Arab Open University Faculty of Business Studies, KWB T306A TMA- Spring 2014 Please read these instructions carefully. However, contact your tutor in case any difficulties with the instructions. You should submit your completed assignment to your tutor no later than May 3, 2014. Please use standard A4 size paper for your TMA. Your name, personal identifier, course and assignment numbers must appear at the top of each sheet. Please leave wide margins and space at the end of each sheet for tutor comments. It is better to use double spacing so that you can easily handwrite corrections to your drafts and tutors have space to encourage with your points as you make them. Start each question in the assignment on a new page. Any extended text should ideally be word-processed, but, diagrams and accompanying notes may be hand drawn and you can use large sheets of paper. Completing and sending your assignments When you have completed each of your TMA, fill in an assignment form (PT3), taking care to enter correctly your personal identifier course and assignment numbers. Each TMA and its PT3 form should be sent to your tutor with your name, address and personal identifier written on it. Keep a copy of your TMA for security. The copy that is eventually returned to you after the assessment process will have comments written on it. All assignments are treated in strict confidence. It is very important that you ensure that your tutor receives each assignment by the cut off date given. If you feel that you are unable to meet the cut-off date for any of the TMA, please contact your tutor as soon as possible to discuss your situation. Plagiarism You can score very well on this assignment using the materials provided as part of the course. However, if you have access to other sources of information such as reference books or the Internet, you may find it interesting to look there for additional relevant information. Very short extract from published sources may be included in context but you should avoid copying significant amounts of text from other authors. You should note that whilst the internet can provide lots of information much of it is not refereed and should be treated with caution. If you take material from the course or elsewhere and incorporate it in your answer word-for-word, you must indicate where you have taken it from. Not to do so it termed ‘plagiarism’ and is regarded as an infringement of copyright. To attempt to pass off such work as your own is cheating. You must therefore acknowledge all your sources of information. Plagiarism will lead to a loss of marks and extensive plagiarism could mean that you fail this TMA. For more information about what constitutes plagiarism or cheating you should refer to the current Assessment Handbook. General There are three questions in this TMA at the end of this case study. You should answer them all. You should notice the mark allocations for each question and allocate your effort accordingly. Appropriate use of diagrams is expected throughout the TMA. Read the following case and then answer all the questions that follow. Using IT to energize sales and marketing A Bryant Homes case study Introduction Information technology is causing fundamental change in almost every organization and market-place. The effective application of such technologies has become a key resource central to each organization’s competitive strength. It is capable of setting organizations apart from their competitors allowing them to offer completely new services and products. Organizations face increasing demands for better quality ******er service and a faster response to consumer needs. There is also an increasing demand for high quality information across business organizations so that competencies can be improved in all areas, especially the promotion of products and brands. This case study focuses on how Bryant Homes has used information technology. It shows how using both an Intranet and the Internet together with interactive multimedia, places Bryant Homes at the forefront of its sector. When consumers make a purchase today, they have far higher expectations than in the past. They want information that adds to service quality and helps them to make informed choices. In the past, many consumers might simply have looked at price in order to make appropriate comparisons upon which to found their decisions. Modern ******ers are much more sophisticated and want extensive comparative information and advice. In this ******er-focused environment, organizations need to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Information technology provides the means for delivering significant service improvements. Use of communication technology In the housing market, Bryant has been prepared to introduce the latest technologies in order to develop its product, promote the brand and improve its levels of ******er service. Such technologies help to: • make information more available to the ******er • provide the accurate and comprehensive information that ******ers require • Speed up sales systems make the buying process smoother for ******ers. When using the word ‘******er’ it is important to remember that everyone within an organization provides a service and that there are ‘internal’ as well as ‘external’ ******ers. The quality of service which reaches the final house buyer is often influenced by the quality of service and the information that members of staff provide for each other. Communication technologies also help to: • provide information and make it available to all departments within Bryant Homes • Improve the quality and speed of management decisions because managers are better informed. The Internet and the World Wide Web are currently transforming global communications. It is a global ‘network of networks’ which can be accessed from a personal computer by means of a modem or telephone link. It enables users from anywhere in the world to communicate and share information quickly and easily. The strength of the Internet is as a cheap and effective way of communicating, together with its use as an advanced re****** tool. Forward-thinking business organizations have spotted the potential of the Internet and many, such as Bryant Homes, are using it to develop further the products and services it provides for its ******ers. Although the Internet is a well-known word, many large organizations are today developing their own Intranet services, which provide a series of secure communication links within an organization and selected sites. An Intranet provides a similar communications function to the Internet but to a limited number of users. For example, it may provide a range of corporate communications, personnel announcements, job vacancies and news bulletins, as well as specialist and technical information. This case study focuses on the unique use of an Intranet service which helps to sell Bryant Homes properties by helping ******ers make informed decisions when purchasing a property. Promotion through an Intranet Bryant Homes is a large organization with developments from Scotland to the south coast. Within Bryant Homes, the 13 regional offices and 120 housing developments struggled to maintain accurate and timely information. To avoid any feeling of isolation, the Intranet was set up and opened a whole