Chapter 2 Strategic Use of Information Systems PDF

Chapter2: Strategic Use of Information System I. Strategy and Strategic Moves: In business, a strategy is a plan designed to help an organization outperform its competitors. Although many information systems are built to solve problems, many others are built to seize opportunities. And ide...

Chapter2: Strategic Use of Information System I. Strategy and Strategic Moves: In business, a strategy is a plan designed to help an organization outperform its competitors. Although many information systems are built to solve problems, many others are built to seize opportunities. And identifying a problem is easier than. An opportunity, on the other hand, is less tangible. It takes a certain a mount of imagination, creativity, and vision to identify an opportunity, or to create one and seize it. Information systems that help seize opportunities are often called strategic information systems (SISs). They can be developed from scratch, or they can evolve from In a free-market economy, strategic is used for developing a new product, identifying an unmet consumer need, changing a service to entice more customers or retain existing clients, or taking any other action that increases the organization’s value through  Achieving a Competitive Advantage competitive advantage in terms of a for-profit company, whose major goal is to maximize profits by lowering costs and increasing revenue. A for-profit company achieves competitive advantage when its profits increase significantly, most commonly Figure 2.1 lists eight basic initiatives that can be used to gain competitive advantage, including offering a product or service that competitors cannot provide or providing the same product or service more attractively to customers. It is important to understand that the eight listed are the most It is also important to understand that strategic moves often consist of a combination of two or more of these initiatives and other steps. The essence of strategy is innovation, so compe- titive advantage is often gained when an organization tries a strategy that no one has tried before. 8 basic ways to gain competitive advantage 1. Initiative #1: Reduce Costs Customers like to pay as little as possible while still receiving the quality of service or product they need. One way to increase market share is to lower prices, and the best way to lower prices is to reduce costs. Automation: automation makes an organization more productive, and any cost savings can be E.g. : the auto industry. In the 1970s, Japanese automakers brought robots to their production and assembly lines and reduced costs—and subsequently prices—quickly and dramatically. The robots weld, paint, and assemble parts at a far lower cost than manual labor. Until their competitors began to employ robots, the Japanese had a clear competitive advantage because they were able to sell high-quality cars for less than their competitors.  The Web : has created an opportunity to automate what until recently was considered an activity that only humans could perform: customer service. An enormous trend toward automating online customer service began with companies such as FedEx, which initially gave customers an opportunity to track their parcels’ status by logging on to a dedicated, Many sites today include answers to FAQs (frequently asked questions). Others have special programs that can respond to customer questions. Online service gives businesses two major benefits: it changes service from being labor intensive to technology intensive, which is much less expensive; and it provides customers easy access to a service 7 days a week, 24 Initiative #2: Raise Barriers to Market Entrants The smaller the number of companies competing within an industry, the better off each company is. Therefore, an organization might gain competitive advantage by making it difficult, or impossible, for other organizations to produce the product or service it provides. Using expertise or technology that is unavailable to competitors Obtaining legal protection of intellectual property such as an invention or artistic work bars competitors from freely using it. E.g. Microsoft and other software power- houses