ODC CASE PRESENTATION – MRS. FIELDS’ COOKIES

Ishpreet Singh – 12P139 Karan Jaidka – 12P141Lucky Sharma – 12P145 Prabhat Singh– 12P154Vignesh Patil – 12P177 Viswanath Kuppa – 12P180

PGPM – Section C – Group 9

1. Had Mrs Field’s lost control?

• They had partially lost control due to transition phase• With rapid expansion, organizational and financial structure

was changing• The primary motive was to serve customers better, rather

than to make profits• However, with diversification, they were in a state of flux

and recorded losses in 1988• Their stores were closing, which was not a good sign• Suffered a loss of $18 million in 1988• Sales General & Administration expenses has increased by

around 50%, though sales increased by 17% only• Losses from closed stores more than tripled

2. Was the information system cornucopia?Requirement of MIS for Mrs Fields:1. To make stores more independent2. Information loss – Managers had to print a 300 page report

everyday, which lead to wastage of time3. IS plays a role in automating routine work in order to have a

better communication4. Improvement of control with expansion5. Informed decision making6. Minimize the paperwork

� Post the acquisition of LPB, MIS was not efficient because 7. Applications like Day planner, Labor scheduler need to be updated

to accommodate the combination store in approach 2. Loss of tacit knowledge due to downsizing of acquired store’s

administrative staff from 53 to 3 adversely affected the updating of MIS

3. The Fields had accommodated past expansion by modifying their information system. Was that what was needed?• Need for a modified information system• There was a need for modified information system and the initial

goals of Mrs. Fields:• Personal Involvement • Less hierarchy in the system• Maintain quality of cookies

• Here, better information led to better decision making through efficient IS

• Historical data storage and analysis helps them to predict how many cookies to bake and of what type

• Integration of their MIS with MIS of LPB in order to meet the objectives of information system at Mrs Fields

• Strengthening the existing MIS to help regain control and help in effective decision making

• IS focus on external coordination( Suppliers and Customers) becomes important with growth

• New applications like knowledge management system need to be considered