new vehicle for communication by linking together all ‘sales centers’ and regional offices with the head office. The Intranet facility also helps to make the whole buying process quicker and smoother by providing an Internal Sales System. Each sales center is connected to Bryant Homes’ head office and its solicitors through the Internal Sales System designed to service all ******er needs and requirements. ******er details, development details and legal information can all be accessed and processed in a way which improves ******er satisfaction. Each site has a personalized Sales System showing the external elevations, selected rooms, floor plans and ‘walk around’ for each house type available on that site. The sharing of information between each development, regional offices and head office, enables staff at Bryant Homes to respond more quickly to the needs of ******ers and also share best practice through the process of benchmarking. Not everyone has access to the Internet. Therefore, to ensure as wide an audience as possible could be reached, Bryant produced a Bryant Homes Product Portfolio CD-ROM. The CD-ROM used the same format and content as the website and features an ‘electronic walk around’ for the majority of house types. The ‘walk around’ facility allows ******ers to turn through 360 degrees in order to view a room from every angle to provide a true representation of each home with the use of real photography. This provides ******ers with the opportunity to view a house type for which there is not a show-home on a particular development. On each PC, in every sales center, Bryant Homes has introduced a corporate screensaver that has moving images reinforcing the Bryant product and brand messages. Bryant Homes also uses ‘virtual reality’. Virtual reality provides a way of both visualizing and experiencing something. It is the next best thing to being there. ******ers can see what a development will look like before it is completed. Benefits of a company website Use of the Internet has become widespread, as more providers allow people access to the system. Increasingly, before making a major purchase, they use it as a source of information and an opportunity to undertake their own consumer re******. Bryant Homes’ website was launched at the Evening Standard Homebuyers Show at Olympia, London in March 1999. It is a useful information source and a good starting point for people wishing to purchase a house. It is also a selling tool and an opportunity to increase brand awareness. The website’s main dedicated system for ******ers is named ‘Home finder’. Home finder is a system that will perform a ****** against consumer needs and requirements to locate a house type and location to suit their lifestyle. It contains images and floor plans of the entire Bryant Homes product portfolio. The information on Home finder comes directly from a central database and is updated every 24 hours. Input arrives from all levels within Bryant Homes, i.e. out on site by sales negotiators via the sales system, by sales departments who may want to input prices and also from site staff releasing production dates and targets. Though releasing prices and build dates into the public domain is a brave step, the information is updated daily directly from Bryant Homes’ central database. One of the benefits of ‘surfing the web’ for ******ers is that they drive the information, Bryant Homes doesn’t tell the user what to look at. It is a good way of issuing press releases and improving the focus of publicity. Bryant Homes’ website is also advertising space and is capable of reaching a wider international audience. This is particularly useful for attracting those wishing to relocate to the UK from overseas as such comprehensive information would be difficult to obtain otherwise. Website functionality The website was designed on the same platform as the Intranet and the Bryant Homes’ product portfolio CD-ROM so that integration between the two was easy. The design planning process for the website took two months and the construction process six weeks. Whilst much of the artwork and design was carried out externally, the website was largely an in-house development which involved the IT and marketing departments within Bryant Homes working closely together. Though it was possible to put a range of interactive multi-media facilities on the website, it was decided to keep the file sizes small so that downloading times could be kept to a minimum. Monitoring and analysis An investment in any new facility needs to be monitored. When Internet surfers make a ‘hit’ (visit to the site) they are providing useful marketing information for the host site. A monitoring and analysis system runs in parallel to the website. The system provides information on: • the country of origin of the enquiry • the most popular area of the website • the least popular area of the website • individual ‘sessions’ • the duration of a typical ‘session’ • the number of hits • the number of leads • the number of sales. The lead management system Pursuing a sales opportunity is known as following a ‘lead’. When a lead is identified from the website it goes into the lead management system where it is dealt with. An important benefit of a lead resulting from the website is that ******ers pre-qualify the lead themselves by indicating the number of bedrooms they require, the price range of the property they are looking for, the type of property, the area of their choice and when they are looking to move. It helps Bryant Homes to respond to the lead by providing focused and targeted information carefully directed to the ******er’s needs and requirements. Conclusion In the middle of information revolution, holding or providing information has become a key resource and an opportunity to develop competitive advantage. In the housing industry, the Intranet and Internet have become central to the strength of Bryant Homes in meeting the highly specialized needs of increasingly discerning ******ers who demand higher standards of ******er service. It is also a good way to communicate with ******ers and develop relationship marketing. These developments continue to place Bryant Homes at the forefront of its sector. The website is an important starting point which enables Bryant Homes to build upon its strengths through presenting an innovative and forward thinking image. It has also enabled Bryant Homes to review the business and look at ways of improving the way that it carries out day-today business activities, as well as the way in which it sells homes. Questions: 1. Critique the relevance and suitability of hard or soft approach in highlighting issues faced by a Bryant Homes. (20% marks) 2. Apply the Soft Systems Method to this a Bryant Homes situation case, including rich picture and conceptual mapping in order to brainstorm, analyse and make suitable recommendations. Provide a detailed narrative explaining your thinking process. (60% marks) 3. Investigate further suitable approaches and tools that could be used to investigate, illustrate and make recommendation to solving problems. Please consult all your course materials and undertake relevant literature ******. (20% marks)
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 12:27:10 +0000
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