writing - cost benefit and risk analysis for 2 companies- PART 9 ONLY

Description

For this project, your team of five (5) members (some teams may end of up with less) of your choosing

will identify and compare two competing companies from the same industry (e.g., Rite Aid and CVS).

Company pairings from which you may NOT choose due to over-use include: Home Depot and Lowe’s,

Microsoft and Apple, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, Nike and Reebok/Adidas, Pizza Hut/Domino’s and

Papa John’s Pizza, Amazon/Target and WalMart, and Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Compare the two

IS 3100 Spring 2018 Syllabus_Randolph 9

companies’ websites and discuss how each company uses their website to their advantage, what are the

disadvantages, what areas and processes could be improved, and does their website add value. If it adds

value, what do you think that value is? Also, do the companies use information systems for a competitive

advantage (e.g., a particular system that gives them a competitive advantage by ordering products or

refilling inventory, etc.)? Apply Porter’s Five Forces Model.

The objective of this project is to provide your team with an opportunity to explore and analyze a real

world information system and website issues, and to integrate the materials from the course using virtual

teaming. A company’s website is often the first information system with which people interact for a

company; it sets the tone for perception which drives customer satisfaction and competitive positioning.

Certainly many of you may be familiar with website design and perhaps develop them regularly, but this

is an opportunity to zoom out from the technicalities of which Wordpress template to use and consider

more strategically why such template might be selected to match the personality of the entity represented

by your website. Anyone deciding to complete the project on his/her own or who misses the sign-up

deadline will be penalized an entire letter grade on his/her final project grade.

Deliverables & Submissions

In response to student feedback, the project is due earlier in the semester. That early deadline assures that

you do not have all your exams and project deadlines in the last weeks of classes. Refer to the course

schedule for specific due dates. All components should be submitted through Desire2Learn. The

following table provides a summary of deliverables expected, and each item is then described in greater

detail.

Summary of Term Project Deliverables

Item Point Value

Proposal 5

Team Operating Agreement 10

Report 125

1. Table of Contents 5

2. Executive Summary 5

3. Companies 10

4. Comparison, Advantages/Disadvantages 15

5. Five Forces and Competitive Strategy 15

6. Business Process 10

7. Privacy and Security 15

8. Social Networking 15

9. Cost/Benefit/Risk Analysis 20

10. Conclusion 10

11. References 5

Presentation 20

Peer Evaluation 5

TOTAL POINTS 165

Proposal (5 points):

State the two companies you are comparing and the names of all team members. Only one person needs to

submit this proposal on behalf of their team. Please submit the project proposal as embedded text via the

Desire2Learn Assignment under the Term Project module.

IS 3100 Spring 2018 Syllabus_Randolph 10

Team Operating Agreement (10 points):

The specifics for the team operating agreement will be provided in the Term Project folder. It is important

that all members participate in the creation of the agreement to fully understand their responsibilities.

Assign team roles, meetings, goals, etc. Let me know if you use asynchronous, synchronous or both styles

of communication. Select one person as the primary point of contact for communications on behalf of the

team with the instructor. Please submit the project proposal as an attached Word document via

Desire2Learn as one per team.

Report (125 points):

The main deliverable is a professional quality design document. The length of the report will depend on

the project that your team decides on. In some cases much more documentation is required than in others.

I would like to you to write a sufficient amount so that I can thoroughly understand your project.

However, “less is more” applies here, so keep your writing to the point. It is very likely that you will split

up the writing work between your teammates. However, you will still have to integrate the writing, so that

you do not end up with five different reports with one cover. Make sure that your content is of high

quality. I do not want to work my way through pages of documentation that have been added as padding.

Put screen captures in an appendix. Include an executive summary and table of contents in your report,

and check for problems with spelling and grammar. An example report is provided in the Assignment

Submission Folder (this example may not have received a perfect score). Include the following:

1. Table of Contents (5 points) – List major section headings with associated page numbers.

2. Executive Summary (5 points) – This is a brief summary (2 paragraphs or so) of your entire project.

Assume that your target audience is an executive with little time to read, but a need to understand the

key messages from the report.

