Monday, October 6, 2008

Finals' Question # 1
Research one company from the Internet and describe their MIS strategic plan in 1-2 paragraphs. Discuss too the impact of this strategic plan on the company's management, competitors, customers and the company as a whole.Evaluate how can this strategic plan be applied to any local company in the Philippines. Discuss too the possible effect on the company.Include your reference.
answer:Aspire Systems, a Chennai-based, outsourced product development company, specialising in software product engineering services has developed an in-house application called ‘Marketing Information System’ that serves as a key driver behind Aspire’s marketing strategy. It supports all marketing and sales activities within the company.
By developing this application in-house, Aspire has been able to save on its IT Infrastructure spending. Deploying an application from an external vendor would have raised the cost at every business stage. The customisation cost in any application is high and according to Aspire any manpower addition in future would have only increased their expenditure.
MIS, describes specific systems that "provide managers with reports and, in some cases, on-line access to the organization's current performance and historical records. "MIS primarily serve the functions of planning, controlling, and decision making at the management level." MIS are one of a number of different types of information systems that can serve the needs of different levels in an organization. For example, information systems might be developed to support upper management in planning the company's strategic direction or to help manufacturing in controlling a plant's operations. Some of the other types of information systems include: transaction processing systems, which simply record the routine transactions needed to conduct business, like payroll, shipping, or sales orders; and office automation systems, which are intended to increase the productivity of office workers and include such systems as word processing, electronic mail, and digital filing. Ideally, the various types of information systems in an organization are interconnected to allow for information sharing.
The development of effective information systems holds a number of challenges for small businesses. Despite, or perhaps because of, the rapid development of computer technology, there is nothing easy or mechanical about building workable information systems. Building, operating, and maintaining information systems are challenging for a number of reasons.For example, some information cannot be captured and put into a system. Computers often cannot be programmed to take into account competitor responses to marketing tactics or changes in economic conditions, among other things. In addition, the value of information erodes over time, and rapid changes in technology can make systems become obsolete very quickly. Finally, many companies find systems development to be problematic because the services of skilled programmers are at a premium.
Despite the challenges inherent in systems development, however, MIS also offer businesses a number of advantages. Today, leading companies and organizations are using information technology as a competitive tool to develop new products and services, forge new relationships with suppliers, edge out competitors, and radically change their internal operations and organizations. For example, using MIS strategically can help a company to become a market innovator. By providing a unique product or service to meet the needs of customers, a company can raise the cost of market entry for potential competitors and thus gain a competitive advantage. Another strategic use of MIS involves forging electronic linkages to customers and suppliers. This can help companies to lock in business and increase switching costs. Finally, it is possible to use MIS to change the overall basis of competition in an industry. For example, in an industry characterized by price wars, a business with a new means of processing customer data may be able to create unique product features that change the basis of competition to differentiation.
http://www.tech2.com/biz/india/casestudies/enterprise-solutions/mis-drives-aspire%E2%80%99s-marketing-strategy/3671/0

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