Service Management Assignment: Case Analysis Of SPA Organic Herbs Pty Ltd

Question

Task:
Case Study - SPA Organic Herbs Pty Ltd
SPA Organic Herbs Pty Ltd is situated approximately 180 km from Melbourne in the busy regional town of Shepperton. SPA Organic Herbs Pty Ltd is owned by a co-operative of local Hobby farms. It is primarily a processing facility shed that stores and dries herb products from items produced by local hobby farmers. Various forms of herbs are processed by SPA Organic Herbs in the area throughout the year. The product is transported by farmers to the SPA Organic Herbs processing facility where it is processed and then packed to be sent to local and interstate markets. SPA Organic Herbs have a contract with a wholesale distributor and products are dry stored and then transported to New South Wales and throughout Victoria to organic specialist stores. Dry Processing and packing are the major focus of the co-operative, and it returns dividends back to individual farmers who are members of the co-operative. SPA Organic Herbs employ 19 staff in the herb drying and packing area.

In addition to the herb drying and packing operation, the co-operative has a retail shop that sells produce and farm products to the local community with a focus on the organic hobby farmers. hobbyists, who may not necessarily be members of the co-operative, are able to purchase hardware, feed produce, organic fertiliser and other items from the retail store located at the front of the facility. Although it was originally intended to provide basic services, the retail store has expanded in recent years. It now employs 8 full time staff including a retail manager and earns approximately 25% of the co-operative’s income.

One years ago, in response to perceived demand, the co-operative expanded into small machinery maintenance and repairs. The engineering section was originally located in one small corner of the drying shed, but it now requires considerably more area to maintain farm equipment to order.

Eighteen months ago, SPA Organic Herbs Pty Ltd acquired another packing and processing facility at Milawa approximately 100km to the east of Shepperton, this facility provides organic fertilisers and mulch to the extensive vineyards in the area. This facility will increase the capacity of SPA Organic Herbs by approximately 50% in the near future.

After the acquisition of the new facility, it became obvious to the management of SPA Organic Herbs that they needed to assess their current processes and computer systems. They recognized that in an effort to remain competitive, to expand their market, to reduce unit costs and to streamline drying and packing processes. Significant changes needed to be made to their existing processes and supporting computer systems in all the areas of business. The six-month review made several significant recommendations. From these recommendations, management decided to upgrade the current equipment in the drying and packing shed and install a new computer-based processing control system. In addition, they have decided to install or upgrade and then network all the computer systems of the plant. The network should support internal and external email and have web access. In broad terms the project will involve work in the following divisions in EACH location (Shepperton and Milawa):

Herb Processing and Packing Division:
Each container of produce must be weighed before packing and record the number of packed cartons. Damaged or inferior quality produce is to be recorded. The new system will involve an automatic weighing and recording tray for these containers. The system will require monitoring and control functions for management responsible for this area.

Retail Sales Division:
The retail shop will be fully computerized for pricing and accounts, online ordering and selling, and an extranet for distributors. A web site is needed for advertising and sales.

Management Division:
This part of the system will implement SAGE Intacct Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP);

• HR and people Engagement for all employees to manage payroll and Human Resources.
• ERP for Midsized Companies for accounts to customers, and the calculation of dividend cheques to co-operative members.
• SAGE Business Intelligence using the Intelligent Enterprises Package in order to provide specialist Executive Information Systems and reporting for management.
• https://www.sageintacct.com/
• https://www.sage.com/en-au/products/sage-business-intelligence-reporting/
• https://www.sage.com/en-au/human-resources-software/

Maintenance:
This area is to be expanded and the system must be able to handle maintenance of small factory machinery, (Chainsaws, Slashers, Rotary Hoe’s, Mini Cultivators, Power Wheelbarrows Walk tractors etc). A web site is needed for advertising and sales. Currently this division of the business is not incorporated into the existing computer system.

