Management Information Systems: ASOS Case Study

This case study explores the use of management information systems in ASOS, a British online fashion retailer. It covers various functional business units, internal structure, levels of information, and technological solutions.

Management Information Systems

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Question 1........................................................................................................................................1
A) Selected industry ...................................................................................................................1
B) Selected Organisation............................................................................................................1
C) Description of chosen organisation .......................................................................................2
D) Web address and screenshot of home page............................................................................2
Question 2 (LO: 1)...........................................................................................................................3
Various functional business units and internal structure of the company ..................................3
Question 3 (LO: 2)...........................................................................................................................7
Levels of information i.e. Operational, tactical and strategic data ............................................7
Question 4 (LO: 3)...........................................................................................................................9
Suitable technological solution ..................................................................................................9
Data warehousing, data mining and data analytics options .....................................................10
Question 5 (LO 4;5).......................................................................................................................11
PELS consideration ..................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Management information system is basically a computer system that consists a large
number of software and hardware and serve as a backbone of operations of organisations. MIS is
used by organisation to perform its operation more effectively as MIS facilitates gathering of
data from multiple or various online systems, analysis the gathered information and also reports
this data to management to aid in decision making process (Gupta, Kannan and Sanyal, 2018).
Thus, the main purpose of MIS is improving decision making through providing authentic,
accurate and up to date data on various organizational operations and assets. For this case study
the selected organisation is ASOS which is a British online cosmetic and fashion retailer. In this
case study various functional business units and internal structure of chosen company is
presented. Beside this, this report also include a difference between operational, tactical and
strategic data. Further, operational database, CRM technologies and other technological solutions
are also included. At last, professional, ethical, legal and social considerations are also presented
in this case study.
Question 1
A) Selected industry
For this case study, online shopping or e-commerce industry is selected which is
basically deals as a online shopping retailer of clothing, fashion and cosmetic items. The main
purpose of choosing this industry is that, the fashion and retail sector is growing with a rapid
speed and many new innovations and changes are getting in that industry (Piercy, 2018). Beside
this use of online shopping app to increase the sales and making it more convenient for both
buyers and sellers is also an attraction behind selection of this retail and clothing industry.
B) Selected Organisation
The organisation selected for meeting the objectives of this case study is ASOS company
which is a well known British fashions and cosmetic retailer and operates its business as a online
shopping store. The main reason for selection of this organisation is that it provide a detailed
information about how an organisations is making use of latest technology and information
system to have better accessibility to its customers and to conduct a business with more
efficiency and better growth and success rate.
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C) Description of chosen organisation
ASOS plc is a global, internet, fashion retail business that offers branded and own label
products across women-wear and menswear and operates and distributes its product at
international level (ASOS, 2019). ASOS company was founded in 2000 in London, UK and its
main target are young adult generation from the age group of 20-35 years. ASOS is considered
as global fashion destination for a range of things and currently sells over 85000 branded and
own label product through localized mobile and other web experiences. ASOS plc offers
approximately 75000 separate ranges of clothes, spanning women's and menswear, footwear and
all other fashion accessories along with jewellery and beauty collections. The Company's
collection of specialist own-label lines includes ASOS Curve, ASOS Maternity, ASOS Tall and
ASOS Petite (Liebowitz, 2019). ASOS is having its centre at UK but providing facility of online
shopping for its product in different regions of world which includes the United States, Europe
and also operates returns centre in Australia and Poland, beside this ASOS is also having country
specific websites in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia and the Unites States. To
have better market share and customer base ASOS caters a range of customers segments and
provides its product at different sizes across all categories and price points.
