Discussion

Value Chain Analysis  graded Review the information you posted for the Open Discussion. For this discussion, expand on the information you provided in that post.

Overview: One way to examine e-commerce and its role in the business world is through value chain analysis. Michael Porter introduced the value chain concept in 1985. It consists of a series of activities designed to meet business needs by adding value (or cost) in each phase of the process. Typically, a division within a business design produces, markets, delivers and supports its products or services. Each activity adds cost and value to the product or service delivered to the customer.

Bidgoli, H. (2018). MIS (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning

Your Topic: Think about providing value to your organization.

Review the image and how it relates to the value of an organization.

The following describes the relationship between the activities:

· The top four components—organizational infrastructure, human resource management, technological development, and procurement (gathering input)—are supporting activities.

· The “margin” represents the value added by supporting primary activities (the components at the bottom). 

The following list describes primary activities:

· Inbound logistics—Movement of materials and parts from suppliers and vendors to production or storage facilities; includes tasks associated with receiving, storing, and disseminating incoming goods or materials.

· Operations—Processing raw materials into finished goods and services.

· Outbound logistics—Moving and storing products, from the end of the production line to end-users or distribution centers.

· Marketing and Sales—Activities for identifying customer needs and generating sales.

· Service—Activities to support customers after the sale of products and services.

For this discussion,  analyze the value chain for your industry value chain .

For example:  having superior relationships with suppliers (through prompt payments, electronic ordering, loyalty, and so forth), the company can ensure timely delivery and high quality of raw materials. These, in turn, add value for customers by providing a high-quality product at a lower cost. If good quality and lower costs are top priorities for customers, the company knows on which parts of the value chain to focus (e.g., better suppliers to ensure quality and reduce costs, superior operations to ensure quality, better distribution to reduce costs, better after-sales service to ensure quality with warranties). So, the value chain is really about understanding what aspects of an organization’s business add value for customers and then maximizing those aspects.

· Identify your primary activities

· Identify your secondary activities and how those relate to processes

· Create value for your organization

Look at this from the perspective as if you were working in that field. Reference MIS project 1 and the initial work you have done. In your write-up address all these points, you will need to add these to your report and presentation later in this term.

Requirements: This activity will provide you with the opportunity to research, analyze and synthesize current technologies and the use of those technologies in a real-world scenario as they relate to information systems.

· Complete MindTap Case Study analyses & answer the questions:

· M5 Case Study 9-1: Global Information Systems at Toyota Motor Company

· M5 Case Study 8-2: Bridging the Gap Between E-Commerce and Traditional Commerce

· Research current similar stores & new technologies, shopping innovations

Case Study 8-2Bridging the Gap Between E-Commerce and Traditional Commerce

Various tools and technologies are helping to bridge the gap between e-commerce and traditional commerce, including mobile devices and social media. Often, potential buyers see what their social networking friends have to say about products before making a purchase. Transparency is the key, given that buyers can now compare prices from nearly anywhere—including from a physical store.

New sets of technologies are being introduced that track the customer when the customer is inside the store. Apple’s iBeacon, which competes with near field communication (NFC), is one such technology. It is a small wireless device that uses Bluetooth to detect and communicate with new generations of iPhones and iPads that are running iOS7 and beyond. A GPS guides a customer to a store; iBeacon then tracks the customer inside the store. (Qualcomm has developed its own version of iBeacon, Gimbal proximity beacons, which work with either iOS or Android.)

There are many potential applications of this technology. For example, a retailer can send a coupon as soon as it detects that a customer has walked to a particular aisle and is looking at a particular product. In Apple stores, for another example, as soon as the customer walks by the iPhone table, he/she will get a notification on upgrades. Major League Baseball has already announced that it will use iBeacon to customize fans’ experiences at ballparks by using its “At The Ballpark” app. Some businesses are already using iPads as cash registers; these customers can potentially be tracked by Apple. Also, with Apple’s huge user base, this technology has potential for tremendous growth.

Privacy issues may be a concern as these tools and technologies roll out, given that customers will be tracked in stores that are equipped with this technology. However, customers may not mind this tracking as long as there is something in it for them.

Neiman Marcus is the latest retailer to test Bluetooth beacons to guide the customer to in-store sales. Additionally they want to merge the online and in-store shopping experience, “clicks to bricks” or “bricks to clicks,” as it is called in the industry. The app would know if a customer that has browsed the retailer Web site and will guide the customer to the right item in the store

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the function of Apple’s iBeacon?

2. What are the differences between iBeacon and GPS?

3. How might a retail business benefit from iBeacon?

4. What are some of the concerns that customers may have about this technology?

Case Study 9-1Global Information Systems at Toyota Motor Company

The Toyota Motor Company is a global automobile manufacturer that operates on five different continents. In the United States, it runs five major assembly plants. To manage its operations efficiently and effectively around the globe, Toyota uses several types of information systems. It uses the Internet and global networks to communicate with its offices, plants, and dealerships around the globe.

Toyota is one of the founders of the Toyota Production System, an early version of the Just In Time (JIT) inventory system. This system allows Toyota to have on hand the exact number of components needed at any time in order to continue its operations, given that waste often occurs when components are inventoried and stored. To use a JIT inventory system, Toyota’s GIS must be capable of managing real-time inventory, not only within its own manufacturing facilities but in all of its suppliers’ facilities. Because of this, Toyota requires all of its suppliers to have a system capable of interfacing with the one Toyota uses for its own operations.

Toyota worked with Dell, Microsoft, and WorldCom to develop a “Dealer Daily” system that offers a centralized data center for the more than 1,100 Toyota and Lexus dealers in the United States. This system allows dealers to spend more time focusing on selling cars and less time on paperwork. For example the system is capable of providing a response to a financing application in 15 seconds.

Using Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1, Toyota Motor Europe (TME) implemented Toyota’s Vehicle Order Management (VOM) system. This system, which encompasses 13 countries, enables TME to improve its European operations by reducing delivery time to customers and managing inventory more efficiently. As a result, the system reduces operating costs.

Answer the following questions:

1. What role do global networks play in the effective implementation of JIT?

2. What role does the Dealer Daily system play in Toyota’s implementation of a GIS?

3. What is the function of Vehicle Order Management (VOM)?

4. How many countries will be impacted by VOM and in which part of the world?