Exercise 22

1. Use the coordination theory framework to describe the contribution of ERP software to organisational goals such as efficiency and flexibility.

(Wikipedia)defines Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a company-wide computer software system used to manage and coordinate all the resources, information, and functions of a business from shared data stores.

An ERP system has a service-oriented architecture with modular hardware and software units and "services" that communicate on a local area network. The modular design allows a business to add or reconfigure modules (perhaps from different vendors) while preserving data integrity in one shared database that may be centralized or distributed.

2. Differentiate between software systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, Business-to-Business e-commerce programs and Supply-Chain Management (SCM) software.

(Wikipedia) defines Customer relationship management (CRM)as consisting of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing.

According to (Wikipedia) Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer

Supply chain management software as defined by (Wikipedia) are tools or modules used in executing supply chain transactions, managing supplier relationships and controlling associated business processes.

3. What are the limitations of the EDI platform? How does a web-based platform for inter-enterprise communication rectify these limitations?

According to (Wikipedia) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) refers to the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents from one computer system to another (ie) from one trading partner to another trading partner. It is more than mere E-mail; for instance, organizations might replace bills of lading and even checks with appropriate EDI messages

Often missing from the EDI specifications (referred to as EDI Implementation Guidelines) are real world descriptions of how the information should be interpreted by the business receiving it. For example, suppose candy is packaged in a large box that contains 5 display boxes and each display box contains 24 boxes of candy packaged for the consumer. If an EDI document says to ship 10 boxes of candy it may not be clear whether to ship 10 consumer packaged boxes, 240 consumer packaged boxes or 1200 consumer packaged boxes. It is not enough for two parties to agree to use a particular qualifier indicating case, pack, box or each; they must also agree on what that particular qualifier means

The Internet has provided a means for any company, no matter how small or where they are located in the world, to become part of a major supply chain initiative hosted by a global retailer or manufacturing company. Many companies around the world have shifted production of labour intensive parts to low-cost, emerging regions such as China and Eastern Europe. Web-based EDI, or webEDI, allows a company to interact with its suppliers in these regions without the worrying of implementing a complex EDI infrastructure

4. Describe the CRM Life Cycle and the different segments of CRM software.

According to (CRMNEWZ) the life cycle of CRM consists of three phases - customer acquisition, customer relationship enhancements and customer retention. CRM software streamlines CRM activities at each phase of customer relationship management.

• Customer Acquisition
Contact management module and direct marketing module of CRM allow companies to effectively promote and market their products and services to prospects. Those modules help speed up the acquiring processes and reduce the cost of acquiring new customers.
• Customer Relationship Enhancements
CRM helps companies better understand existing customers' needs and behaviors and enhance the profitability from existing customers by cross-selling. They can customize their products and services to individual customers' needs and preferences.
• Customer Retention
Customer service module of CRM system gives the organizations the edge in customer support. They can increase customer satisfaction while reducing the cost of support. Customer retention is critical to the overall profitability of an organization. A customer you spend hundreds of dollars and months to acquire may leave you in seconds as a result of poor customer services.

According to (Wikipedia)CRM includes many aspects which relate directly to one another:

• Front office operations — Direct interaction with customers, e.g. face to face meetings, phone calls, e-mail, online services etc.
• Back office operations — Operations that ultimately affect the activities of the front office (e.g., billing, maintenance, planning, marketing, advertising, finance, manufacturing, etc.)
• Business relationships — Interaction with other companies and partners, such as suppliers/vendors and retail outlets/distributors, industry networks (lobbying groups, trade associations). This external network supports front and back office activities.
• Analysis — Key CRM data can be analyzed in order to plan target-marketing campaigns, conceive business strategies, and judge the success of CRM activities (e.g., market share, number and types of customers, revenue, profitability).

References
CRMNEWZ. CRM And Customer Life Cycle. Retrieved 20 July 2009, from http://www.crmnewz.com/crmnewz-18-20050407CRMandCustomerLifeCycle.html
Wikipedia. Business-to-business. Retrieved 20 July 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business-to-business
Wikipedia. Customer relationship management. Retrieved 20 July 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_management
Wikipedia. Electronic Data Interchange. Retrieved 20 July 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Interchange
Wikipedia. Enterprise resource planning. Retrieved 20 July 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning
Wikipedia. Supply chain management. Retrieved 20 July 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_chain_management