Discuss what constitutes an Information Systems (IS) Strategy and explain why such strategy is needed as part of the overall organisational strategy of Woolwoth.
In the recent scenario, it is evaluated that digital strategies and information system has attained growth in the market. There are many companies that focus on the strategies so that the operations can be performed properly. The strategies that are concerned with information system consider various policies that give direct impact on the organizational environment and also provide proper information to every department of the organization.
The information system consists of various software and hardware networks that can be taken into consideration to gather, create and distribute the method of data. The company can easily conduct a proper information system so that the competitive advantage can be achieved. It also minimizes the expenses and increases the overall efficiency of the work. The internal and external environment also plays a great role to align the strategies related to the information system.
This report focuses on analyzing the structure, services, and products of the Woolworth’s. The report will analyze information system strategy and also the issues that are faced by the company at the time of implementing the information system strategy. The report will also take into consideration the strategies that will assist the company to align the organization structure with information system strategy.
Woolworth’s has been one of the largest companies in Australia. The company was established in 1924 and the activities are operated in different locations like Australia and New Zealand. The head office of Woolworth’s is in Bella Vista, New South Wales, Australia. The stores of the company are located in many areas and there are more than 990 stores located in Australia, New Zealand, and Australia. By giving emphasis to the revenue it is analyzed that it is the second largest firm in Australia. The organization is a largest retailing chain in terms of revenue.
The organization has more than 205,000 workers conducting the operations of the company and they give high-quality products to the customers at affordable prices. By analyzing the data it is evaluated that the organization suffered a loss in the overall profits. The competitors of the company are Wesfarmers, ALDI, and Coles. The organization started giving emphasis on implementing the strategic policies so that the competitive advantage can be achieved. Woolworth’s has more than 29 million consumers in every week. The organization has a good image in the Australian market due to the good quality and high satisfaction level of the consumers (Willcocks, 2013).
Woolworth’s started offering its services by taking into consideration online sources. Now a day Consumers purchases products and services from online website of the company. The shopping facility that is available is for a specific location and the company gives focuses on express delivery so that consumer can get the products on time. Woolworth’s also suffered a huge loss in 2016 and recovered the loss by giving emphasis on redesigning the internal infrastructure and increases the information system reliability.
The company started giving focus on technologies so that the overall efficiency of the operations can be taken into consideration. Woolworth’s considers cloud computing technology so that the overall effectiveness can be enhanced by the operations conducted in the organization. By using external cloud services the organization saves the expenses, it gives direct impact on the overall profit of the company (Valacich, George, and Hoffer, 2015).
Big data technology provides proper information to the store managers so that the evaluation can be made of the data that cannot be accessed and it helps to create future strategies in a proper manner. The technology is effective in the agile technology as it assists the organization to give emphasis on its actions and also give reliable products for limited time duration. One of the essential benefits of IT infrastructure is real-time connectivity in various outlets that assist to enhance the speed and efficiency of the decision-making process. Woolworth’s gives emphasis on real-time connectivity in its supply chain so that the overall performance can be evaluated and to provide accurate information to increase the current activities. The organization also created BYOD program that helps the employees to take into consideration Google application engine. It assists them to analyze the log support request from I pad devices given to the organization (Galliers and Leidner, 2014).
The information system strategy focuses on strategizing that is concerned with active procedure. The process of strategizing focuses on collecting the data through the informal system. The information system strategy gives focus on collaboration of the organization strategy. It assists to achieve the competitive advantage so that the operations can be completed with efficiency. If there is proper infrastructure in the organization, the company can easily conduct the operations of the business (Levy, 2014).
Woolworths also increases the efficiency by taking into consideration proper infrastructure so that management of supply chain can be increased and the positive outcome can be attained in an effective manner. There are various organizations that focus on implementing the digital strategies into the strategies of marketing. Various organizations achieve competitive advantage by taking into consideration proper information system strategy into their companies’ model like Goggle and Apple (Laudon and Laudon, 2016).
Amazon considers technology related to information system so that proper maintenance of products and services can be done. It is one of the largest e-commerce websites and the information system strategy is taken into consideration so that the overall response of the market can also be increased. The queries of the customers are also resolved by taking into consideration proper information. The organization gives emphasis on creating a market response and also on product development (Dhiraj, 2017).
The information system assists in increasing the knowledge and learning of the management so that proper opportunities can be grabbed. The organization can easily adapt current marketing strategies so that the routine activities of the company can be conducted. Information system technology assists the modern companies in creating competitive strategies that increase the efficiency of the operations that are conducted by the employees. Woolworths can consider information system into the organization model as it assists to evaluate the necessity in the market. The organization also gives focus on proper utilization of the information system so that niche market can achieve growth in a proper manner (Coyne, 2017).
Woolworths take into consideration effective information system strategies. If proper strategies are considered by the companies then it directly gives impact on the activities conducted by the employees. It also gives impact on the enhancement of the market share and customer base. Information system assists the companies to establish innovative strategies so that success can be achieved. The companies also consider proper innovation so that customers can be attracted and also the efficiency of the work can be maintained (Chapman and Kihn, 2009).
