Group No 2 Members

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA KELANTAN CITY CAMPUS

FACULTY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS

GST5103  

INFORMATION SYSTEM AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

AP DR. RUSLI BIN ABDULLAH

Group Members:

Name                                            Student ID         Program

Nur Hani Binti Ithanin                   P14D356P          MBA

Nur Nadiah Binti Johan                P14D359P          MBA

Nor Seha Binti Nor Azmi              P14D364P          MBA

Week 4 (c) - GROUPON’S BUSINESS MODEL: SOCIAL AND LOCAL

INTRODUCTION

Groupon (a portmanteau derived from "group coupon") is a deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies. Groupon was launched in November 2008, and the first market for Groupon was Chicago, followed soon thereafter by Boston, New York City, and Toronto. By October 2010 Groupon served more than 150 markets in North America and 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America and had 35 million registered users.

The idea for Groupon was created by now-ousted CEO and Pittsburgh native Andrew Mason. The idea subsequently gained the attention of his former employer, Eric Lefkofsky, who provided $1 million in "seed money" to develop the idea. In April 2010, the company was valued at $1.35 billion. According to a December 2010 report conducted by Groupon's marketing association and reported in Forbes Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, Groupon was "projecting that the company is on pace to make $1 billion in sales faster than any other business, ever". However, a report from Forrester Research in October 2011 suggested that the Groupon business model was a "disaster" and that the firm had become an example of "how fast an Internet darling can fall.

Business model

The company offers one "Groupon" per day in each of the markets it serves. The Groupon works as an assurance contract using ThePoint's platform: if a certain number of people sign up for the offer, then the deal becomes available to all; if the predetermined minimum is not met, no one gets the deal that day. This reduces risk for retailers, who can treat the coupons as quantity discounts as well as sales promotion tools. Groupon makes money by keeping approximately half the money the customer pays for the coupon.

PROBLEM OF STATEMENT

    1.       How does Groupon take advantage of social networking and location technology?

    2.       Do you think this business model is viable? Why or why not?

SUGGESTION AND ACTION

QUESTION 1:

How does Groupon take advantage of social networking and location technology?

ANSWER:

Since its launch in 2008, the daily deal Web site Groupon has become so popular and so profitable that it passed on a $6 billion buyout offer from Google in December 2010 [source: Ovide]. Groupon has achieved fame and fortune by putting a Web-savvy spin on the boring old coupon. But to understand how Groupon works, let's start with how coupons work.

A coupon is what is called a loss leader. A loss leader is any kind of sale, promotion, discount or special offer that entices customers to walk in the door. The business will almost certainly lose money on the discounted items, but the hope is that the customer will also spend money on other items, or even better, become a regular customer. Coupons typically have an expiration date and offer modest discounts; perhaps a dollar off specific grocery store items or a 15 percent discount at a major retailer.

Groupons are like coupons on steroids. The deals offered daily through Groupon start at 50 percent off and can go as high as 90 percent cheaper than the normal price. Groupon can offer such steep discounts because it guarantees business owners a minimum return on their investment and the possibility of becoming an overnight sensation. Groupon claims that its service is a win-win for both businesses and consumers, but there are some disadvantages. Groupons was using their strategies to take advantage of some culture that interested with discount.

Nowdays, Social, local, mobile are three words marketers are hearing more and more these days. Sometimes we may even hear them uttered together in one breath as SoLoMo. With an increase of users relying on mobile phones, tablets and their accompanying geo-location technology, businesses today are increasingly finding the need to think locally.

QUESTION 2:

Do you think this business model is viable? Why or why not?

ANSWER:

In our opinion, this business model is still viable because the increasing the numbers of social networking user that will increase the numbers of Groupon's customers. Other than that, increasing the online business will help this kind of business model to growth healthy.

• ·         Ability to get more profit
• ·         Inexpensive deal
• ·       Currently social connectivity is proven as a platform to selling goods and services on the internet.
• ·         Groupon serves 500 markets in 44 countries.
• ·         Groupon also need to strategize the marketing and business in order to maintain their profits.
• ·         Groupon also need to maintain and increase competitive advantage for their products and services.

