Suppose managers in his organization decided to hand out laptop computers to all sales-people without making any other formal changes in organizational strategy or business strategy. What might be the outcome? What unintended consequences might occur? Well, laptop computers, along with all software installed on them, are [tangible] resources of the business, and thus purchasing these laptop computers should be considered a form of investment. Handing out these computers to sales people should be considered a strategy for Resource Allocation and Management.
It may be true that giving out a laptop computer to someone may temporary lift up his personal spirit and increase productivity for a short while, but the result in the long run is something managers need to consider. Failure to Resource Management, of these computers or any other kinds or resources, may in whole or in part lead to a financial lost and failure of business management. I think when giving out these computers, or any other type of resources, managers should consider at least the following: ??? Is it efficiently and affectively going to help achieve, or in line with, the business goals as defined in Business Strategy? Do we have an Organizational Strategy to oversee the resource distribution of those laptop computers? ??? Do we have enough technical staff with sufficient technical knowledge to support those laptop users, from hardware to software to security? And if so, does that pose a significant human resource requirement? ??? Can the investment of these laptop computers, after being distributed as intended, be transformed to a form of financial or productivity or competition success of the business? In other words, what would be the ROI (Return On Investment) of these laptop computers?