Resource Requirements Of The E Strategies Information Technology Essay

Resource requirement is defined as a quantitative description usually in money of the capital, equipment, information, labor and land that achievement of tactical objective will require [1] . To accomplish the implementation of the e-strategy, the specifications of resource requirements have to be identified to ensure the ability of Milky Bits to follow through in e-strategy plan.

Looking into the three of my chosen organizations, we can clearly see similarities in the resources deployed to implement their e-strategy.

Capital Resources

All three organizations, HMV Group, Dell Inc and Natwest, were public companies listed on a public stock exchange. Being a listed public company, these organizations had access to capital, liquidity and the ability to set aside capital to invest in their implementation of e-strategy.

Milky Bits can satisfy this resource requirement by setting aside capital from the retained earnings or seek out investors, selling equity of the company for additional capital, to have the sufficient capital resources to deploy the successful implementation of their e-strategy.

Technical Know-how/ Expertise

All three organizations, HMV Group, Dell Inc and Natwest, had their own in-house technology/IT group that were trained and specialized to handle/support the needs of an e-strategy.

Milky Bits can satisfy this resource requirement by either train up a couple of their employees with the technical know-how or employ someone who already has expertise in this area. This specialized personnel will be responsible for the maintenance of the online platform, providing training of the ERP/CRM software to other employees.

Hardware/ Computer / Software/ Database Resources

All three organizations, HMV Group, Dell Inc and Natwest already had existing hardware and infrastructure in place. HMV launched its first e-commerce initiative in 2000, while Dell was one of the first movers, running its successful e-commerce operation since inception in 1985.

Milky Bits can satisfy this resource requirement by purchasing a couple computers, software packages to handle the needs of its business operation.

Facilities Requirements

Milky Bits should ensure their existing physical facilities and accommodations are sufficient to handle the current volume.

Implementation Schedule for Milky Bits

It is necessary to plan a clear schedule of activities to be accomplished that would help Milky Bit’s attain the objectives of their e-straetgy. This section shows the required tasks in chronological order, with the estimated completion time attached to each task. The implementation schedule is illustrated in the following table:

Element

Estimated Time

Key Actions To Be Completed

Summary Evaluation

E-strategy formulation and policy

1 – 2 weeks

Milky Bits must first develop their e-strategy vision and enact certain policies to abide by.

Planning

1 – 2 weeks

Identify the resource requirements needed, establish objectives and targets based on quantifiable metrics.

Organizational structure to split its e-strategy into identifiable departmental objectives.

Capital Raising

1 – 3 months

Either raise additional capital for outside investors in exchange for equity in Milky Bits or use excess capital from retained earnings to be deployed to its e-strategy initiatives.

Hardware

1 week

Purchase the necessary hardware such as computers, high-speed internet, to manage their new technologies.

Online platform

1 – 2 months

Employ IT specialists to build an online platform to help facilitate online sales, online advertising, and seek to hire people with programming expertise to handle their IT requirements and provide training to existing staff.

Form partnership with banks and online merchants to enable them to accept payments with credit/debit cards and paypal.

Implementation of ERM/CRM software

1 month

Purchase ERM/CRM software packages available in the marketplace that best fit Milky Bits requirements and integrate the software with their online platform.

Ensure the seamless operation of their e-commerce site with their supply chain.

Checking and Corrective action

3 – 6 months

Have procedures for monitor and measure, corrective and preventive action to be outlined

Develop and implement procedures for identification, maintenance and disposition of environment records.

Management Review (Continuous Improvement)

9 – 15 months

Develop and implement procedures for top management review of their e-strategy.

Overall System Evaluation

8/10

Adaptation of existing business systems

In any implementation of e-strategy, it is always important to look at existing systems and look into how these can be adapted to accommodate the new processes.

One of the biggest challenges in implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system in any organizations is the integration with existing databases in place. For most organizations, this would involve a lengthy reformulation process of the existing databases to an acceptable format to ensure seamless integration with the new systems in place.

A simple solution to the mismatch of existing systems with new systems can be solved by using out-of-the-box, pre-build integration systems that implements a single solution for the entire business [2] . Milky Bits should source the marketplace for solutions like this to shorten their implementation time and reap the benefits of their new technologies.

It is important that Milky Bits does not go for the most affordable systems available in the marketplace. But rather, search for a product that provide convenience and features such as compatibility with existing systems, features that allow up-to-the-minute data with real-time database synchronization that maintains the integrity of customer or vendor records, and features that allows Milky Bits to import data from existing systems to new systems.

Should there be no compatibility with existing systems and the new systems available in the marketplace, Milky Bits can always seek to employ specialist to facilitate their implementation of new system to adapt to existing business process. Milky Bits can engage specialists like CERN technologies that have developed proprietary methods to manage this technology transfer. For example, CERN technologies have developed an approach based on meta-data that “enables the tracking of product and process evolution in distributed environments all over the product life cycle. Business systems in many application domains can be defined, configured and instantiated to support the complete process lifecycle suitable for any evolving business process execution” [3] .

