Strategic Use of Technology
Before you begin work on this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study on Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC). MTC is a fictional company created for IFSM 300’s Case Study. It is also recommended that you review the additional Stages (2, 3 and 4) as well as the vendor brochure provided for Stage 4. This will help you understand the overall report and potential solution.
Overview
As a business analyst in the Chief Information Officer’s (CIO’s) department of Maryland Technology Consulting (MTC), you have been assigned to conduct an analysis, develop a set of system requirements, evaluate a proposed solution, and develop an implementation plan for an IT solution (applicant tracking or hiring system) to improve the hiring process for MTC. This work will be completed in four stages, and each of these four stages will focus on one section of an overall Business Analysis and System Recommendation (BA&SR) report to be delivered to the CIO.
Section I. Strategic Use of Technology (Stage 1) – The first step is to look at the organization and explain how an IT system could be used to support MTC’s strategies and objectives and support its decision-making processes.
Section II. Process Analysis (Stage 2) – Next you will evaluate current processes and workflow and explain how MTC can use IT to improve its processes and workflow.
Section III. Requirements (Stage 3) –Then you will identify key stakeholder expectations for the new technology solution to support MTC’s hiring process and develop a set of requirements.
Section IV. System Recommendation (Stage 4) – Finally, you will review the provided Vendor brochure for a proposed applicant tracking system and explain how it meets the requirements and what needs to be done to implement the system within MTC.
The sections of the BA&SR will be developed and submitted as four staged assignments. For stages 1, 2, and 3, only the material associated with that stage will be graded. The stage 2, 3, and 4 submissions will include the stage that is due, which will be graded according to the assignment requirements and rubric criteria, as well as include all previously submitted stages with any revisions made. It is recommended that when preparing stages 2, 3, and 4, you review any feedback from previous assignments to help improve the effectiveness of your overall report and increase the likelihood of a well-written final submission. For stage 4, the complete BA&SR submission includes grading criteria for evaluating if the document is a very effective and cohesive assemblage of the four sections, is well formatted across all sections and flows smoothly from one section to the next.
Assignment – BA&SR: Introduction and Section I. Strategic Use of Technology
Write an appropriate Introduction to the entire BA&SR Report (guidelines are provided below). Section I of the BA&SR document contains an organizational analysis and identifies ways in which an information system to improve the hiring process can help MTC, the organization in the case study, meet its strategic goals and meet the information needs of various levels of management.
Using the case study, assignment instructions, Content readings, and external research, develop your Introduction and Section I. Strategic Use of Technology. To start, review the readings in Weeks 1 and 2. The case study tells you that the executives and employees at MTC have identified a need for an effective and efficient applicant tracking or hiring system. As you review the case study, use the assignment instructions to take notes to assist in your analysis.
Use the outline format, headings and tables provided and follow all formatting instructions below. For Stage 1, create a title page and reference page that will be used for all 4 stages.
Apply specific information from the case study to address each area.
Introduction
Begin your report with a clear, concise, well organized introduction to explain why you are writing and what is to come in the complete BA&SR report (not just Stage 1). This should briefly set the context for MTC – business purpose, environment, and current challenges related to hiring. Then specifically provide what is to come in the full report. Keep your audience in mind – this is an internal report for the CIO of MTC. Provide an introduction in one paragraph that engages the reader’s interest in continuing to read your report.
A. Business Strategy – In this section, you should clearly present – at a broad level – what MTC’s business strategy is (refer to case study information), then what issues the current manual hiring process may present that interfere with achieving that strategy, and how improving the hiring process will benefit MTC and support its business strategy. (Use two to three strong sentences that explain how the system would support the strategy and justify your position with specifics from the Case Study.)
B. Competitive Advantage – First, provide an overview of the competitive environment that MTC is currently operating in based on information from the case study. Then explain how and why MTC can use the new hiring system to increase its competitive advantage and help achieve its overall business strategy. Your explanation should demonstrate your understanding of what competitive advantage is as well as how improving the hiring process will help achieve MTC’s competitive advantage. Include how MTC can use the type of data or information that will be in the hiring system to improve its competitive advantage. (Paragraph of 4-5 sentences)
C. Strategic Objectives– Review the four Strategic Goals presented in the Strategic Business Plan section of the MTC Case Study. The CIO has asked you to come up with an example of an objective to help meet each goal and explain how a new hiring system would help achieve that objective. As you can see from the example provided in the table below, an objective is a statement that is clear (not vague) and is something that can be measured or evaluated to determine whether it has been met or not. An important part of setting objectives is that they are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound). In to evaluate whether an objective has been achieved, it’s important to be able to measure it. Consider this difference – Student wants to get a degree (non-specific and not measurable) vs. Student wants to earn a degree in Information Systems Management by May 2020. (This objective provides specific what and when.) First, insert an introductory opening sentence for this table. Then, for each of the rows listed below, complete the table with the requested information. (Provide an introductory sentence and copy the table. Create an objective for each of the 3 remaining goals and explain using 2-3 complete sentences for each.) Note: This is not about an objective to implement a hiring system or broad business goals but rather the focus is on objectives that would be supported by the use of a technology solution to support/improve the hiring process.