D) Web address and screenshot of home page
ASOS is a unique, multi-platform experience that truly resonates with the people who use
it, because it’s built by them. It’s a place to which is having its own style and thus,inspired to
shop (ASOS, 2019). The tag line of ASOS plc is “ We are authentic, Brave and Creative”. The
screenshot of home page of ASOS plc is provided below:
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(Source: Home page of ASOS plc, 2019)
Question 2 (LO: 1)
Various functional business units and internal structure of the company
The ASOS is having a functional internal structure where its business units are categories
on the basis of its function (Ghosh, 2019). The main functional business units of ASOS along
with the description of data used by them is provided below:
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Illustration 1: Home page of ASOS plc, 2019

Illustration 2: Functional units of ASOS plc, 2019
(Source:Functional units of ASOS plc, 2019)
Marketing unit- This function of ASOS plc is relayed with identifying and developing
successful product on the basis of analysis of a particular marketplace to counter or fulfil the
needs of customers (Business function, 2019). The main aim of marketing is to promote and
differentiate its product from other similar products available in the market for attracting a larger
section of customers. The functions of marketing unit is performing marketing research, making
and implementing marketing plan and other strategical planning related with product
development, market development, market penetration. Along with this, marketing unit also take
care of advertising, distribution for sale, pricing, after sales customer service and public
relations. Thus, the ingoing type of data for marketing unit includes the data or information
gathered from market research and related with taste and preference of customers and current
trends of market (Hassan and Mathiassen, 2018). The out going type of data is related with the
content and information transferred to customers about the product and organisation to attract
them for making purchase of product form ASOS plc. Thus, a huge amount of databases is
maintained by marketing department of ASOS.
Production unit- The main function of production unit is related with manufacturing and
design of best quality product. In ASOS plc the production functions is responsible for
manufacturing of best quality clothes, cosmetic items and other accessories in which it deals. The
production department needs to keep a database about the units and types of products
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manufactured to have a record of article produced. This report and database helps in maintaining
a balance between demand and supply of products of ASOS plc and also keeps a record of
productivity level and efficiency of workforce (Martell, 2018). The inflow data of production
department includes information about stock and inventory purchased and its outflow data
include information about product manufactured and distributed and sold to customers thus, keep
a check on movement of raw material and product thus, provide better control on wastage of
resources and theft of products.
Personnel or HR unit- The function of personnel unit is to recruit a most talented and
suitable individuals and employees for an organisation. The record and data maintain by this unit
is related with the attendance, management and personal detail of employees. Timely records and
reports related with amount salary, incentives and other perks is also maintained by this unit.
Finance unit- This main function of finance unit is to maintain reports and budgets
related to all day to day financial transaction which is necessary to calculate and generate the
profit of organisations. The main aim of finance unit is keep a record of all income and expenses
of ASOS plc so that better control can be made to reduce the cost of production and other
operation (Towill, 2018). Thus, timely record and databases about the various expenditure and
cost incurred is maintain by this unit and plays an important role in preparation of financial
statement and balance sheet which reflects the actuals positions and performance of an
organisation.
The hierarchical representation of management of ASOS plc is provided below:
Top management
In top management of ASOS plc its board of directors, managing directors and general
managers are included which are having the responsibility of formulation of plans and polices
and other strategic activates are also conducted by them for having better growth and success.
Middle management
In middle management of ASOS plc, branch manager, production manager, marketing
manger, finance manger and personnel manager are included who are having responsibility of
management of their specific functional unit and are responsible for guiding and directing
employees and workforce for achieving better result and performance (Simpao and Rehman,
2018).
Lower management
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It is the lowest level management in which the foremen, office superintendent, floor
supervisors, decrements heads and all other employees and workers of ASOS plc are included.
They are the one who are responsible for actual execution and implementation of plan and
policies formed by top management (Derr and DeLong, 2018).
Illustration 3: Level of management of ASOS plc, 2019
(Source: Level of management of ASOS plc, 2019)
Screenshot of Website for functional unit of a business as an evidence
Illustration 4: Business functions, 2019
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Illustration 5: Main business functions of ASOS, 2019
(Source: Main business functions of ASOS, 2019)
Question 3 (LO: 2)
Levels of information i.e. Operational, tactical and strategic data
The three broad concept and level of data that are used in ASOS plc are described below:
(Source : Levels of information in ASOS plc, 2019)
Strategic data
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Illustration 6: Levels of information in ASOS plc, 2019

This type of data is of great importance and needed for long range planning and
formation of policies of a business. Thus, strategic data is used by Top management of ASOS
plc to make plans for company and also ensure achievement of business objective with the help
of executive support system. Growth in population of target market and current market scenario
are the example of strategic data which is required by top management to decide and determine
long range goals for whole organisations (Paszko and Turner, 2018). Thus, strategic data is
concerned with long term planning and is helpful for top management in taking business
decisions that are mainly unstructured and less frequent.
