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InformatIon technology In a global socIetycase stUDy: reD Dragon taxI company

For use in May and November 2013

INSTRUCTIONS TO CaNdIdaTES

• Case study booklet required for higher level paper 3 information technology in a global society examinations.

7 pages© International Baccalaureate Organization 2012

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Foreword

TheITGScasestudy,Red Dragon Taxi Company,isthestimulusmaterialfortheresearchinvestigationrequiredforMayandNovember2013higherlevelpaper3.Alloftheworkrelatedtothecasestudyshouldreflecttheintegratedapproachexplainedonpages15–17oftheITGSguide.

CandidatesshouldconsiderRed Dragon Taxi Companywithrespectto:• relevantITsystemsinasocialcontext• bothlocalandglobalareasofimpact• socialandethicalimpactsonindividualsandsocieties• currentchallengesandsolutions• futuredevelopments.

Candidatesareexpectedtoresearchreal-lifesituationssimilar toRed Dragon Taxi Companyandrelatetheir findings to first-hand experiences wherever possible. Information may be collected through arangeof activities: secondaryandprimary research,field trips,guest speakers,personal interviewsandemailcorrespondence.

Responses to examination questionsmust reflect the synthesis of knowledge and experiences that thecandidates have gained from their investigations. In some instances, additional information may beprovidedinexaminationquestionstoallowcandidatestogeneratenewideas.

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Overview

DragonCity isa smallcityofapproximately200000people inEastAsia. There isonemaintaxicompany,Red Dragon Taxi Company,whichtheownerYaoChu’sgrandfatherstartedwithonetaxi.Overtheyearsthefamilyruncompanyhasgrownandisnowtheleadingtaxicompanyinthecity,althoughthereareotheroperatorsinahighlycompetitivemarket.Therearetenpeopleworkinginthecompanywhomanageanincreasingnumberofdrivers.

DemandfortaxisinDragonCityisrisingandRed Dragon Taxi Companyisexpandingrapidlyasaresultofincreasedeconomicgrowthinthearea.YaoChubelievesanincreaseduseofITwillfacilitatetheplannedgrowthofRed Dragon Taxi CompanyensuringitcontinuestobetheleadingtaxicompanyinDragonCity.YaoChurealizesthatunlessthecompanyupgradesitsITtheyruntheriskofbeingovertakenbyotheroperatorsthatarestartingtouseinformationandcommunicationtechnologies.

Current IT system

At thepresent time the companycontrols about150 taxis froma smalloffice in the centreofthecity,butnotallofthemareontheroadatthesametime.Thecompanyhasasetofnetworkedcomputersintheofficeaswellaslandlineandmobilephonecommunications.Customerswhoringforataxihavetheirrequestansweredbyoneofthecontrollersintheofficewhothencontactsa taxidriveron theirmobilephone froma list of free taxis. Usually thedrivers call in toberecordedasbookedwhenacustomerrequestsataxifromthesideofthestreet.Ifadriverdoesnotcallin,thenthetaxiwillremainrecordedasfree,whichhascausedmanyproblems.

Thetaxirequestsarerecordedinasharedspreadsheetontheofficenetworkwithoneworksheetforeachdriverwhich is cumbersome touse. At theendof thedayeachdriver returns to thedepottoreconcilethejobsandmoneytaken,andthisdataisenteredintothespreadsheetaswell.Thissystemishighlyinefficient.Thecompanyismakingaprofitbutkeepingtrackofexpenses,profits,vehiclemaintenanceanddriverwages isbecomingverydifficult,especiallyfordriverswhoowntheirowncars.

Processing the data in the spreadsheets to analyse taxi performance has been a problem andYaoChu’sson,whoisstudyingComputerScienceatuniversity,hasbeenexperimentingwithaprototypedatabaseapplicationtoimportthespreadsheetdataandproduceweeklytaxianddriverperformancereportsandmoreaccuratewageslips.Hehasnotcompletedthetask.

The increased business is also causing problems with the current system not being able tohandle the load efficiently. This is causing dissatisfaction among the customers with longerresponsetimes.

Therangeofproblemsiscreatingdifficultiesfortheadministrationandthreatenstounderminetheexpansionofthecompany,jeopardizingtheirmarketposition.

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Solution requirements

YaoChuandhisfamilyarelookingatprocuringanintegratedITsystemthatservesthefollowingpurposes:

Online booking managementThe booking system needs to be able to offer a variety of services for customers and tomanagebookings.Manyofthefeaturesofthebookingsystemwillneedtobeabletobeaccessedonthecompanywebsiteandthroughtheuseofsmartphonesandtheinternetbycustomers.

Thebookingsystemneedstobeableto:• identifyregularcustomersandtheirusualpickupanddropoffaddressandtobeabletodisplay

theaddressthroughamaplook-up• provide the availability of taxis and their location, arrange for multiple pick-up,

regularbookings,longtermandmulti-triphirings,returntrips,andatrippricecalculator• managespecialvehiclehiring,egforlargenumbersofcustomers,withlargeluggagecapacity,

specialneedscustomers,andluxurytaxis• monitor bookings to prevent overbookings and possible overload of the taxi systemduring

busyperiods• handledifferentmethodsofacceptingbookingssuchasby telephone, through thecompany

websiteontheinternet,byemail,bySMS,orbyusingasmartphoneapp.

System interfaceThe system in the office needs to include graphical displays to make the management andmonitoringofthetaxiseasyandquick.Thesewilldisplayinformationabouttaxilocation,bookings,jobtracking,andtrafficupdateswhichcanbecommunicatedtothedriversintheirtaxisaswell.

