Running the business from the palm of your hand - Essay Example

? Running the Business from the Palm of Your Hand Contents Contents Answer 4 Answer 2 5 Importance of decision making in an Organization 7 Different levels of organization 7 Decision making System of an organization 8 Top Down approach: 8 Bottom Up approach: 8 Answer 3 9 Porter’s Five Forces Model 9 Bargaining Power of Supplier 9 Dow Corning: 9 Bargaining Power of Buyer 9 Dow Corning: 10 Sunbelt Rentals: 10 Threat of Substitutes: 10 Dow Corning: 10 Sunbelt Rentals: 10 Threat of New Entrants: 10 Dow Corning: 11 Intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry 11 Dow Corning: 11 Mobile Digital Devices: 11 Answer 4 12 Answer 5 13 References 15 Answer 1 Information system (IS) is a system of hardware and software which supports decision making in a business. Basically through this IS people interact with the technology to support their business processes thus making it simple for average employees to do complex jobs in a simplified way (Mahanty, 2011). In this context the mobile digital platform is gaining significance nowadays. Now people are using their mobile as a means not only to call, chat or message, but to carry out their business functions as well since mobile is one thing they always carry with them. With the introduction of Mobile OS like iPhone OS, Android, Windows OS people are developing apps which caters to everyday needs right from their home to business. Hence application making companies like GP Apps, IndiaNIC, Grapple, SourceBits etc are coming out with apps which cater to everyday business needs. Mobile application is software developed to serve a specific need of individuals, business organization etc. Business Functions are basically operations that need to be carried out by an organization. Like for a Software company the key operations are writing codes, testing, maintenance etc. For a Bank it is accepting deposits, giving loans etc. In TCHO Chocolate, which creates unique flavors of chocolate uses iPhone applications that helps his business process function smoothly. It enables the owner Timothy Childs to remotely control the Flavor Machine, control the time, temperatures, and turn on and off whenever he needs. Through the app Childs can remotely view several video cameras and thus know the status of the factory. General Electric Mobile has their own Mobile center of excellence which develops apps which caters to their business needs. For GE’s Sales and marketing personnel it acts as a great boon as they can share business information and presentation with their colleagues and customers. They also use Transformer Monitoring app which manages their gas turbine inventory and electric transformers in the whole world. Along with it their PDS Movement planner helps monitor railway tracks and diagnose the locomotives. In Dow Corning, the employees use a Roambi Visualizer app which helps them to view the business data including sales figures, their trends and projections in real time basis and analyze them. Their Analytics App for iPhone monitors the Web site traffic along with the online sales for their XIAMETER brand. Using these executives monitors globally what contents are useful for them. Sunbelt Rentals uses Mobile SalesPro app which integrates several databases and systems for the sales team. Hence this helps the sales team to stay up breast with the latest information on rental rates and availability of equipment. Answer 2 Operational efficiency is the ratio between the input that a business needs and the output which a business delivers. Inputs can be people, money or time. Outputs are new customers, money, innovation, speed, customer loyalty etc. (Kenneth, 2010, p.81). There are several reasons as to why a business should invest in information systems. 1. Operational excellence: Information helps managers to achieve higher levels of productivity and efficiency in business operations. For example Wal-Mart uses a RetailLink system, which links their suppliers to all Wal-Mart's stores. When a customer purchases an item, the supplier knows that he has to ship a replacement to the shelf (Duggan, 2011, p. 35). 2. New products, services, and business models: Using the Information system a firm can not only create new products and services but also a new business models. A business model describes how a company produces, delivers and sells a product or service to create wealth. Example: Apple Inc has transformed its old business model with its iPod technology platform. 3. Customer/supplier intimacy: If a business provides good service to its customers the customers will also respond positively by purchasing more products which in turn raises revenue and profits. Example: The Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan is a fine example of how to use the information systems to achieve the customer intimacy. 4. Improved decision making: Many managers have to handle lots of information at a single time. But they don’t have right information at the right time to make an informed decision. It results in high costs. But with the help of Information system the managers can use real time data from the marketplace when making decision. For Example: Verizon Corporation provides their manager a Web-based digital dashboard which gives precise information on customer complains, network performance. 5. Competitive advantage: Using the information system a business can achieve a competitive advantage by doing things better than their competitors like charging less for their products, responding on a real-time basis to customers and suppliers. It can result in high revenue and profit for the company. Example: Toyota Production System uses Information System to organize work, eliminate waste, and make continuous improvements. TPS is based on what customers have actually ordered (Porter, 2008, p. 45). 