content of policy

A. Hardware : CPU and peripherals

Central Hardware Concurrence or Approval: Avoid mistakes in vendor viability and lack of compatibility; pursue economies of scale in purchasing decisions; patronize local vendors.

B. Software : systems, applications, headquarters transfer, in-house development, outside purchase

Central Software Development and Standards : Uniform standards must be set for software documentation, maintenance, compatibility and economy; software transferability must be maximized . Development and updating must take into consideration the local needs, availability of well-trained personnel, costs and willingness of the headquarters staff to support and update programs made by the affiliates . Feasibility studies for the development of new software or upgrading of old ones must follow uniform procedures . Purchases of software from outside vendors must adhere to the same rules as the purchase of hardware (compatibility and economy).

C. Data: gathering ,processing, transmission

Data Gathering, Processing and Communication :

Instruments for gathering data such as forms, questionnaires, terminals must be uniform to avoid duplication , confusion and incompatibility. Naming, labeling and classifying data must be done so as to lead to the development of an international corporate data dictionary. Storage of data in terms of both

form and medium must also follow a corporate model to al low the use of tapes, discs, and other storage devices by data processing equipment across the globe.

D. Organization and personnel

Organization and Staffing: Selection, hiring, training, appraising and career development procedures must be uniform to avoid "job hopping" and "brain drain" from subsidiary to headquarters and from developing to developed countries. Job rotation , visitations, conferences, schools and joint educational programs must be encouraged across the globe. Particular attention must be given to nationals in promotions.

E. Consulting services

Corporate and Outside Consultation : Corporate and regional headquarters personnel are usually more

aware of leading-edge hardware and software developments. Policies and procedures must be set up for both requesting and accepting unsolicited headquarters assistance. In some cases, outside consulting might be preferable.

F. TBDF and other legal matters

Legal and Transborder Data Transfer: Care must be taken to assure compliance with local regional and international restrictions on data transfer across national boundaries, in particular where name carrying data transmission is concerned .

 

SOURCE: Warren McFarlan and James L. McKenney, Corporate Information Systems Management: The Issues Facing Senior Executives (Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin, 1983), 165-182.

Architecture is the corporate telecommunications network that links the IS departments of the numerous affiliates of an MNC. Figure 16.6  is a sketch of an MNC telecommunications network. The history of modern telecommunications reveals a trend away from separate facilities and incompatibility toward integration. The logical endpoint (which is already technically feasible though not yet available for everyday operation) is an integrated system that includes the following elements:

Multiservice workstations that can access any available remote service A worldwide set of transmission facilities, some leased by the firm (private networks) and others used on an as-needed basis (public data networks), that can deliver all standard types of information to the workstation: telephone calls, images of documents, memos and messages, computer data and transactions, and pictures

Switches that make this integrated services network "transparent" to the user, so that the person need have no knowledge of the network in order to use it

A set of standards, accepted by all manufacturers of computer and communications equipment and providers of communications services, that eliminates incompatibility by defining the interfaces between facilities, not the facilities themselves 1

Once the three tasks of vision clarification, policy setting, and architecture design have been accomplished, the organizational design must be sketched out. The most efficient way of implementing a GLOB IS is to set up a Global Information Council, to oversee the MNC's creation and use of information globally.  2 The place for such a council in the organizational hierarchy is within the MNC's International Division, the head of which reports directly to the CEO. The GLOB IS division should have a line relationship to both affiliate and corporate information system heads. Its mandate and purpose should be similar to those of the domestic computer steering committee. The council might consist of representatives from key regions, from corporate data processing, and from corporate planning.

Figure 16.6 Components of a Telecommunications Network