NMIMS PGDBM Assignment Information Systems For Managers Sem1 Dec2018

NMIMS Global Access School for Continuing Education (NGA-SCE)
Course: Information Systems for Managers

Internal Assignment Applicable for December 2018 Examination (Sem 1)
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1. Social media and data analytics are changing the scene for most industries today. It is said that
social media played a key role in propelling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014. It is
no surprise that with the elections round the corner in 2019, parties are getting their social media
warriors ready to help them combat this war in the digital space. In your opinion, can Social media
be used to influence voter behaviour? Can political parties actually leverage data analytics
solutions to reach out to probable voters? Justify your answer.
INTRODUCTION
The social media is being used as a marketing tool by corporates, government, political parties and
various organizations to communicate, connect, influence and attract its followers. This new
platform has changed the way people think and communicate with each other. Leveraging the ease
of connectivity, it is expected that social media will play a huge role and will continue to influence
the coming elections of the country.
Social media is emerging as a hottest promotion tool being considered by the political parties to
influence, connect and express their vision to gain a majority in next round of elections. The widely-
used media is now becoming an everyday activity for its consumers to share their thoughts, feelings
and experiences among themselves. These thoughts, feelings and experiences are valuable data that
can act as guiding tool for political parties. Politicians come to know what appeals to their audiences
and can plan their election campaign accordingly. Social media is the prime source of such
information. Candidates can use professional companies to collect, process and analyse this data to
decide further course of action. Using the data analytics can helps electoral parties to know their
voters better and to influence them more effectively.
CONCEPT AND APPLICATION
The use of social media in politics has dramatically changed the way campaigns are run. In 2014,
Indian Lok-Sabha elections, the social media platforms became a medium for Indian voters to find
about and debate about the Prime Minister candidates. Long before 2014 general elections,
Narendra Modi was projected as best option for prime minister through millions of Facebook posts.
BJP used social media extensively to influence voter’s perception against ruling party and project
itself as face of better future.
Political parties and Candidates can use Social media platforms to influence voters’ behavior in
following ways:
• Information about voters: Everyday, hundreds of tweets, Facebook posts, likes, photos are
shared on Facebook. Hundreds of photos, videos or audios are uploaded over Instagram in every
town of different cities. All these contents can be used to generate valuable data regarding
voters’ issues, their political views, their likes, dislikes etc. This data can help candidates in
accessing the sentiments and issues of voters. Political parties along with professional companies
can study this data to plan their election campaign accordingly.
• Personal connection with Voters: Candidates can use their social media to create one on one
connection with their voters. This personal connection between candidate and voters to drive
enthusiasm and positively impact voter turnout.
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• Runs targeted Propaganda: Political parties can use social media to run advertisement campaigns
that are targeted at a kind of audience based on their search history, likes, dislikes, location, age,
job title, gender, age, etc. For example, voters from a drought affected region can be targeted
with advertisements highlighting accomplishments of Modi government in developing irrigation
facilities in Gujarat.
• Gather information regarding competitors’ actions: A political party can use social surveillance
to gather intelligence regarding the strategies of its competitors. A careful analysis of this data
can be done by the dedicated teams to offer counter strategies.
• Increases the pace of sharing content: Social media is an effective tool to swiftly share
information and content regarding a preset political motive. Any action of political party which
strengthens the agenda or any blunder from competitor can be quickly broadcasted to influence
voter’s perception.
• Geo-targeting: Geo-targeting means targeting people according to their location. A Political party
at a national level can leverage its understanding of local issues through carefully researched data
based on location, can display its ads campaigns to voters belonging to that location. These
targeted campaigns can influence voters’ thinking that their local issues are on national level
agenda.
• Opportunity to influence female Voters: Female voters constitute close to 49% of the total voter
strength. Traditionally female voters were hard to be reached and influenced due to their limited
participation in social issues and discussions. Use of social media is on increase among female
voters. Political parties now have wider base to influence using Social media.
Data analytics refer to the processing and analysation of the data. This can be done with the help of
specialized systems and softwares that hold expertise in refining data sets. With time, political
parties have changed the norm of traditional campaigning methods and have planned to combine
data analytics in their campaigning tactics. Data Analytic companies are leveraging data collected
from social media, web, TV, mobile, tele-calling etc. This data is then processed using statisticians,
predictive modelers and software programmers. Based on the analysis outcomes, political parties
are advised to plan and implement their political campaigns.
However, the usage limit of social media is restricted to urban areas only. People belonging to rural
areas are still very far from usage of social media. So, politicians may not be able to connect or reach
rural people using social media. Political parties need to be aware of this limitation of social media
reach. Hence by implementing combination of Social media and traditional campaign can gain
desired outcome on voter influence.
CONCLUSION
The social media can have significant effect on voting intention of respondent especially young
people. Social media is even considered to be the source of information about politician’s
personality that will help voters to decide to vote or not to vote that candidate. Social media has
become a very convenient way for politicians to connect with the masses, which in turn gives rise to
a lot of data being stored at various levels. This data combines with computing technology has
become a crucial part of election campaigns. Politicians and political parties are aware how to make
active use of digital media and data analytics to target their election campaign. Data analytics also
help political parties to study the demographic pattern of states, the social and economic density of
