Creating a Database - Shell Canada - Essay Example

? Shell Canada al Affiliation Shell Canada Q Products and Services Energy is one of the most important products for economic growth. This is particularly so for Canada whose economy depends a lot on the availability of energy. Canada has a number of companies that specialize in the production of energy. Shell Canada is one of Canada’s leading explorers and producers of petroleum products. Apart from being one of the leading producers of petroleum products in the country, Shell also engages in the sale and distribution of petroleum products in the country and beyond. The company specializes in the production and sale of a number of products including natural gas, crude oil, solvents, diesel fuels, gas, ethane, butane, asphalts, propane, lubricating oils, greases, sulphur, gasoline and natural gas liquids, just to name but a few. Shell also provides a number of services which include refining, marketing, and transporting petroleum products (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). Value chain Shell’s value chain refers to all the activities that take place in the company with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction while managing cost of production effectively. In this regard, Shell has three key value chain components, including fuel supply, customer support, and maintenance. As such, once the petroleum products have been produced, Shell ensures that they are transported to the customers efficiently and timely. In addition, the company has an efficient customer support team whose mandate is to ensure that customer’s demands are met. The maintenance component of Shell’s value chain is concerned with ensuring that the plant and transport facilities are in good condition to enhance the production and supply of products to the customers (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). Competitors Shell Canada operates in a very competitive business environment. In fact, most of its strategies are aimed at ensuring that it competes favorably with other players in the industry. Currently, Shell Canada has three major competitors, which include Imperial Oil Limited, Suncor Energy Inc., and Canadian Natural Resources Limited. This company poses the greatest threat to Shell Canada in the oil industry (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). Competitive strategy The management of Shell Canada understands that, for the company to gain competitive advantage of its main rivals, it must improve the quality of product and service delivery to its customers. In this regard, the company focuses on the production of quality petroleum products that suit the needs of its customers. The company has also focused on the delivery of best customer service by establishing a customer support department that handles all customer queries and problems. In addition, the company intends to have a wide outreach by exploring and producing petroleum products in other countries. This will help increase its customer base, thereby according it a competitive advantage over its rivals. Further, the company is in the process of designing the most modern technology that will enable it conduct deep-sea exploration as a means of moving ahead of its competitors. At the same time, Shell intends to adopt a technology that will enable the company produces petroleum in an environmental friendly manner. The company believes that reducing environmental pollution will enable it explore several markets without resistance from the governments and the locals (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). Q#2. The world has experienced rapid technological advancements over the past few decades. The new technological have had a huge impact in most business operations. In fact, no single company can compete favorably in the present business environment without the integration of technology. The same applies to Shell Canada, whose competitiveness depends on how well it introduces and uses technology. Currently, Shell can benefit significantly by introducing a number of technologies in its business operations. ERP Firstly, the implementation of ERP technology can be of huge benefit to Shell in maintaining its competitive advantage in the industry. This is attributable to the fact that the implementation of ERP will help enhance business operations ranging from wells and mines, manufacturing plants, gas pumps and oil trucks. In fact, Shell has benefited significantly since it implemented the ERP system, which has significantly reduced and streamlined all the manual processes of third party contractors sending invoices and repair information (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). The ERP helped solve these problems through the provision of web-based services order, payment and invoice submission system. This implies that all the company’s third party contractors can now enter service orders easily into Shell’s ERP system via the company’s website. ECommerce Shell can also benefit by introducing eCommerce technology in its business processes. ECommerce is a technology that allows a company to buy and sell its products via the internet. As such, its introduction in Shell will be beneficial since it will enable shell to buy and sell its products right at its offices. This will reduce the inconvenience that always comes with having to travel to buy products. In addition, its implementation will help reduce labor cost and increase efficiency in buying and selling the products of the company. Internet Internet is one of the latest technologies that have revolutionized the world largely. Today, the internet is available in almost every part of the world. The use of the internet has made communication easier than ever before. Shell can also benefit in a huge by using the internet as a communication tool of the company. This is because the internet will enable the company to be able to receive orders from its customers via the e-mail. At the same time, the internet will also enable Shell to communicate easily with customers without difficulty. In addition, the internet will be of benefit to Shell for advertising its products to customers. In this regard, Shell will be able to post its products and services on its website or in the popular social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedl, thereby making the products and services known to many potential customers. Database Creating a database is also an important undertaking that managers need to initiate in a company. Database system helps a company to store vital business activities for future references. Shell has benefited a great deal since it initiated a database system of the activities that take place in the organization. The database system has enabled Shell to store and keep track of all its business activities related to contractors and customers (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). In addition, the database system has made it possible for Shell to be able to analyze the performance of the company since all the information can be retrieved from the database easily. Reference Shell Canada Limited (2007). Shell Canada upgrader: Public disclosure. Toronto: Shell Canada. Read More