1. MAJOR BUSINESS INITIATIVES Gaining Competitive Advantage with IT
Chapter 2
MAJOR BUSINESS INITIATIVES
Gaining Competitive Advantage with IT

2. NONPAID, NONEMPLOYEE COLLABORATION: A NEW KIND OF BUSINESS MODEL
IT-enabled collaboration can be powerful
Extends empowerment beyond employees to include customers (and others) -- called crowdsourcing
Goldcorp did it and made over $3 billion on a $500,000 investment
Goldcorp published on the Web all its information regarding a 55,000-acre property
It invited anyone to submit ideas of where gold might be and how to extract it
Goldcorp received thousands of ideas, some of which yielded $3 billion in gold

3. INTRODUCTION
Businesses must be innovative to stay in business and succeed
IT can be a powerful tool
Must use IT within business strategy to be successful

4. INTRODUCTION Major business initiatives that need IT
Supply chain management (SCM)
Customer relationship management (CRM)
E-Collaboration
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

5. What are Supply Chain Management Systems?
Supply chain management (SCM) system
Just-in-time

6. Supply Chain Management
Most supply chains use inter-modal transportation, multiple transportation channels (railway, truck, etc) to move products from origin destination
This creates supply chain complexities

7. Opportunities of SCM
Goal is to squeeze out every penny of cost possible in the supply chain
This will optimize fulfillment, logistics, production, revenue and profit, and cost and price
SCM is now part of ERP software (discussed later)
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
On Products:
WristBands:
Healthcare:

8. RFID tags http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID
An electronic product code RFID tag used by Wal-Mart
An RFID tag used for electronic tolls collection
Just after an operation to insert an RFID tag
RFID tags used in libraries

9. What are Customer Relationship Management Systems?
Customer relationship management (CRM) system
Includes multi-channel service delivery, multiple ways in which customers can interact with a business
Focuses on
Sales force automation
Customer service and support
Marketing campaign management and analysis

10. Customer Relationship Management

11. Customer Relationship Management
Sales force automation (SFA) systems – automatically track all the steps in the sales process
Sales lead tracking
Listing potential customers
Market and customer analysis
Product configuration
Getting repeat customers

12. Opportunities of CRM Classic goals Treating customers better
Understanding their needs and wants
Tailoring offerings
Providing “delightful” experiences
Like SCM, CRM is now part of ERP software (discussed later)

13. IT Support for CRM
Front-office systems – primary interface to customers and sales channels
Back-office systems – fulfill and support customer orders
Both interface to CRM database and analysis and reporting systems

14. IT Support for CRM

15. E-COLLABORATION E-collaboration is the use of technology to support
Work activities with integrated collaboration environments
Knowledge management with knowledge management systems
Social networking with social networking systems
Learning with e-learning tools
Informal collaboration to support open-source information

16. Integrated Collaboration Environments
Integrated collaboration environment (ICE)
Virtual team
An ICE can be as basic as or more sophisticated as in
Workflow system – automation and management of business processes (processing a loan in a bank, processing a sales order, etc)
Document management system – manages a document through all stages of processing

17. Integrated Collaboration Environments

18. Knowledge Management Systems
Knowledge management (KM) system – IT system that supports the capturing, organizing, and dissemination of knowledge throughout the organization
Knowledge of facts
Sources of information
Solutions, patents, and trademarks
Best-practice processes

19. Social Networking Sites & Systems
Myspace, Facebook, etc
Social networking system
More business focused

20. E-Learning Tools Facilitate learning on IT-enabled platforms
WebCT, Blackboard, and e-College
Used in education environments and also in business environments

21. Informal Collaboration
Previous e-collaboration tools have “organizational” focus
Information collaboration tools focus on “informal” groups of people getting together
Wiki – allows you – as a visitor – to create, edit, change, and often eliminate content
Such content is called open-source information, content that is publicly available, free of charge, and most often updateable by anyone
Peer-to-peer – permits users to communicate in real time and share files without going through a central server

22. IT CULTURE IT culture – refers to
How the IT function is placed structurally within an organization
The organization’s philosophical approach to the development, deployment, and use of IT

23. IT Function Structural Placement
Top-down silo – IT function handles all IT needs; strong “command and control” structure

24. IT Function Structural Placement
Matrix – Separate IT department but decision making is “matrixed” across the organization

25. IT Function Structural Placement
Fully integrated– separate IT function but IT personnel are placed within functional areas; tremendous empowerment

26. IT Culture Philosophical Approach
Ranging from…
“Wait and see”
Must prove ROI before adopting technologies
Early adopters
Support technology innovation failure, a reward system for trying new technologies even if they prove to be unsuccessful

27. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
How do you bring together SCM, CRM, and e-collaboration systems? With an ERP system.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system

28. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

29. ERP Attempts to integrate everything Think about your school
CRM drives what SCM will produce
Everyone works together in e-collaboration
The entire organization knows the entire organization
Think about your school
Can you register for class with a bill outstanding?
Can you register for a class for which you haven’t completed the prerequisite?

30. ERP Integrates Everything