Real-Life Communication
You are the chief information officer at a vegetable-growing greenhouse
on the West Coast. The business has been expanding rapidly. But now, at a
meeting with the CEO and the CFO, you find out that your boss wants to expand
even more quickly.
She is going to rely on you to get the computer
and information technology ready so that you can ship vegetables as quickly
and efficiently as possible.
CIOs need to communicate with company
executives and with computer information technologists.
"The focus
of my communication is verbal," says Janice Sisson. She is a director of information
technology. "I need to be able to get across my ideas and specifications clearly.
You need to understand what needs to be done, be able to be understood, and
be able to think on the spot."
This is what the CEO says at the meeting:
"Green
peppers, hot house tomatoes, chili peppers, cucumbers. We grow the best, and
have the West Coast Growers Award for the past two years to prove it. But
right now our products are only reaching out to grocery stores and retailers
in a radius a few hundred miles around us.
"I think it's time that
we expand this market. I want to see our vegetables in Idaho, Montana, and
the Dakotas within six months. In a year, I want to see if we can take the
vegetables further east, and I also want to tap into the market in Canada.
"Right
now, we have 10 trucks that make local deliveries. How are we going to get
our produce quickly and efficiently to these other locations? We will need
to set up a computer tracking system, an improved inventory system, and figure
out the best way to network with grocery stores so that we can meet their
needs.
"I want to start with the less perishable peppers, and gradually
work our way to selling hot house, beefsteak and yellow tomatoes. Let's make
this business bigger and better!"
You jot down notes as the CEO outlines
the new business strategy. When she is finished, you ask a few questions for
clarification.
This is what you ask:
- Within six months, where does the CEO want to ship the vegetables?
- What are some of the suggestions the CEO has to get the vegetables quickly
and efficiently to the new locations?
- After a year, what other markets does the CEO want to tap into?
- What vegetables does the CEO want to start shipping first?
What answers do you find for these questions?