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Case 2: Lufthansa
Taking Mobile Computing to the
Skies
Lufthansa wants to
Keep 3,500 pilots
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Trained on the latest technology and
procedures
Plugged into the corporate infrastructure
Informed about schedules, weather events,
and other facts that affect their jobs
Control costs
Provide Internet access to passengers
Case Study Questions
1. Are many of Lufthansa’s challenges identified
in the case similar to those being
experienced by other businesses in today’s
global economy? Explain and provide some
examples.
2. What other tangible and intangible benefits,
beyond those identified by Lufthansa, might
a mobile workforce enjoy as a result of
deploying mobile technologies? Explain.
3. Lufthansa was clearly taking a big risk with
their decision to deploy notebook computers
Are many of Lufthansa’s challenges identifies in the case similar
to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s
global economy? Explain and provide some examples.
While the specifics of each challenge are particular to
Lufthansa’s situation, many are shared by other global
organizations. Examples could include:
Provide a mobile workforce with equipment that fits their needs
while it does not get in the way of accomplishing their
objectives (not only technical specifications, but also upgrades
and updates, stability, etc)
Distribute training and other non-directly value-adding activities
during non-productive periods both to maximize efficiency and
reduce downtime
Provide adequate support to mobile operations while keeping a
tight lid on cost and being able to justify the investment
Redefine processes to accommodate new mobile technologies
and needs of a distributed workforce – including
communication, meeting and decision making practices
What other tangible and intangible benefits, beyond those identified by
Lufthansa, might a mobile workforce enjoy as a result of deploying mobile
technologies. Explain.
Examples
Increased, all-around, communication, both with the
organization and with personal relationships (family, friends,
etc). Especially important for a highly mobile workforce such as
airline pilots.
Remote access to corporate applications, important since
increasingly more of the employee’s interaction is self-managed
(payroll systems, expense reports, etc.)
More productive time spent at customer locations and
streamlined order taking and processing
Ability to timely collect and report data on the competitive
environment, both for the own organization and competitors
(prices, volume, advertising, etc)
Lufthansa was clearly taking a big risk with their decision to deploy notebook
computers to their pilots. What steps did they take to manage that risk
and what others might be needed in today’s business environment?
Provide some examples.
Steps taken to manage the risk:
Ensured that technical specifications for the equipment were
acceptable to both pilots and the union, given the very special
work environment they would be used in
Increased the chances of user buy-in by providing convenient
alternatives to traditionally cumbersome tasks (such as carrying
manuals and technical documents around)
Standardized on a unique hardware and software platform to
reduce support and upgrade costs
Structured the process in phases, pilot and general deployment,
to both assess feasibility and obtain feedback before mass
implementation
Training users (pilots) in the skills required to
operate and become productive with the new
hardware and applications, if they did not
have them already
Ensure that project analysts and support
personnel had the skills required to carry on a
project of this magnitude
Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4
Group mini case Report & Presentation
Due on February 12
Mini case:
Delta, Northwest Airlines, and Vancouver
Airport: The business Value of
Customer Self-Service Kiosks (87)
IT Hardware
Left: The on-board L2 cache.
Right: The Pentium® Pro processor core with 5.5 million transistors.
Source: Intel
Learning Objectives
1. Understand the history and evolution
of computer hardware.
2. Outline the major technologies and
uses of computer peripherals for input,
output, and storage.
3. Identify and give example of the
components and functions of a
computer system.
Learning Objectives
4.
Identify the computer systems and
peripherals you would acquire or
recommend for a business of your
choice, and explain the reasons for
your selections.
Microcomputer Systems
Personal Computer (PC) –
microcomputer for use by an individual
Desktop – fit on an office desk
Laptop – small, portable PC
Microcomputer Systems
Workstation – a powerful, networked PC
for business professionals
Network Server – more powerful
microcomputers that coordinate
telecommunications and resource
sharing in small networks
Information Appliances
Hand-held microcomputer devices
Personal digital assistants (PDA)
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BlackBerry
Video-game consoles
Internet enabled cellular phones
Hardware: Your Physical Interface
Characteristics of CPUs and RAM
Motherboard:
components
bus , chipset, CPU, memory
Motherboard: chipset
components of the chipset
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memory controller
I/O controller
bus controller
cache controller
types of chipsets
Motherboard: bus system
data bus
address bus
system/control bus
expansion slots
ISA, EISA, VESA,SCSI, PCI, AGP
How local bus works? PCI vs VESA
Bus speeds: Pentium 4 and
AthlonXP
What’s a BUS?