Tactical data
Tactical data is mainly used for short range decisions making to run a business more
efficiently and thus, mainly used and created by middle management. Sales analysis, annual
financial statements, etc. are the examples of tactical data used and developed by middle
management of ASOS plc for short range planning i.e. for around some months. Use of tactical
data is made by middle management of ASOS plc for having effective use and allocation of
resources while execution of any project and also provide a better control to effectively execute
or implement the plans made by top level management.
Operational data
Operational data is mainly required by ASOS for a short term or to keep records of daily
operations of business. It includes data related with day to day business activities like records of
employees absent from work (Kreps, 2018). Operational data is considered lowest level data and
is mainly related with operational planning ans execution of tactical plans. This data is used and
crested by the lowest level of management hierarchy or workers for effective implementation of
a operational plans. The time scale of operational data is also very short mainly related with day
to day performance and extended to a week or a month. Operational data is related with internal
control and operational environment and includes information such as data about workforce of
ASOS plc, direct competitors of ASOS, creditors, suppliers and information on customers of
ASOS plc. Apart from operational data of ASOS plc also includes remote environmental data
and industry data. Thus, in ASOS plc operational data is mainly related with the execution of a
plan and policies with workforce. Operational data is used by lower level management to ensure
that planed task are carried out properly in ASOS plc to achieve the desired targets on time.
Difference among operational, tactical and strategic data
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Operational data Tactical data Strategic data
This data is mainly created and
used by lowest management
that includes workers and
other supervisors.
This type of data is mainly
related with operations and
functions of middle
management which includes
mangers and heads of different
functions (Kumar, 2018).
This data is mainly used for
planning purposes thus, related
with top authority or
management like board of
directors, chief executives, etc.
Operational data is mainly
related to a time period of
single day to a week or month
Tactical data is mainly related
with a time period of one
month to a year.
Strategic data is mainly stored
and kept for more than one
year.
Operational data is one which
is related with day to day
operations of an organisation
like information related with
number of employees absent
from their work on a particular
day. Main focus of operational
data is on execution and
implementation of plans and
policies through workers.
Tactical data is the one which
is related with the cations steps
and content related with
procedure of execution of plan
which includes effective
communication for direction
and guiding employees for
their effective management.
Strategic data mainly include
information related with long
term planning and decision
making and focused on
preparation of plans and
policies (Tan, 2019).
Question 4 (LO: 3)
Suitable technological solution
For achieving better efficiency in its functions and to get most suitable technological
solution of business issues related with management of data and information use of following
applications or concept can be made by ASOS plc:
Operational database and CRM technologies and products
Operational database management system is mainly used by organisations to up date data
and information in real time thus, allow an easy way to modify and change data for ensuring data
consistency and reduce the case of failure or concurrent access data (North and Kumta, 2018).
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CRM software is a set of application that is used to manage different process of organisation and
also provide easy assess to important information. CRM is basically a management approach that
aim at creating, developing and enhancing relation with targeted customers and all other
stakeholders and related party to maximize corporate probability and maximize customer value.
CRM is mainly concerned with utilizing information technology to effectively implement
relationship marketing strategies. A CRM solution facilitates better organization’s relationships
with individual people including its customers, service users, colleagues and suppliers
throughout the complete life cycle of business thus facilitates finding new customers, winning
their business, and providing support and additional services throughout the relationship.
Use of this CRM system must be made by middle management which includes manager
and department heads as it helpful in maintaining better relation with customers and other
stakeholders which is a important function of mangers thus, facilitate companies to stay
connected with its customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability (Gürdür and
Asplund, 2018). Use of operational database can be recommended for lower level management
as they needed to modify and update on a frequent basis to meet the current working conditions.
Data warehousing, data mining and data analytics options
Data warehousing is a process of constructing data and integrating this data with multiple
heterogeneous sources to support analytical reporting, hoc and structured queries and decision
making. Data warehouse is an important concept which includes data integration, data cleaning
and data considerations. On the other hand data mining is related with exploration and analysis
of data to discover and evaluate meaningful pattern and rules from a large data. Data mining
techniques are used by an organisation to build machine learning models and also make use of
AI application for effective operations (Gupta, Kannan and Sanyal, 2018)(Piercy, 2018). Further,
data analytics is a process that is used to draw conclusion about any information with the aid of
specialized systems and software.