3. Companies (10 points) – Choose any two organizations in the same industry you wish. Describe the

organizations. What type of industry are they in? Do they sell physical products, information, or

services? Are they a for-profit company, or a non-profit organization? Are they publicly traded or

privately held? How long have they been in business? How long have they had a website? (Use a tool

like the “Wayback Machine.”)

4. Comparison, Advantages/Disadvantages (15 points) – Compare the two companies’ websites and

discuss how each company uses their website to their advantage, what are the disadvantages, what

areas could be improved, and does their website add value. Also, do the companies use information

systems for a competitive advantage (e.g., a particular system that gives them a competitive advantage

by ordering products or refilling inventory, etc.)? A great reference material is the book, “Good to

Great” by Jim Collins (not required). Answer the following questions in this section:

• How much integrated will it be with the organization’s storefront and online presence?

• What impact do you expect the website to have on the organization’s traditional business?

• If demand suddenly triples because of your website, can the company and the website handle the

growth?

• Is the company driving technology or is technology driving the company?

List at least 5 advantages and disadvantages to the current website of each company. Explain why

your group feels they are advantages and disadvantages. If applicable, please report on how

technology is an advantage to their company and how not using technology is a disadvantage. I’m not

as concerned about how good their pizza tastes so make sure you do not go down that path!

5. Five Forces and Competitive Strategy (15 points) – From Chapter 3, apply the Porter’s Five Forces

Model to each company and explain why you chose each strength or weakness. Then consider how

IS 3100 Spring 2018 Syllabus_Randolph 11

an organization responds to the structure of its industry by choosing a competitive strategy. Apply

Porter’s Four Competitive Strategies to each company and state which strategy you feel the

company has chosen and why.

6. Business Process (10 points) – Describe in detail the ordering process for one of your companies.

Please use chapter 7 as a reference.

7. Privacy and Security (15 points) – Describe the security measures each company is using to protect

their information, secure purchases, etc. Answer the following questions for both websites:

• Does their URL begin with HTTPS or change to HTTPS when you log in or submit a transaction?

• Does their site have a link to their privacy policy?

• Does their site promote any type of security certificate or symbol (i.e., Verisign)?

• Does their site require you to create an account with logon and password requirements?

• Does their site offer security questions if you forget your password?

8. Social Networking (15 points) – More and more companies are turning to social media networking

tools such as Facebook and Twitter to help them market their products or services. Please let me know

if the companies you choose are using social media or not. If not, should they? Does it give them a

competitive advantage or not? Should they hire a social media expert? How can they use social media

in association with traditional methods of marketing to help spread the word?

9. Cost/Benefit/Risk Analysis (20 points) – Conduct a cost/benefit and risk analysis of the

application/website. Identify all possible benefits and costs of the application/website. Look at both

tangible and intangible costs and benefits. Where possible assign a dollar value. Calculate how long it

would take for the application/website to pay for itself. Conduct an impact risk assessment (this

concept/procedure will not be taught in this class, look it up online and try your best at analyzing risks

for the companies). For example, determine how running the application/website could negatively

impact the company (e.g., backlash from customers or employees). In many cases, you won’t know

the exact numbers, but you can make educated guesses. For instance, you could estimate that it would

take two people three months to make the improvements, and that these people cost the company

$80,000 per year or use $50/hour as a rate. On the benefits side, you might, for instance, specify that

you expect an increase of 10% in an area that currently has $80,000 per month in sales. Also think

about possible update/maintenance costs (e.g., 6 months or 1 year from now). Finally, you have to

explicitly state the risks associated with the improvements or not making the improvements. What

would happen to the organization if sales increase by 100%, the server goes down, or if the

system/website is hacked or compromised?

10. Conclusion (10 points) – Summarize your main points and your recommendations.

11. References (5 points) – If you quote anyone or share any ideas that you did not originally create, you

must cite them. For example, when estimating costs, from where are you pulling your numbers? Did

you include the URL of the original website being assessed when describing the company? Did you

include these all as in-text citations that match with this list of references?