THE FOURTH CHAPTER

   Well hello there , im so excited you guys visit and read my blog !  thats make me more excited to update the next topic . heheh. okey you must be wondering why I update my blog early than usual right ? actually next week we gonna have a sem break . YEAY ME !!

   So we drag our class today so we have no class tomorrow . Lucky us right ? haha . okey forget about this excitement and this overload happiness for a while so lets proceed with our new chapter which is MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVE .

 Did you know that we can measure if the information technology that we use is success or not ? So usually Key Performance Indicator is being used to measure that are tied to business drivers . There are two which is :
   
                                                EFFICIENCY IT METRICS

measures the performance of the IT system itself including throughput, speed and availability .

• THROUGHPUT : the amount of information taht can travel through a system at any point

• TRANSACTION SPEED : the amount of time a system takes to perform a transaction.

• SYSTEM AVAILABILITY : the number of hours a system is available for users.

• INFORMATION ACCURACY : the extent to which a system generates the correct results when executing the same transaction numerous time . 

• WEB TRAFFIC : includes a host of benchmarks such as the number of page views, the number of unique visitors, and the average time speed viewing a web page

• RESPOND TIME : the time it takes to respond to user interactions such as a mouse click.

                                         EFFECTIVENESS IT METRICS

  measures the impact IT has on business processes and activities including customer satisfaction, conversation rates , and sell- through increases .

• USABILITY : the ease with which people perform transaction and/or find information . A popular usability metric on the internet is degree of freedom, which measures the number of clicks required to find desired information.

• CUSTOMER SATISFACTION : measured by such benchmarks as satisfaction surveys, percentage of existing customers retained and increase in revenue dollars per customer .

• CONVERSION RATES : the number of customers an organization "touches" for the first time and persuades to purchase its products or services . This is a popular metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of banner, pop-up, and pop-under ads on the internet . 

• FINANCIAL : such as return on investment ( the earning power of an organization 's sales ) , cost-benefit analysis ( the comparison of projected revenues and costs including development, maintenance, fixed and variable )and break-even analysis ( the point at which constant revenues equal ongoing costs)

   What is metrics ? its nothing than a standard measure to assess performance in particular area . Metrics for measuring and managing strategic initiatives include :

                                                      WEB SITE METRICS

• ABANDONED REGISTRATIONS : number or visitor who start the process of completing a registration page and then abandon the activity.

• ABANDONED SHOPPING CARTS : number of visitors who create a shopping cart and start shopping and then abandon the activity before paying for the merchandise.

• CLICK-THROUGH : count of the amount pf people who visit a site, click on an ad and are taken to the site of the advertiser.

• COST PER-THOUSAND : sales dollars generated per dollar of advertising . This is commonly used to make the case for spending money to appear on a search engine.

• PAGE EXPOSURES : average number of page exposures to an individual visitor.

• TOTAL HITS : number of visitors to web site, many of which maybe by the same visitor .

• UNIQUE VISITOR : number of unique visitors to a site in a given time . This is commonly used by Nelsen/net rating to rantings to rank the most popular web sites . 

                            SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (SCM) METRICS

• BACK ORDER : an unfilled customer order . A back order is demand (immediate or past due) against an item whose current stock level is insufficient to satisfy demand .

• CUSTOMER ORDER PROMISED CYCLE TIME : the anticipated or agreed upon cycle time of a purchase order . Its a gap between the purchase order creation date and the requested delivery date . 

• CUSTOMER ORDER ACTUAL CYCLE TIME : the average time it takes to actually fill a customer's purchase order. This measure can be viewed on an order or an order line level .

• INVENTORY REPLENISHMENT CYCLE TIME : measure of the manufacturing cycle time plus the time included to deploy the product to the appropriate distribution center . 

• INVENTORY TURNS (INVENTORY TURNOVER) : the number of times that a company's inventory cycles or turns over per year . It is one of the most commonly used supply chain metrics . 

                    CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) METRICS

SALES METRICS :

• Number of open leads
• Number of sales calls
• Number pf new customers
• Amount of new revenue
• Amount of recurring revenue

SERVICE METRICS :

• Average time to resolution
• Average number of service calls per day
• Percentage of service renewals
• Average number of service request by type
• Number of services calls

MARKETING METRICS :

• Number of purchases by marketing campaign
• Cost per interaction by marketing campaign
• Number of new customers acquired by marketing campaign
• Customer retention rate
• Number of new leads by product

BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING (BPR) METRICS AND ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) METRICS

  The balanced scorecard enable organization to measure and manage strategic initiatives . The balance scorecard views the organization from 4 perspective, and users should develop metrics, collect data and analyze their business relative to each of these perspectives :

• The learning and growth perspective
• The internal business process perspective
• The customer perspective 
• The financial perspective

Okeyyy thats all for the fourth chapter . See you guys after the sem break !! and thank you for reading . 