It is recommended that lower management of ASOS plc should make use data
warehousing and data mining process for having garter effectiveness in its production process
through integrated data among all branches. Use of Data analytics should be made be made by
top management as it facilitates more informed business decisions through making use of
specialised software which are based on scientific models, theories and hypotheses.
Cloud based and out sourced data management platforms and services
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Use of cloud computing is made by organisations to have cloud based and out sourced
data management platforms and services which provides subscription based service and offers
demand network access to a shred pool of configurable computer resource which include
network application, servers and storage (Liebowitz, 2019). Use of cloud computation is
recommanded to ASOS plc as it lead to cost savings, increased productivity, speed and
efficiency and also yield better performance and security of data thus, it is recommended for top
management of ASOS plc.
Web based mobile access to all these platforms
To provide better services and 24/7 hour assess for relevant information, ASOS plc
should provide a web based mobile assess to all its application to its employees, so that they can
perform their task smoothly without any delays and waiting for assess to relevant data (Ghosh,
2019). At the same time effective control and safety measure should also be implemented by
ASOS plc to maintain the authenticity and safety of data.
Question 5 (LO 4;5)
PELS consideration
Before making use of MIS and other IT system, ASOS must considered following
aspects:
Professional considerations- The professional considerations is related with avoiding
conflicts of interest with clients, maintaining clients confidentiality and avoiding contributing to
perception of unlawful acts. Thus, implementation of MIS and other software in ASOS plc must
provide due consideration to confidentiality and interest of clients and customers (Hassan and
Mathiassen, 2018). Use of MIS through ASOS plc must aim at Striving to achieve the highest
quality, effectiveness, and dignity in both the process and products of professional work along
with accruing and maintaining professional competence.
Ethical considerations- Use of IT in business has increased the related issue of privacy
and security. Thus, implementation of MIS and other software by ASOS give due to
considerations to provisions of BCS code of conduct which states that IT professionals should
develop their professional knowledge, skills and competence on a continuing basis, maintaining
awareness of technological developments, procedures, and standards that are relevant for their
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field and should maintain the authenticity, trustworthiness and security of data of clients
(Martell, 2018).
Legal considerations- It is related with fulling legal provision and act related with
protection of data. Thus, the MIS and other systems of IT adopted by ASOS must gave
consideration to UK data protection act,1988. This act aim at defining the ways in which
information about any living or dead people should be largely use , handle and mange through
any organisation. The MIS and other IT software used by ASOS must intent to protect
individuals and its clients against misuse abuse of information.
Social consideration- It is related with overall security and safety of society. With the
use of MIS and other online data storage techniques like cloud computing cases and threat of
hacking and other social issues related with lack of personal data has increased (Towill, 2018).
Thus, ASOS must provide due consideration to maintain the confidentiality and security of data
to safeguard the overall society and its clients from threat of cyber crime to maintain a good and
positive atmosphere in society.
CONCLUSION
From the above case study it can be concluded that online shopping industry provide
convenience to both buyer and seller trough reducing barriers of location thus,lead to better
success. The various functional unit of an organisation include marketing, finance, production,
etc. and use of various form of data is made by these functions. The main types of data i.e.
operational, tactical and strategic data are found in an organisations. Further it can be
summarised that use of various application like CRM, cloud computing, etc. are made by
organisation to found most suitable IT solution. At last, it can be concluded that MIS and other
IT software must provide consideration to professional, ethical, legal and social aspects to
maintain authenticity and security of data.
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REFERENCES
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Gürdür, D. and Asplund, F., 2018. A systematic review to merge discourses: Interoperability,
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Liebowitz, J., 2019. Building organizational intelligence: A knowledge management primer.
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Paszko, C. and Turner, C., 2018. Laboratory information management systems. CRC press.
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Tan, J., 2019. Developments in healthcare information systems and technologies: models and
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Online :
ASOS. 2019. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.asosplc.com/>
Business function. 2019. [Online]. Available through: <https://simplicable.com/new/business-
functions>
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