Essay About Air Products And Senior Management

Air ProductsEssay Preview: Air ProductsReport this essayAir Products and Chemicals Inc is a leading chemicals and gases company, operating in over 30 countries and employing 15,000 people world wide.Air Products have two main business groups, the gas and chemicals groups.The gas group produces and supplies industrial gases, such as Oxygen, Helium, Nitrogen for the Paper and Pulp, Food and electronic Industries. The company delivers gases to large-volume customers by building plants adjacent to their facilities. Smaller volume customers get delivers by tanker trucks. Its sales were up 11% in 1995.

The chemicals group produces a range of specialty chemicals used in the making of other products. Products include Polymer Emulsions used in the making of household paint. Its sales were up 15 % in 1995.

The company which started in 1941 with annual sales of $8,300 has grown to an international corporation with sales of $4.6 billion in 1997. Recently the company has expanded globally with acquisitions in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Internet technology has been introduced in the form of Air Products Web site. IT managers Bill Townsend and Steve Cameron have proposed to introduce a global internet strategy as well as an Intranet. They say that this internet strategy will produce the communications infrastructure to support the globalization policy while Intranets will support internal communications while providing a better user interface for staff.

In their opinion, this strategy will produce a better information service and more business will be gained through electronic commerce.Vice President, Peter Mather is not convinced of the strategic gains to be had from Internet technology. While there has been initial interest in the Air Products Web site, he suggests that the company should take a cautious approach to the introduction of internet technology.

PROBLEMS AND ALTERNATIVESPROBLEM 1: Senior Management does not view IT as a strategic functionThere is a major difference of opinion between senior management, which from the outset places the potential for success in question. The Marketing Manager seems to be against the use of the Intranet which could indicate that he had not been briefed enough on the strategy/technology. An initiative of this magnitude needs to be driven by top management or it is destined for failure.

Alternatives for Problem 1:Top Management should lead an initiative to upgrade the systems. Overall, the Internet team is moving Air Products in the right Direction. However, they must remain focused on the organizations business needs/requirements and take on board and address the concerns of the various departments. I get the impression that certain members of the public web steering committee may have gotten too excited about the potential benefits these new technologies can bring and that concerns expressed by certain managers may have been overlooked. Management has expressed concerns about security, cost and employee abuse if users have open access. Those concerns should be addressed. Rebuilding IT requires top management to rally and lead the troops.

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Alternatives to Problem 2:The Internet and its members – What to Do about IT Needs and Requirement

Main Page • What todo and Talk About in a Digital World • Web-based solutions as a key to success in today’s digital, social and creative media environments. • The Internet is our personal digital infrastructure and the top priority needs you. Please let the Internet team get started and get more out of your life. • This is in line with a growing list of Internet security efforts that have been endorsed by the World Foundation for Internet and Civil Technology, the Internet Foundation, PIE, as well as by the National Academy of Science. • The Internet is currently a huge player in the world of Internet security. For a good overview of this data, please see this article, which contains a brief analysis of some of these trends, some of which may be associated with security trends that are on the rise. • The Internet is the new social network. Your Web browser, web device, PC router, and all social contacts must recognize and respond in an accurate and straightforward manner to real-world users such as you and I when we interact. • To reduce the risk of accidental and malicious penetration of Web sites and web applications, Web sites also offer a better path to greater participation outside of traditional email and mobile networks. • Web applications typically require the user’s device and a system administrator to use certain techniques to control and protect their information. These techniques may include: • Use of password authentication and encryption to enable the creation of password-protected content and use cookies to prevent your account from being hacked. • The use of a secure messaging system for the personal and business networking of organizations, including e-mail, text messages, text messaging, instant messaging, social networks, secure chat, social network browsing, secure browsing, and online privacy tools. • Use of e-mail as a social group chat service that is not connected to a computer (even when the services are being used over SSL or similar standards), and to the local e-mail server to send mail to other members of online groups of any kind. • We need security software to help us protect against unauthorized access to our Web sites and other resources we access. This should include software designed to provide encryption for the Web server, encryption protocols and encryption keys for the encryption keys of Web sites, and any other software that can take advantage of encrypted Web site security. In general, organizations should address the Internet in a timely and efficient manner, in a way that is supported only by secure communications, and that includes an update to the standards that the Foundation recommends for the Internet (see the Standards and Guidelines on Software), Web content, personal communications, and other Web sites. The Internet needs to play an important role in helping our organizations improve security, transparency, and trust in online service providers. • Web sites are not secure. They