Information Systems Solution for Amazon Australia

Introduction to Information Systems
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Executive Summary
Database Management System is an example of general purpose information system which
is a combination of the data and the software, and it helps in analysis and organization of
data. The components of the information systems are procedures, network, database,
software and hardware. Issues have been seen in the existing human activity system, and to
solve them Business process management software can be used to automate the financial
tasks and the operations. The business process management software is in itself able to
create technology that will be able to handle large number of invoices each day. One such
solution is the usage of Appian business process management suite that will be able to create
a technology system entirely integrate all other tasks in to a single system. This will
emphasise a positive impact on the user experience and customer satisfaction. Business
process management can serve specific needs and integrating with the enterprise resource
planning can be beneficial for Amazon. Application can be build that can have all the
operations related to purchase to pay. At the same time, mobile and social interfaces can be
used to access the business process management platforms.
Keywords: Database management system, information system, Amazon web
service, human activity system, value chain.
1. Introduction
Organizations over the world deal with large amounts of data and it data are the
facts and the basic values that are organized in to a database. It is considered that
information is similar to data while, information includes the information which is
required to solve problems and answer questions (Stonebraker et al. 2013). Thus, an
information can be described as a software that helps in the organization and analysis
of data. The main purpose of the information system is to transform the raw data in to
information that can be used for decision making within an organization. Database
Management System (DBMS) is an example of general purpose information system
which is a combination of the data and the software, and it helps in analysis and
organization of data (Gouhar 2017). While there are specialized information systems
that are designed to specifically to work on a particular process within an organizational
setting or even used to carry out a specific analysis. Enterprise resource planning is an
information system which is used to manage both the external and the internal
information of an entire organization. The components of the information systems are
procedures, network, database, software and hardware. A human activity system can be
described as notional system the emphasises on the human activity (Laudon and Laudon
2015). The systems are considered to be notions because they are intellectual
constructs and are not real world activities. The human activity systems are at the three
levels: 1) the system serves the environment of the larger system within which it is
Assignment Report – 1803ICT or 7610ICT (omit one)
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embedded; 2) the system serves the purpose of its members; 3) a system which the
serves the main purpose of its collective entity (Eaasos.info 2018). This study is based
on suggesting an information system solution for the Amazon Australia from the
perspective of a trainee business analyst.
2. Part 1 Overall analysis of the Amazon Australia Business
2.1 Part 1- question a: Information on Amazon Australia
Amazon first arrived in Australia on 4th December 2017 and compared to other
retailers, the prices of the products were not cheaper. On the very first day of launch,
the prices of the various products that were offered on the Amazon website are: FIFA 18
(PlayStation 4) video game for 40 dollars, Nintendo switch console for 399 dollars.
While it was also seen that the Amazon Australia also did not launched the Amazon
prime services on the very first day of its launch. It was though that the arrival of
Amazon in Australia will shake up the Australian retail industry and it will put price
pressure on the retail chains and the departmental stores. It was said by several market
analysts that the American retailer giant will be unable to offer products at the cheaper
rates while it can provide few products at discounted rates. This will force the
Australian retailers to innovate strategies to keep the customers loyal (news.com.au,
2018). Amazon Australia has currently spent around 2 billion dollars per month on the
online shopping. Considering from the online retailing, Amazon Australia has a share of
7.3 percent and it is major share. The business strategy employed by Amazon Australia
includes wide range of products, marketplace for local business, free shipping benefits,
and lower price of the products (webalive.com.au 2018).
2.2 Part 1- question b: Organizational form of Amazon Australia
According to Mintzberg’s classification, Amazon’s organizational structure can
be described as a professional bureaucracy. Which has an operating core as its vital
part and employs both the horizontal and the vertical decentralization. The organization
is considered to be formalized but facilitates the decentralization so that the
professionals are autonomous (Lunenburg 2012). The organizational structure of
Amazon is hierarchical and consists of the senior management team of the one
worldwide controller, three vice presidents, and two CEOs. There are 7 other
departments that include the head of the segments, legal operations, human resources
and information technology that report to the Amazon CEO along with the management
team (Panmore Institute 2018).
2.3 Part 1- question c: Value chain of Amazon Australia
According to Porter’s Value Chain Model consists of the 5 primary activities: inbound
logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. All the
support activities are mentioned in the vertical column and it mentions all the primary
activities. The support activities include the firm infrastructure, technology
development, human resources, and procurement (Koc and Bozdag 2017).
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Figure 1: value chain analysis of Amazon (done by author)
2.4 Part 1- question d: Competitive strategy of Australia Amazon
According to the porter’s five forces analysis model, the five forces are as
follows:
 Competitive competition or competitive rivalry (high force)- Amazon
competes in a competitive environment and the rivalry exists within the
online retail industry which includes the low switching costs (high force),
high probability of the substitutes (high force), and aggressive nature of
the firms (high force) (Panmore Institute 2018).
 Bargaining power of the customers or the buyers (high force)- Amazon
follows an approach emphasising on the customers. Thus, the external
factors that affect Amazon are: substitutes availability at high proportions
(high force), low switching costs (high force), information of high quality
(high force)
 Bargaining power of the suppliers (medium force)- in the e-commerce
business, the suppliers here control the supply and the availability of the
materials and supplies. The bargaining power of the suppliers are entirely
based on the moderate suppliers (medium force), medium forward
integration (medium force), small supplier size (high force) (Panmore
Institute 2018).
 Substitution or threat of the substitutes (high force)- Amazon with the
other market competitors in the field of online retailing. The external
factors that are upon whom the intensity of substitution depends are: cost
of the substitutes is low (high force), substitute availability (high force),
switching costs is low (high force).
 New entry or threat from the new entrants (low force)- when new firms
emerge, they potentially reduce the share of Amazon in the online market.
Amazon experiences a less intensity of the threat and this includes: costs
of switching is low (high force), cost of brand development is high (low
force), scale of the weak economies (low force) (Panmore Institute 2018).
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Inbound
Logistics
Operation
s
Outbound
Logistics
Marketing
and Sales Service
Procurement
Technology Development
Human resources
Firm Infrastructure
Margin
Support
activities
Primary activities

3. Part 2: Analysis of the existing human activity system
3.1 Part 2- question a: Identification of the existing human activity
system within the Amazon
The several issues that were identified within the existing human activity system
are: removal of the competitor’s products, amazon reviews, removal of the kindle
content, selling of the Wikipedia materials in the form of books, selling of Nazi T-shirts,
treatment of the worker in Amazon’s warehouse, E-book pricing, selling of books that
denies the holocaust, blocking the pre-orders on the Disney movies (Forbes.com 2018).
The stakeholders involved within this human activity system are the retailers,
products of the market competitors, book writers, consumers, amazon employees. Here,
the amazon employees in the warehouse complained about being humiliated by the
supervisors, the consumers complained of receiving books that are mere copy of the
Wikipedia content, the book writers are found to be writing book reviews on their own
books in the reviews section, amazon itself removed products that are similar to the
products of the other market competitors.
3.2 Part 2- question b: Issues
Stakeholders Issues
retailers amazon itself removed products that are similar to the
products of the other market competitors
products of the
market
competitors
amazon itself removed products that are similar to the
products of the other market competitors
book writers the book writers are found to be writing book reviews on
their own books in the reviews section
consumers the consumers complained of receiving books that are
mere copy of the Wikipedia content
amazon employees amazon employees in the warehouse complained about
being humiliated by the supervisors
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