The Efficiency of Teds Business - Case Study Example

Final Assessment Exam: Case Study of Old Dominion Trail Bikes Question Ted’s business outlines several strategies he uses to run his business smoothly and efficiently. Already it seems to cover several strategies, but those that stick out the most on how the business operates are: a) Time: from this case study, it’s evident that Ted’s business is highly dependent on time and seasons considering that he has to manage all the five stores. During the holidays like December, he has to sell many bikes, but in January and February the sales are very low, and he sometimes wishes to close down during that period of time. Therefore, the proper focus on time can help him manage his business very well with regards to the sale of products and services (Turban, Volonino, Wood & Sipior, 2013). b) Growth: the business has been expanding and at times becoming hard for Ted to manage effectively. This is witnessed at the expressed desire by Ted to expand the bicycle repair work. He at one time had to close down the store due to overexpansion. Ensuring ted’s business growth without running into issues such as the overexpansion is significant and requires that Ted strategize his business not to over expand for proper management. c) Operational effectiveness:Ted has a lot to manage as currently he has to manage five stores. Ted has to manage everything from staff to ordering from his suppliers, and even works in one of the stores twice a week in order to save on costs. Therefore, if Ted can better manage his operations, it would help him in expanding his bicycle repairs and get his business to grow (Turban et al., 2013). Question 2 Out of everything that Ted needs to put his focus on, the following types of information are imperative to the successful running of the business. a) Weather: Ted to has open his business when there is favorable weather to ride any bicycle. During the rainy periods, he has to close down and open during the weekends and during the sunny days he has to open because the weather is favorable. Ted needs information on weather because cycling is deeply affected by weather conditions. b) Advertisement: Ted needs to advertize his business well in order to boost his sales. This is a good strategy as it will enhance his competitiveness with other firms producing similar products and in turn win his clients. He should have information on the best advertisement channel that will reach his targeted market on time without any delays (Turban et al., 2013). The advertising agency should also suit his goods and be cost effective according to his ability. c) Sales: this is basically a vital information Ted has to be updated on. The quantity of sales he should make within a given period of time should be dependent on the demand and market availability. He should know the quantity of sales to make during peak seasons and off-peak periods. d) Supplier information:Ted should be keen on the supplier of the bicycles to supply a good quality of the product without any delays when there is demand because sometimes demand can be urgent. e) Customers: they are a vital element in the business; hence, Ted should ensure that he has all the information on the customer he is serving. He should be able to identify his target region and how to reach the customers through his advertising means. He should also get responses from the customers about the product and service offered to them. Question 3 Ted is most likely to use the following processes in his business; a) Human resources: This includes the use of human input in his business. Ted probably employs a workforce in his stores for storekeeping and good warehousing. As mentioned before in the case study, he also has subordinates in the management. However, technology can help in his operations if computers are installed to assist in the processing and storage of important management data; thus, enhance good planning (Turban et al., 2013). b) Accounting: Ted must use good accounting techniques for good management of his business. He must account for every sale that is made and find out the profit or losses made during the day-to-day operations. However, technology can aid this as he can easily use sophisticated mathematical programs for advanced account records. These programs include MATLAB, SPSS, Microsoft Excel and Quickbooks. c) Production and operations: Ted must be aware of all the production procedures of coming up with a bicycle. Technology can help this in that the design can be made using computers with the aid of programs like AutoCAD inventor and Solidworks and then the drawing fed into a numerical controlled machine for easy manufacturing of any part. Question 4 Apart from advertising his business, he can actually sell his bikes directly online through the internet to a customer. A model of e-commerce that can be attached to this is the storefront method where products are sold through the website(Turban et al., 2013). He can sell merchandise through a bidding process. He can market his goods through the internet, to all visitors to the website. The customer will get his locations, and if interested by his quality of the bikes he will be a willing buyer. An example of the e-commerce model that can be tied to this is the affiliate marketing model where a business can sell goods to another in return for a commission. Question 5 Supply chain management (SCM) refers to the process of managing the flow of goods in a business. This includes movement of raw materials to storage, work-in-progress material and the finished goods (Turban et al., 2013). By trying in the supply chain management, Ted could be doing himself a great job of minimizing losses in his operations. He will be able to minimize wastage in the production of the bikes. The overhead costs in his operations will also be minimized and the cost of transporting the bikes from one location to another will be greatly minimized; hence, leading to improved product quality (Turban et al., 2013). Generally, supply chain management helps in cost reduction and improving the service and product quality. Question 6 Ted can combine the information he gets from his store and online in that: The customers who purchase through the internet can provide a good feedback as compared to those who come to purchase in-store. Ted could combine this information taking into consideration the probability of the nature of customers who can purchase in-store and those who purchase online. The probability that customers who purchase in-store to use the internet is low since they are illiterate and tend to be inefficient in using online purchase option; hence, their information can be relied upon as compared to those who give information online (Turban et al., 2013). Benefit of the customer relationship management system to Ted. a) He can be able to deal with the issues and the complaints raised by the customers adequately. b) The system allows for the rewarding of the loyal customers with discounts on sales. c) He will be able to understand more on the customer preferences through CRM. Question 7 Ted can use technology in the following ways: a) The internet can help him research on the best spare parts and suppliers of the same. In this, he must be sure of where to get his bike spare parts for his repair work. The specifications of the parts can also be obtained from the online supplier by just a click of a button of the computer. He can get clients for the rentals online. b) With his interest in repair work, technology can aid his work in that he can get advanced machines for repair without having to use the manual machines, which need much human labor effort and are tiresome. He can also install machines that have a low maintenance costs through the application of technology (Turban et al., 2013). c) Technology can help him in the rentals for he can install advanced equipments to aid in storage and also help in keeping the storage facilities tidy. He can also install surveillance cameras for security in his premises. Question 8 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a software of business management process in an organization that can allow the business to use incorporated applications to manage its operations (Turban et al., 2013). Benefits of ERP to the organization: a) ERP helps in proper keeping of inventory records in the business. By implementing it, Old Dominion Trail Bikes will be able to take into account of the assets it has keenly. b) ERP helps in keeping financial information safely without any complications. Information on expenditure and the revenue is well managed when using ERP. c) The organization can also be able to make appropriate management decisions by interpreting the data, and the information availed through the use of an ERP. Considerations. a) He should consider automating his business premises. This will help him to take into account of every detail he may require in operating the business. b) He should consider keeping a performance record. This will enable him to properly monitor himself on the performance of his business day-to-day and also rate his competence (Turban et al., 2013). Question 9 The measures Ted can use to determine the success of the project are: a) Improved asset management: there will be reduced breakdown of equipment in the operations as the system will be identifying equipment to maintain on time. b) Improvement in the sales. This is because the system will reduce wastes and product defects. c) Improvement in the bike safety to the customer due to the efficient production and operations safety of the user to be considered. Question 10 Considerations he can use in developing his IT project are: a) He should consider configuring a network connection in all his premises in the business for easy operation. Eg a WiFi connection b) Buy computers with a good working space and a good processor speed. c) Enroll and learn more about computer networking which will be of great use to him d) Establish an IT department to spearhead his project in the business as he gains experience e) Organize training for the whole staff on IT. Reference Turban, E., Volonino, L., Wood, G. R., & Sipior, J. C. (2013). Information technology for management: Advancing sustainable, profitable business growth, 9th edition. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Read More