Subject:
Management Information System
University Technology of Sydney 2005 (Semester 1)
Case Study 1 (Business Information) : The Bike Guys
There’s an old rule of thumb for young and old people who want interesting and fulfilling careers:
do what you love and the money will follow. In these case, we will introduce Phil Bundy and
Hans Stuyvesant, the owners of The Bike Guys bike shop in Stage College, Pennsylvania. They
never expected that their experience would be a perfect example for entrepreneurs everywhere.
They spent all their free time in college doing what they loved, riding and fixing bicycles. And
just three months before graduation, Phil and Hans opened their own bike shop. They looked
forward to continuing to do what they loved. But they weren’t prepared for everything involved in
running a shop. While their knowledge of bicycles was solid, they had a lot to learn about
running business. What they ultimately learned was a big surprise: they discovered over and
over again that even for their small bike shop (The Bike Guys), maintaining accurate and
detailed computer based records of business operations was their key to success.
● They needed computer-based information to convince a bank to fork over $30,000 in
start up capital.
● They needed the ability to surf the Web for the best prices on parts so they could
incorporate competitive pricing into their operation.
● They needed to determine which goods and services brought in the most income and
their high expenses were.
● They needed the ability to use other people’s information to promote their business.
● They needed computer based tools to run their business efficiently so they could focus
on their bicycles.
These young businessmen could not have known they could become information technology
“specialists” just so they could fix bikes for a living, but they had no choice but to grow into that
role.
Management Information System
University Technology of Sydney 2005 (Semester 1)
Case Study 1 (Business Information) : The Bike Guys
There’s an old rule of thumb for young and old people who want interesting and fulfilling careers:
do what you love and the money will follow. In these case, we will introduce Phil Bundy and
Hans Stuyvesant, the owners of The Bike Guys bike shop in Stage College, Pennsylvania. They
never expected that their experience would be a perfect example for entrepreneurs everywhere.
They spent all their free time in college doing what they loved, riding and fixing bicycles. And
just three months before graduation, Phil and Hans opened their own bike shop. They looked
forward to continuing to do what they loved. But they weren’t prepared for everything involved in
running a shop. While their knowledge of bicycles was solid, they had a lot to learn about
running business. What they ultimately learned was a big surprise: they discovered over and
over again that even for their small bike shop (The Bike Guys), maintaining accurate and
detailed computer based records of business operations was their key to success.
● They needed computer-based information to convince a bank to fork over $30,000 in
start up capital.
● They needed the ability to surf the Web for the best prices on parts so they could
incorporate competitive pricing into their operation.
● They needed to determine which goods and services brought in the most income and
their high expenses were.
● They needed the ability to use other people’s information to promote their business.
● They needed computer based tools to run their business efficiently so they could focus
on their bicycles.
These young businessmen could not have known they could become information technology
“specialists” just so they could fix bikes for a living, but they had no choice but to grow into that
role.