Integration of systems:
Integrate all the systems in and between each SPC location in Shepperton and Milawa

Consider the above case study and prepare a service management assignment answering the below questions:

Question One – Organisational Change
Senior Management at SPA Organic Herbs in the rural cities of Shepperton and Milawa have informed you that they are concerned about staff accepting and utilizing the new systems. Some staff are not technically competent and some of them are so use to the existing systems they do not want to change. There are other reasons that may not be obvious. Other staff at various levels of management and in different areas within the organization is quite comfortable with the idea of a new system.

Additionally, at the Milawa facility processing shed that has just been acquired by SPA Organic Herbs, Senior Management has learned that there is significant resistance to change both at the facility and within the local community.

1. Provide an overview of a Change Management Model which was studied in seminars this semester. Your answer should provide details of the major stages and the importance of change agents throughout the process.
2. What are some of the Internal and External Factors at the Milawa Processing Facility that will affect the change process during the implementation?
3. What are the measures that will help ensure that the new system will be implemented productively at the Shepperton Site? Use the Lewin/Schein Change Management Model as a guide.
4. While implementing the change describe the difference between Top Down Change and Bottom Up Change and describe how these will affect two of the department and the staff at SPA Organic Herbs.
5. Why would staff at SPA Organic Herbs “resist the change”? What form would that resistance take?

Question Two – Product Development, Usability and Acceptance testing
Senior Management want to be assured that appropriate testing will be undertake at all stages in the systems implementation within the time and cost restraints of the project. You are required to provide a detailed outline of the implementation’s testing processes. Using your knowledge of testing as detailed in seminars this semester, outline the testing your team will undertake in this implementation.

Your answer should include:

1. A brief overview of the overall test plan for the Web site development of the Retail Sales Division.
2. With the Web Site development of the Retail Sales Division detail the major stages of the development and implementation that will need to be tested, and list the testing strategy that you will undertake at each stage.
3. What are the Considerations in Test Estimation for the Web Site development of the Retail Sales Division.
4. During Acceptance testing List the Test methods used and detailed how SPA Organic Herbs will Alpha and Beta Test the New website for the Retail Service Division

SPA Organic Herbs currently have a small IT department that maintains their computer systems. Maintenance requirements will be significantly expanded when the new systems are introduced, and it will be more complicated with the addition of a new facility at Milawa. SPA Organic Herbs have recognized that the on-going support for the new systems needs to be better managed. They have heard a lot about IT Service Desks and how they can help. However, they have a very limited knowledge of how it operates.

Your team have been asked to prepare a presentation to Senior Management of SPA Organic Herbs on the issue of establishing an IT service support system incorporating a Service Desk using Service Desk Software. Prepare a draft of what you will say in your presentation. It should include things such as:

1. What will be included for SPA Organic Herbs IT Service Catalogue and an IT Customer Portal? Justify your decision.
2. What Service Desk Functions can be automated for SPA Organic Herbs.
3. What is meant by a Service Level Agreement (SLA) and what will be included for the SPA Organic Herbs IT Service Desk and IT Department
4. Choose a Service Desk Software package to recommend to SPA Organic Herbs, what are the benefits (and possible disadvantages) that come from a service support system?
5. An outline of how SPA Organic Herbs might implement an IT Service Desk.

Question Four – Documentation and Training
Deployment of a new system is far more than just a cut over from the old system. To provide value to a business, the new system must be used effectively as quickly as possible after release. A key component of deployment is documentation and training.

At SPA Organic Herbs you are responsible for organizing the documentation and training for the new system. Prepare a broad overview that outlines the documentation and training requirements for the new system so that the system will be used by the organisation (including users) without unnecessary delay.

Your answer should include:

1. An outline of the different forms of the documentation required for the introduction of SAP Business One and support software required by the Management Division. Hint: your outline must include all the documentation for the system not just user documentation. Identify the form (paper based, FAQ, spreadsheet, data base, configuration etc.) of each type of documentation.
2. A training outline you will undertake for the different groups within SPA Organic Herbs to implement the Management Division SAP Business One processes within SPA Organic Herbs. It should include details of the type of training you intend to undertake, how you intend to conduct your training and the timeline of training events. You must justify your decision. This may involve more than users of the system.