| Strategic Goal
(from case study) |
Objective
(clear, measurable and time-bound) |
Explanation
(2-3 sentences) |
| Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT Consulting | ||
| Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis support to MTC’s onsite teams in the U. S.
EXAMPLE PROVIDED – (Retain text but remove this label and gray shading in your report) |
Increase international recruiting efforts and employ 5 research analysts in the next 12 months. | The new hiring system would allow applicants from around the world to apply online, increasing the number of international applicants. It would enable the recruiters to carefully monitor the applications for these positions, identify the necessary research and analysis skills needed, and screen resumes for these key skills. Recruiters could quickly view the number of applicants and identify when additional recruiting efforts are needed to meet the objective. |
| Continue to increase MTC’s ability to quickly provide high quality consultants to awarded contracts to best serve the clients’ needs | ||
| Increase MTC’s competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading edge technologies and innovative solutions for its clients
|
|
Formatting Your Assignment
Consider your audience – you are writing in the role of an MTC business analyst and your audience is MTC and your boss, the CIO. Don’t discuss MTC as if the reader has no knowledge of the organization. Also do not reference “stage #” or “case study” – these are class terms and would not be in a business report. Use third person consistently throughout the report. In third person, the writer avoids the pronouns I, we, my, and ours. The third person is used to make the writing more objective by taking the individual, the “self,” out of the writing. This method is very helpful for effective business writing, a form in which facts, not opinion, drive the tone of the text. Writing in the third person allows the writer to come across as unbiased and thus more informed.
· Create a title page that includes: The title of report, company name, your name, Course and Section number and date (revise date with each submission).
· In Stage 1, you are preparing the first part of a 4-stage report. Use the structure, headings, and outline format provided here for your report. Use the numbering/lettering in the assignment instructions as shown below.
Introduction
I. Strategic Use of Technology
A. Business Strategy
B. Competitive Advantage
C. Strategic Objectives
D. Decision Making
· Write a short concise paper: Use the recommendations provided in each area for length of response. It’s important to value quality over quantity. Assignment should not exceed 4 pages excluding title and reference pages.
· Content areas should be double spaced; table entries should be single-spaced.
· To copy a table: Move your cursor to the table, then click on the small box that appears at the upper left corner of the table to highlight the table; right click and COPY the table; put the cursor in your paper where you want the table and right click and PASTE the table.
· Ensure that each of the tables is preceded by an introductory sentence that explains what is contained in the table, so the reader understands why the table has been included.
· Use at least two resources with APA formatted citation and reference. Use at least one external reference and one from the course content. Course content should be from the class reading content, not the assignment instructions or case study itself. Refer to APA Requirements for IFSM 300 Classes that is posted under Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources for specifics related to citing from the class content. For information on general APA format, refer to Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources.
· Begin a Reference Page for resources required for this assignment. Additional research in the next stages will be added to this as you build the report. The final document should contain all references from all stages appropriately formatted and alphabetized. Use APA format for your reference page.
· Running headers are not required for this report.
· Compare your work to the Grading Rubric below to be sure you have met content and quality criteria.
· Submit your paper as a Word document, or a document that can be read in Word. Keep tables in Word format – do not paste in graphics.