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rural and urban locations, track distribution of constituencies across the country, analyse voting
patterns in past elections as well as do efficient polling booth management.
US President Donald Trump has 52.6 million followers on Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
43 million followers while Rahul Gandhi has around 8 million, this clearly shows how important and
influencing social media is considered by political parties.
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2. Malkan Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is operating in the pharmaceutical industry with a number
of drug formulations in the form of tablets, capsules, powder and syrup. These drugs are available
to the patients through chemists or online pharmacies on prescriptions of registered practitioners
only. Besides, the company has some over-the-counter products that are available to any person
without prescriptions. The company markets its products through a network of wholesalers, who
in turn have their retailer network. The company is finding it difficult to maintain the inventory of
the stocks that it has at its disposal, warehousing processes and associated transactions including
shipping, receiving, put-away and picking. In order to streamline its operations to achieve
efficiency, the company is planning to invest in a SCM software. How would this help the company
in achieving its objectives? What are the risks in implementing the same?
INTRODUCTION
Supply chain management is basically the flow of goods and services. It includes the whole process
of goods’ movement, storage of raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, storage of processed
goods, transportation and goods’ consumption from beginning to end. The goal of efficient supply
chain management is to reduce the production cost of product by reducing the inventory cost,
reduced lead time, eliminating wasteful processes and optimizing resource utilization for an
organization. With advancement of information technologies, advanced SCM softwares are available
for organizations to automate and manage the whole process with the help of computer algorithms.
By implementing supply chain management systems, businesses are able to reduce waste and
overhead costs.
These systems integrate the business processes of suppliers, manufacturing firm, distributors, and
logistics in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of manufacturing and distribution. They
automate the information flow between a company and its supply chain partners to optimize the
procurement, manufacturing, and delivery of products or services.
Implementing supply chain management system will allow businesses to optimize the three key
flows in the supply chain: product flow, information flow, and financial flow.
The SCM system will help Malkan Pharmaceutical to maintain optimized inventory, reduce wasteful
activities, keep track of transactions and reduce shipping delays. Supply chain management software
provides value to companies by providing smooth planning and execution of operations for
profitability. SCM software’s offers complete visibility across the entire supply chain and allows
managers to monitor the status of activities across suppliers, plants, storage facilities, and
distribution centers. Implementation of SCM software can help Malkan in following areas:
• Optimized Inventory: SCM software will automate the flow of information between various
channels and components of supply chain. This will in turn provide more accurate forecast and
source the amount of inventory needed, leading to an increase in inventory turns around and
reduction in standby inventory. For online retailing, software will automate information from
inventory for customers showing real time inventory available at a given time for purchase.
• Minimized delays – Malkan operations experience delays in collection, storage and supply of its
products that leads to late shipments, slowed production lines, and logistical errors in distribution
channels which negatively affect a company’s ability to satisfy customer demand for products.
SCM software will enable supply chain manager to coordinate all activities and ensure improved
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delivery times. With tracking of the shipped products available and the real time visible updates
Malkan can ensure that wholesalers, retailers and customers will receive the products on time
without any delay.
• Enhanced collaboration – SCM software will enhance collaboration between various components
of Malkan’s supply chain by helping suppliers, manufacturing plants, warehouses, wholesalers,
retailers, and supply chain managers to know exactly what is happening at a given time. All
components of Malkan’s supply chain will be able to get real-time information to plan their
operations efficiently.
• Reduced costs – SCM software will help to reduce overhead expenses by improving inventory
management, enabling effective demand planning, improving relationships with vendors,
wholesalers and retailers. SCM will help Malkan to reduce cost as it will take care of inventory
and reduce wastage in it. All the transportation, transaction and other processes will be taken
care of by automating the information flow hence making it very cost effective for the business.
• Improved Profitability: By Implementing SCM software, Malkan’s supply chain management gets
the right products in the hands of the customers at the appropriate time. This optimization allows
high level customer satisfaction, which contributes to stronger revenue. All the wasteful activities
such as long standing inventory, inefficient activities, delays, inefficient resources will be
eliminated from supply chain.
Like every software implementation, SCM software implementation also comes with its added risks
to the business. Below are some of the risks SCM software implementation can pose for Malkan
Pharmaceuticals.
• Lack of Planning: Implementation of SCM requires detailed planning of the timeline, budget,
resources, procedures and objectives of the implementation. SCM software implementation
should be tailored to suit business models and channels of supply chains. As Malkan have
various supply chains, (online and offline, direct distribution or through wholesalers,
prescription medicines or over the counter medicines) each chain needs to be integrated into
one SCM automation to achieve optimum results. Performing software customization and
developing interfaces are complex and time consuming and frequently cause delays in supply
chain software deployments.
• Software integration: It can often be difficult to integrate a new solution with existing
systems. With multiple business systems, data suitability across different departments can be
an issue. For example, version of the receipts may have different format in different channels.
Without a clear set of policies and good planning, there can be wastage of management’s time
and efforts in reconciling data with new system.
• Lack of specialized personnel: With the implementation of automated software in place,

