Reference no: EM133701399
Business Information Systems
LO1 Adapt information systems to strategically achieve organisational goals and be able to design, develop and manage IT systems implementation to achieve Business IT Alignment.
LO2 Develop an IT Plan that designs, implements and manages the technology supporting these information systems including computing devices, storage and processing (both systems processing and application processing).
LO3 Identify, synthesize and model individual functions of a database system to be used for organization data management and decision making.
LO4 Apply appropriate eCommerce or mCommerce business operations and activities that contribute to effective business productivity.
LO5 Appraise an organization's competitive position by applying standards approaches and analyse activities/issues in recruitment, employment relations and performance management and explore emerging business trends through study of published research work.
Instruction
In this assignment, a scenario is presented in the form of a description of a company. Based on your understanding on the scenario, you are asked to write a report answering the questions at the end of this assignment. Your report should be approximately 1800-2000 words long and needs to be uploaded in Moodle by the due date as mentioned in Teaching and Assessment Plan or as per Lecturer's instruction.
Case Study: ABB vs. COSCO
ABB
ABB Turbo Systems ABB Turbo Systems Ltd., part of the ABB Group, is the global market leader for turbo-charging diesel and gas engines in the over-500 kW power range. Over 180,000 ABB turbochargers are used worldwide on ships (representing 62 percent market share), in power stations, on locomotives, and on heavy-duty vehicles in the construction and mining industries. The company generates about half of its revenues from selling and servicing turbochargers. Although the products have a service life of up to 20 years, they also contain parts that are subject to wear and tear and that have to be replaced on a regular basis. Some customers requiring service tasks are shipping companies. Since these companies want to spend as little time servicing turbochargers as possible, ABB Turbo Systems has over 100 service stations worldwide to take care of the maintenance process for the ship owners. If its turbocharger fails, the diesel engine
on a ship can generate just 25 percent of its usual power. Most ship owners base their selection of a turbocharger supplier partly on the available servicing options. ABB Turbo Systems' global network of service stations, with access to the same product and customer data in Switzerland, guarantees a service within 48 hours, regardless of location. The head office of ABB Turbo Systems looks upon the service stations that control the "turbocharger service" process as the actual "customers." ABB Turbo Systems provides support to the service stations via a service portal. ATURB@WEB stores the configuration of the different turbochargers in a database and triggers the maintenance process on the basis of defined service cycles. For this, service stations use a tool called the "Maintenance Scheduler." It summarizes the maintenance data so that sales and service staff can alert customers to convenient maintenance times, or, if maintenance periods have elapsed, approach customers to discuss servicing issues. If a turbocharger develops problems or if the company knows that a ship is going to call at a port with a service station, the ATURB@WEB service portal provides the service employee with the ship's turbocharger configuration, including any modifications from previous service visits and helps them with the selection of spare parts. Finally, the employee can use ATURB@WEB to check the availability and storage location of parts and create the actual order. In addition, the portal provides service technicians with technical drawings and assembly instructions, helps them document any work that has been carried out, initiates the invoicing process, and enables communication between the service stations. ABB Turbo Systems does not rely solely on the information it gathers in house-turbocharger configurations, assembly instructions, customer histories-but also incorporates external services, such as an insurance database from Lloyd's ship insurers, which uniquely identifies every ship by its policy number even if its name changes. Since Lloyd's insures almost every commercial ship, every account manager at ABB Turbo Systems receives an indication of how many ships have been fitted with ABB turbochargers by the ship owners they advise. Until the 1990s, mainframe computer technology and transmission costs prevented the development of a solution with such capabilities. It was not until the arrival of the Internet that the services described here became economical in all the service stations worldwide, whether in Hamburg, Singapore, or Vladivostok. ABB Turbo Systems has a highly integrated and efficient maintenance process. The company can now handle 50 percent more service requests with the same workforce. Throughout the various approval stages, the lead time of an order-from receiving it to completing it in the central spare parts warehouse-is reduced from 24 hours to 2 hours. At the same time, the new solution has cut stocks by 12 percent, enabling the company to save roughly US$1 million annually in interest charges. The configuration data and transparency within the warehouse allow ABB Turbo Systems to process service jobs quickly and reliably, despite lower stocks of spare parts.Another shipping company in a different part of the world blends products and services in a completely different way.
