Salford University: CC Music Operations & Info Management Report

This report provides an analysis of operations and information management strategies for CC Music, a business venture by Chris and Clive. It covers business process modeling using Gantt charts and BPMN, SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and a com...Read More

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Operations and Information Management
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Operations and Information Management
Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Part A...............................................................................................................................................3
Business Process Modeling Notation...........................................................................................5
Part C...............................................................................................................................................9
Report...........................................................................................................................................9
Part D.............................................................................................................................................12
Reflection...................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

Operations and Information Management
Introduction
Operation management concerns with several organization’s important tasks like, planning the
task, supervising and organizing the task. All the tasks are performed well, in order to deliver the
output before the deadline and efficiently. On the other hand, information management
orchestrates different activities related to the business corporation. It mainly concerns with the
acquisition of information from one place to another. Information management also transfers the
information to where it is required (Anderson, Anderson and Parker, 2013). These both are a
very important task in any business organization since they play a major role in managing the
functions and activities along with various data management that takes place in the business
administration. All these processes are required to be done effectively and smartly so that the
progress level of the business entity can be increased. operation management gives the business
entity a chance to improve their way of working by improvising their pre-existing services.
Managing operations allows the business entity to be more focused in a few areas like proper
shipments of products, achieving goals before timeline, increasing teamwork etcetera. With
good services, the customers will be satisfied that will help to increase the customer base and
business growth (Topmba 2014). The report presented below shows the implementation of
strategic changes inside the CC Music, effectively.
Part A
A conceptual process which includes laying out proper plans and procedures that occur on a
daily basis in a business organization is known as business process modeling. It mainly focuses
on the improvised ways to do the daily business chores. It is a very important part of any
business organization’s management process (Bamford, Moxham, Kauppi and Dehe, 2015). This
process helps to analyze the business progress by comparing the current and previous situations.
Gantt chart and BPMN can be adopted by CC Music.
Gantt chart
For CC Music, this procedure can be very efficient since it will allow them to keep track of the
tasks by proper scheduling and also allow them to check in on the performance level of the tasks
or projects within or before the timeline (Hunsaker 2018). With the help of this tool, various
horizontal bars can be used to store the details of a project's starting and end date. CC Music can

Operations and Information Management
use this tool to keep the track of the tasks and work accordingly. Gantt chart for CC music is
given below.
Main
activities/
stages
Week
1
Week1
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
4
Wee
k 6
Wee
k 7
Wee
k 8
Marketing
targets

Preparing
work plan
Presenting
Theoretical
outline
Authorization
on the
presented
outline
Objective 1
Objective 2
Strategy
(STP)
Segmentation,
targeting, and
positioning
Promotional
mix
Evaluation of
the strategy
Alterations (if
any)

Operations and Information Management
Business
commenceme
nt
Final
presentation
The chart presented above represents the allotted task and the expected performance and level of
progress associated with it. This planning tool can be very beneficial for the CC Music in order
to store information about several tasks and their deadline inside a single framework. One of the
significant characters of this chart is that it helps with proper scheduling that will allow the
employee to complete tasks before time limits (Luiz, Ellram and Scavarda, 2007).
Business Process Modeling Notation
The business corporations use several ways to lay out their operations and the information
related to them, BPMN is one of the methods (Battistoni, Bonacelli, Colladon and Schiraldi,
2013). BPMN method uses the flowchart system or graphical notation that helps to specify the
business task that is taking place. It contains the whole sequence with important details that are
required to complete a task. The main purpose of this model is to get, a competitive advantage,
increasing efficiency and introducing new approaches.
Key components of BPMN are: Artifacts- Information and data objects Swimlanes- Consist of lanes and pools. Connecting objects- Mainly includes arrows to demonstrate the flow of the sequence of
message or association (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014).