Week 5 (c) -KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES

INTRODUCTION

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation that delivers real results to global businesses, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery ModelTM, recognised as the benchmark of excellence in software development.

A part of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 285,000 of the world's best trained consultants. The company generated consolidated revenues of $11.6 billion for year ended March 31, 2013 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange in India.

Areas of business

Services
TCS helps clients optimise business processes for maximum efficiency and galvanise their IT infrastructure to be both resilient and robust. TCS offers the following solutions:

• Assurance services
• Business information and performance management
• Business process outsourcing
• Cloud services
• Connected marketing solutions
• Consulting
• Engineering and industrial services
• Enterprise solutions
• iON small and medium businesses
• IT infrastructure services
• IT services
• Mobility solutions and services
• Platform solutions

Industries
TCS has the depth and breadth of experience and expertise that businesses need to achieve business goals and succeed amidst fierce competition. TCS helps clients from various industries solve complex problems, mitigate risks and become operationally excellent. Some of the industries it serves are:

• Banking and financial services
• Construction
• Energy and utilities
• Government
• Healthcare
• High tech
• Insurance
• Life sciences
• Manufacturing
• Media and information services
• Metals and mining
• Retail and consumer products
• Telecom
• Travel, transportation and hospitality
   

Software 

• TCS BaNCS
• TCS MasterCraft
• TCS technology products

PROBLEM OF STATEMENT

1. Analyze the knowledge management efforts at Tata Consulting Services (TCS) using the knowledge management value chain model. Which tools or activities were used for managing tacit knowledge and which ones are used for explicit knowledge?
2. Describe the growth of knowledge management systems at TCS? How have these systems helped TCS in its business?
3. Describe the collaboration tools used at TCS? What benefits did TCS reap from these tools?
4. How did Web 2.0 tools help TCS manage knowledge and collaboration among its employees?
5. How do you think KM tools have changed some key operational processes at TCS, such as bidding for new projects, project development and implementation, customer service, and so on?

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

SUGGESTION AND ACTION

QUESTION 1:

Analyze the knowledge management efforts at Tata Consulting Services (TCS) using the knowledge management value chain model. Which tools or activities were used for managing tacit knowledge and which ones are used for explicit knowledge?

ANSWER:

Using the value chain model, the knowledge management efforts at TCS can be divided into the following activities:

• Knowledge Acquisition: Over the years, TCS had acquired a vast body of knowledge and experience in several fields through on-shore and off-shore projects for its clients across the globe including GE Insurance, GE Health, Hewlett Packard, Prudential, Standard Chartered Bank etc. In addition, TCS regularly rotated people across various functions and within other Tata Group companies to gain cross-industry experience. Employees were also encouraged to be part of outside bodies like the IEEE, and go in for certifications.
• Knowledge Storage: TCS had developed various repositories and databases for knowledge storage such as KBases, Process Asset Libraries, KnowMax, and Ultimatix.
• Knowledge Dissemination: Knowledge was disseminated using a variety of techniques such as Ultimatix – a web based electronic knowledge management portal; propel sessions that brought together employees with similar interests; Live Meeting and Knowledge Transition sessions at the project level; and  “Tip of the Day” email comprising technical, conceptual or human skills tips were shared within the organization daily.
• Knowledge Application: Students should visit the TCS website to explore the new capabilities developed by TCS and how it relates to the knowledge they have accumulated over the years about the customers, markets, systems development, and technologies.
• To manage explicit knowledge, TCS had used KBases, Process Asset Libraries, KnowMax, and Ultimatix.
• Tacit knowledge was managed through redesign of development centers, Propel sessions, Knowledge Transition Sessions, and communities of practice.

QUESTION 2:

Describe the growth of knowledge management systems at TCS? How have these systems helped TCS in its business?

ANSWER:

The concept of knowledge management (KM) was introduced in TCS in 1995 and a dedicated KM team called “Corporate Groupware” was formed in 1998. This group launched the KM-pilot in mid-1999. At that time, KM in TCS covered nearly every function, from quality assurance to HR management. The employees could access the knowledge repository that resided on the corporate and branch servers through the intranet, with a browser front-end or a Notes client. The knowledge repository, also called KBases, contained a wide range of information about processes, line of business, line of technology, and projects.