· Your submission should include your last name first in the filename: Lastname_firstname_Stage_1
GRADING RUBRIC:
|
Criteria |
90-100%
Far Above Standards |
80-89%
Above Standards |
70-79%
Meets Standards |
60-69%
Below Standards |
< 60%
Well Below Standards |
Possible Points |
| Introduction
Describes the organization and provides an introduction to the overall Report |
9-10 Points
The introduction is very effective; is clear, logical, derived from the Case Study; and demonstrates a sophisticated level of writing. |
8.5 Points
The introduction is clear, logical, and derived from the Case Study. |
7.5 Points
The introduction is adequate and is derived from the Case Study. |
6.5 Points
The introduction is not clear, logical and/or derived from the Case Study. |
0-5 Points
Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not derived from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section. |
10 |
| Strategy
How the system will support the organization’s strategy as derived from the case study
|
18-20 Points
The explanation is clear, logical and fully supported with information from the Case study and using a sophisticated level of writing. |
16-17 Points
The explanation is clear, logical and supported with information from the Case study. |
14-15 Points
The explanation is provided and supported with information from the Case Study. |
12-13 Points
The explanation is not clear, logical and/or supported with information from the Case Study. |
0-11 Points
Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section. |
20 |
| Competitive Advantage
Explanation of how the system and its data can be used for competitive advantage
|
13-15 Points
Clear, complete, logical, derived from the Case Study, and demonstrates sophisticated analysis and writing. |
12.75 Points
Complete and accurate; derived from the Case Study, demonstrates analysis and effective writing. |
10-11 Points
Explanation is provided and related to the Case Study, may lack specifics and/or clear logic. |
9 Points
Explanation is not clear, logical and/or supported with information from the Case Study. |
0-8 Points
Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section. |
15 |
| Strategic Objectives
Three objectives derived from Strategic Goals in Case Study with explanation of how new hiring system would help achieve. Generally, 0-5 points per objective. Both quantity and quality evaluated. |
13-15 Points
Objectives are clear, measurable and time-bound and are strongly and fully explained using a sophisticated level of writing. |
12.75 Points
Objectives are clear, measurable and time-bound, and are clearly explained. |
10-11 Points
Objectives are somewhat clear, measurable and time-bound, and are explained.
|
9 Points
Objectives are not clear, measurable and/or time-bound, and/or are not explained. |
0-8 Points
Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section. |
15 |
| Decision-Making
Types of decisions supported by the system for each of the three levels of the organization Generally, 0-5 points per decision example. Both quantity and quality evaluated. |
13-15 Points
Identified correctly and fully, clearly and logically explained; are derived from the Case Study; and demonstrate sophisticated analysis and writing. |
12.75 Points
Identified correctly and clearly and logically explained; are derived from the Case Study; and demonstrate analysis and effective writing. |
10-11 Points
Identified correctly and explained and are derived from the Case Study. |
9 Points
Not all provided; and/or are not correct and/or not derived from the Case Study. |
0-8 Points
Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section. |
15 |
| Research
Two or more sources–one source from within the IFSM 300 course content and one external (other than the course materials) |
9-10 Points
Required resources are incorporated and used effectively. Sources used are relevant and timely and contribute strongly to the analysis. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style. |
8.5 Points
At least two sources are incorporated and are relevant and somewhat support the analysis. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style.
|
7.5 Points
Only one resource is used and properly incorporated and/or reference(s) lack correct APA style. |
6.5 Points
A source may be used, but is not properly incorporated or used, and/or is not effective or appropriate; and/or does not follow APA style for references and citations. |
0-5 Points
No course content or external research incorporated; or reference listed is not cited within the text. |
10 |
| Format
Uses outline format provided; includes Title Page and Reference Page |
13-15 Points
Well organized and easy to read. Very few or no errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; double-spaced, written in third person and presented in a professional format. |
12.75 Points
Effective organization; has few errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; double-spaced, written in third person and presented in a professional format. |
10-11 Points
Some organization; may have some errors in sentence structure, grammar and spelling. Report is double spaced and written in third person. |
9 Points
Not well organized, and/or contains several grammar and/or spelling errors; and/or is not double-spaced and written in third person. |
0-8 Points
Extremely poorly written, has many grammar and/or spelling errors, or does not convey the information required. |
15 |
| TOTAL Points Possible | 100 |
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Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 1
Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc.
Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) is a successful Information Technology consulting firm that utilizes proven IT and management methodologies to achieve measurable results for its
customers. Its customer base includes small to mid-tier businesses, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies at the local, state and federal levels. MTC feels strongly that its success is dependent on the combination of the talent of its IT consultants in the areas of,
Business Process Consulting, IT Consulting and IT Outsourcing Consulting and their ability to
deliver truly extraordinary results to their clients.
Corporate Profile
Corporate Name: Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc.