Question Five – System Release and Deployment
This is a large project with several key components. Each component will impact on various aspects of the business. In addition, many of the components are interdependent and require the successful implementation of other components of the system. Careful thought will need to be given to the appropriate cut over strategy

There are many ways to cut over from an old to new system.

1. Outline and describe the four (4) different forms of cut over - pilot, phased, parallel or direct (or plunge) – that you have studied in seminars this semester.
2. Outline what you believe would be an appropriate cut over strategy for the key components of the system developed under this project for two of the five divisions at SPA Organic Herbs. Note, it is possible that there will be different approaches at different stages of the project. You will need to justify the reason for your choice.

   Select Two of the divisions/sectors for your answer

   • Herb Processing and Packing Division
   • Retail Sales Division
   • Management Division
   • Maintenance
   • Integration of systems

Answer

Service Management Assignment Question One – Organisational Change
i. Change Management Model
Consideration of change would enable SPA Organic Herbs Private Limited to successfully induce a common thread of business with appropriate consideration of the nature of its services. Based on this, the change model significantly indicates three basic stages upon inception, namely freeze, movement, and refreeze (Cadez, Czerny and Letmathe 2019). It represents a multivariate granular level of organizational change process affecting the identification of distinctive operational elements. Furthermore, the implication of a change management model helps transform the "quasi-stationary equilibrium stage” of the existing organizational dimension with the help of proactive and reactive changes (Cadez, Czerny and Letmathe 2019).

The installation of a new and "dynamic computer-based processing control system “would enable the company to install and upgrade the entire network of information distribution (Ismail, Khater and Zaki 2017). The change agents that will be required for implementation and programming of such changes are product development and "acceptance testing team", IT team, senior management team, "documentation and training team", as well as "system release and deployment team."

Figure 1: Lewin’s Change management model
(Source: Ismail, Khater and Zaki 2017)

ii. Internal and External Factors at the Milawa Processing Facility
Senior management within SP Organic Herbs is highly concerned regarding the acceptance and acknowledgement of the need for change transformation with organizational staff. The internal elements that would impact organizational change procedure are technical and competencies of staff (Ismail, Khater and Zaki 2017). The lack of acceptability regarding change is, however, missing at upper levels of Management and IT teams.

Concerning the external elements that have strongly governed the change management process and its successful implementation are mainly related to companies' new forms of operational needs. The company has recently moved to its retail segment and has signified reduced unit costs and overhead budget (Ismail, Khater and Zaki 2017).With the growth of new facilities and extensive production processes, the externalities of a company's growth significantly depend upon the Inception of IT-based processing systems.

iii. Measures
Considering the target market of this company, the change implementation process signifies upon administration and monitoring of appropriate resource elicitation techniques. Alongside that, growth in companies' objectives to cater to high-quality products has also required the implementation of appropriate resource planning programs, amplified employee engagement, and intelligent handling of accounts.

iv. Difference between Top-Down Change and Bottom-Up Change
The factors that will significantly add to assurance of proper implementation and productive system transformation processes are mainly integrated with the mediation of transformational leadership initiatives. Apart from that, factors related to knowledge sharing impacts, employee involvement and willingness and modification of leadership styles would also be taken into consideration (Ismail, Khater and Zaki 2017).

Figure 2: Top-Down Change and Bottom-Up Change
(Source: Ismail, Khater and Zaki 2017)

v. Staff at SPA Organic Herbs “resist the change."
The top-down approach of implementing change mainly involves apex level decision making processes to be inherited by executive management levels of the company. Considering the case of SP organic herbs, the cooperative includes eight full-time staff in its retail shop while its distribution centre is composed of 19 employees. Focusing on a community level approach to the company's strategic intervention, applying a top-down approach would create greater levels of conflict within already resistant human resources. However, considering a bottom-down approach, a company would manage conflict resolution practices (Heikkilä, Bouwman and Heikkilä 2017).However, employment of a top-down approach can also impact the business positively based on standardizing appropriate products and services and facilitating the scope of "quality control".

