CASE STUDY 1: A High Cost for Expertise

 

The Problem

          Due to financial issues and cutting costs, the university administration has decided to fire staff from the offices to regulate the budget. The top computer technician was included in the staff downsizing. Eventually, after a few months, the computer server went into a ceased of operation due to some issues with its system and damaged components. The remained university staff has attempted and done the best they could to fix the problem and restore its computer server services but to no avail on improvement nor success.

 

The Solution

          As the computer server malfunctioned and while the university staff had little to no progress in resolving the problem, they were left with no choice but had decided to call upon the top technician to aid in fixing the issue at hand. As the former employed top technician offered his service to the university on the issue, it took only a soldering pen and expertly placing the replacement parts of the computer server into place that has successfully returned the computer server’s services back in operation in minutes prior to fixing on the spot.

 

The Controversial Cost: P 50, 000.00 repair charge

          The technician’s assistance and help have resolved the university’s concurrent predicament of their computer server malfunction. The technician then submitted a P50,000.00 repair charge invoice for his overall payment and compensation for the service offered to the university. This then sparked an immediate form of questions regarding the cost demanded for an invoice from the former top technician. The soldering pen that was used in repairing the damage was merely around P500.00 as mentioned on the case. It took only the technician to resolve the problem in minutes despite the university staff going through months on end trying to progress and improve hoping for a success rate with only them trying to resolve the issue.

 

The Justification for the P 50, 000.00 charge

Value of Expertise

          It is important to take note of the different levels of expertise the top technician and the university staff have from each other in terms of their specific field and forte. It took months for the university staff to try and resolve the problem only for the technician to solve it in minutes. This is because it was the technician’s expertise and specialized skilled knowledge that has helped more efficiently in solving the issue rather than the cost of the tool they have used and how fast they resolved the case. It is also important to consider the amount of precision, analytic skills, and problem-solving skills to fully let the technician conclude in solving the problem.

 

          Expertise requires both “know how” and “know that” in things complicated as their specialized field. An expert must not rely only on experience and skills to guide them but must also rely on utilizing a vast array of learnings to keep up with things, especially on their own expertise (Grenier, n.d.). Often, people misjudge expertise from individuals that actually excel at their field of forte. This leads to mistakes or even decisions that could affect, not only the overall cost of an organization but also the missed opportunity to make the right choice. “Meta-ignorance” rises due to the lack of expertise and knowledge as individuals only rely on background knowledge that appears sufficient for them to make decisions, resulting in deficits and poor management skills (Dunning, 2011). Organizations are often misled into such decisions when most bodies are ignorant of the difference between what an expert and a skilled individual or professional, in this case, the technician in his specialized field, has to fully offer and even demand in order to reward and compensate for the service they offer to the organization or company.

 

Charging for high-valued skill expertise

          The technician charging that high of a price should not be of question. High-valued skills deserve the price they set for themselves as their expertise and years of experience in their honed craft vary. This accounts for the years they have experienced and studied for their specialized knowledge to put in good use, most especially in IT-related work and workforces as they are essential in the foundation of a company or an organization.

The types of skills that are most highly rewarded in the labor market – as well as the types that are most conducive to generating additional economic growth and productivity – are in constant flux (Kenan Institute, 2023). Meaning, such high-valued expertise such as in IT professionals get to highly price themselves for the amount of complexity of their service and field, not just because of how efficient they are with the amount of time to hold a service or for the tools they variedly used depending on the issue. This holds a great amount to account for the matter of professionals “overpricing” their value of service to non-experts as it creates bafflement and ignorance. It may be understandable for the university to questions such cause as they may be unaware of the fact of the actual complexity the situation had to be resolve for. It is important to also understand the measure of skill a professional has. In this case, the technician was a former employee to the university and has helped in maintaining the computer servers for years. It is no doubt that the value of his skills is only valid to what he has charged for himself as he has also proven his expertise on the field long before they even asked for his service despite recently fired from his original work.

 

The Cost of Downtime

          The university has already cost a large amount of currency just before they contacted the former technician of their school. It cost them months to work on the problem at hand with only their efforts of resolving it rather than letting a professional on the said field to deal with it. In an average scale of IT downtime cost depends on the are where damage is taken, in this case, the computer servers which are very essential and critical assets to the university as their services and operations are paused and even delayed, furthering the issue and resulting to more bigger and large effects on the university.

The monetary losses vary when considering the revenue, industry, the actual duration of the outage, the number of people impacted, the time of day, etc. According to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute. Because there are so many differences in how businesses operate, downtime, at the low end, can be as much as $140,000 per hour, $300,000 per hour on average, and as much as $540,000 per hour at the higher end (The 20, n.d.).

The university could have cost more than just P 50,000 value from the technician if they didn’t resolve the problem as immediately as possible. The impact could have caused more damage, not just on their computer servers, but more importantly to their services and operations which would cost more currency if the solution to the problem was even more delayed.

 

Conclusion

       The university’s decision to contact its former top technician, despite the high P50,000.00 repair charge, underscores the critical importance of specialized expertise in resolving complex technical issues. This case study demonstrates that the cost of professional services is not just based on the tools or time spent, but the knowledge, experience, and ability to solve problems that non-experts could not. The technician’s swift resolution of the computer server malfunction highlights the value of expertise, which allowed him to accomplish in minutes what university staff were unable to fix over several months.

             The P 50,000 repair cost reflects the importance of knowledge and expertise, which is exactly what knowledge management seeks to preserve and leverage. If the university had invested in effective knowledge management, they could have avoided the need for the top computer technician's expensive intervention. Knowledge management helps bridge the gap between novice and expert knowledge, reducing reliance on a single individual for critical operations.

A robust Knowledge Management system would allow the university to create a culture of continuous learning, where knowledge is actively shared and updated. This reduces the risk of downtime, as all staff members would have access to key operational insights. Additionally, a KM strategy might involve processes such as knowledge audits to identify critical knowledge areas, knowledge capture from experts before they leave ensuring continuity, and training and development based on knowledge to upskill other staff. By implementing knowledge management, the university would not only avoid the high cost of external intervention but also improve its operational resilience and efficiency.

Moreover, the charge is justified when considering the potential costs associated with extended IT downtime. Studies show that IT system failures can lead to significant financial and operational losses, far outweighing the cost of repair. The technician’s intervention not only restored critical services quickly but also prevented further damage and additional operational expenses, which could have escalated had the problem remained unresolved.

In conclusion, the technician’s fee reflects the true value of his specialized skills, the efficiency and convenience he brought to resolving the issue, and the larger economic consequences of IT downtime. This case highlights the importance of investing in skilled professionals, as cutting costs by reducing expertise can lead to greater financial risks and operational inefficiencies. Not only that but good decision-making advantages the development of an organization and furthers progress be it financially for the organization or company. This lessens the threat of greater costs in the future and more so could benefit schools, organizations, or companies.

         

 

References

Kenan Institute. (2023). Skills in the workforce: Why they matter for economies. Kenan  Institute of Private Enterprise. https://kenaninstitute.unc.edu/kenan-insight/skills-in-the-workforce-why-they-matter-for-economies/

Kasworm, C. E., Rose, A. D., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). Handbook of adult and continuing education. New Prairie Press. https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2494&context=aerc

The 20. (n.d.). The cost of IT downtime. https://www.the20.com/blog/the-cost-of-it-   downtime/#:~:text=According%20to%20Gartner%2C%20the%20average,hour%20at%20the%20higher%20end

 

Thompson, P. (2012). Learning by doing. In B. H. Hall & N. Rosenberg (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of innovation (Vol. 1, pp. 429-476). Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780123855220000056