Database Management System of Area Spa Business - Case Study Example

DATABASE FOR AREA SPA BUSINESS PROBLEM ANALYSIS Spa businesses are taking hype and have become a multibillion dollar industry. Today saps have lots of services that are different from the old days. In previous years, saps were known for the massage, facial and body treatments, but currently the circle of treatments offered by spas have become vast and involve unusual offerings. Even unique medical services such as thalassotherapy, laser treatments, and injectables are also part of new and innovative spas’ services. These new concepts have changed the appearance of beauty and health industry, and there are unlimited opportunities for the spa industry (D’Angelo, 73-74). Technological advancement is increasing; business environment is becoming more competitive and customers have lots of alternatives and expectations. For being stable; competitive businesses must have accurate information from which they can acquire their set targets and objectives. There are some major problems with spa such as instead of the availability of proper database, customers at the spa have to provide their information on paper which is time consuming and also uncomfortable for customers. The central database is designed for a single site. The database does not manage the updated information of customers accurately. Thus, it hurts the company as it is not able to manage its marketing campaigns properly. Moreover, the company is not able to use the market information for analysis. Customers want their information secure, and for attracting them, there is a need to create awareness regarding the treatments they require. For the marketing of spa services, marketers have to deliver the right information to the right person otherwise it will not work, and customers will lose their interest which will result in the decline of sales of the company. Marketers and sale personnel are not able to observe the potential of different market segments they do not get the correct information. Due to this inconvenience, sale personnel and marketers cannot analyze the information regarding marketing and sale promotion activities. Moreover, they cannot identify and analyze the marketing expense in different segments. This information is required to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the business as well as to improve the returns from marketing campaigns. Accurate and updated customer information provides businesses the opportunity to do marketing in a more precise and targeted manner. Using information for marketing would also be helpful in offering exceptional discounts to different customer segments by identifying their customer buying behavior. On the other side, unit based information makes marketers and sale personnel able to make efforts in areas in which more campaigns are required. They can reduce the broad blanket campaigns and the cost. More targeted promotional messages would also improve the loyalty of the customers and the rate of campaign response would also increase (Kiteley). PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES Keeping accurate information in the spa industry is much critical than any business. Maintenance of updated customer information, generating appointments, following potential customers, offering personalized services is a challenge. In order to keep information up-to-date; management should update the system on a weekly basis so they can provide the beneficial information to all departments and the data should be entered directly on the computer; this step will reduce paper work, but the weekly updating can be time consuming. There are three alternatives are being discussed that are as follow: Alternate #1: Decentralized database or distributed database: In the decentralized database, data storage is done at different places and these databases are interconnected by the communication network. Through the decentralized database, data can be stored at multiple locations so in the case of damage there is no fear of data loss. It presents the location of the data through which users can easily determine the required information. Marketers and sale departments can have area based information. Data updating can be done by different tables that are fixed on diverse machines. Distributed data is secured than the centralized database. But it has some disadvantages such as SQL static cannot be performed The network traffic is high, Optimization of data is not an easy task Management of system catalog is a hard task, Each business unit has different systems due to which complexity get increase (Senn, 69). Alternate #2: Hybrid Database Second alternative can be the hybrid database. This database is formed with the combined network in the organization and this network database is able to achieve the benefits of distributed and centralized database. Hybrid database is reliable, scalable, flexible, and effective. It can be modified according to the needs of the organization. It is a combination of two or more than two topologies. But the disadvantage is that it has a complex design, hubs that are used for connection are costly, and the infrastructure is also costly (Senn, 22) Alternate #3: inter-organizational system The third alternative can be the inter-organizational system (IOS). It is an automated system. This system enables the information flow more efficient from one business unit to another unit, through this system information’s electronic transmission can be provided to another unit. These sorts of systems enable spas to have a competitive advantage over others through the integration of multiple processes of business. Due to the timely and specific information, businesses are able to fulfill the unique wide range of customer’s requirements. Information sharing enables business units to have rapid change in order to meet the changed conditions (Ravarini et al., 2005). POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGIES There are few technologies that enable these alternatives. ERP system is utilized by organizations either service like a spa or manufacturing because this system enable organizations to get information of other departments through one integrated system (Grabski et al., 37-78). ERP enables the distributed database and provides the real-time data that is essential for spa organizations. ERP is also helpful to be quicker as well as