Question Two – Product Development, Usability and Acceptance testing
i. Overall test plan for the “Web site development”
Retail industries are often subjected to various turbulent changes that might be critical for the competitive advantages. Three basic principles that need to be taken care of are accentuated application quality acceleration of time to market and minimizing appropriate testing cost(Heikkilä, Bouwman and Heikkilä 2017).Apart from launching the e-commerce website, the process is relevant to error guessing and would be applied along with knowledge relevant to "application under test or AUT processes' '. Apart from that, the tasting plan will also be comprehensive of the "V and V model” that would allow it to allow for the plan to include validation and verification of the product development process. It would further be aligned with appropriate requirement analysis based on "requirement specific documents'' (Heikkilä, Bouwman and Heikkilä 2017).

Figure 3: Test plan for website development
(Source: Kurtz, Hanelt and Firk 2021)

ii. Major stages of the development and implementation
The first stage of the testing plan is to taste the homepage of SP organic herbs E-Commerce site. During this stage, the strategic implementation would be aligned with checking compatibility with browsers and multivariate platforms such as Windows Mac and Linux. The second stage of testing the E-Commerce site would include monitoring the master page with appropriate appearance of components, navigation tools, and clickable website logo. It is necessary to include testing of session expiry programs based on parameters of storage and timeline based on maximum safety obligations (Kurtz, Hanelt and Firk 2021). The most essential element of the testing plan will be to "test categories on product listing page" based on system integration and optimal security concerns.

iii. Considerations for “Test Estimation”
The basic prerequisites that can be taken into account, before applying appropriate “test estimation for website development” of SP Organic Herbs are mainly relevant to new collections of insights based on past experiences (Kurtz, Hanelt and Firk 2021). Other than that, the usability of "test management repository tools “would also be considered. Other than that, elements of the type of work that the website would include and calculation of potential risks and cyber security threats based on functionalities would be considered.

iv. Test methods used

• Factory acceptance test
  This test is also a box testing method that would require income base stations, routers controllers and functioning of subscriber platforms.
• Consumer acceptance test
  This stage is also referred to as the system staging method performed within a company's warehousing environment. It will also include a partial representative configuration of the entire system with the provision of opportunities to test radio communication systems and "third-party authentication processes" (Kurtz, Hanelt and Firk 2021).
• Site acceptance test
  This method would enable carrying out side-by-side equipment appropriately designated for installing test procedures and validation of elements at specific locations. It also enables the inclusion of control equipment transmission lines, lightning arresters, backhaul interfaces, and console dispatch positions (Kurtz, Hanelt and Firk 2021). All of these elements will help optimize current processes and computer systems for new retail stores of SPA organic herbs.
• Verification coverage test
  This method incorporates a radiofrequency system with appropriate capturing and analysis of actual radio frequency transmission performances. It would also allow the company to measure area performance and guarantee coverage throughout potential retail outlets to be built in the future.
• Final system acceptance test
  The final system acceptance test helps in assuring backhaul connectivity based on stable and "available associated system locations". Apart from that, this method can also help in the monster ratio of any possible system features, characteristic functions or scenarios of uncertainty or failures within the total final configuration of an e-commerce website.

The final system acceptance test helps in assuring backhaul connectivity based on stable and "available associated system locations". Apart from that, this method can also help in the monster ratio of any possible system features, characteristic functions or scenarios of uncertainty or failures within the total final configuration of an e-commerce website.