THE THIRD CHAPTER

    Hai there :) as you know every week im gonna share and  make a summary about a new chapter . So today's topic is about STRATEGIC INITIATIVES FOR IMPLEMENTING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES . In this topic we learned what is the important of enterprise resource planning system and how the organizations can use business process reengineering to improve its business .

    There are 4 strategic Initiatives which is Supply Chain Management (SCM) , Customer Relationship Management (CRM) , Business Process Reengineering (BPR) , Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) .This is the strategies that will help the business activities become more smooth and easier .


                                        SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (SCM)

   Involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability . There are 4 basic components of SCM :

• Supply Chain Strategy - Strategy for managing all resources to meet customer demand . 
• Supply Chain Partner - Partners throughout the supply chain that deliver finished products, raw materials, and services . 
• Supply Chain Operations - Schedule for production activities .
• Supply Chain Logistics - Product delivery process .

                              CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

   Involves managing all aspects of a customer's relationship with an organization to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organization's profitability . CRM is not technology but a strategy . Its enable

• Identify types of customers
• Design individual customer marketing campaigns
• Treat each customer as an individual
• Understand customer buying behavior

                                

                                BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING (BPR)

   The analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises and to make all business process best-in-class . The 7 principle of BPR is 

• Organize around outcomes, not tasks.
• Identify all the organization's processes and prioritize them in order of redesign urgency
• Integrate information processing work into the real work that produces the information
• Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized 
• Link parallel activities in the workflow instead of just integrating their results
• Put the decision point where the work is performed, and build control into the process 
• Capture information once and at the source

                                   ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING  (ERP)

   Integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single IT system so that employees can make decisions by viewing entreprisewide information on all business operations . Its collect data from across an organization and correlates the data generating an enterprisewide view .

  Thats all for now . Wait for next week okeyy .Assalammualaikum . 

THE PAST YEAR QUESTIONS

MARCH 2012

Porter's Five Force Model is a one of common tools used in industry to analyze and develop competitive advantages . List and describe each of the five (5) forces in Porter's Five Force Model .

  Answer :   

1.  BUYER POWER : Buyer power is the ability of buyers to effect the price they must pay for an item. It high when buyer have many choices of whom to buy from and low when their choice are few. 
2. SUPPLIER POWER : Supplier power is the suppliers' ability to influence the prices they charge for supplies . High when buyers have few choices of whom to buy and low when their choices are many . 
3. THREAT OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES : High when there are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there are few alternatives from which to choose .
4. THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS : is high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant entry barriers to entering a market . 
5. RIVALRY AMONG EXISTING COMPETITORS : High when competition is fierce in a market and low when competitor is more complacent .

OCTOBER 2012

 Explain four (4) organizational information cultures .

  Answer :

1. INFORMATION FUNCTIONAL CULTURE : Employee use information as a means of exercising influence or power over others .
2. INFORMATION SHARING CULTURE : Employees across departments trust each other to use information (especially about problems and failures) to improve performance.
3. INFORMATION INQUIRING CULTURE : Employees across departments search for informations to better understand the future and align themselves with current trends and new directions .
4. INFORMATION DISCOVERY CULTURE : Employees across departments are open to new insights about crisis and radical changes and seek ways to create competitive advantages .

Describe three (3) Porter Generic Strategies . Support your answer with example .

  Answer :

    

    Porter has identified three generic business strategies for entering a new market which is

1. BROAD COST LEADERSHIP
2. BROAD DIFFERENTIATION 
3. FOCUSED STRATEGIES 

Broad strategies reach a large market segment, while focused strategies target a niche or unique market with either cost leadership or differentiation. 

• BROAD MARKET AND LOW COST :  Its business strategy is to be the low-cost provider of goods for the cost-conscious consumer. For example , Walmart competes by offering variety of product at low prices .
• BROAD MARKET AND HIGH COST : Its business strategy offers a variety of specialty and upscale products to affluent consumers. For example, Neiman Marcus offering a broad range of differentiated product at high prices.
• NARROW MARKET AND LOW COST : Its business strategy is to be the low cost provider of shoes . For example , Payless Shoes offering a specific product, shoes , at low prices.
• NARROW MARKET AND HIGH COST : Its business strategy allows it to be a high cost provider of premier designer jewelry to affluent consumer.

MARCH 2013

Describe five (5) primary value activities . 

 Answer :

• INBOUND LOGISTICS : Acquires raw materials and resources and distributes manufacturing as required .
• OPERATIONS : Transform raw materials or inputs into goods and services .
• OUTBOUND LOGISTICS : Distributes goods and services to customers.
• MARKETING AND SALES : Promotes, prices and sell products to customers .
• SERVICES : Provides customer support after the sales products to customers.

