Case 2 Bank A
“Bank A” is a major commercial bank with 12,000 employees and significant state share-holding. Net profit was US$ 119 million for the first half of 1994. The bank has 331 branches in Thailand and 6 Branches abroad. The Bank aims to expand its branch network both within Thailand and throughout the Asian region.
The EIS project was initiated by the President and Chief Executive Officer in 1992 Instead of receiving hard copy management reports, he wanted an interactive system which could provide both an overview of the bank and detailed information about the performance of the branches. The executive sponsor was the Executive Vice President, Technology Group. The EIS project was approved by the Board of Directors. No formal cost-benefit analysis was performed.
The EIS was developed on an existing IBM mainframe and personal computer network using the Personnel Assistance Systems (PAS) software package and general purpose software such as COBOL. Existing hardware and software was used because the developers were both comfortable and experienced in the use of the technology. The first IES application, finance, was delivered within eight months and was based on existing reports; it comprised 10 screens. The initial users were three Senior Vice Presidents. The number of screens and executive users has increased to 80 and 18, respectively. The completed system provides support for finance, personnel and marketing.
The design of the personnel and other EIS applications are totally different. The personnel application was developed on a personal computer using the PAS software package. This allowed the analyst/programmers to develop “user friendly” interfaces. The other applications were written in COBOL and have a non-graphical interface.
Bank A’s EIS project can be regarded as relatively unsuccessful. The poor user interface of most applications has led to a low usage rate among executives. The system has not been updated due to internal regulatory constraints and an inflexible technical architecture.