IS Assignment

Group 10 Section C
Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghu|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa

Dairy Farm Introduction

DFG was established in 1886 with the objective of supplying milk; transformed into major food based retailer Growth through acquisitions and joint ventures Operations in all major cities in Asia Pacific region, Australia, NZ and Europe. Challenges faced by the firm post Asian crisis (1997):
Slump in retail sales Increasing competition from European and US retail chains Low profit margin compared to competitors

Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa

DFGs Strategies
Expansion of core operations Closure of non-core operations Acquisitions and rapid establishment Change in organisational structure Operation as a single entity to increase cohesiveness within the organisation

Defend existing market share

Respond to competition

Improve market share and customer base

Exploit new markets and opportunities

Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa

Existing Systems in DFG

Store System Deployed at retail stores of various units of DFG Point of sale system customized to each stores requirements Did not interface with operational system Individual store data transmitted through fax and modem Minimal data storage
Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa

Operational System Large in scale Complex in operation Business critical in nature Each business unit had its own operational systems Managers did not have access to centralized data New reports required fresh programming

Recommendations from Firm A to respond to increase in competitive threat

Store Operations
To improve sales the store to operate in physical and virtual environments Virtual store would help achieve following
Internet based retail system providing services of a fulfillment center Interface to link all functional units with retail operations

Network Computing
Application Integration and Remote Access

Applications to be redesigned and centrally deployed in mainframe environment

This would help in scalability, maintenance and software reuse

LANs at the stores would be connected to each other Integrated applications within each BU
Facilitate the information interchange between BUs

Users to be provided with secured, location independent corporate information

Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa

Firm As recommendation - continued

Data Warehouse

Develop data ware house and data marts to facilitate data analysis
Vendors access to intranet Store orders to be send directly to vendor
Facilitate faster processing order leading to reduced inventory at warehouses Matching orders to invoice would reduce manpower overhead

Inventory Management

Firm As recommendation were mainly focused on building management information systems supported by right technology and communications infrastructure.

Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa

Firm B emphasized improvements in both business and technical components

Technical Planning Process Technical Component

Business Component Storage System Inventory Management

Category Management

Electronic Commerce

Business Component Identification and re-engineering of crucial business process Grouping of operations within business units as business process domain
Specify the desired system characteristics for a BPD as a whole instead of individual processes
Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa 7

Firm B emphasized improvements in both business and technical components

Technical Planning Process Technical Component

Business Component Storage System Inventory Management

Category Management

Electronic Commerce

Storage System Standardised technology Store application and transaction data to reside on backend server
Facilitates stock monitoring at store level

For Scalability, client server architecture was proposed

Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa 8

Firm B emphasized improvements in both business and technical components

Technical Planning Process Technical Component

Business Component Storage System Inventory Management

Category Management

Electronic Commerce

Inventory management and category management Store system to be integrated with operational system Central merchandising: monitor inventory at each store
Economies of scale : Reduced stock outages and power to negotiate with supplier

Integrated buying and selling functions Electronic Commerce was not recommended by this firm
Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa 9

Firm B emphasized improvements in both business and technical components

Technical Planning Process Technical Component

Business Component Storage System Inventory Management

Category Management

Electronic Commerce

Technical Component Additional investment in a common infrastructure linking BUs

Corporate WAN to provide group wide information systems Will provide inter business services

Core infrastructure services to provide enterprise wide system security, integrity and credibility Technical Architecture program group to be established under Technology strategy and architecture group
Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa 10

Firm Bs recommendation seem to fit DFGs strategies better

Firm Bs focus is on strategic re-engineering
Firm As recommendation viewed IT as the critical centerpiece of the business process with all else having secondary role

Firm B emphasizes on business process viewing them as major determinants of competitive advantage Firm Bs recommendation maintains a balance between who can deliver and who can ensure implementation (TA and TAPG) A mechanism to ensure technology convergence ( technologies, suppliers, system reuse)

Old Strategy
De-centralised Retailer push Large inventories Manual processes Buying/selling Mass consumers

New Strategy Group Customer pull JIT Automatic processes Category Management Individual customers
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Group 10 Section C Anoj|Deepak|Kishan|Raghunandana|Sandeep|Sharique|Srivatsa