have gained tremendous strategic advantages by copyrighting and patenting software. Initiative #3: Establish High Switching Costs Switching costs are expenses incurred when a customer stops buying a product or service from one business and starts buying it from another. Switching costs can be explicit (such as charges the seller levies on a customer for switching) or implicit (such as the indirect costs in time and money spent Often, explicit switching costs are fixed, nonrecurring costs, such as a penalty a buyer must pay for terminating a deal early. In the cellular telephone service industry, you can usually get an attractive deal, but if you cancel the service before a full year or more has passed, you have to pay a hefty penalty. So although another company’s service might be more attractive, you might decide to wait the full contract period because the penalty outweighs the benefits of the new company’s service. When you do decide to switch, you might discover that the telephone is not suitable for service with any other telephone company. The cost of the telephone itself, then, is another A perfect example of indirect switching expenses is the time and money required to learn new software. Once a company trains its personnel to use one word- processing or spreadsheet program, a competing software company must offer a very enticing deal to make switching worthwhile. The same principle holds for many other applications, such as database management systems and Web page editors and Consider Microsoft’s popular MS Office suite; you can purchase the significantly less expensive Sun Microsystems’ Star Office, a software suite that is equivalent to MS Office. Better yet, you can download free of charge the entire suite of OpenOffice.org. Yet, few organizations or consumers who are accustomed to MS Office are willing to switch to StarOffice Manufacturers of laser and ink-jet printers sell their printers at cost or below cost. However, once you purchase a printer, you must replace a depleted ink or toner cartridge with one that the printer manufacturer sells, or take a risk with non original cartridges. As a cartridge customer, you face high costs if you consider switching to another brand. Even if comparable cartridges from you cannot use them; and if you decide to use those cartridges, you will lose your investment in the printer, because you must buy a new one. Thus, establishing high switching costs often locks in customers. Locking in customers by any means is a way to accomplish a strategic advantage, and is discussed Initiative #4: Create New Products or Services : Clearly, creating a new and unique product or service that many organizations and individuals need gives an organization a great competitive advantage. Unfortunately, the advantage lasts only until other organizations in the industry Initiative #5: Differentiate Products or Services. A company can achieve a competitive advantage by persuading consumers that its product or service is better than its competitors’, even if it is not. Called product differentiation, this advantage is usually achieved through advertising. Initiative #6: Enhance Products or Services Instead of differentiating a product or service, an organization might actually add to the product or service to increase its value to the consumer; this is called enhancing existing products or services. For example, car manufacturers might entice customers by offering a longer warranty period for their cars, and real-estate agents might attract more business by providing useful Initiative #8: Lock in Suppliers or Buyers Organizations can achieve competitive advantage if they are powerful enough to lock in either suppliers to their mode of operation or buyers to their product. Possessing bargaining power—the leverage to influence buyers and suppliers—is the key to this approach. As such, companies solarge that suppliers and buyers must listen to their demands use this must listen to their demands use this tactic nearly exclusively. A firm gains bargaining power with a supplier either when the firm has few competitors or when the firm is a major competitor in its industry. In the former case, the fewer the companies that make