Morrigan Department Stores is a chain of department stores in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States that sells clothing, shoes, and similar consumer items in a retail setting. The top managers and their staff members meet once a year at the national meeting. This year's meeting took place in Hawaii-a geographical midpoint for them-and several accounting managers participated in a round-table discussion that went as follows: Roberta Gardner (United States): One of our biggest problems in our Aukl and office is the high cost and seemingly constant need to upgrade our hardware and software. Every time our government changes the tax laws, of course, we must acquire software that reflects those changes. But why do we need new hardware too? All this discussion of ''64-bit machines'' is a mystery to me, but the IT department says the hardware in the old machines quickly become outdated. Donalda Shadbolt (New Zealand): I'll say! If you ask me, all these upgrades are costly, time consuming, and even counter-productive. I do a lot of work on spreadsheets, for example, and constantly ask myself: ''Why do I have to spend hours relearning how to format a simple column of numbers in the newest version of Excel?'' It takes time and effort, it's frustrating, and in the end, I've spent hours relearning skills that I already know how to do in the older version. Linda Vivianne (Canada): I know what you mean, but the newer hardware is faster, cheaper, and more capable than the old machines. Hard drives have moving parts in them, for example, and they eventually wear out. The newer software runs under the newer operating systems, which are also more competent and have more built in security such as antivirus software. Ed Ghymn (Australia): I agree with you, Linda, but I think a lot of these new capabilities are more hype than real. If the security software was competent, we wouldn't need all those patches and upgrades in the first place. And why must we upgrade so often, just to get newer capabilities that most of us don't even need? Alex McLeod (Australia): I don't think anyone can stop the march of progress. I think the real problem is not the upgrades to new software, but the fact that our company expects us to learn it without proper training. Personally, I don't buy my boss's argument that ''you're a professional and should learn it on your own.'' Linda Vivianne (Canada): I'm also beginning to realize just what advantages there are in outsourcing some of our accounting applications to cloud service providers. That won't solve all our problems because we all still need word processing and spreadsheet capabilities, but at least we can let cloud providers deal with the software upgrades for our accounting software. Given how dispersed we are, that might also make it easier for us to consolidate our financial statements at year's end too.
Requirements
1. Do you think that Roberta Gardner's description of ''64-bit machines'' is accurate? Why or why not? Explain your reasons in detail, drawing upon additional Internet discussions to help you answer this question.
2. Summarize some of the arguments against upgrading hardware and software at the Morrigan Department Stores. It is ok to mention additional, reasonable arguments that are not included in the case.
3. Summarize the arguments for upgrading hardware and software at the Morrigan Department Stores. Again, it is ok to mention additional, reasonable arguments that are not included in the case.
4. Do you agree with Ed Ghymn's argument that many upgrades are ''more hype than real''? Why or why not?
5. Many software vendors such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple ship software packages with both known and unknown defects in them. Do you feel that it is ethical for them to do so? Why or why not?
6. Do you agree or disagree with the argument made in this case that many hardware and/or software upgrades are unnecessary? Why or why not?
7. Do you agree with Alex McLeod's statement that a company should formally train its employees every time it upgrades its software? If not, do you agree with his boss that professionals should learn to use at least some software upgrades on their own? Explain your answer in detail.
8. Do you think it was necessary for the participants to physically meet at one location? Couldn't they simply hold a virtual meeting over the Internet? Explain your answer in detail.