Information Systems by Anna Garcia and Rebecca Holmes

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

All enterprises, regardless of what they produce or the services they deliver, are really information businesses.
The accuracy, speed and precision of IT systems means the difference between winning or losing customers, keeping supply chains profitable, and solidly translating new concepts into revenue-producing products and services.
First of all we would like to define information systems and explain in which way it can be used in logistics management processes, more specifically in the supply chain management.
Information systems is defined as the process of and tools for storing, managing, using and gathering of data and communications in an organization.
Logistics companies store, transport and distribute supplies and work-in-progress within the supply chain and distribute finished products to customers or intermediaries. Integrating supply chain and logistics operations improves efficiency and reduces costs, increasing the manufacturer’s competitive advantage, on the other hand IT contributions help restructure the entire distribution setup to achieve higher service levels and lower inventory and lower supply chain costs

How can IS systems contribute to the supply chain management?

  • Avail information in their premises
  • Coordinate activities
  • Reduce information costs
  • Cycle time reduction
  • Implementing redesigned cross-functional processes
  • Improving customer service

This all helped companies improve their positioning in the market, and therefore information systems have become a huge source of competitive advantage.
But information systems don’t only affect the logistics side of companies, by implementing a good IS overall relationships and communication between firms’ different departments are improved and it leads to an increase in efficiency and an overall reduction of costs regarding information management.

Why information systems are so important for businesses.

  • Avoids crisis – information systems help companies analyse stocks and track past performances, which can help companies predict crisis. This means that companies with successful information systems can work to avoid a crisis before it affects their company.
  • More effective decision making – by using information systems, management can develop better strategic plans.
  • Organised data – In order for a company to be successful, it must have organised data. Information systems allow employees to view and manage all their information, which can help create a smoother flow within the supply chain.


An extremely important information system is a customer relationship management system. This involves accumulating and tracking customer activities in order to synchronize sales and marketing efforts. Furthermore, the CRM system allows customers to communicate with companies and provide feedback.

Zara
Zara is a prime example of a successful CRM system as the company has a dedicated customer base, even though the company doesn’t heavily advertise.
As the company can collect information about popular products, designers are able to produce new items quickly. Due to this short turnaround, the company is able to beat competitors. By doing this, Zara uses data effectively in order to maintain customer loyalty.

Starbucks
Starbucks mainly uses four IS systems:
• Transaction Processing System.
• Supply Chain Management System.
• Decision Support System.
• Customer Relationship Management system
Their most important system is Decision Support System (DSS)
DSS is a computer program application that analyzes business data and presents it in a way that users can take their business decisions easier. Starbucks uses a singular DSS system at the parent company in USA: “oracle”. Oracle generates monthly reports on which important decisions are based.Only the parent company has the authority make decisions about products.Oracle-based data warehouse to Oracle Exadata to expand insight and facilitate decisions, even with explosive growth in data and the user population.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2013/04/01/21-most-admired-companies-making-it-a-competitive-advantage/#2809b4c2333c
http://starbucksinformationsystem.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/starbucks_10.html

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