Please read the following study case and answer the questions below. thanks!

MINICASE: Improving Environmental Sustainability through Service Sitting at your desk in front of a blank document, you recalled how you got here. Yesterday was a fantastic spring day in Milan and you felt like a caged tiger in that boardroom overlooking Piazza del Duomo. The temperature outside was 22 degrees Celsius (71 degrees Fahrenheit) and a cool breeze was clearing the crisp air. You had enjoyed bicycling to work that morning; it reminded you of biking to high school from your hometown. One of the few kids in your circle of friends without a moped or a scooter, you used to trek the eight kilometers (five miles) from your house to the school every day, rain or shine, warm or cold. Northern Italy had the kind of weather that made bicycling enjoyable for eight months out of the year, and Milan is in the flatlands of the Po River valley, so bicycling was easy. Coming out of your daydreaming, you glanced back to the room. The topic at hand was an old problem for the administration of the city of Milan: pollution. The city had tried all kinds of options to reduce emissions, from limiting traffic in certain areas, to alternating the use of cars between those with even- and odd-numbered license plates, to downright shutting down traffic in the city when the pollution numbers became too high. Your consulting firm was involved in many of these changes, the latest being a voucher called Ecopass allowing one to drive within the downtown area of the city an idea borrowed from the city of London. The plan did not work as hoped, with residents complaining and some members of the board calling for the creation of classes (or levels) so that drivers would pay proportionally to how much their car pollutes. With all these exceptions, Ecopass soon became a logistical nightmare and its potential effect was drastically reducedhence todays meeting. One of the options being discussed was to improve the bus system by increasing the number of busses on the road and the frequency of their stops. This proposal was based on the well-known relationship between convenience and public transportation usage. The more stops and the higher the frequency of stops, the higher the number of people who would choose to take the bus rather than use their car. However, buses were also polluting vehicles; they were expensive to purchase and to operate. This option sounded to you like the usual incremental thinking. Solving the problem was not a matter of little tweaks and fixes; this city needed a radical shift. While you were the youngest person in the room, still half in your spring-day-inspired daydreaming, you blurted out, Why not use bicycles? The room went quiet and everyone was staring in your direction. The first to speak was the mayor herself. She said, What do you mean? Her voice was a combination of annoyance and intrigued curiosity. A bit tentatively, you said, Well . . . I mean . . . bicycles, you know? Like they have in Paris and Copenhagen. Now fully focused, you were picking up steam, the power of your idea becoming clearer as you spoke: We would need rental stations where people could pick up and drop off bicycles whenever they needed them, day or night. If we make this convenient enough, Im sure residents of Milan would be quite happy to contribute to reduce pollution in their city. There was silence in the room. The first to break it was the mayor again. She had looked at you and said, Good idea. I want a feasibility study ready on my desk in one month. With that, she shook your hand and left. As you looked at your computer, you recalled some of the considerations underpinning your intuition the day before. The initiative of the city was one focused on reducing pollution and improving environmental sustainability. Your job was to create a system that would encourage people to use bicycles instead of their cars or even public transportation. Some things worked in your favor. Italians in general were indeed environmentally conscious. They were also conscious about appearances, and while jumping on a bike might wrinkle their designer clothes, they would gladly do it if it could show others that they cared about their city. However, Milan was the bustling economic center of Italy, and people did not have time to waste. It was also the most technologically advanced city in Italy, with a very high penetration of smartphones. You were convinced. The right design of the initiative would make it a success. Information technology would have to feature prominently in your design, no question. How? Well, that was the heart of the matter.

Discussion Questions

1. What do you believe is the optimal design for your proposed bicycle rental system?

2. What is the role of information systems, if any, in enabling the design?

3. What are the main challenges you believe you will have to overcome in order to achieve widespread adoption?