Abstract

This case discusses the extent of application of information technologies (IT) at The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), the world’s largest consumer packaged goods company. P&G was on course to achieve 100% digitization of all its activities: collaborations among employees, market research, evolution of new products, production systems, supply structures, distribution, advertising and customer relationship management. The case further throws light on the organizational changes that had facilitated this process, including reorganization of divisions, human resources management, and the re-orientation of the IT workforce. It also elucidates the benefits that the company had derived from extensive digitization, including cost savings, and the speedier roll-out of new products. But the case also explores the potential downside to excessive focus on digitization, including diluting the human touch in the company’s interactions with its customers. Also, it raises the all-too-important issue of P&G’s operations and its reputation being crippled in case its IT infrastructure crashes. This case is meant for MBA students as a part of the Information Technology/ Operations Management curriculum. It can also be used in a core Strategy curriculum.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the significance of accessibility to information in an organization.
• Discuss the ways in which smart devices could be productively employed an organization.
• Understand how the information technology know-how can be effectively exploited in some of the key business functions.
• Understand how an organization’s functioning can be transformed through the availability of real-time data.
• Understand how information technology can be employed to manage inventory.

Keywords

Digital strategy, Digitization, Information technology, Automation, Standardization, Data management, Knowledge-sharing, Innovation, Collaboration, Delivery mechanisms, Analytics, Social media/ Social networking, Bayesian Analysis/ Bayesian Inference, Cloud computing, Category management Modeling, Simulation, Process manufacturing, Visualization, 3D technology, Product development, Prototyping, Performance modeling, Computation Fluid Dynamics, Finite Element Analysis, Manufacturing intelligence, Inventory management, Demand planning, Demand sensing, Supply chain, Inventory cycle, Operations research, Decision making architecture, Flow model, Predictive analytics, e-commerce, Marketing-mix modeling