Home Software Hardware Price list Contact

[Source:http://www.taxi-track.com/,April2012]

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DispatchA dispatch system is needed that can allocate taxis, either automatically or manually.Thesystemalsoneedstobeabletodisplaythelocationandstatusofeachtaxiandtheprogressofeachjourney.ThiscanbedoneusingtaxilocationequipmentbasedonGPSandotherinformationsentbacktotheofficeusingcommunicationsandmonitoringsystems.

Thedispatchsystemneedstobeabletocommunicatetothecustomerthetimetheycanbeexpectedtobepickedup,andtoalertthecustomerifthereareanydelays.

Journey optimizationTaxisneedtobeavailablethroughoutthecitytominimizetheresponsetime.Thesystemneedstobeabletomonitorthelocationoftaxisinthecity.

Red Dragon Taxi Companyisalsolookingforsoftwarethatwillhelpwithplanningoftheroutestaxisshouldtake,especiallyonethatcanhelpwithminimizingthewaitingtimeforpick-ups.

As thecity isgrowing,an increasingchallengewillbe theability to locatenewandchangingpickuppointsanddestinations.

Inside the taxiAswellasfarecalculationequipment,thetaxineedstohavethesesystemsinstalled:• avisualandvoiceguidingGPSnavigatorwithbuilt-inmapsandtextdisplayofinformation• avarietyofcommunicationssystemsbetweenthedispatchcentreandthedriver• vehicletrackinganddataloggingequipment• driverandcustomersafetyequipmentsuchasCCTV.

Control centre managementThecontrolcentrewillhaveacustomeraccountmanagerwhoisresponsiblefor:• managingcreditcardandotherpaymentmethodsbycustomers• productionofregularcustomerinvoices• recordingandmanagementoftaximaintenanceandusage• driveractivitystatements.

Challenges faced

Project management and system procurementThecompanywantsthesystemtobeinplacebyJuly2014.Theyareconcernedthatnotalltherequirementscanbemetbythisdate,andthattheymayneedtoprioritizetheimplementationofthefeatures.

The IT system needs to be secure, easy to use and maintain, and be scalable as thecompanyexpands.Thecostofthenewsystemmustbeabletobejustifiedfromthebenefitsitwillprovide.Alsothereareotherconsiderations:• YaoChuhasbecomemoreawareofthedifferenttypesofsystemsavailable,bothoff-the-shelf

andcustomized,fromavarietyofproviders,andneedstomakeadecisionaboutwhichtypeof system/s andwhichprovider/s touse, especiallywith the continued rapidgrowth that isbeingforeseen.

• Somesystemsrequirethesettingupofthesystemin-houseandsomecanbeoutsourcedinavarietyofways,whichisattractivesincenooneinthecompanyhasmuchexpertiseinIT.

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System requirementsData managementThe new system atRed Dragon Taxi Company needs to be capable of collecting and storinginformationaboutthecompany’scustomers.Thiswouldenablethecompanytokeepincontactwiththosecustomersandallowittoofferincentivesandspecialratesandservices.Thecompanymay also choose to share customer informationwith other businesses formarketingpurposes.Thisinformationcouldincludewhichcustomershavebeenputonablacklist.

Manyofthesystemsbeingconsideredhavethecapabilityofanalysingandsharingthedatastoredaboutcustomersanddriversaswellasthetimesandlocationsoftripsmade.Red Dragon Taxi Companyisconsideringthepurchaseofbusinessintelligencesoftwaretoenhancethiscapability,butisnotcertainofthebenefitsandimplicationsforthecompany.

Communication and booking managementThe company is investigating different methods of communications between the taxis,control centre and customers. The integrated communication and dispatch system must becompatiblewiththedatamanagementsystemthatRed Dragon Taxi Companywillimplement.

The communications systemsmust be able to copewith unexpected events such as accidents,trafficjamsanddangeroussituations.Becauseofthepossibilityoftheseandotherdisruptions,aswellasgeneralperformanceissues,Red Dragon Taxi Companyisinvestigatingwhethertouseavailable communications systems for their communicationsor adedicated system. Theneedtohavecommunicationsmaintainedwhentheusualcommunicationsystemfailsforavarietyofpossiblereasonsisalsoamainconsiderationhere.Avarietyofbackupcommunicationssystemsandproceduresneedstobeinvestigated.

SurveillanceThe management of Red Dragon Taxi Company has announced that CCTV equipment willbe installed tomonitor the activities in the taxi in the interests of driver and customer safety.GPSandGPRSwillalsoprovidethelocationofthevehicles.However,thisraisesconcernsfromthedriversaboutemployeemonitoring.Differentmonitoringsystemsarebeinginvestigated.

Also, Red Dragon Taxi Company is regularly asked by the police and other authorities forinformationaboutcustomersandtheirjourneys.Theinformationinthesystemneedstobeheldforuptotwoyears.

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Specific information technology items, additional to those in the ITGS guide, which are associated with the Red Dragon Taxi Company

BehaviouralmarketingBusinessintelligencesoftwareCCTVCostbenefitanalysisCostestimationCustomermanagementsoftwareDataloggingGPRSGPSRouteplanningsoftware/routeoptimizationSmartphoneappsSmartphoneSMSSoftwareasaservice(SaaS)

Any individuals named in this case study are fictitious and any similarities with actual entities are purely coincidental.