The Information Plan for Celerity Enterprises, Inc.: A Teaching Case

Abstract

Celerity Enterprises competes in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. At the start of the case, business conditions are favorable for them to launch a new production facility to manufacture flash memory. The new facility must achieve exceptionally ambitious productivity and cost goals. A facility-level strategic planning process reveals opportunities to substitute information for other more-expensive resources. By the end of the case, just a few months later, worldwide economic conditions change radically and the future of the new facility is in jeopardy. The case describes the participants, the planning process and findings. It provides a rich setting to discuss aligning information and business planning, realities of the volatile industry, outsourcing for IS planning leadership, and using a combination of top-down and bottom-up planning.