Founded: May 2008
Headquarters: Baltimore, Maryland
Satellite Locations: Herndon, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland
Number of Employees: 450 Total Annual Gross Revenue: $95,000,000
President and
Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Samuel Johnson
Business Areas
MTC provides consulting services in the following areas:
• Business Process Consulting – Business process redesign, process improvement, and best
practices
• IT Consulting – IT strategy, analysis, planning, system development, implementation, and
network support
• IT Outsourcing Consulting – Requirements analysis; vendor evaluation, due diligence,
selection and performance management; Service Level Agreements
Business Strategy
MTC’s business strategy is to provide extraordinary consulting services and recommendations
to its customers by employing highly skilled consultants and staying abreast of new business concepts and technology and/or developing new business concepts and best practices of its
own.
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 2
Excerpt from the MTC Strategic Business Plan
While the complete strategic plan touches on many areas, below is an excerpt from MTC’s
latest Strategic Business Plan that identifies a few of MTC’s Goals.
Goal 1: Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT
consulting.
Goal 2: Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis support to MTC’s onsite teams in the U. S.
Goal 3: Continue to increase MTC’s ability to quickly provide high quality consultants to awarded contracts to best serve the clients’ needs.
Goal 4: Increase MTC’s competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its
reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading edge technologies and innovative solutions for its clients.
Current Business Environment
MTC provides consultants on-site to work with its clients, delivering a wide variety of IT-related
services. MTC obtains most of its business through competitively bidding on Requests for
Proposals issued by business, government and non-profit organizations. A small but growing
portion of its business is through referrals and follow-on contracts from satisfied clients. MTC
anticipates it will win two large contracts in the near future and is preparing proposals for
several other large projects.
MTC, as a consulting company, relies on the quality and expertise of its employees to provide
the services needed by the clients. When it is awarded a contract, the customer expects MTC
to quickly provide the consultants and begin work on the project. MTC, like other consulting
companies, cannot afford to carry a significant e number of employees that are not assigned to
contracts. Therefore, they need to determine the likelihood of winning a new contract and
ensure the appropriately skilled consultants are ready to go to work within 60 days of signing
the contract. MTC relies on its Human Resources (HR) Department to find, research, and assess
applicants so that line managers can review and select their top candidates and hire
appropriate consultants to meet their needs for current new contracts. It is very much a “just
in time” hiring situation.
The Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, houses approximately 350 employees. Satellite
offices have been opened in the last two years in both Herndon, Virginia and Bethesda,
Maryland to provide close proximity to existing clients. It is anticipated that new pending
contracts would add staff to all locations. The management team believes there is capacity at
all locations, as much of the consultants’ work is done on-site at the clients’ locations.
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 3
Strategic Direction
As a small to mid-size business (SMB), MTC recognizes that it needs to carefully plan its future
strategy. Considering the competitive environment that contains many very large IT consulting
firms, such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), and Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC), as well as numerous smaller companies with various skill sets,
market niches, and established customer bases, MTC will be evaluating how best to position
itself for the future and recognizes that its ability to identify its core competencies, move with
agility and flexibility, and deliver consistent high quality service to its clients is critical for
continued success. MTC’s plan for growth includes growing by 7% per year over the next five
years. This would require an increase in consulting contract overall volume and an expanded
workforce. One area that is critical to a consulting company is the ability to have employees
who possess the necessary knowledge and skills to fulfill current and future contracts. Given
the intense competition in the IT consulting sector, MTC is planning to incorporate a few
consultants in other countries to provide remote research and analysis support to the on-site U.
S. teams. Since MTC has no experience in the global marketplace, the Director of HR has begun
examining international labor laws to determine where MTC should recruit and hire employees.
Challenges
Increased business creates a need to hire IT consultants more quickly. Overall, the Director of
HR is concerned that the current manual process of recruiting and hiring employees will not
allow his department to be responsive to the demands of future growth and increased hiring
requirements. There are currently two contracts that MTC expects to win very soon will require
the hiring of an additional 75 consultants very quickly. He is looking for a near-term solution
that will automate many of the manual hiring process steps and reduce the time it takes to hire
new staff. He is also looking for a solution that will allow MTC to hire employees located in
other countries around the world.