Question Three – The Service Desk (Presentation)
i. “IT Service Catalogue” and an “IT Customer Portal”for SPA Organic Herbs

• Deliverable based information
• Prices contact information
• Processes of customer services (Rodrigues,Ruivo and Oliveir 2020)
• The IT consumer portal will allow for the company to provide individual services

ii. Service Desk Functions

• Company would be able to facilitate automation strategies
• Company would also be able to forward emails directly to consumers' official mail ID through automatic redirection
• It would enable for customer executives to "prioritize urgent support tickets" (Rosenbaum, More and Steane 2018).

iii. Service Level Agreement (SLA)

• Defining service level agreement initiatives
• the company would be able to layout appropriate matrix
• pre-determined service levels could be achieved it also helps in emancipation of key performance
• In case of SPA organic herbs, IT service desks of the company

iv. Service Desk Software package

• A service desk software package that would be suitable for SPA organic herbs private limited is eDesk
• The software package is powered by artificial intelligence
• The software package is capable of collecting appropriate consumer interactions throughout various channels (Cadez, Czerny and Letmathe 2019).
• optimize automatic conditions of time zone, language proficiency

v. Implementation of IT Service Desk

• Company's current extensive format of operation
• Aligned with understanding of consumer preferences and aligning human resource interventions including customer service skills (Heikkilä, Bouwman and Heikkilä 2017).
• Defining process and automation of the entire IT service Management

Question Four – Documentation and Training
i. Forms of requireddocumentation
The SAP Business one represents several multivariate business software collaborating within a platform to meet business requirements of information technology operations (Foerster-Metz and Golowko 2018). The variouskinds of documentationsnecessary for the introduction of such “business software by management division” of the firm. The documentation lists must include activity and approval documents, alerts and risk assessment documents, and documents of business partners and stakeholders (Venkateshand Singhal 2017). Other than that, key inventory processes should also be documented along with documents of price list commerce sales opportunities, sales quotations, and sales orders. Considering the scope of companies' retail operations, the company could also consider contractual documents such as delivery and service contracts, service calls and reports, and business blueprints. Some of the documents like service contracts, approvals and sales quotations are mainly based on paper-based and spreadsheet-based forms. Other documentation is mainly based on spreadsheets formed in MS Excel.

ii. A training outline
Application of staff requires several skilled users and information technology engineers who would be able to leverage effective training programs within organizational operations. The first and foremost training stage would involve developing a particulate checklist that would help in designing multiple efficiency programs aligned with the standardized approach of SAP implementation. The next stage would be aligned with choosing a delivery method based on an instructor-led course. The main content of the program would help sustain up-to-date knowledge regarding SAP and release updates (Solnet et al. 2019). Apart from that application was closed, and their adjustment to regular review of training materials would also be taken into consideration. Based on this, trainee identification and establishment of power rules would be inherited through a 25 days training program. It would also be inclusive of real-world scenarios and employment of appropriate gamification techniques for accentuated workplace training.

Question Five – System Release and Deployment
i. Forms of cut over strategies
The four basic implementing stages are parallel phased, pilot and direct. In case of direct change, the company's entire system would be stopped, and it would be replaced with a new system through a very fast process. However, the entire process is highly time-consuming and difficult to plan in nature (Kosasi and Yuliani 2017). Other than that, considering parallel running, the old system is replicated into a new system running parallel with one another. However, it increases the overall running cost of the entire information system (Blumberg et al. 2019).

On the other hand, considering a pilot running one part of the new system is aligned with another based on experimental or testing procedures. Such an implementation process is generally smaller in scale. Considerably, the phased implementation helps to adjoin the new system to just the path of another system where staff can be trained gradually.

ii. Appropriate cut over strategy

• Retail sales division
  The strategy for this section of the company would include proper transition planning with appropriate definition of States. The next stage would be to facilitate end to end testing based on user acceptance testing procedure to stop it would also integrate application support and technical reporting visibility based on website use and retail outlet performance (Attaran and Woods 2019). The entire system's development would be based on "legacy and integration plus interim reporting." it would further enable the organization to accentuate its ability and appetite for helping in the coupling of existing information technology capabilities into multivariate transition states.
• Management division
  The strategy adopted in the case of Management division would be based on a project-specific cutover process. It would help plan and prepare a particular release with alignment of proper testing plan (Biloslavo et al. 2020). It would also help increase the appropriate agile release model based on acceptance of an entry gate and help in liaison of technical and business-related integration.

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