responsibilities of personnel will change, with some becoming redundant due to lack of new
required skills. If not trained well in advance or hired new personnel, Malkan can face serious
shortage of skilled employees across its supply chain. i.e. skilled personnel are required not
only internally (procurement, warehouse, manufacturing, sales, planning, etc.) but also with
suppliers and distributors.
• Reluctant suppliers and partners: Suppliers and partners (wholesaler, retailers, logistics
partners) may be reluctant to incorporate newly implemented software in Malkan’s supply
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chain management due to unforeseen cost impact and resource unavailability. Malkan need to
consider its suppliers and partners’ viewpoint during planning stage of implementation.
• Data security: With an automated data processing system running over internet, there is
always an added risk of virus attack, hacking attack or data leakage. Compared with the
printed documents, the information stored electronically can be easily accessed, altered or
stolen. Malkan needs to be aware of this risk and invest in trusted data security systems and
backups.
CONCLUSION
Supply chain management software can make remarkable changes for Malkan Pharmaceuticals by
smooth execution of all tasks to achieve long-term profitability. New software can change the
purchasing processes, keeping stock to a minimum, or availability of material at an optimum level
which can reduce costs and improve performance for Malkan’s supply chain. However, If an SCM
software implementation project is not planned and executed properly, it can lead to undesired
results.
To ensure the successful implementation of a SCM software, it is necessary, even from the
early stages, to study what are the possible advantages/disadvantages, recommended
actions/strategies and objectives of the implementation. Proper planning, budgeting and allocation
of resources is of upmost importance. Last but not the least, proper training of end users (internally
or externally) will eventually lead to success of the implementation.
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3. You have been assigned as a project manager to deploy ERP System in a new start-up company
having multi-location in India, with standalone and disparate systems. This company has manual
processes, a high dependency on people for information, leading to a delay in timely decision
making. The organization has embarked on a journey to implement ERP system-duly integrating all
process and functions for quality transactions and availability of information.
a) Elaborate the steps you would take for effective implementation.
INTRODUCTION
ERP Implementation lifecycle is the process of implementation of ERP system in an organization. It