Management Direction
The management team has been discussing how to ramp up to fill the requirements of the two
new contracts and prepare the company to continue growing as additional contracts are
awarded in the future. The company has been steadily growing and thus far hiring of new
employees has been handled through a process that is largely manual. The HR Director
reported that his staff will be unable to handle the expanded hiring projections as well as
accommodate the hiring of the 75 new employees in the timeframe required. The Chief
Information Officer (CIO) then recommended that the company look for a commercial off-the-
shelf software product that can dramatically improve the hiring process and shorten the time it
takes to hire new employees. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) wants to ensure that all
investments are in line with the corporate mission and will achieve the desired return on
investment. She will be looking for clear information that proposals have been well researched,
provide a needed capability for the organization, and can be cost-effectively implemented in a
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 4
relatively short period of time to reap the benefits. The CEO has asked HR to work with the CIO
to recommend a solution.
Your Task
As a business analyst assigned to HR, you have been assigned to conduct an analysis, develop a
set of system requirements, evaluate a proposed solution, and develop an implementation plan
for an IT solution (applicant tracking system hiring system) to improve the hiring process. You
have begun your analysis by conducting a series of interviews with key stakeholders to collect
information about the current hiring process and the requirements for a technology solution to
improve the hiring process. Based on your analysis and in coordination with key users you will
produce a Business Analysis and System Recommendation Report (BA&SR) as your final
deliverable.
Interviews
In the interviews you conducted with the organizational leaders, you hear the comments
recorded below.
CEO: Samuel Johnson
“While I trust my HR staff to address the nuts and bolts of the staffing processes, what is
critically important to me is that the right people can be in place to fulfill our current contracts
and additional talented staff can be quickly hired to address needs of future contracts that we
win. I can’t be out in the market soliciting new business if we can’t deliver on what we’re
selling. Our reputation is largely dependent on having knowledgeable and capable staff to
deliver the services our clients are paying for and expect from MTC.”
CFO: Evelyn Liu
“So glad we’re talking about this initiative. As CFO, obviously I’m focused on the bottom line. I
also recognize it’s necessary to invest in certain areas to ensure our viability moving forward. I
recognize that the current manual hiring process is inefficient and not cost-effective. Having
technology solutions that improve current process and enable future functionality is very
important to MTC’s success. We must consider the total cost of ownership of any technology
we adopt. MTC is run as a lean-and-mean organization and support processes must be effective
but not overbuilt. We do want to think towards the future and our strategic goals as well and
don’t want to invest in technology with a short shelf-life. Along those lines, we currently have a
timekeeping and payroll system that requires input from the hiring process to be entered to
establish new employees; and to help support our bottom line financially, any new solution
should effectively integrate with, but not replace, those systems.
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 5
CIO: Raj Patel
“As a member of the IT Department, you have a good understanding of our overall architecture
and strategy; however, let me emphasize a few things I want to be sure we keep in mind for this
project. Any solution needs to be compatible with our existing architecture and systems as
appropriate. Obviously, we have chosen not to maintain a large software development staff so
building a solution from the ground up does not fit our IT strategic plan. Our current strategy
has been to adopt Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions that can be deployed relatively quickly
and leverage industry best practices at a low total cost. In addition, our distributed workforce
means we are very dependent on mobile computing – this brings some challenges in term of
portability, maintenance, and solutions that present well on mobile devices. We’ve been
expanding at a rapid rate and are seeking to expand internationally so any solution will need to
be viable globally. And last, but certainly not least, MTC’s success is largely dependent on our
ability to satisfy the requirements of our clients and maintain a reputation of high credibility,
reliability and security. Any security breach of our applicants’ data could have a devastating
effect to our ability to compete for new business as well as maintain current clients. Any
technology solution adopted by MTC must contain clear security measures to control access and
protect data and allow us to use our current security for mobile links. I recognize that MTC can
no longer rely on a manual hiring process to meet these needs.”
Director of HR: Joseph Cummings
“Thanks for talking with me today. I see this effort as very important to the success of
MTC. While the recruiting staff has done an excellent job of hiring top IT consultants, the rapid
growth to date and future plans for expansion have pushed our recruiting staff, and we
recognize we can no longer meet the hiring and staffing demands with manual processes. I’m
also interested in solutions that are easy-to-use and can interface with our existing systems and
enhance processes. I’m willing to consider a basic system that can grow as MTC grows and
provide more capabilities in the future. I’m sure Sofia, our Manager of Recruiting, can provide
more specifics.”
