2.3 Systems within CCL
This paragraph gives a high level overview of systems as mentioned in the 7S model: all formal and informal methods of operation, procedures and communication flows. In paragraph 2.8 we focus on Information Technology systems and the current IT landscape.
With regard to the systems of Carnival Cruise Lines the following strengths and weaknesses can be identified:
Strengths
Weaknesses
IT incorporated in company results
No prioritization process in place
No benefits tracking
No integrated CRM process
Strength
IT incorporated in company results
In some companies IT is considered as free of charge, since IT is not incorporated in the company results. This leads to a distorted view of company/business unit results. However, Carnival Cruise Lines incorporates the costs of IT in the company/business unit results, which allows both the company/business unit itself to get a more realistic view of the results, but also the market gets a more trustworthy view of the results. This leads to a more positive ranking in the market.
Weakness
No prioritization process in place
Since every business unit is set up as an own profit and loss center, every business unit deems their own project to be the most important. Currently, there is no prioritization process in place on the business side, which leads to a continuous flow of projects that need IT resources.
Weakness
No benefits tracking
Many projects get kicked off and promise benefits. However there is no process in place to measure these benefits after the project has been delivered. This allows the business to keep on creating additional projects to deliver the same thing, again allowing business increase costs instead of reducing costs.
Weakness
No integrated CRM process
Carnival Cruise Lines does not have an integrated CRM process in place for the whole corporation. This leads to the fact that customers from the one cruise line aren't recognized as a repeat customer with a different cruise line within the group, this has an immediate effect on the pricing for repeat customers. Also, due to the lack of this process, the organization cannot target specific customers groups, based on their previous behavior on the cruise, since that information is only fragmented available.