involves 11 steps/stages right from the starting, selecting, planning, designing, transition training,
operations and maintenance. Just for perspective, an ERP implementation can take anywhere from
few months to several years, with the majority ranging from 6-to-12 months from kick-off to
implementation.
The company considering investment in a quality ERP system should know the life cycle stages that
will be discussed below to understand the process.
The process of implementation of ERP system in an organization is called ERP implementation or ERP
lifecycle. A typical lifecycle is about 6-12 months, which comprises of following phases:
1) Pre-evaluation screening: In this step, all the ERP systems available in market will be
screened and only the ones which are able to meet Organization’s requirements will be
selected for further evaluation.
2) Package evaluation: In this step, all the shortlisted ERP systems will be analysed for their
features and functionalities based on organization’s requirements. Based on this analysis,
selection of the right ERP system will be done.
3) Project planning phase: In this phase, a detailed plan for ERP implementation will be
drafted. Project plan will detail out requirement of resources, timeline for implementation,
objectives or targets for the implementation, contingency plans and monitoring plan for the
proposed implementation.
4) Gap analysis: In this phase, a model will be developed to compare the current stage and
future targets of organizational functionalities using ERP system. If there is any gap in
between the required functions and available functions from ERP system, same shall be
covered.
5) Re-Engineering: In this phase, restructuring of business process, technology and functions
will be done. Since ERP implementation will bring automation, roles and responsibilities of
the employees will be changed.
6) Configuration: In this phase, ERP system is setup and synchronized with the existing system
of organization. System is mostly in shape and ready for further testing.
7) Implementation team training: In this phase, the company should start training of their
employees for the ERP system who will be selected after considering the following qualities:
willingness to change, the ability to learn new thing quickly and accurately and familiarity
with new technology. As the vendor and consultants will leave the organization after
implementation, all the working and maintenance responsibility will be with organization’s
employees.
8) Testing: In this phase, real life situations related to working of ERP system in business
process will be tested on the system. Here, the company will test real life extreme scenarios
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like user error detections, system overload, simultaneous multiple user log-ins, data security
and more.
9) Going Live: In this phase, EPR system will be activated and made available to all the
employees in organization. Employees will commence using the system in business
functions.
10) End-User Training: In this phase, all the employees who will be working on ERP system will
be trained regarding procedure to use, functionality and contingency methods for new ERP
system to function properly.
11) Post Implementation: This phase is indefinite phase, it includes continuous monitoring and
updating of system from time to time. All the employees will learn to face and deal with
system related problems while the system will be updated corresponding to the future
updates from provider.
CONCLUSION
Above stages show how an ERP implementation project goes through a lifecycle. This life cycle
typically lasts for 6-12 months depending upon the complexity of business function. It is important
to complete these steps with attention to detail to run the ERP project successfully. After the
application is done, maintenance is also important and the system must be regularly updated to
keep up with changes in technology.
b) What are the critical issues that you need to address for the successful implementation of
ERP?
INTRODUCTION
Implementing an ERP causes major changes and significant investment of time and money from an
organization so it is essential to get this implementation right at first time. Critical issues that must
be carefully considered to ensure successful implementation include commitment from top
management, re-engineering of the existing processes, integration of the ERP with other business
information systems, selection and management of consultants and employees and training of
employees on the new system.
There can be several instances where one organization has made the most out of an ERP software
whereas, the same software has not yielded desired results in another organization. Following can
be the possible reasons.
1) Lack of Top Management support: It is imperative that top management is fully committed
to the ERP implementation. Active communication with key personnel and assurance that
they understand the need for them to be fully involved is key pre-requisite. Most of the
implementation fails because top management is not interested or not monitoring the
project closely.
2) Planning and budgeting: Similar to any enterprise wise undertaking, implementing ERP
requires a proper planning, efforts, resources and monitoring to ensure success and
minimize problems. While budgeting, financial costs and ERP project team members’ time
must be considered. It is essential for someone within the company to take charge of the
project, communicate and work closely with the ERP provider to achieve the desired results.
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3) Appropriate ERP system: First question that needs to be answered is what type, size, and
scope of system is required and how to choose the most suitable solution among the
hundreds of ERP options available in the market. Organizations need to predefine its
objectives and strategy for at least 6-10 years and accordingly an ERP system is to be
considered which suits the objectives of the organization.
4) Technical upgradation of IT systems: Servers and workstations to be analysed and their
compatibility with new ERP system to be evaluated. If needed new and more modern
systems may need to be ordered, and replaced. The internal network and internet
bandwidth may also need to be analysed and modernized if required.
5) Training to the Employees: Success of implementation of software system depends mainly
upon the users. Since the ERP system offers complete automation of most of the
departments functioning in your institution, the training must be apt, to the depth, for the
right amount of time and should include all possible users in the institution. Without proper
knowledge of the implementation by the end users, optimal usage of the system falls short
off.
Most problems faced by organizations implementing an ERP system can be overcome if

organizations follow a step by step approach. Organization can also hire an outside experienced
consultant. This consultant will act as a coordinator between the ERP vendor and the organization.
The consultant who have experience in ERP implementation should be selected.
CONCLUSION
Although the failures of ERP system have been publicized widely each time, this haven’t discouraged
companies from investing onto ERP systems. ERP implementation is a long-term process and hence,
the steps adopted towards implementation should be executed correctly. These problems, if not
timely dealt with, can lead to undesired experience of an ERP implementation failure.
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NMIMS Global Access School for Continuing Education (NGA-SCE)

Course: Information Systems for Managers

CONCEPT AND APPLICATION

CONCEPT AND APPLICATION

• Lack of specialized personnel: With the implementation of automated software in place,

a) Elaborate the steps you would take for effective implementation.

ERP Implementation lifecycle is the process of implementation of ERP system in an organization. It

CONCEPT AND APPLICATION

CONCEPT AND APPLICATION

Most problems faced by organizations implementing an ERP system can be overcome if

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