6. Day to day survival: Information system and technology helps business absorb industry level changes and hence in turn respond to day to day operations. Example: Citibank introducing the first ATM for attracting customers by providing high service level. Importance of decision making in an Organization Decision making is needed to perform different managerial activities like planning, directing, organizing, staffing, controlling which is needed in every organization. Without it no kind of function is possible. It can be used to evaluate managerial performance. A correct decision shows how qualified, efficient and able the manager is. Without decision making a business can’t formulate any plans and polices. It is also needed to select the best out of many possible alternatives (March, 1994, p. 212). Different levels of organization 1. Administrative or Top Level of Management: The Top Level Management comprises of Board of Directors (BOD), Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The Board of Directors is selected by the Shareholders of the company. They are basically engaged with the decision making process for the organization as a whole. 2. Middle Level of Management: The Middle Level Management comprises of the Departmental Heads, Branch Managers and the Junior Executives. The Departmental heads include Finance Managers, Purchase Managers etc. The Branch Managers are the head of individual branches. 3. Lower Level of Management: The lower level management comprises of Foremen and Supervisors. They are selected by the middle level management. They are also called First Line of Management (Smit, Brevis, Cronje, De and Vrba, 2007, p. 15). Decision making System of an organization Top Down approach: In Top-down approach of decision making the upper management employees takes long term decision which is strategic in nature. Then the middle level employees implement the decisions which are tactical in nature. They pass their decision to the lower level employees which carry out the day-to-day operation of the business. So the control remains in the hand of Top-level employees. In the top-down approach to policy decisions, which is also known as autocratic leadership, the upper management or the chief executive officer reaches the independent conclusions that will change or improve the workplace. Those policies will affect either all employees or will affect only one department. Though the lower-level managers might have some input into recommendations as far as their department goes, still in the top-down approach are not given the authority to make any decisions. That falls to the people in charge of the entire organization (Morden, 2012, p. 280). Bottom Up approach: In Bottom up approach the lower level employees contribute to the decision making process by communicating their strategies to the middle level employees which in turn communicates their strategies to the top-level management. The Top-level management takes the final decision by listening to the point of view of all the employees. Hence here everyone gets to have their say in the decision making process. Hence this form of leadership is also known as Democratic leadership style. So as all the employees gets to have their say hence they can’t later complain about the policies adopted by the top level management. It also places the top level managers in good eye to the lower level employees as they can share their grievances with them which the top level management can implement in their next strategy making process. Answer 3 Porter’s Five Forces Model Bargaining Power of Supplier TCHO Chocolate: Since the input materials are more or less similar hence the bargaining power of the supplier is far less (Norton and Hughes, 2009, p. 78). General Electric: Since they deal with large volumes of raw material hence the supplier have low bargaining power. Dow Corning: Since they also deal with large volumes of raw material hence thee supplier has a relatively low bargaining power. Sunbelt Rentals: Being an equipment rental company the company has to depend on their supplier for the availability of equipments. Hence the bargaining power of supplier is relatively high. Bargaining Power of Buyer TCHO Chocolate: As chocolate is largely eaten by the kids the bargaining power is high (Gillespie, 2011, p. 237). General Electric: The buyers have a considerable high bargaining power as volume per buyer is high. Dow Corning: Since they also deal with large volumes of raw material hence thee supplier has a relatively low bargaining power. Sunbelt Rentals: Being an equipment rental company the Buyer has high bargaining power as the buyer orders equipment of high price at one go. Threat of Substitutes: TCHO Chocolate: As there are many alternate cooking flavors like vanilla and lemon, hence the threat of substitutes is high. General Electric: The financial segment of General electric has high threat of substitutes compared to its other businesses. Dow Corning: Dow Corning also has a high threat of substitutes. Sunbelt Rentals: Sunbelt Rentals has a low threat of Substitutes as there aren’t many such substitutes. Threat of New Entrants: TCHO Chocolate: The threat of any new entrants is low because of the existence of economies of scale, the difference in products, the need for large capital requirements. General Electric: Tough for new entrant to take away business from GE because huge capital requirement is needed. Dow Corning: Dow Corning has high new entrant. Sunbelt Rentals: Sunbelt Rentals has a high new entrant because of high capital requirement needed to set up the business. Intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry TCHO Chocolate: The chocolate industry has many, balanced competitors which is growing slowly. It has high storage and fixed costs along with high exit barrier. So rivalry is high within the industry. General Electric: Since there are many competitors in the market like Siemens hence rivalry is also high. Dow Corning: It has a high rivalry within the industry. Sunbelt Rentals: Sunbelt Rentals has a relatively medium rivalry since this industry is slowly picking up pace. Mobile Digital Devices: A mobile digital device is a handheld tablet that is made for portability. Hence it is both compact and lightweight at the same time. With new data storage, improved processing speed and display technologies these small devices can do nearly anything. The examples are iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Samsung smartphones etc. The Mobile Digital