The next step was to create Process Asset Libraries (PALs) which contained information related to technology, processes, case studies for project leaders which were made available to all development centers through the intranet. The same thing was done through the web-based electronic knowledge management portal called Ultimatix, of which PAL was the precursor. The PAL library and KBases, which were hosted on the intranet, were merged with Ultimatix, which had sub-portals for quality management system, software productivity improvement, training materials, and tools information. In 2007, TCS developed Knowmax, a knowledge management system, using Microsoft sharepoint portal server that gave TCS consultants access to nearly 40 years of experience and best practices arranged by type of engagement, the technology in use, and customer requirements. It supported more than 60 knowledge assets and was accessible via Ultimatix to all TCS associates. Any associate could contribute to the K-Bank and Knowledge officers were made responsible for maintaining the quality of content.

  

The benefits of these tools and systems to TCS are described in detail in Q5.

QUESTION 3:

Describe the collaboration tools used at TCS? What benefits did TCS reap from these tools?

ANSWER: 

• ·         TCS used a variety of collaboration tools – Infinity that includes instant messaging, IP telephony, and video conferencing; blogs and wikis; IdeaStorm, TIP, and Mysite.
• ·         As a result of adopting Infinity, collaboration of  overseas and local offices improved as instant messaging (IM) got rid of cultural and pronunciation differences that could occur on the phone. Furthermore, corporate communications was able to run a 24-hour internal news broadcast to all TCS offices in the world. In addition, travel and telecommunications costs were reduced by 40 percent and 6 percent respectively.
• ·         The other tools improved collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing among the employees.

QUESTION 4:

How did Web 2.0 tools help TCS manage knowledge and collaboration among its employees?

ANSWER:

Blogs, wikis, and other tools were used to boost communication and productivity among the employees.  Wikis were used for collaborating on materials related to project, supporting brainstorming sessions, and developing presentations. Employees used blogs as a means to gather inputs on problems that they faced on a project. JustAsk System allowed employees to pose a question and in turn get answers from other colleagues, sometimes leading to a detailed discussion. If someone often answered questions on a particular domain, the relevant specialist group invited that person into the domain group and thus gave the visibility to talent within the company. The IdeaStorm, used by the management, helped in generation of ideas on topics posted by the corporate team. TIP was used as a portal for product innovation and new ideas. It helped the management to garner ideas related to product/service innovation and helped in solving problems. TCS also used social networking like MySite to help employees communicate better with each other. 

QUESTION 5:

How do you think KM tools have changed some key operational processes at TCS, such as bidding for new projects, project development and implementation, customer service, and so on?   

ANSWER:

TCS aims to move up the value chain and to continue to bid for higher-level projects, beyond those of maintenance and development.  By accumulating knowledge, it has built capabilities to understand how to service clients through consulting and in other strategic areas. So KM has enabled TCS to continue to move higher-up and to bid for more strategic projects.  KM repositories that capture best practices in the projects it has undertaken make the company more efficient in servicing clients. This means it can execute better.  Thus, systems development and implementation activities are more likely to be done by TCS in a manner that is timely, effective, and cost efficient.  The same for customer service – by knowing customer requirements and also taking ideas from other industries that are stored in the KM databases, the company can provide new and innovative solutions to resolve customer queries.

Overall, KM tools have become a key strategic resource at the company and all hires are required to learn them as a part of their orientation.  These tools are also the first go-to before starting any project or approaching a client.  Knowledge in these databases allows TCS consultants to quickly gather intelligence about the client or similar projects and thus align themselves better with what the client might want. This has led to a higher success rate in bidding and in project execution. 

CONCLUSION

Going forward, Tata companies are building multinational businesses that seek to differentiate themselves through customer-centricity, innovation, entrepreneurship, trustworthiness and values-driven business operations, while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders including shareholders, employees and civil society.