COSCO
COSCO With $17 billion in revenues, the China Ocean Shipping Company Group (COSCO) ranks as the largest shipping company in China. A conglomerate consisting of more than 1,000 enterprises, its businesses include international shipping of both passengers and freight, comprehensive and integrated logistics services, and ship building and repairing. COSCO Group is ranked second in the world based on fleet size and shipping capacity.3 Since 1998, the group has been led by Capt. Wei Jiafu, a strong and visible leader with a doctorate in marine engineering who prefers and retains the nautical designation from his career at the helm. Also in 1998, COSCO made a strategic decision to expand from simple cargo capacity in its freight business into logistics services such as container terminals, warehousing, and freight forwarding. The move into such services ancillary to shipping exposed the need for increased integration of information handling processes, especially as the Group built an ecosystem of global partners, some of them highly specialized. A year after COSCO expanded its scope of operations and altered its business model from owning to controlling shipping capacity, the firm began building a digital backbone, called IRIS-2 (short for "Integrated Regional Information System"), which enables COSCO to better support customer processes with timely information. This system makes operational processes, transportation information, and customer information internally and consistently visible. At the same time, the IRIS-II transaction engine underlies Web-based customer-facing applications, such as automated rate estimation tools. Customer-facing systems and internal customer service systems based on IRIS-2 have helped COSCO build its brand reputation as it has
won trade and other awards for best shipping line, best customer service, and best schedule reliability. Real-time container tracking, for example, represents a substantial improvement over manual process that could take days. The firm's Container Management System has been repeatedly upgraded to support a full range of customer needs ranging from finance to customer service to logistics to regulatory compliance. In addition to transaction processing, COSCO built analytical capabilities with a data warehouse initiative to support better decision-making. Six facets are supported:
1. Headquarters requirements (corporate and departmental evaluations)
2. Regional Branch requirements (overseas locations)
3. Port Offices requirements (including container-related metrics and documentation compliance)
4. Key Performance Indicators (including process specification relative to customer data and fleet and facilities capacity)
5. e- Business (customer history, quantity, and value by channel)
6. Other requirements (such as standardized report templates)4 As COSCO looks ahead to still broader integration of logistics services, including air and land capabilities, effective IT systems have increased its competitive advantages over foreign competitors. COSCO Group currently has representative offices or subsidiaries in many parts of China and 38 countries. Its global operational network extends from Beijing to its agents and partners in 1,500 ports in 160 countries.
Questions
Considering the above description of both, write a report by answering the following questions. It is recommended that up to 1 hour should be spent on each question.
Analyse how these organisations may identify the value that it obtains from its current portfolio of information systems and evaluate the techniques that may be used in assessing future IS investments.
It is clear that these organisations do not have a coherent IS strategy. Analyse how they may construct an IS strategy that is supportive of their business strategy and the benefits that they would derive from this.
Analyse the strategic potential for greater investment in information systems and technology both from a divisional and company-wide perspective. Could business process re-engineering be a useful tool in maximising the potential of IS and IT within these companies? Explain and justify your answers.
Describe the current location of IS functions within these organisations. Recommend the best location for IT services in the future.
Decribe the business issues in position recruitment, performance amanagement and the emerging business trends.
How to write Research report
Writing a research report involves several key steps to ensure clarity, coherence, and accuracy. Here's a structured approach to writing a research report:
1. Title Page: Include the title of your research report, your name, the date, and any other relevant information such as your institution or department.
2. Abstract: Summarize your research in a concise paragraph. Include the purpose of the study, methodology, key findings, and implications. The abstract should provide a clear overview of your research for readers.
3. Introduction: Provide background information on the topic and state the research problem or question. Explain the significance of the study and outline the objectives or hypotheses.
4. Literature Review: Review relevant literature and research on your topic. Discuss previous studies, theories, and findings related to your research question. Identify gaps in the literature that your study aims to address.
5. Methodology: Describe the research design, methods, and procedures used in your study. Explain how you
6. Results: Present your findings in a clear and organized manner. Use tables, charts, or graphs to illustrate data when appropriate. Describe any statistical analyses performed and summarize the key findings.
7. Discussion: Interpret your results and relate them to your research question or objectives. Discuss the implications of your findings and how they contribute to existing knowledge in the field. Address any limitations of your study and suggest directions for future research.
8. Conclusion: Summarize the main findings of your study and restate their significance. Emphasize the contributions of your research and its implications for theory, practice, or policy.
9. References: List all sources cited in your report using a consistent citation style (e.g., APA, MLA). Ensure that your references are accurate and properly formatted.
10. Appendices: Include any supplementary materials, such as raw data, questionnaires, or additional analyses, in appendices. Label each
appendix clearly and refer to them in the main text as needed.
Remember to maintain a clear and logical structure throughout your research report, use appropriate language and terminology, and provide sufficient detail for readers to understandrtudy.