Devices help many companies with fast execution of the business processes and hence augments the business process thus enhancing the operational performance. So same amount of work which was done by humans and would take considerable effort and time is been done by this devices at incredible speed and accuracy requiring minimal human attention (Hinkelman, Bidwell, Chamaa, Dalpino, Denegri, Fox, Manley, Mann and Ortiz, 2003, p. 146). Answer 4 The main types of the business which the employees can benefit from use of mobile digital devices are Insurance, Real estate, Bank. In the Insurance sector an insurance agent can go to a customer and show the customer the policy he wishes instantly by using an app built specially designed for it. Nowadays we have much online insurance purchase option where a customer can enter his details and the net premium can be shown instantly. If the customer wants to buy the insurance product on spot he can be issued the policy documents on spot by a portable print out option. Even the customer can pay the premium online (Hakansson, Prenkert, Waluszewski, 2009, p. 47). Similarly in the real estate sector an estate agent can show the flat features the client wants to see in whichever location on the spot and fix the deal quickly using the mobile app built for that purpose. The real estate agent can quickly figure out the project cost with an amortization calculator from his smartphone. For example a Silicon Valley-based broker when out with any client always arms himself with his tablet or smartphone. If he is facing difficulty figuring out what might be the floor size he can quickly use his smartphone and scan the floor size and the application will create a floor plan. Thus the estate agent can do a much better service delivery through this (Azevedo, 2013). In the same way a Bank can improve its operational efficiency by requesting its customers to do more online transactions like e-banking, mobile banking which reduces its cost and increases profit (Smallwood, 2012, p. 24). Answer 5 There has been a dramatic shift in the way all essential industries are looking towards mobile projects for improving their operational efficiency. This happened because of the introductions of smartphones mainly Apple iPhones. With the launch of Apple iPhone in 2007 the perspective of the whole industry changed. With the 3G, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS capabilities, cameras, and its sensors, the iPhone is able to handle almost any task which an engineer needs to do in his field. For e.g. apps like Finger CAD, Graphing Calculator, LuxCalc Fluid Prop helps engineers do their job efficiently. The IOS platform is an intuitive interface along with a highly reliable environment which supports application. It is this feature which led to Apple’s success in both the consumer market and business market. Millions of customers which include many senior executives have vouched for its reliability, ease-of-use and simplicity which are the same characteristics that a field engineer would need while he is out on a challenging environment. Designing software to optimize this new environment involves careful use of the available technology to ensure the fundamental aspects of mobile enterprise asset management are preserved. An intuitive and usable solution (in a hostile environment) is the number one priority before the more advanced features are engaged. We finally have a consumer device coupled with business software that delivers in the field. For the very first time, the industry has found something which delivers exactly what the user will need that to in a portable one. With support from software partners like AMT-SYBEX who share Apple’s philosophy of simple, straightforward and effective design, the iPhone is becoming a true game-changer for our industry (Hayes, 2013). References Azevedo, M., 2013. Mobile Apps Transform the Real Estate Industry. [Online]. Available at: http://newsroom.cisco.com/feature-content?articleId=1232035. [Accessed on 4 November 2013]. Bowen, W., 2001. Environmental Justice Through Research-Based Decision-Making, New York: Routledge. Case, E. and Turnbull, B., 2011. Digital Evidence on Mobile Devices, [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companions/9780123742681/Chapter_20_Final.pdf. [Accessed on 4 November 2013]. Duggan, K., 2011. Design for Operational Excellence: A Breakthrough Strategy for Business Growth. London: McGraw Hill Professional. Gillespie, A., 2011, Foundations of Economics, New York: Oxford University Press. Hakansson, H., Prenkert, F., Waluszewski, A., 2009. Use of Science and Technology in Business: Exploring the Impact of Using Activity for Systems, Organizations, and People, Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing. Hayes, L., 2013. The iPhone as a game-changer. [Online]. Available at: http://www.amt-sybex.com/know-how/the-iphone-as-game-changer/. [Accessed on 5 November 2013]. Hinkelman, E., Bidwell, W., Chamaa, G., Dalpino, N., Denegri, P., Fox, G., Manley, M., Mann J., and Ortiz, S., 2003. Pocket Guide to Mobile Connectivity, California: World Trade Press. Kenneth, L., 2010. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 11/E. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Mahanty, B., 2011. Management Information System. [Online]. Available at: http://www.nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?subjectId=122105022. [Assessed on 4 November, 2013]. March, J., 1994. Primer on Decision Making: How Decisions Happen. London: Simon and Schuster. Morden, T., 2012. Principles of Strategic Management, Hamshire: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Norton, A., and Hughes J. 2009. CIMA Official Learning System Enterprise Management, Burlington: Elsevier. Porter, M., 2008. Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: Simon and Schuster. Smallwood, R., 2012. Safeguarding Critical E-Documents: Implementing a Program for Securing Confidential Information Assets, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Smit, P. J., Brevis, T., Cronje, G.J., De J., and Vrba, M.J., 2007. Management Principles: A Contemporary Edition for Africa, Cape Town: Juta and Company Ltd. Read More