IKEA Company
Question 1
Evaluate the business strategies available for the IS organisational development you aim to achieve based on the wished degree of business transformation and the range of potential benefits.
Introduction
- Chosen case study organization is IKEA Company
- Definition: IKEA – a global furniture store that was founded in Scandinavia.
- The presentation entails managerial and information strategists’ assessment, analysis, findings, and expected outcomes of the proposed new digital/online/data/mobile business strategy development.
The table below displays the way the Information system development would be used to overcome the rivalry displayed by the porter’s five porters model in Figure 1 below.
| Strategy | Organizational Strategic (Long- term) Plan | Business Strategic (Medium) Plan | Ikea Operational Strategic (Short-term) Plan |
| Market | ü Market Share- IS harmonizes all branches and subsidiaries. | ü Regional markets – IS helps in the coordination of IKEA operations in a given region or market area. | ü Market segmentation and departmental units. ü Mobile app features on the return of deliveries, tracking of orders, items availability. |
| Management | ü Centralized IKEA Organizational IS. | ü Regional IS – helps in the supervision of regional operations. | ü Operational IS oversees sales to special divisions or groups. ü It enhances the customer’s experience. |
| Communication | ü IS system helps in disbursing information effectively within the organizational structure. | ü IS helps in smooth communication with business units and geographical markets. | ü IS helps in end-to-end information sharing within a department or a business segment |
| Shared Vision and Objectives | ü IS imprints the IKEA’s vision and objectives. Organizational, business, and operational strategies should be anchored to achieve them. | ü IS shares a business unit’s strategic plan. It also helps in ensuring they are aligning with the IKEA strategic plan. | ü IS co-ordinates operational units’ strategic plan to contribute in achieving business and organizational strategic plans. |
Figure 1
Potential benefits
- The investment decisions will now base on user needs and organizational strategy.
- No wastage of time to interpret data in an unsuitable format.
- No unnecessary organizational requirement costs and risks
- Appropriately managed information for innovation, productivity, and competitiveness
- Unification of information activities to achieve the company’s objectives.
- Cooperation and sincerity among managers of information resources.
- More efficient analysis frameworks for business, leadership, structure, and culture.
Question 2
Critically assess whether your organisation should pursue a business strategy aimed at digital / online / data / mobile based solutions based on the feasibility of the organisation’s internal ICT and the external developments expected in the industry.
Feasibility study
Technical feasibility
- Sufficient Internal technical capability to support the new project requirements
- Only a few new technical resources needed and upgrade the rest.
Operational Feasibility
- More efficiency needed
- Faster production needed
- Accuracy of operation needed
Economic feasibility
- Need to reach more customers
- Need for faster market expansion
- Installation and implementation costs will be recovered.
| Area in IKEA | The present situation at IKEA | Expected Outcome of developments on digital / online / data / mobile based solutions | ||||
| Management information system and decision support system
| ü Insecure and massive information for the company and our customers. ü Improper agility and management of resources. ü Difficulty in remaining relevant. ü Fast-changing world | ü Secure information ü Massive data storage ü Improved agility and management. ü Relevance and adaption to changes. | ||||
| Transaction processing system | ü Difficulty keeping a track record of the various transaction processes. | ü Track record of all the activities and flow of transactions | ||||
| Executive support system
| ü Unaddressed trends and objectives. ü Unfocused internal and external strategic concerns
| ü Trends and objectives addressed ü Internal and external strategic plans focused | ||||
| Knowledge management system | ü Poor recording, storage, and distribution of information for strategic benefit.
| ü Consistency and convenience ü Up to date, faster and efficient. | ||||
| E-business, E-commerce, and E-government | ü Non-flexible resources and costly methods of purchase sale and service delivery. ü Excess engagements in carrying out operations ü Minimal reach to the international environment. | ü Flexible sources and cheaper methods ü More outsource business functions ü Minimal engagement ü Expanded international environment | ||||
| Supply chain management systems | ü Non managed shared information ü Cases of inaccurate movement of products ü Slow and costly methods ü absenteeism and turnovers | ü Shared information ü Automation of data flows across boundaries ü Faster, less cost and accurate movement of products | ||||
| Customer relationship management systems
| ü Uncombined data records ü Duplication of customer views ü Customer reach not fully enhanced | ü Combined sales, marketing and service data records ü No duplication of customer views ü More customer reach | ||||
Question 3
Analyse the impact of new emerging technologies (including distributed systems, virtualisation, mobility, data sets, cloud, applications, platforms, etc.) to your organisation’s business strategy as illustrated in Question 2.