THE SECOND CHAPTER

     Bismillahirahmannirahim . Hey you guys :) . we meet again . so you must be wondering what are the next chapter that we learn on our lass class right ? haha . im so excited to tell and explain to you guys what is the next chapter is about ! Lets began the show ~ ok too dramatic isn't it ? hahah

    Okey our next chapter is about IDENTIFYING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES . When we were in class our lecturer constantly asked us what do we understand about competitive advantages is ? Well , for what i do understand  is the Competitive Advantage is something that the difference and uniqueness that company in term of their product or services that they offer to their customers which not has been offer by others company . When the company or organization can significantly impact its market share by being first to the market that is called First - Mover Advantage . So, see the picture below if you have that the advantage you will be stronger than others . Other company will see your company as that big sumo while them just that little kid . So this is why it is important to known how to dominate this thing .

 Organization can used 3 tools to analyze and develop competitive advantages , there are :

• Porter's Five Force Model
• Porter's Three Generic Strategies
• Value Chains

                                PORTER'S FIVE FORCE MODEL

           

• BUYER : High when buyers have many choices of whom to buy from , Low when few .  To reduce buyer power : Loyalty program -give customer reward .                                                                                     Switching cost  -cost that can make customer reluctant to switch.

• SUPPLIER : High when buyer have few choices of whom to buy from , Low when few . To reduce supplier power : Business-to-business (B2B) . 

• THREAT OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES : High when many alternatives , Low when few alternatives . To reduce : Switching cost  -cost that can make customer reluctant to switch.

• THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS : High when it is easy to new competitor to enter market , Low when many barriers to entering market .

• RIVALRY AMONG EXISTING COMPETITORS : High when competitors is fierce in market, Low when competitors is more complacent .

                    PORTER'S THREE GENERIC STRATEGIES

• BROAD MARKET - LOW COST      : Offering the low cost provider of goods for the cost-conscious consumer .
• BROAD MARKET - HIGH COST     : Offering a variety of specialty and upscale product to affluent consumers .
• NARROW MARKET - LOW COST  : Offering a specific product at low prices .
• NARROW MARKET - HIGH COST : Offering a differentiated product, jewelry at high prices .

                                          THE VALUE CREATION

Value chain analysis is a useful tool to determining how to create the greatest possible value for customer . This to identify processes in which the firm can add value for the customer and create a competitive advantage for itself with a cost advantage . It have two categories which is Primary Activities and Support Activities .

Primary Activities :

• INBOUND LOGISTICS : Acquires raw materials and resources and distributes manufacturing as required .
• OPERATIONS : Transform raw materials or inputs into goods and services .
• OUTBOUND LOGISTICS : Distributes goods and services to customers.
• MARKETING AND SALES : Promotes, prices and sell products to customers .
• SERVICES : Provides customer support after the sales products to customers.

Support Activities :

• FIRM INFRASTRUCTURE : Includes the company format or departmental structures, environment, and systems.
• HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT : Provides employee training, hiring, and compensation.
• TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT : Applies MIS to processes to add value.
• PROCUREMENT : Purchases inputs such raw materials, resources, equipment and supplies.

            Alhamdulillah , thats all for now , thank you for reading and hopefully this gonna be something helpful and useful for you . Im really glad if you do . Dont forget to always up to date with my blog . Thank you :)

THE FIRST CHAPTER

      Assalammualaikum and hello to all the awesome people in the world . Ok today Im gonna share to you what i have learned on the last friday in my MGT300 class . Ok first of all what it is MGT300 actually ? You must be wondering right ? In this semester we as the business student  part 4 are being taught and expose about IT in business . What it is IT ? IT is very general and there is difference between  IT and IT in Business . When we mention about IT people will usually think about the internet, online shopping and etc but actually its more than that . Information technology is everywhere in business
 
     IT means a field concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information. IT can be can important enabler of business success and innovation in business . In business general name for the business function and academic discipline covering the application of people , technologies , and procedures to solve business problems is known as management information system (MIS) . In order to understand more about MIS it is important to clearly know about DATA , INFORMATION , BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE , IT RESOURCES and IT CULTURE . 

     The main effect on business operations by using IT are it improve the customer service which will improve the productivity of the firm and also can reduce costs . This will give more advantages and more profit to the firms compare the others . The most important key or elements in business success is INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY , INFORMATION and PEOPLE . If one of it does not exist then it will not be success .

    For the firm to be successful,all the department must work together as a team and sharing the information needed to other department and not operate in silo or independently so they can perform more efficient and effective on their business performance .

   Hopefully , with this information it will guide you on how to manage the firm better and be more success in future and maybe for the others this can be a great information if you have interest in business .