The business today produces the same type of products that it was built on but operationally it has changed dramatically and the products themselves have become increasingly complex. The MD remains firmly in control of the business, developing the business strategy and making all business decisions. As the business sector becomes more competitive and E 's market share begins to dip the MD responds by hiring, and generously rewarding, business advisors of a similar background with whom he feels comfortable. They are not visionaries and have little, if any, background in information technology. Consequently the situation does not improve.
E is fortunate to have some very capable employees.
Their IT manager and the head of administration are quite vocal in their assessment of the situation but, though their advice is well founded, their ideas are not heard. Their teams are simply seen as costly support functions. Despite these problems the underlying systems do operate very efficiently. The IT manager and the head of administration are extremely disciplined and organised and they have designed and developed a number of ambitious, but achievable, product enhancements. The concern is that the lack of senior management interest and involvement causes the development and deployment of these systems to be delayed.