| Emerging technologies | Impact in Ikea |
| Distributed systems | ü Enhances the harmonization of the business, operational, and organizational strategies. |
| Virtualisation | ü Outsource of business functions to other international business environments ü Allow focusing on business functions. |
| Mobility | ü Broadened customer bases by reaching new economic markets. ü Reaching more customers ü More new commercial markets ü 24/7 company access ü Cheap options
|
| Big data | ü Enhance analysis of massive data ü Reveal patterns, trends, and associations. ü Proper management of different resources, including financial, human, and store. ü Integration of the business processes for efficiency |
| Cloud technology | ü Massive storage of the company operations and the customers’ information. ü There Lowered cost of storage and easy retrieval. |
| Mobile Applications | ü Easier and inspiring shopping ü The customers can shop or create wish lists before attending stores ü More improved sustainability.
|
Question 4
Identify and analyse the long-term strategic needs of your business, its customers, and other stakeholders.
Long term strategic needs of Ikea
- Achieving the mission and objectives of the company – An IS needed to know the customer needs, preferences, trends, and changes. It will offer ideas of the market and enable the company to benefit and have a great competitive advantage.
- Ensuring the scope of the business market is broad – IS needed to incorporate more customers who are part of the business’ target market. Thus resulting in an increased variety of products and improved services to customers.
- Market share through acquiring small competitors – IS needed to operate in a fragmented market. Also, needed to enhance the expansion of the customer base and more territory coverage. Thus, result in acquiring materials from suppliers in large quantities and at low prices. Thus lowered prices of products and services to customers.
- Disbursal of information within the organizational structure – IS needed to enhance convenient, efficient, and consistent sharing of information.
- Centralized Organizational Information system – IS needed to enhance overseeing the operations and improve customer experience.
Question 5
The long and short-term requirement(s) of the new information system.
Long term
- Adapting to the continuous changes in business – EA will be used in offering solutions for the business and enhance adapting to changes. The EA will enhance proper management and storage through modeling the formats, management, quality, and sources.
- The actualization of the company’s mission and goals – An understanding of how the business operates the various processes to enhances the use of the appropriate information and capability for each domain is needed. EA will be used in aligning the essential domains in the best way to enables achieve the set goals by supporting its operations. The EA enhances security through cloud technology and cybersecurity.
Short term requirements
- Decision making in an information system whenever problems are re-encountered – optimum resolution needed to achieve the objectives of the company.
- Integration of different subsystems – coordinated working of operations and connection of processes.
Question 6
How would you contribute to the development of the ICT strategy and policy needed to carry out the business strategy? Please include all relevant ICT security, quality, and feasibility analysis considerations.
| Consideration points | Information strategy | Business strategy |
| Assessing mission and objectives | ICT ensures the vision and directive model for the development are well defined and described to participants | Delivering the customers with quality products at low prices Increasing productivity and performance
|
| Assessing the company environment needs | ICT used for automation, monitoring, and speeding. | Coordination of operations |
| Assessing the systems already in place and their performances | ICT to figure out the improvements needed and essential processes | Smooth performance of an operation |
| Assessing the objectives and strategies in place | ICT towards the betterment of the strategies and objectives | Appropriate strategies and implementation procedure |
| Assessing the purpose and reason for the ICT | Enhancing information security as per the policies in place | Secure, no misuse and penalty towards misuse of information |
Question 7
Communicate effectively to the CEO the main findings and justification of the identified course of action, including considerations on IS acceptance and its ethical use. You should combine the key issues of the business, information, and management strategy development for your organisation.
- Findings & Justification
- The managerial strategist findings on the way IS could be used in overcoming the rivalry described in Figure 1 are displayed in the table in Question 1.
- Question 2 displays the analysis of feasibility which was justified for the new project development.
- Current technical resources need improvement and new ones.
- Most of the software and hardware will only be upgraded.
- Challenges in providing customers and managers with accurate, pertinent, timely, and useful information.
- The company is feasible for new project development.
- IS acceptance and Ethical use considerations
- The new development is user friendly majorly
- Only a few extra experts will be needed to overlook
- Resources available at reasonable prices.
- Most technical systems will continue to be used
- The new system would enhance reducing the operational cost and increasing the profit of the company
- The system would also ensure easy storage, retrieval, and keep the information secure
- It will enhance the maximum utilization of the resources and ensure services are flexible and expandable
- The system is easily adaptable and will take the shortest time possible.
- Key issues in business (vs) Strategy development (issues – functional, operational, financial, resource, etc.)
- Increased productivity, and thus more profit will be incurred.
- Replacement of human resources with cheaper automation.
- The cost of the new system software development and hardware is considerable
- The system will add more time to do extra tasks
- The long-term gains will overshadow the short term cost of purchasing and developing the IS, and immediate cost reduction is guaranteed
- Therefore, my assessment findings justify that the new system is acceptable, ethical, and worth for the IKEA’s excellence.