Task 7

Comprehensive user guide for Milky Bits

Implementation of an e-strategy

As mentioned in task 6, I would implement the e-strategy for Milky Bits according to the implementation schedule provided. I think it is necessary to have a framework in mind, and plan the implementation of the e-strategy in several phases. This will help guide management and help them ensure they are taking the right steps.

Phase 1

Formulate Milky Bit’s “vision” that projects the option future for the business, and a “mission statement” which address their values and customer needs that are to be met.

Set parameters, both financial and non-financial, for the measurement of the firm’s success and have quantifiable objective in place to allow the organization to work towards this goal.

Understand their customers, and work towards satisfying their demands and needs. Milky Bits need to differentiate themselves from the existing competitors through value creation.

Phase 2

Ascertain the required scale of e-business activities along the value chain and provide an analysis of cost structure of the organization.

Seek outside investors for additional capital or use surplus cash flow in retained earnings to invest in new technologies needed in the implementation of the IT systems

Phase 3

Build a corporate website to serve as their online platform to garner online sales, distribute online marketing materials and new promotional details on new products. This can be accomplished by hiring a web designer or outsourcing this function to IT specialist to build the online platform.

Phase 4

Build an in-house technology unit to handle and maintain the new systems in place as well as the integration of information from existing systems.

Technology unit should assess existing hardware and recommend updates or new purchases to replace to existing infrastructure.

HR business unit should select and recruitment people with expertise in programming and managing technology infrastructure. These new additions will be responsible for maintenance of their IT systems and the training of other employees to gain proficiency in the new systems.

Phase 5

Sourcing for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software that offers a single solution all theirs systems (i.e sales, finance, supply chain)

Ensure the integration of existing business system to the new systems implemented, such as the integration of the ERP/CRM software with the online platform so that there is seamless operation between the e-commerce and the supply chain

Phase 6

Put in place checking and corrective action procedures to be performed

Develop and implement procedures to engage in management review and ensure continuous improvement.

Develop Processes to Monitor

In order to monitor the implementation of the e-strategy, it is recommended to develop several tools such as [4] :

Logical framework (log frame) analysis

The log frame tool can be used to identify the risks and provide a rapid overview of the goals, objectives and outputs needed to attain the objectives. This basic logical framework breaks down the overall objectives into several branches:

Overall Objective

Improved coordination between stakeholders/providers

e-Strategy Purpose

Increased sharing and using of data

Optimize the manufacturing and distribution process to meet increased demand

Intermediate Results

Champions found/created on policy level

Integration of its online platform and its ERP software

Ability to manager supplier relationships and track customer preference

Activities

Increased knowledge about power of information

Introduction of online platform and ERP applications

From this logical framework, we can then identify the realistic outcomes in this e-strategy implementation and develop success indicators to measure the outcomes sought. This will help gauge the value add of the e-strategy since its implementation. Some success indicators to monitor the implementation of the e-strategy:

Online Sales

Directly measures the value-add from having an online platform to sell its products.

Profit Margin

Improvement in profit margin will demonstrate the cost-saving with the implementation of the e-strategy.

Operating Profit

Improvement in operating profit will demonstrate the overall efficiency of the overall operation.

Range of products

Increase in product portfolio should be evident given the added capabilities of new technologies.

No. of visitors to their online website

Monitor the traffic of people that visits the corporate website.

Lead Turnover Time

Turnover time should drop reflecting a more efficient supply chain.

Overall Sales

Increase in overall sales could reflect the value-add from having an online platform, more efficient supply chain, an avenue for advertising through online marketing.

Local Sales:Global Sales

Measurement of how global sales stake up against its local sales

Contribution of e-strategy to gain competitive advantage

The successful implementation of Milky Bits’ e-strategy would enable them to achieve competitive advantage in a global market. The e-strategy outlined for Mr. Park focused on the introduction of a couple of new technologies. These recommendations include:

Online Platform/ E-Commerce

Establish a dedicated technology business units

Employ the use of ERP/CRM software

Monitor and review performance with a log frame analysis

First and foremost, the launch of an online platform through a corporate website for Milky Bits will help gain competitive advantage. The biggest advantage is allowing Milky Bits to reach the global market, and better facilitate the demand of both the national and the international markets. Despite the relatively small size of Milky Bits, the use of e-commerce help them generate additional sales through the online channel, while also empowering them to execute business transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to that, the online platform will also provide a cost-efficient way to market their new product launches and latest promotional campaigns through the Milky Bits website.

The use of ERP/CRM software will lend advantages in a variety of areas. This goes from order tracking, to accounting to customer care, and inventory management. From the accounting aspect, ERP can add value by integrating cost, profit and revenue information of sales [5] . This will give Milky Bits the competitive advantage in helping the company keep better track of their products and ensure a higher level of production of their confessionary products. Moreover, the e-strategy will result in a substantial reduction in business process re-engineering, “allow the customization of product to meet the demand of particular customers” [6] and increased the overall productivity of Milky Bits limited manpower. The new technologies will free up time for their 10 employees allowing them to focus on revenue generating tasks such as providing customer care services, follow up, and etcetera.

Most importantly, the implementation of e-strategy will give Milky Bits a competitive advantage by reducing the burden of infrastructure to conduct businesses and thereby raising the funds available to expansion their production line.