Goggle also gives emphasis on information system strategy so that proper efficiency can be achieved and also to achieve an overall competitive advantage in an effective way. Various organizations consider the process of group discussion so that interaction can be increased. Discussion in group assists the stakeholders to consider the interest in the policies and also to create policies that cover the necessity.
It is important that information system make strategies that help to motivate the employees of the companies so that efficiency of the workers can be increased. The marketing strategies can also be considered by the organization so that operations can be conducted smoothly. It is important to adopt effective strategies so that the operations of the organization can be completed in an effective manner (Barrett, Davidson, Prabhu and Vargo, 2015).
Woolworths faces various difficulties when the strategy related to information system is implemented in the business structure. The managers evaluate the needs and challenges in an information system. The information system plan gives focus on considering all the requirements of the organization so that the information can be shared with other to enhance cooperation. When the plans are developed, the manager should provide proper approval so that operations of the company can be conducted (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta, 2016).
When the business strategies are aligned, there are many problems faced by the organization like internal communication problems. Human capital is also one of the problems faced by the organization. It is essential to consider proper employees so that latest technology can be operated properly. The major problem faced by many organizations’ is related to appointing the right candidates for right positions. The IT professional tries to analyze the demands properly. The technical challenges are also faced by the companies at the time of implementing information system strategy. The organization also faces problems related to Telecommunication, as it is analyzed that communication is not properly conducted between the employees and the top management. It is essential for every organization to have proper communication channels so that proper communication can be done (Mithas and Rust, 2016).
The information system is considered by every organization in the present scenario. When IS infrastructure is used it is seen that the operators feel bad and the negative outcome is attained. The resistance of the also gives impact on the overall acceptability of the system. Efficiency can also be enhanced so that positive outcome can be achieved by the employees of the organization (Müller, Pemsel and Shao, 2014).
Woolworths also gives focus on SAP technology into the systems so that proper platforms can be replaced. The competitors of the organization also targeted so that SAP technology can be sued and can achieve the competitive advantage. At the time of implementing IT in the delivery system of the organization can give result in becoming one of the failures. The online services also attained negative impact and given impact on the operations of the company. The Implementation of self-serve checkout also failed as the consumer does not have the reliability (Stair and Reynolds, 2013). Woolworths also gives emphasis on the strategies so that it can be aligned in a proper way with the information system strategy.
Conclusion
By evaluating the report it is concluded that information system strategy plays an essential role to achieve the competitive advantage by proper management of the operations of the organization. Woolworths gives focus on IS strategies so that overall performance level and also a competitive advantage can be enhanced over its competitors.
The organization faces various issues when the implementation of IS strategy takes place. The organization should also consider the challenges by proper implementation of the strategies policies concerned with the increase in the involvement of the consumers. The company should also try to maintain proper competitive advantage so that the competition level can be minimized. The organization should consider the information system strategy so that performance level can be maintained. If strategies are considered by the organization then it can be easy to attain overall objectives and goals of the organization. If the company is not able to attain goals then it can be difficult to survive in the market. So, proper strategies should be considered in a proper manner.
References
Ann Sykes, T., 2015. Support structures and their impacts on employee outcomes: A longitudinal field study of an enterprise system implementation. MIS quarterly, 39(2).
Barrett, M., Davidson, E., Prabhu, J. and Vargo, S.L., 2015. Service innovation in the digital age: key contributions and future directions. MIS quarterly, 39(1), pp.135-154.
Chapman, C.S. and Kihn, L.A., 2009. Information system integration, enabling control and performance. Accounting, organizations and society, 34(2), pp.151-169.
Coyne, A., 2017. Woolworths shifts infrastructure to Azure. [Online] Itnews. Available at: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/woolworths-shifts-infrastructure-to-azure-451111 [Accessed on 28/12/2017]
Dhiraj, A. B., 2017. Giants Of Retail: The World’s 25 Largest Retailers By Revenue, 2017. [Online] Ceoworld. Available at: https://ceoworld.biz/2017/01/24/giants-retail-worlds-25-largest-retailers-revenue-2017/ [Accessed on 28/12/2017]
Galliers, R.D. and Leidner, D.E. eds., 2014. Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Routledge
Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education India.
Levy, H.M., 2014. Capability-based computer systems. Digital Press.
Mithas, S. and Rust, R.T., 2016. How Information Technology Strategy and Investments Influence Firm Performance: Conjecture and Empirical Evidence. MIS Quarterly, 40(1), pp.223-245.
Müller, R., Pemsel, S. and Shao, J., 2014. Organizational enablers for governance and governmentality of projects: A literature review. International Journal of Project Management, 32(8), pp.1309-1320.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2016. Managing and Using Information Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2016. Managing and Using Information Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Peppard, J. and Ward, J., 2016. The strategic management of information systems: Building a digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Rainer, R.K., Prince, B. and Watson, H.J., 2014. Management Information Systems. Wiley Publishing.
Rautaray, S.S. and Agrawal, A., 2015. Vision based hand gesture recognition for human computer interaction: a survey. Artificial Intelligence Review, 43(1), pp.1-54.
Stair, R. and Reynolds, G., 2013. Principles of information systems. Cengage Learning.
Valacich, J.S., George, J.F. and Hoffer, J.A., 2015. Essentials of systems analysis and design. Pearson Education.
Willcocks, L., 2013. Information management: the evaluation of information systems investments. Springer
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download