Operations and Information Management Flow objects- It comprises events, gateways, and tasks.
BPMN is an evolved system since it uses the symbol, which gives everyone a clear visual. the
primary objective of creating BPMN was to obtaining a standard yet common language in the
field of modeling business process (Bouchery, Corbett, Fransoo and Tan, 2016). CC Music will
gain great advantage by using this process, such as: Gives strong support to the business operation management. Provides an easy approach even for the unprofessional users of BPMN
Strategic analysis for CC Music
SWOT Analysis
for any business, SWOT analysis is the best approach towards strategic planning. This technique
gives the opportunity to the business entity to find their flaws and best qualities (Khanna, 2015).
SWOT stands for Strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats (Brown, Bessant and Lamming,
2013). This approach is the best way to plan a business or gain competitive advantage. SWOT
analysis for CC Music is as follows:
Strength- Chris and Clive are already a musician and knows so much about this industry, which
is a perfect business start. Since they are a former musician they ought to have a fan base which
can help them, promote their business. To accommodate band members they can use their
previous contacts and the support of their family and friends. Better quality of production can be
the good start to business (Brown, Blackmon, Cousins and Maylor, 2013). Providing quality
services to the customers and also delivering the customer, their best services. Their experience

Operations and Information Management
in the music industry can help them with choosing the correct content for the audience. To make
their agency popular Chris and Clive need to choose better singers for which they can get help
from family members and friends.
Weakness- the Music industry is all about audience and their choice, therefore, the material is
required to be of better quality, but with continuously changing trends it is a bit difficult to come
up with new ideas. Apart from that the major problem for Chris and Clive can be, artist
management. They will require numerous bands to get their business going and it is going to cost
them so much (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2013). In the beginning, it is hard to spend so
much and for that, they will need a huge budget. Lack of sponsors can be a big problem for them.
Since they are former singers, so coming up with new ideas according to the modern music trend
can also be slightly difficult, lack of publicity.
Opportunities- There are lots of opportunities for CC Music as compared to the threats. Their
previous fan base can help them to gain more popularity in their business. They can interact with
their fans to gain more popularity (Slack, 2015). Their experience in the music industry can be
advantageous for them to try a new and different approach based on their experience. In the
beginning, to save the budget they can even go for some free open source software to start and
help grow their business. Softwares like, Dolibarr ERP, iDempiere, Openbravo, Vienna etcetera
which is perfect for small-scale business and saves a lot of money. Another opportunity they can
gain is from their previous contacts in the same field, who can help them get bands for their
business.
Threats- For Chris and Clive, a competitive advantage is the biggest threat. They are going to
start a business in such a field where bigger brands are overtaking the smaller brands and it can
be the huge disadvantage for them. another threat is criticism from another brand because of lack
of popularity (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). Even the startup cost in the music industry is way too
high and they need to spend so much on starting the business. Most of the great bands like to
play solo, therefore, it can be slightly difficult for them to get a good brand for their business.
With management role comes extra responsibility, this could put Chris and Clive into some
business crisis.

Operations and Information Management
Part B
Open source software comparison table
iDiempiere
iDiempiere is completely based on ERP system
its main functions are, sending invoices,
warehousing, POS integration, and forecasting.
This software mostly depends on the
community support in order to troubleshoot.
iDiempiere provides the user with everything
with what he or she can get from an ERP
software (Idempiere 2018). Which includes,
warehousing, managing payrolls,
manufacturing and even planning a product.
Seating up iDiempiere can be slightly difficult.
This software completely works on, computers,
Smartphones, tablets etcetera. This software
even contains supply chain management and
customer relationship management (CRM).
this software is flexible and can easily expand
the functions installed in it. This software even
has an engine based on WfMC standards and
can also be known as the workflow engine.
With the help of the workflow engine, it
becomes easy to manage all the process,
documents and the BPM needs.
Open-bravo
Open-bravo is based on the cloud system and
provides retail solutions. Open-bravo has been
launched in three type of "flavors" designed
according to the needs of the business entity.
Its free edition is Open-bravo community
edition which lacks the professional editions
and enterprises which comes in the paid
version (Openbravo 2018). For small-scale
business, Open-bravo ERP is the correct
product and was also the first product to be
launched by the company. It is based on web
and ERP system. It helps the organization
with, sales, manufacturing, projects,
procurements, finance, accounting, MRP and
many more features. The paid version of
Openbravo so many great features like non-
technical tools for upgrades and updates
etcetera. Another product launched by
Openbravo for retail and hospitality business
was Openbravo java POS. Openbravo’s
premium or professional version is a bit
difficult to understand. Although the support
services charge so much which puts a damper
on every other best feature
Dolibarr ERP VIENNA Advantage community edition

