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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS: DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION2014

Name George AnsonNetID Gans708Group Number: 057Website Link: http://infosys1102014fcgroup57.blogspot.co.nz/

Tutorial DetailsTutor: Day: Time:Kayur Ramson Monday 2pm

Time Spent on Assignment:

10 hours Word Count: 1402

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HELP FOR THE HOMELESSINTRODUCTION

The problem that we are addressing is that there is not enough support for the homeless population in many cities. Globally there are millions of people that do not live in homes for various reasons including poverty, natural disaster, civil unrest and lack of infrastructure. We have devised am IT based solution, which we hope will make a great impact on the situations of the homeless around the world.

Our business solution involves a food voucher system that customers can opt into at supermarkets. At the end of their shop, customers can add at least one dollar to their overall price and receive a receipt with a code on it. That code would then enter them into a monthly prize draw via SMS submission, and the donation would go directly to helping the situations of homeless people in the local community and abroad by providing them with vouchers for food from supermarkets.

3. BUSINESS SECTION

3.1 Vision

Providing an easy and efficient solution to the homeless problem locally and abroad.

3.2 Industry Analysis: Charity Indusrty

Industry:

Force: High/Low: Justification:

Buyer power: High There are many donation organisations that

individuals can choose from to donate to, and

switching to another charity is simple¹ (PM

Carson, 2010)

Supplier power: High The supplier is a critical part of this business

model, and the supplier group does not rely

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heavily on the charity industry for revenue²

(Porter, 2008)

Threat of new

entrants:

High For setting up a new charity there are very few

barriers to entry and so industry profitibility

(donations) is moderated² (Porter, 2008)

Threat of

substitutes:

High There are many other donation organisations,

and these may cause a threat as substitutes

because switching to a substitute has no cost to

buyers ¹ (PM Carson, 2010)

Rivalry among

existing

competitors:

HighRapid expansion of the nonprofit sector has

greatly outpaced growth of

the donor base, and this has forced many

players to compete aggressively for funding and

volunteers³ (Ritchie & weinberg, 2000)

Overall attractiveness of the industry: There are many threats within this industry, the

buyer and supplier power are high and the threat of substitutes and new entrants is very

high also. I would say that this indusrty is not overly attractive.

3.3 Customers and Their Needs

The customers of this organisation are shoppers at supermarkets. Research has been done

which shows that those who give to charity experience a similar brain activity to that of

revieving reward and pleasure⁴ (Anik, Lalin, Lara, Aknin, Norton, Dunn, 2009) Individuals

have a need to feel happy and this need can be fulfilled by giving to charity.

3.4 The Product and Service

The product that this organisation supplies is an IT based solution to the issue explained above. Humans have a need to give to others in order to feel happy. This product is an IT

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system put in place at the Point Of Sale at supermarkets, offering customers the choice of adding a donation on to the cost of their purchase which will be directly used to help feed the homeless population of the nation. Not only will customers receive the good feeling from giving to others less fortunate, but they will also go into a prize draw for a hamper of supermarket goods.

3.5 Suppliers and Partners

One supplier for this business would be the supermarket chains, as they provide the

location for donations to be taken and the computer systems for the transaction to be

completed through.Another supplier would be the SMS/telecommunications company, as

they provide the service of contacting our organisation whenever another donation has

been submitted through SMS.

One of the partners of this organisation would be local charity worker organisations, for

example Auckland City Mission in Auckland, as these organisations could work together to

make distribution of the food vouchers far more efficient. Other partners could be

businesses which accept the food vouchers, so that the process of getting physical food to

the homeless becomes more efficient (e.g. more than one store can exchange vouchers for

food).

3.6 Strategy: Cost Leadership

The comptetive scope for this product is a very broad market, it can be implemented in

many many supermarkets or even other stores, and these stores are available to everyone.

The cost strategy is low cost, the donation recommended is a small amount, a small

percentage of the overall shopping cost.

The overall strategy is therefore Cost Leadership

3.7 Value Chain Activity: Market and sell the product or service

Because the organisation is completely based around donations, the key value chain activity

for this organisation is the process of marketing and selling the product. The transaction

process needs to be streamlined and efficient, and this relates back to the vision of the

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organisation; ‘Providing an easy and efficient solution to the homeless problem locally and

abroad.’

3.8 Business Processes

3.8.1. TRANSACTION PROCESS

One of the most important processes involved in providing the product to customers is the physical sale. There needs to be confirmation of the customer’s order, credit checks, processing of customer details and invoicing. All of these steps need to happen in real-time in front of the customer so the process must be fast, flawless and simple to provide an efficient transaction.

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3.8.1. CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROCESS

A key business process that relates to the Marketing and Selling sector of the value chain is the Customer Support Process. This involves receiving the customer’s donation, receiving the SMS that they send and registering the code number that they sent. This business process is automated and needs to be extremely efficient to ensure customer satisfaction and effectiveness of the organisations goals.

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3.9 FUNCTIONALITIES

3.9.1.

Perform Credit Check Approve/Process Transaction

3.9.2.

Receive SMS with customer code Respond with confirmation SMS

3.10 Systems

3.10.1 CUSTOMER SUPPORT SYSTEM

A customer support system will enable the organisation to receive and process contact from customers (via SMS) and will respond to the customer quickly giving them information about their donation. Having this system in place will ensure that customers are satisfied with their donation and that data is processed efficiently and effectively.

3.10.2 SALES PROCESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMA sales process management system will enable the organisation to automate aspects of its transactions to increase efficiency of its key business processes. Sales process management can automate functionalities such as credit checks with banks and approval/decline of transactions at the point of sale.

3.10.3. ACCOUNTING SUPPORT SYSTEMAn accounting support system can automate and streamline functionalities such as sending payment for purchases and processing any invoices, and keeping note of inflows and outflows of all funds. This automation will make the business processes more efficient.

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3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain Activity

Processes Functionalities Specific Information System(s)

Broad Information System(s)

Market and

Sell the

Product

1. TransactionProcess

1. Perform Credit Check

2. Approve/Process TransactionSales Process Management

System,Accounting Support System

Transaction Processng System

2. Customer

Support

Process

3. Receive SMS with customer code

4. Respond with confirmation SMS Customer Support System

Collaboration Systems

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CONCLUSION

This organisation’s product is an IT solution to a pressing global issue – homelessness and

hunger. We aim to implement IT systems into supermarkets and other stores to provide a

convenient and effective method of retrieving donations from the public. The vision is to

provide an easy and efficient solution to the homeless problem locally and abroad, and the

only wasy to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the modern age of technology is to

implement appropriate information systems to streamline and support the key business

processes. With the new efficiencies of information systems our product could be the

market leader for non-profit organisations to use.

REFERENCES

1. PM Carson Consulting, 2010, http://www.realtimeadvisors.com/uploads/6/5/1/0/6510177/5_forces_in_npo.pdf

2. Porter, Michael E. "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy." Special Issue on HBS Centennial. Harvard Business Review 86, no. 1 (January 2008): 78–93.

3. Ritchie, R.J.B. and C.B. Weinberg (2000), “Competition in the Non-profit Sector”. University of British Columbia / University of Washington Marketing Research Consortium, Vancouver, BC, April.

4. Anik, Lalin, Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton, and Elizabeth W. Dunn. "Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behaviour." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-012, August 2009.

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