Week 6 (b) - Honam Petrochemical’s Quest for better Management Reports

INTRODUCTION

Honam Petrochemical manufactures a variety of petrochemical products from two facilities in South Korea. Its primary product is ethylene, and Honam ranks among the country's leading producers of polyolefins like high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene as well as other downstream chemicals like ethylene glycol. The integrated company also operates a naphtha cracker, which supplies the raw materials for its other products. Honam Petrochemical was established in 1976 and is a part of Japanese conglomerate Lotte's Korean network. In 2010 Honam acquired Malaysia's Titan Chemicals for $1.27 billion. While it's publicly traded, various Lotte companies own a majority share in Honam Petrochemical.

LOTTE CHEMICAL’s Yeosu, Daesan, and Ulsan plants boast of the largest scale of domestic and international operations. The company has accomplished vertical systematization with respect to raw materials and products through steady plant and business expansion as well as production of basic petrochemical raw materials and products such as olefin and aromatics. Among the high-quality products produced by LOTTE CHEMICAL through its efficient processes are ethylene, HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PP, functional resin, EG, SM, PIA, PET, etc. Moreover, the LOTTE CHEMICAL Research Institute in Daejeon is establishing a solid foothold in the domestic petrochemical field through the steady development of new products. LOTTE CHEMICAL’s products are being distributed to 152 countries around the world. With the acquisition of Pakistan’s PTA in 2009, Artenius in the UK in 2010 and Titan Chemical Corp., LOTTE CHEMICAL is now able to efficiently supply excellent products to an increasing number of countries.

The company is further accelerating its efforts to strengthen its global competitiveness by establishing overseas branches in Hong Kong, Russia, and USA, along with the sales corporation in China for active sales activities both in domestic and abroad. As Asia’s top chemical company, LOTTE CHEMICAL will become a global chemical company that genuinely cares for the improvement in the quality of humanity and a balance with the environment.

PROBLEM OF STATEMENT

1. List and describe the information required of HPC's new management system. What problems was the new system designed to solve?

2. To what extend were “ people” problems affecting management decision making at HPC? What were some of the management, organization and technology issued that had to be addressed by the new system? How did system's designer make the system more 'people- friendly'?

3. What role did end user play in developing HPC's new system? How did the projects team make sure users were involved? What would have happened to the project if they had not done this?

4. What other step did HPC's take to make sure the system was successful?

5. What types of system-building methods and tools did HPC use for building its system?

6. What was benefit of the new system? How did it change the way Honam ran its business? How successful was this system solution?

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

  

Summarized Consolidated Income Statement

Fixed Date: 2013.12.31 [Unit: KRW Billion]

Division	2011	2012	2013
Sales	15,700	15,903	16,439
Operating Profit	1,470	372	487
Net Income Before Income Taxes	1,527	387	375
Consolidated Net Income	1,133	316	286

Summarized Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

Fixed Date: 2013.12.31 [Unit: KRW Billion]

Division	2011	2012	2013
Total Assets	10,747	10,372	10,688
Total Liabilities	4,589	4,288	4,393
Total Stockholders’ Equity	6,158	6,084	6,294
Debt Ratio	75%	70%	70%

·         Revised details of K-IFRS No. 1001 (Decisions made in the 19th regular meeting: related to operating profit division) are reflected on the information for 2012 and 2013.

SUGGESTION AND ACTION

QUESTION 1:

List and describe the information required of HPC's new management system. What problems was the new system designed to solve?

ANSWER:

Information Requirement	Problems was the new system designed to solve
Reliable report	Report that are able to accurately measure management performance and provide useful, accurate information for increasing sales and reducing costs
Unsanitized data	-Report must up to date -not need to sanitized to “look better” to senior management
Fast report	Anytime access on the report anywhere and anytime
Enterprise wide visibility	Can access and share the data easily across the various business unit and functions

Question 2:

To what extend were “ people” problems affecting management decision making at HPC? What were some of the management, organization and technology issued that had to be addressed by the new system? How did system's designer make the system more 'people- friendly'?

ANSWER:

-To what extend were “ people” problems affecting management decision making at HPC?

