Evaluation Of A Firm That Had A Very Successful It Driven Strategy For Satisfy Customer Needs

The purpose of this article is to illuminate the need for any organization to have its IT strategy and business strategy properly aligned. While many organizations view IT and business alignment as an event – it is actually an on-going process, or continuous journey. Therefore, the main problem is that many organizations of today still hold these two principles (business mission & IT strategy) as two separate entities. However, in the Information Age – collaboration is key to capturing and retaining market penetration. To not have alignment with the IT and business strategy together is not a matter of want it is a matter of survival. This report will expand upon the need for business and IT strategic alignment as well as examine what happens in lack of a comprehensive plan. This will be done by examining the Vermont Teddy Bear company prior to and after the arrival of Bob Stetzel, the Vice President of Information Technology. This document will view it findings and make recommendations on the immediate and future operations of the company.

Case Study Assignment KL Worldwide Enterprises Inc.: Putting Information Technology to Work Submitted by Mark Lemoine September 14th, 2012

Amazon.com operates in the Online Retail Industry. The sector is one of the fastest growing globally and is outperforming the ordinary retail marketplace. It was created after 1995 and it was only the Internet that made it possible for such an industry not only to be established but to become one of the most flourishing sectors in the business environment. What is interesting is that Amazon.com, together with eBay is the pioneer in the field. Both companies were launched in 1995 and are still extremely successful. The creation of e-mail in 1996 had a huge impact on the development of online retail by introducing a fast and easy way to communicate with customers. For this two-year period Internet usage

Overstock.com, also known as O.co, with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah was founded in 1999 by Patrick S. Byrne, its CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Byrne "recognized the potential in liquidating excess inventory through the Internet. Up until then, consumers had relied upon outlet centers with crowds and limited product selections for finding bargains, and small retailers found little access into the world of closeout merchandise" (O.co, 2010). Meantime, the art of online shopping seemed to be skyrocketing. In 1999 Overstock.com reported a "$1.8 million in annual revenue to over $1 billion in revenue in 2010. Overstock.com is a major online retailer offering a wide variety of high-quality, brand name

JC Penney had to undergo and withstand several competitive issues to include changing of brand image, selling strategy and marketing strategy. JC Penney also had to account for Environmental Factors to include: a population that continued to age and also unemployment rates. JC Penney tried to influence customers by portraying an everlasting sale. No matter how hard JC Penney tried to market their products, if people didn’t

McKeen, James D; Smith, Heather (2012). IT strategy: Issues and practices (2nd ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall. Kindle Edition.

The Rain Forrest. Com has lead the way in online retailing, the company expanded in the early 1990s to offer the world the biggest selections of books, electronics, toys, tools, clothes, household items in general. Through third party agreements, Rain Forrest.com does sell products from major retail companies like Target Corporation, Expedia Inc., Hotwire, Virgin Wines etc. Through out the 1990s the internet and the world wide web became very popular, it took over the world, businesses had personal computers, internet providers, and web browser software. As the world wide web became predominant in society businesses turn to the web to find new opportunities for commerce. Selling merchandise on the internet gave many choices and opportunities (Funding Universe, 2004).

Prior to the new millennia, America was used to doing business the conventional way, through means such as family owned businesses which are sometimes referred to as “mom and pops” types of stores. Brick and mortar type stores, and other small businesses that seemed to flourish. Corporations were also on the rise, but people in small businesses were able to make a fair profit for their product without being undercut by a new major competitor to the market; the internet. When the internet and e-commerce came into picture in the mid 2000’s, small businesses were still at a profit in their businesses and did not pay much attention to what would soon serve as their biggest nightmare.

According to Turban and King (2003), internet technology renders retailers an additional channel for branding, transactions and customer relationship management, the adaptation of which may drive down retailers’ transaction costs, and ensuring faster and higher quality of customer interactions, resulting in enlarging the existing markets and consumer base. M&S realizes this and have tried to sell clothing via high street stores as well as via internet though they have experienced cost cutting, rationalisation and management changes in order to revive their business in recent years. Internet technology might enable sustainable competitive advantage, but problems remain on how to physically organize their online retail operations.

J.C. Penny started in 1902, the first store was named the “Golden Rule Store” by founder James Cash penny. In 1913 it was incorporated and named J.C. Penny company. It achieved great growth over the years by offering quality products at low prices while having excellent customers service. It offered a variety of products for sales that it became a mass merchandiser then decided to narrow down and become a specialty department. The store achieved great growth from its start until 1995 then started declining due to various reasons that will be discussed in this case study analysis.

The Internet has changed and will continue to change how people shop and new competition through the Internet will continue to shape the market.

Business like Amazon wants to make buying item from their business easier for customers. This is why Amazon offers E-retailing which gives customer option to go shopping online. The internet has had impact change on consumers shopping habit as shopping online has numerous advantages which is why online shopping continues to gain popularity. Some of the advantages of E-retailing is that it’s convenient as consumers are able to go shopping at home which could help them save cost on travelling and also gives consumers an option to compare prices of different products as there are wide range of products being sold online.

At 4:30 p.m. on December 6, 2010, Meredith Collins, VP of Marketing for Reed Supermarkets, walked down the sidewalk of the 10-store strip mall that housed Reed’s Westgate Plaza branch in Columbus, Ohio. Collins didn’t shop; instead she took mental notes about store traffic, first at the Reed store and then at an indirect but increasingly worrisome kind of competitor—a dollar store. The Reed was predictably well lit and inviting, and Collins could see three registers open and two or three customers in line at each. “Not too bad” she thought, “but not what I would hope for at this time of day, this close to the holidays.” She’d felt the same way at two other Reeds

Frenzel (2004) claimed that to be successful, a firm’s IT management team must take action on the following critical areas: business management issues; strategic and competitive issues; planning and implementation concerns; and operational items. If for any reason, the organisation experiences difficulties in the above areas, the manager will need to set goals and objectives to overcome and prevent these issues.

Companies over the last decade, has recognized that their survival to a lesser or greater extent, depends either entirely or partially to appropriate information system. It is established, based on lesson learned from both failed and successful organizations, that an information system strategy are to support or aligned with, business strategy. Similarly the business strategy can influences the choice of Information System used in the organization. A business strategy entails futuristic organizational planning that result in companies gaining competitive advantage. It is direct linked to supporting area such as marketing, procurement, and information system. The case of Comair airline, even after acquisition by Delta