in aligning the processes with the strategic goals of the company. EPR provides spa business updated and accurate information related to clients. The company, that has the information, is able to respond to the changing demands and required services of customers. These EPR systems are useful for resource planning provides data accessibility, forecasting, reduce data duplication, and achieve financial goals. Database management system acquires the collection of different programs’ set and interrelated data in order to gain access to the overall data. There are two parts of DBMS data application and management systems. The advantages are as presented below: Reduction in the duplication of data Data integrity (accurate and consistent) Data security Sharing of data to different units (Sharma and Sharma, 102). The transaction processing system (TPS) provides real time information through database management system. This system is an effective tool for an organization and helps in the gathering of processing, storage, collection and monitoring of data for the transactions of the business. Customer information control system (CISC) is the best transaction processing system that provides reliable, timely, and accurate data to its employer. Through this system, spa businesses can have updated data. The system has the option of creating a backup therefore, in the case of damage organization still have access to the required data. The vendor of this system is IBM (Bozzano and Villafiorita, 28). This system enhances the capability of services and helps in gaining the competitive edge through the effective management of customers’ records and enhances the capability of the organization to perform productive activities. Management information system is a technology that supports marketing departments, financial activities, and makes different reports. This system enables combining architectures (combination of centralized and distributed database). MIS offers reports through the use of TPS and ERP. Through the use of MIS, spas can focus on the needed marketing activities and can reduce the extra and worthless marketing campaigns. Through the revenue based reports that are prepared by the MIS; marketing and sale departments can have a better understanding of the areas where sale promotion and marketing activities are desired. Due to the effective management of the data, spa can offer attractive deals to the most relevant customers, and the targeted customer segment’s demands can be satisfied conveniently. The use of MIS in the service industry is critical because service industry like spa can be ready for action by managing distinct services. For example, spa is giving the required services but if spa gives these services without any delay it will enhance the customer satisfaction. Management information system makes management able to understand these critical aspects (Jawadekar, 45). These sorts of software are sold by IBM. Customer relationship management system is another technology that is designed to make the client information accurate and up-to-date. It supports numerous multiple users, mobile and remote access with the help of web access mode. Organization can run multiple businesses through single installation. CRM enables marketers to target their best and potential customers, they can manage marketing campaigns and provide this information to sales department so they can also run their sale promotion activities in the targeted area and segment. SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The best technology that can be used to enhance the capability of the spa is the management information system. Management information system enhances the ability of problem solving and improves the efficiency of the organization. It is also helpful in decision making and enhances the competitive advantage of the organization. This system helps in computerizing the managerial processes, increases the control of the organization, collects daily information, minimizes the load of information, and enhances the decentralization. MIS makes sure that all system are available that are necessary for the organization. It also offers the 360 degree view to all customers’ information by enabling the use of CRM. Companies can find out their weak areas by identifying and segregating the revenues on the basis of different areas (Pant and Hsu). MIS reflects the whole organizational processes and performs as planning and communication tool. The available data regarding customers and their feedback help spa to increase their efficiency. MIS enables company to do better and faster work from others within a short time period. Secondly it also enables inter-organizational system that supports organization to distribute the collected and specific information to all its business units. Spa should use the modern technologies in order to make its service more advantageous, and for making managerial decisions more effective. Organization can gain competitive advantage by improving its structure through the help of proposed alternatives. Works Cited Bozzano, Marco, and Adolfo Villafiorita. Design and safety assessment of critical systems. CRC Press, 2010. DAngelo, Janet. Spa business strategies: a plan for success. Cengage Learning, 2009. Grabski, Severin V., Stewart A. Leech, and Pamela J. Schmidt. "A review of ERP research: A future agenda for accounting information systems."Journal of Information Systems 25.1 (2011): 37-78. Jawadekar, Waman S. Management Information Systems: Text and Cases: a Global Digital Enterprise Perspective. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2013. Kiteley, Clare. Why should you profile your customers?. S2 Customer Insight Blog. Feb. 2014. 1 Apr. 2014. http://s2customerinsight.com/blog/why-should-you-profile-your-customers/ Pant, Somendra, and Cheng Hsu. "Strategic information systems planning: a review." Information Resources Management Association International Conference. 1995. Ravarini, Aurelio, et al. "Exploring the Role of Inter-Organizational Information Systems within SMEs Aggregations." 18th International Bled eCommerce Conference (Bled), Slovenie. 2005. Senn, James A. Information technology in business: principles, practices, and opportunities. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2000. Sharma, Anuj, and Vishwas Sharma. krishnas Database Management System. Krishna Prakashan Media, 2009. Read More