A collection of wires through which data is
transmitted from one part of a computer to
another.
A bus connects all the internal computer
components to the CPU and main memory.
There's also an expansion bus that enables
expansion boards to access the CPU and
memory
Every bus has a clock speed measured in MHz
All buses consist of two parts -- an address
bus and a data bus. The data bus transfers
actual data whereas the address bus transfers
information about where the data should go.
The size of a bus, known as its width, is
determines how much data can be
transmitted at one time. For example, a 16bit bus can transmit 16 bits of data, whereas
a 32-bit bus can transmit 32 bits of data.
Semiconductor memory
Microelectronic semiconductor memory
chips
Used for primary storage
Advantage:
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Small size
Fast
Shock and temperature resistance
Disadvantage:
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Volatility: must have uninterrupted electric
Two types of semiconductor
memory
RAM: random access memory
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Most widely used primary storage medium
Volatile memory
Read/write memory
ROM: read only memory
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Permanent storage
Can be read but cannot be overwritten
Frequently used programs burnt into chips
during manufacturing
Bit and Byte
Bit (short for binary digit)
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Smallest element of data
Either zero or one
Byte
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Group of eight bits which operate as a
single unit
Represents one character or number
Representing characters in bytes
Computers use binary system to
calculate
Decimal
Octal
Binary
ASCII
Measuring storage capacities
Kilobyte (KB): one thousand bytes
Megabyte (MB): one million bytes
Gigabyte (GB): one billion bytes
Terabyte (TB): one trillion bytes
Petabyte (PB): one quadrillion bytes
Main Memory
basic concepts
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memory banks (0,1,2): 64 Meg to 1 Gig
SIMMs (single in-line memory modules), DIMMS (dual inline memory modules), SDRAM (synchronous DRAM)
SIMMs older, DIMMS old, SDRAM newer PCs
additional references
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Upgrading memory
Updating Memory
RAM is sold in the form of chips
contained on small circuit boards called
memory modules.
Most PCs have three DIMM sockets on
their motherboards, and one or two of
them are usually free. Adding RAM is as
simple as plugging in new DIMMs
Disk drives
Hard-drives
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Overview
Speed
Interfaces: IDE, SCSI, SATA, IDE vs SCSI
CD and DVD
 basics: CD standard and DVD standards
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x
A measurement of CD or DVD drive speed. Each x translates to
either 153,600 bytes of data per second, the data rate of the CDaudio or 1,250,000 bytes per second, the data rate of the DVDvideo.
USB flash drives
 Overview
Magnetic Disks
Used for secondary storage
Fast access and high storage capacity
Source: Quantum.
Source: Corbis.
Types of magnetic disks
Floppy disks
 Magnetic disk inside a plastic jacket
Hard disk drives
 Magnetic disk, access arms, and read/write heads
in sealed module
RAID (Redundant arrays of independent disks)
 Disk arrays of interconnected hard disk drives
 Fault tolerant with multiple copies on several disks
Optical Disks
Uses of optical disks
Image processing
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Long term storage of historical files of
images
Scan documents and store on optical disks
Publishing medium for fast access to
reference materials
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Catalogs, directories, etc.
Interactive multimedia applications
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Video games, educational videos, etc.
Disk drive performance
Fragmentation
Compression.
Cache
Swap file (paging file)
Fragmentation
Fragmentation means two things:
File fragmentation:
a condition in which individual files on a disk are not
contiguous but are broken up in pieces scattered
around the disk;
Data Fragmentation:
a condition in which the free space on a disk consists
of little bits of free space here and there rather than
only one or a few free spaces.
Compression
Zip
Winzip
Example
In John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address,
he delivered this famous line:
"Ask not what your country can do for you -ask what you can do for your country."
The quote has 17 words, made up of 61 letters,
16 spaces, one dash and one period. If each
letter, space or punctuation mark takes up
one unit of memory, we get a total file size of
79 units. To get the file size down, we need
to look for redundancies.
"Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what
you can do for your country."
"ask" appears two times
"what" appears two times
"your" appears two times
"country" appears two times
"can" appears two times
"do" appears two times
"for" appears two times
"you" appears two times our dictionary:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ask
what
your
country
can
do
for
you
Our sentence now reads:
"1 not 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 -- 1 2 8 5 6 7 3 4"
"Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what
you can do for your country."
full phrase takes up 79 units.
Our compressed sentence (including
spaces) takes up 37 units, and the
dictionary (words and numbers) also
takes up 37 units. This gives us a file
size of 74, so we haven't reduced the
file size by very much.
Others
graphics cards:
monitors: resolution, size, analog vs.
digital
printers: ink, laser, color, speed.
Modems: phone lines, cable and DSL
scanners
digital cameras
Hardware: Your Physical Interface
Connecting Devices
Connecting devices enable your hardware to
communicate with each other.
Busses – system and expansion.
Expansion – slots and cards.
Ports and connectors – USB, serial, parallel,
and IrDA
Hardware: Your Physical Interface
Connecting Devices
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Keyboard and mouse ports
USB port
Serial port
Parallel port
Hardware: Your Physical Interface
Connecting Devices
Popular connectors include:
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USB (universal serial bus) –the most
popular means of connecting devices to a
computer.
Serial connector – usually has 9 holes but
may have 25, which fit into the corresponding
number of pins in the port.
Parallel connector – has 25 pins, which fit
into the corresponding holes in the port.
Hardware: Your Physical Interface
Connecting Devices
Hardware: Your Physical Interface
Connecting Devices
IrDA (infrared data association)
ports –are for wireless devices that
work in essentially the same way as the
remote control on your TV does.
Radio Frequency Identification
RFID
Tag and identify mobile objects
 E.g., store merchandise, postal packages, pets
Use RFID chips to transmit and receive radio signals
Chips half the size of a grain of sand
Passive chips:
 do not have power source and derive power from
signal in reader
Active chips:
 Self-powered
RFID versus bar codes
RFID
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Scan from greater distance
Can store data
Allows more information to be tracked
Privacy concerns due to invisible nature
RFID Controversy
Additional Readings
www2.una.edu/compcenter/csglossary.
htm
www.beginnerspc.com
Why do you think that Aviall failed in their implementation
of an airplane parts and components inventory
control system? What could they have done
differently?
Reasons why Aviall failed would include:
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The ERP system did not support adequately
Aviall’s business strategies.
The ERP implemented did not improve the basic
operational support system needed by Aviall to
provide timely supply chain management.
The ERP system project did not adequately
address the issue of systems integration between
applications.
The implementation of the ERP failed due to
inadequate consideration of the magnitude of the
project.
What Aviall could have done differently would
include the following:
Project planning through the use of some
form of a systematic development process.
Analysis of the business requirements prior to
making decisions about the software to
acquire for the ERP system.
Project management should have been a
higher consideration of Aviall.
How has information technology brought new business
success to Aviall? How did IT change Aviall’s
business model?
How IT brought new business success for Aviall would include:
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System integrated by using common business databases managed by
database software from Sybase, Inc.
Designing the new combined system to properly access and deal with
customized pricing charts for 17,000 customers who receive various types
of discounts, and with an inventory of 380,000 different aerospace parts.
Developing Aviall.com to reduce the cost per order from $9 per transaction
to 39 cents.
Customers are able to transfer their orders from an Excel spreadsheet
directly to the web site.
Customers have access to price and availability information in less than five
seconds – a real time feature.
Sales force spends more time developing customer relationships than
processing routine orders.
Aviall can better match production to demand from the IT improvements.
How IT changed Aviall’s business
model would include:
 Changed Aviall from a catalog business to full-
scale logistics business.
 Aviall became a provider of supply chain
management services through the integration
of a range of Web-enabled e-business software
systems.
How could other companies use Aviall’s approach to the
use of IT to improve their business success? Give
several examples.
Some Examples:
Reposition a firm as a supply chain
management services provider through Webenabled e-business software systems.
Redesign the customer relationship
management system to minimize the routine
order processing and permit the sales force to
focus on product and service development
efforts that will grow revenue.