Manager of Recruiting: Sofia Perez
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to begin the process of finding a technology
solution to support our recruiting processes. In addition to myself, there are 2-3 full-time
recruiters who have been very busy keeping up with the increased hiring at MTC; and there are
no plans to increase the recruiting staff. It goes without saying that a consulting company is
dependent on having well-qualified employees to deliver to our customers. We’re in a
competitive market for IT talent and want to be able to recruit efficiently, process applicants
quickly, and move to making a job offer to the best candidate before the competition snaps
him/her up. When I talk with my colleagues in other companies, they mention applicant
tracking systems that have enabled them to reduce their hiring time by 15-20%. I’m so envious
of them and look forward to having our new solution in place before the next set of contracts
are won and we need to hire 75 (to as many as 150) staff in a 2-month period. I do not think my
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 6
team can handle such an increase in an efficient and effective manner. On-going growth at
MTC will continue to increase the demands to hire more consultants quickly. It really seems like
there would be a rapid return on investment in a technology solution to support and improve
the hiring process.”
Recruiters: Peter O’Neil (along with Mike Thomas and Jennifer Blackwell)
“This project should have happened 2 years ago but glad it’s finally getting some attention. As a
recruiter, I’m sort of the middleperson in this process. On one hand, we have the job applicant
who is anxious to know the status of his/her application and fit for the advertised position. It’s
important that the recruiters represent MTC well, as we want the best applicants to want to
come to work for us. Then we have the actual hiring manager in one of our business areas who
has issued the job requisition and wants to get the best applicant hired as quickly as possible.
Obviously recruiting is not the hiring manager’s full-time job, so we’re always competing for
time with other job responsibilities, so we can keep things moving as quickly as possible. They
provide us with job descriptions to meet the needs of clients and look to us to screen resumes
and only forward the best qualified applicants to them so they can quickly identify their top
candidates. Working with Tom, our administrative assistant, we need interviews to be
scheduled to accommodate everyone’s calendars. After the hiring managers make their final
selections of who they would like to hire, it is our task to get the job offers presented to the
candidates – hopefully for their acceptance. Everything is very time sensitive, and the current
process is not nearly as efficient as it could be. Applications and resumes can get lost in
interoffice mail or buried in email; and, when a hiring manager calls us, we often cannot
immediately provide the status of where an applicant is in the process. This can be very
frustrating all around. Speaking for myself and the other recruiters, I have high expectations for
this solution. We need to really be able to deliver world-class service to MTC in the recruiting
and hiring areas to meet the business goals.”
Administrative Assistant: Tom Arbuckle
“I support the recruiters in the hiring process. After the recruiters screen the resumes and select
the best candidates for a position, my job is to route those applications and resumes via
interoffice mail to the respective functional/hiring manager, receive his or her feedback on who
to interview and who should be involved in the interviews, schedule the interviews based on
availability of applicants and the interview team members, collect the feedback from the
interview team and inform the assigned recruiter of the status of each candidate who was
interviewed. In addition to preparing the job offer letter based on the recruiter’s direction, after
a job offer has been made and accepted, I coordinate the paperwork for the new hire with HR
and Payroll to ensure everything is ready to go on the first day. As you can imagine when hiring
volume is up, I’m buried in paperwork and trying to keep all the applicants and their resumes
straight, track their status in the process, and ensure everyone has what they need is very
challenging. I love my job, but want to ensure I can continue to keep on top of the increased
hiring demands and support the recruiting team effectively. Any tool that would help the
workflow and enable many steps in the process to be done electronically would be wonderful.”
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 7
Hiring Manager (in functional area; this person would be the supervisor of the new employee
and would likely issue the job requisition to fill a need in his/her department/team):
“While it’s a good problem to have – new business means new hires — the current method for
screening applications, scheduling interviews, identifying the best qualified applicants, and
getting a job offer to them is not working. My team is evaluated on the level of service we
provide our clients, and it is very important that we have well-qualified staff members to fulfill
our contracts. Turnover is common in the IT world and that along with new business
development, makes the need for hiring new staff critical and time-sensitive. I confess that
sometimes I’m not as responsive to HR as I should be; but although hiring new consultants for
the contracts I manage is important to successfully meet the clients’ needs, this is only one of
several areas for which I’m responsible. I look to the recruiters to stay on top of this for me. In
the ideal world, I’d like an electronic dashboard from which I can see the status of any job
openings in my area, information on all qualified candidates who have applied and where they
are in the pipeline. Electronic scheduling of interviews on my calendar would be a real time
saver. It’s important that we impress candidates with our technology and efficiency – after all
we are an IT consulting company—and using manual processes makes us look bad. And, this
system must be easy to use – I don’t have time for training or reading a 100-page user’s
manual. Just need to get my job done.”
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