• Individual managers were processing and manipulating the data to make their departments look better to senior management. The report data were somewhat stale and presented only on periodic basic.
• Executives at the chemical firm wanted access to the data before they went through manipulation or processing. They didn’t want each department’s own interpretation report thus delay the report to management. The executives wanted anytime access to the timeliest data but they did not want to be overloaded with unnecessary data so they could focus on the “watch-up indicators”

-What were some of the management, organization and technology issued that had to be addressed by the new system?

• Up to date information can be shown during the meeting to ensure all discussions and decision making are based on the consistency and timely view of the data. An executive can access the data at anytime to get a more accurate and timelier picture of how their organization is performing without any outside interpretation.
• No longer do top level decision makers i.e. to send their staff members on data-hunting excursions. The staff should know data is available and how to get it to expedites their decision making process.
• The system should be more users friendly.

How did system's designer make the system more 'people- friendly'?

• ·         Web access from multiple location
• ·         Required little training on how to use the system
• ·         Well designed– user friendly screen and data entry forms
• ·         Simple and easy ti updates
• ·         Easy to troubleshoot
• ·         Efficient

Question 3 :

What role did end user play in developing HPC's new system? How did the projects team make sure users were involved? What would have happened to the project if they had not done this?

ANSWER:

a) Interview and discuss with department involved

• ·         IT organization started by asking executives to list existing report they were received and to access the usefulness of each.
• ·         To list existing reports
• ·         Executives were asked if there were additional report old data from which of their organizational group were benefit. The dialogue proved very helpful in developing the right set of reports and dashboard for executives
• ·         Meeting with executives at different location where the system was being rolled out to received any user’s requirement.

b) Campaign

• ·         Project team encourage users to start working with the new system
• ·         Discussion and explain with executives regarding the system benefit.
• ·         Continuous campaign and awareness program to executives to ensure their use the system effectively

c) Benchmark with others and develop strategy

• ·         Benchmarks with other companies in the industry that can provide a good look at the data brings to most value.
• ·         Project team visited the various manufacturing plants when the system was being rolled out and had in depth discussion with executives about benefits of the new systems as well as hoe to use it.

What would have happened to the project if they had not done this?

• ·         Less refine data as required by the users and for management decision making.
• ·         It will create unpleasant experience for three end user should there is any hick up.
• ·         Inaccurate or untimely data flowing into executive’s dashboard.

Question 4 :

What other step did HPC's take to make sure the system was successful?

ANSWER:

1.      Phase approach

• ·         Rather than pushing a new system onto executives in the ERP life cycle ERP software and confident with the quality of the report.

2.      Emphasized benchmark

• ·         Emphasized the important of bench marking before designing and implementing an executive facing system

3.      Modern interface & mobile access

• ·         Executives can immediately accessing report and dashboards on daily, weekly and monthly basic
• ·         Mobile devices providing anytime, anywhere access to the new systems

Question 5:

What types of system-building methods and tools did HPC use for building its system?

ANSWER:

Type of system-building methods

Tools did HPC use for building its system

SAP Business Objects Dashboards

-A drag and drop visualization tool designed to create interactive analytics for powerful, personalized dashboard. -To make the data easily accessible, the system displayed a very intuitive web-based user interface. -Used for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis and enterprise information management. -Provide self-service access to data from databases and excel-spread-sheets. -An ad hoc query, reporting and analysis tools that is used to create queries or use existing reports, format retrieved information and perform analysis to understand trends and root cause.

Question 6 :

What was benefit of the new system? How did it change the way Honam ran its business? How successful was this system solution?

ANSWER:

Benefit	Change the way	Successful system solution
Unbiased Data	Executives no longer are limited to sanitized scale data in an outdated presentation format.	Accurate data
Timelier decisions	Reduce time to collect, process and track data for decision making. Delivers timely information and various analytics to end users.	Efficient result & right decision making
Improved business competitiveness	Ensure consistency of information and establishes structure for global sharing of information.	Increase business competitiveness through global used of information system.
Improved accessibility	Display data via management, cockpits, dashboard or widgets. Provides unstructured .to ensure readability	Get up to date data and easy to prepare a report