ITM-707
J-Trading: Full Circle Outsourcing
Background
J-Trading is a commodity trading company that is based in the United States. They have
found success through various operations ranging from acquiring raw materials, importing
technology, banking and investing, to manufacturing. However, after the Y2K crisis and the
September 11th attack, J-Trading saw a significant decline in their revenues. To make up for its
loss, the company was forced to go through change management.
Issues
Many companies face an unexpected turn of event, J-Trading is amongst one of them.
The decision by the company to cut down workforce and reduce expenses was the cause and
effect of the many issues in the case. These issues stemmed from IT department where the
Infrastructure Section employees were overwhelmed with the daily maintenance and operation,
they were lacking motivation in completing their tasks as a PC Helpdesk which resulted in poor
quality services and high turnover rates. In addition, this also caused the company infrastructure
to be several versions behind the latest updates. Another issue was when John Smith, the Direct
of Information Technology turn to outsource both the PC Helpdesk and the Datacenter in order
to improve quality and lower costs, he was faced with issues on finding a suitable vendor that
can match the requirements of the company. In regards to the issues of the outsourcing
companies, DR Solutions has caused the company $1 million in revenues when they were 4
hours behind in getting the Datacenter connected to the network, and CMPI technician lacking
the skill set for the PC Helpdesk, coupled with their ignorant attitudes towards J-Trading’s
common people. Moreover, when outsourcing strategy was to fail, how should he proceed going
forward. Culture gap and communication is another issue the company faces with half of the
workforce being a rotational and the other half being national staff. In addition, CMPI having no
understand of the Japanese protocol of behaviours to show respect to their senior.
Analysis
J-Trading: Full Circle Outsourcing
Background
J-Trading is a commodity trading company that is based in the United States. They have
found success through various operations ranging from acquiring raw materials, importing
technology, banking and investing, to manufacturing. However, after the Y2K crisis and the
September 11th attack, J-Trading saw a significant decline in their revenues. To make up for its
loss, the company was forced to go through change management.
Issues
Many companies face an unexpected turn of event, J-Trading is amongst one of them.
The decision by the company to cut down workforce and reduce expenses was the cause and
effect of the many issues in the case. These issues stemmed from IT department where the
Infrastructure Section employees were overwhelmed with the daily maintenance and operation,
they were lacking motivation in completing their tasks as a PC Helpdesk which resulted in poor
quality services and high turnover rates. In addition, this also caused the company infrastructure
to be several versions behind the latest updates. Another issue was when John Smith, the Direct
of Information Technology turn to outsource both the PC Helpdesk and the Datacenter in order
to improve quality and lower costs, he was faced with issues on finding a suitable vendor that
can match the requirements of the company. In regards to the issues of the outsourcing
companies, DR Solutions has caused the company $1 million in revenues when they were 4
hours behind in getting the Datacenter connected to the network, and CMPI technician lacking
the skill set for the PC Helpdesk, coupled with their ignorant attitudes towards J-Trading’s
common people. Moreover, when outsourcing strategy was to fail, how should he proceed going
forward. Culture gap and communication is another issue the company faces with half of the
workforce being a rotational and the other half being national staff. In addition, CMPI having no
understand of the Japanese protocol of behaviours to show respect to their senior.
Analysis
