Reward System
Instructions
Scenario: A company called Colony Nursery and Landscaping opened a new store located a few hundred miles away from its original location. The company wants to implement an award system that awards their customers with points whenever customers make a purchase, but the two stores are not able to share information. Colony Nursery and Landscaping will need to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that will solve the information silo problem by collecting and making this user data available. Colony Nursery and Landscaping is hoping that by providing customers with this award system, they will be able to maintain competitive advantage. Colony Nursery and Landscaping cannot afford to purchase, develop, or maintain this system on-site, so they are investigating cloud solutions.
In addition, for many organizations, Colony Nursery and Landscaping included, information silos make it difficult to tap into needed information. Discuss whether or not the problem of information silos can be solved by using the cloud. Some organizations do not have the resources to construct or maintain their computer infrastructure, so they utilize cloud services instead to reduce costs and improve scalability. In this assignment, you will discuss whether or not the cloud offers solutions for Colony Nursery and Landscaping and identify an application that the ERP system could provide. Compose an essay that includes the elements listed below.
Define what an information silo is.
Explain why information silos are a problem for organizations.
Discuss why organizations are moving to the cloud.
Determine whether or not using cloud services, such as a cloud-based host for data storage, would solve the ERP information silo problem at Colony Nursery and Landscaping.
Explain how using the ERP system and awards program would provide a competitive advantage for Colony Nursery and Landscaping.
Discuss why the implementation of an ERP system might require business process reengineering for Colony Nursery and Landscaping. Be sure to explain the business processes that will be affected (e.g., the customer awards system). Use diagrams or tables as needed, but this is not required.
Your essay must be a minimum of two pages in length (not counting the title and reference pages), and it must be formatted in APA style. You should include an introduction section that gives background and context to your reader. You must use at least two scholarly resources as references. Any information from these resources must be cited and referenced in APA format.
Reward System
Colony Nursery and Landscaping is a company seeking to implement an award system but has two stores that cannot share the required information quickly as required for the awards system. An Enterprise Resource Planning system will solve the problem by improving data collection and making user data available when needed. The company seeks to use cloud solution for the operations of the system as they cannot afford to purchase and maintain the system on-site. The company seeks to address the problem of information silos through the use of cloud solutions. The paper will discuss the cloud solutions that will address the needs of Colony Nursery and Landscaping and an application that the ERP system could provide for the company.
An information silo is a system involved in the management of information where communication is difficult to other systems managing information. Information silo focuses on communication moving vertically and therefore, there is no communication between departments and divisions in the company which limits efficiency. Information silos are a problem to organizations as they cause lack of transparency in the organization that in turn, leads to bad resource utilization, reliance on inaccurate data and increases the chance for revenue to decrease. Information silos develop differing systems in the organization which increases the costs and lack of synergy.
Organizations are moving to cloud, for several viable and realistic reasons. The most important is the less dependency on IT as there are no hardware and software to purchase and maintain. Like in the case of Colony Nursery and Landscaping, they cannot afford to purchase and continually maintain an Enterprise Resource system. Adopting Cloud solutions, reduces IT costs and associated implementation risks. Cloud applications and systems allow members of the organization benefit from a seamless integration for process automation solutions and ERP. Cloud-based solutions are easily and quickly implemented in the organizations and maximize on the Return on Investment. Cloud providers offer constant support in terms of maintenance of the cloud applications through automatic updates and technical support for the software to be fully functional to the organization. Organizations are choosing to move to cloud solutions for better security and easy customization as well as flexibility of cloud features.
Using cloud services, such as cloud-based host for data storage would effectively solve the problem of ERP information silo problem at Colony Nursery and Landscaping. Cloud services in the company would allow the different stores in different locations to feed in data collected and also access general information from any store. The cloud services would allow seamless integration of the information collected by different stores and therefore, allow access information for the implementation of the award system that will award customers points when their purchase from any stores.
Implementation of the ERP system and the awards program would provide a competitive advantage for Colony Nursey and Landscaping. Integration of an ERP system would increase the accuracy of the processes involved and therefore greater efficiency that lead to increased profitability. The system offers real-time data and reports that offer relevant company information that is important on making informed and timely decisions and increased visibility of stock and supplies. The ERP would support the award system in gaining competitive advantage as the customers are effectively awards for their purchase and overall increase customer experience that reflects on higher sales revenue.
The implementation of the ERP system would require business process -re-engineering to ensure business processes optimization. Business process re-engineering would help the employee understand the processes that will be influenced by the implementation of the ERP. The employees should understand the different systems that will be involved such as the integration of cloud solutions for the ERP system. The customer reward system implementation will require incorporating information process between the Human Resource and the marketing departments. Business process re-engineering will require software modifications for the systems to fit together and function harmoniously.
References
Hajilari, A. B., Ghadaksaz, M., & Fasghandis, G. S. (2017). Assessing organizational readiness for implementing ERP system using fuzzy expert system approach. International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems (IJEIS), 13(1), 67-85.
Alomari, I. A., Amir, A. M., Aziz, K. A., & Auzair, S. M. (2018). Effect of enterprise resource planning systems and forms of management control on firm’s competitive advantage. Asian Journal of Accounting and Governance, 9, 87-98.
Gunasekaran, A., Subramanian, N., & Papadopoulos, T. (2017). Information technology for competitive advantage within logistics and supply chains: A review. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 99, 14-33.
Nastasoiu, A., & Vandenbosch, M. (2019). Competing with loyalty: How to design successful customer loyalty reward programs. Business Horizons, 62(2), 207-214.
