What problems did First Union and Wachovia face when they merged?
The problems that First Union and Wachovia faced when they merged include the restructuring of their different strategies in marketing and serving customers. First Union was compelled to embrace quality customer service given that the corporation did not focus on quality customer service before the merging of the two corporations. First Union was focused on a reward system for the employees who achieved the set targets in credit card sell, accounts sales, and loan credit facilities. On the other hand, Wachovia Corporation was compelled to consider the incentive schemes for the employees. Initially, Wachovia Corporation emphasized quality service to its customers.
What solutions were available to Wachovia to solve their problems and meet their goals?
The solutions available to Wachovia were to award the employees to motivate them to make sales for the Bank. The acquisition of the True Comp system and SOLD system of First Union served as a remedy for the low performance in the industry. This owes to the fact that the True Comp system helped the company in making informed decisions about performance. The simulation feature of this system enhanced a good mix of strategies for performance improvement because the impact of a strategy could be known in advance.
What did the TrueComp EIM system do for Wachovia?
True Comp EIM system helped in the simulation of results of each strategy that could be adopted by Wachovia. For instance, the impact of an increase in incentives awarded to employees could be seen at a glance. The systems helped in the updating of 21 incentive plans which comprises more than 25,000 employees. The system is interlinked with the SOLD system so that all the employee sales data entered in the SOLD system is automatically relayed to the True Comp EIM system.
How did the system benefit the business?
True Comp EIM system benefited the business in the streamlining of all the activities about the banking transactions. This is because the task of handling 25,000 employees is difficult hence the system helped in the management of the large workforce. In this regard, there was the elimination of supervisory duties hence savings increased. The incentive scheme motivated the employees hence supervision was not necessary.
Research the Information Systems/technology used by Wachovia? What is your assessment of your findings?
The Callidus Software used in the True Comp EIM system was founded in 1996..The True Comp Grid architecture, the software provided the enterprise incentive management solution. This software combines the scalability of grid computing with the flexibility which is a rule-based interface. This enables the entire system to work automatically with ease. This technology has made the system have a huge market niche market across the globe. It is traded in NASDAQ.
Argue for or against the idea that social networks are in reality business networks or at least they have turned into ones. Substantiate your argument with sufficient examples.
Social networks are in reality business networks given that they immensely influence the business. This is because investors, customers of all kinds of commodities and services, participate in social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Skype, and 2go.
Also, information dissemination is fast through social networks and reaches many people in a flash. Also, social networks have revolutionized marketing through the shift from the purchase of media advertisements to the creation of personalized advertising centers online. This has boosted the businesses of millions of businesspeople. However, these networks have drawbacks for businesses given that there is no confidentiality of company insider information. There are data hackers on the internet hence confidential business information is not safe. This confidential information enables the firms to compete favorably in the market hence access to this information is detrimental in the business world. Also, the work of middle managers has been eliminated because there are no organizational hierarchies in these networks. This implies that some people may lose jobs.