up a supplier's customer base, the more a specific company is to a supplier's success, the greater bargaining power that important each company is to the supplier. In the latter case, the more important company has over that supplier. The most common leverage in bargaining is purchase volume. Companies that spend billions of dollars purchasing parts and services have the power to force heir suppliers to conform to their methods of operation, and even to shift some costs onto suppliers as part of the business arrangement. Consider Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. Not only does the company use its substantial bargaining power to pressure suppliers to lower prices, but it also requires them to use information systems that are compatible with its own automated processes. The suppliers must use ISs that tell One way to lock in buyers in a free market is to enjoy a situation in which customers fear high switching costs. In the software arena, enterprise applications are a good example. This type of software helps organizations manage a wide array of operations: purchasing, manufacturing, human resources, finance, and so forth. The software is expensive, costing millions of dollars. After a company purchases the software from a firm, it is locked in to that firm's services: training, implementation, updates, and so forth. Thus, companies that sell enterprise software, such as SAP, Oracle, and Infor Global Solutions, make great efforts to improve both their software and support services to maintain leadership in this market. អង្គការអាចសម្រេចបាននូវអត្ថប្រយោជន៍ប្រកួតប្រជែង ប្រសិនបើ ពួកគេមានថាមពលគ្រប់គ្រាន់ដើម្បី Tock នៅក្នុង អ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ទៅកាន់របៀបប្រតិបត្តិការរបស់ពួកគេ ឬអ្នកទិញ ទៅកាន់ផលិតផលរបស់ពួកគេ។ ការ មាន ឥទ្ធិពល នៃ ការ ចរចា ដើម្បី ជះឥទ្ធិពល ដល់ អ្នក ទិញ និង អ្នក ផ្គត់ផ្គង់ គឺជា គន្លឹះ នៃ វិធីសាស្ត្រនេះ។ ហេតុដូច្នេះហើយ ក្រុមហ៊ុននានាបានចាត់ទុក អ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ និងអ្នកទិញត្រូវតែស្តាប់ការទាមទាររបស់ ពួកគេ ប្រើយុទ្ធសាស្ត្រនេះស្ទើរតែទាំងស្រុង។ ក្រុមហ៊ុន ទទួលបានអំណាចចរចាជាមួយអ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ ទាំងនៅពេល ដែលក្រុមហ៊ុនមានដៃគូប្រកួតប្រជែងតិចតួច ឬនៅពេលដែល ក្រុមហ៊ុនគឺជាដៃគូប្រកួតប្រជែងដ៏សំខាន់នៅក្នុងឧស្សាហកម្ម របស់ខ្លួន។ ក្នុងករណីសិក្សាមុន ក្រុមហ៊ុន ពីរឬបីដែលបង្កើត ជាមូលដ្ឋានអ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់អាស្រ័យលើអតិថិជនជាមូលដ្ឋាន។ ក្រុមហ៊ុនជាក់លាក់មួយគឺដើម្បីជោគជ័យរបស់អ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ អំណាចនៃការចរចាកាន់តែធំ ដែលក្រុមហ៊ុននីមួយៗមានសារៈសំខាន់ ចំពោះអ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់និងជាពិសេសគឺជោគ​ជ័យរបស់ អ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់។ ក្នុងករណីចុងក្រោយ សារៈសំខាន់លើសពីនេះទៀត គឺក្រុមហ៊ុននីមួយៗសំដៅទៅលើអ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ដែលជា អានុភាពធំ បំផុតក្នុងការចរចាគឺបរិមាណទិញ។ ក្រុមហ៊ុនដែលចំណាយប្រាក់រាប់ពាន់លានដុល្លារក្នុងការទិញ គ្រឿងបន្លាស់ និងសេវាកម្មមានអំណាចដើម្បីបង្ខំ អ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ស្នងឱ្យអនុលោមតាមវិធីសាស្រ្តនៃប្រតិបត្តិ ការរបស់ពួកគេ ហើយថែមទាំងអាចផ្លាស់ប្តូរការចំណាយមួយចំនួន ទៅលើអ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ជាផ្នែកនៃការរៀបចំអាជីវកម្ម។ សូម ពិចារណា Wal-Mart ដែលជាអ្នកលក់រាយធំបំផុតរបស់ពិភពលោក។ ក្រុមហ៊ុនមិនត្រឹមតែប្រើអំណាចចរចារដ៏ច្រើនរបស់ខ្លួនដើម្បី ដាក់សម្ពាធលើអ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ឱ្យបញ្ចុះតម្លៃប៉ុណ្ណោះទេ ប៉ុន្តែវាក៏តម្រូវឱ្យពួកគេប្រើប្រាស់ប្រព័ន្ធព័ត៌មានដែល ត្រូវគ្នាជាមួយនឹងដំណើរការស្វ័យប្រវត្តិរបស់ខ្លួន។ អ្នកផ្គត់ផ្គង់ត្រូវតែប្រើ ISs ដែលប្រាប់ពួកគេថាពេលណាត្រូវ ដឹកជញ្ជូនផលិតផលទៅ Wal-Mart ដូច្នេះអ្នកលក់រាយយក្សមិនទុកអោយ ខ្វះស្តុក ឬលើសស្តុកឡើយ។ វិធីមួយដើម្បីចាក់សោអ្នកទិញ នៅក្នុងទីផ្សារសេរីគឺដើម្បីរីករាយនឹងស្ថានភាពដែលអតិថិជន ខ្លាចការចំណាយខ្ពស់ក្នុងការប្តូរ។ នៅក្នុងសង្វៀនកម្មវិធី កម្មវិធីសហគ្រាសគឺជាឧទាហរណ៍ដ៏ល្អ។ ប្រភេទនៃកម្មវិធីនេះជួយ ឱ្យស្ថាប័នគ្រប់គ្រងអារេដ៏ធំទូលាយនៃប្រតិបត្តិការ៖ ការទិញ ការផលិត ធនធានមនុស្ស ហិរញ្ញវត្ថុ ជាដើម។ កម្មវិធីមានតម្លៃ ថ្លៃ ចំណាយអស់រាប់លានដុល្លារ។ បន្ទាប់ពីក្រុមហ៊ុនមួយទិញ កម្មវិធីពីក្រុមហ៊ុនមួយ វាត្រូវបានចាក់សោរនៅក្នុងសេវាកម្ម របស់ក្រុមហ៊ុននោះ៖ ការបណ្តុះបណ្តាល ការអនុវត្ត ការអាប់ដេត ជាដើម។ ដូច្នេះ ក្រុមហ៊ុនដែលលក់កម្មវិធីសហគ្រាសដូចជា SAP, Oracle និង Infor Global Solutions ខិតខំប្រឹងប្រែងយ៉ាងខ្លាំង