Operations and Information Management
It is open source free software. This software is
best for small and medium-size companies.
There is so many best feature of the software
such as customer relationship management
(CRM), enterprise resource planning( ERP),
sales, innovating modules, manufacturing
etcetera (Dolibarr 2018). Dolibarr is the
flexible software that can be changed
according to the needs of the user. This
software is online and provides free ERP and
CRM system to the users. It is very easy to use
and can be used by the person even with a very
little technological knowledge. it comes with
feature modules and simple solution which
makes it more efficient. All the features in
Dolibarr comprise a suite of CRM and ERP
features. Dolibarr is very easy to install and
provides the users with the main features
instead of unnecessary functions. It is a
modular software. Main modules of Dolibarr
are sales management, event management,
customer relationship management, project
management, orders management etcetera.
It is free edition open source software. It is
mostly useful developers companies or small-
scale enterprises and technical organization. It
gives a single platform to thousands of users
and is very beneficial for them in several ways.
it Provides the basic set of features for the
business associated small scale companies. It
consists of a large number of modules, which
provides the user with the basic set of
knowledge. the main product revolves around
ERP and CRM (Viennaadvantage 2018). It is
completely web-based platform leaving the
user free from compatibility issues. The only
issue with this software is that it does not come
with the inbuilt support and therefore requires
an expert to get installed but once it is installed
there are thousands of free modules available.
VIENNA offers to account, all kind of
management, sales, the tool for reporting
etcetera.
Part C
Report
Introduction
The given report depicts all the observations made on the basis of all the changes or the
developments that can be made in the CC Music once the system that is explained above gets

Operations and Information Management
implemented or executed. CC Music can use the above-mentioned systems for the improvisation
of the system and the functionalities leading to their betterment.
iDiempiere
iDiempiere is an open source software which is based on the fully fledged ERP system along
with a CRM system (Gupta and Starr, 2014). Supply chain management (SCM), Enterprise
resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) are few important
features of this software. It has so many great features and powerful system.
Features- iDiempere is a great software system which can expand its system according to the
requirements. Its flexibility makes it great to use while supporting ERP business system.
iDiempiere supports multiple organizations, multiple languages, many users, account schemes,
different currencies, and tenants. It also comes in the free version but not completely, a user
needs to pay several charges in order to install the software. It is user-friendly and comes with
different modules for the users. The software also comes in different languages which provide a
larger user base and can be very helpful for the business expansion (Habib, 2014). iDiempiere is
the highly active platform with millions of users. It helps in processes like sales, orders, send
invoices, shipments, warehousing, CRM, project management etcetera. It also handles the
financials. Financial accounting that includes managing the accounts, managing payments, and
financial reports etcetera are supported by this software which is a huge advantage. Some
specific requirements of the business industry like, manufacturing, asset management, invoicing,
and software integration are also supported by the iDiempiere. Although it has so many features
the only issue is that it requires community support for the troubleshooting issues.
Openbravo
Openbravo is based on the cloud system, which is specialized in the retail solutions. Or it can be
said that it is a cloud-based POS and also retail management solutions. Openbravo ERP is a web-
based system it is very beneficial for the small-scale or medium scale businesses. This software
is based on open source ERP program.
Features- For small-scale businesses, it is a good software. Its community edition is the free
release. The paid version of Openbravo comes with more premium features, giving the user the
best experience. In the free version, the professional editions and enterprises come in a stripped

Operations and Information Management
down form, which is completely opposite to the premium version (Millar and Rigby, 2015). Free
version contains very few inventory management modules, financial management module
etcetera. Although these stripped down version can be beneficial for few business entities. The
other drawback of Openbravo is that it provides a support service at a cost which can be a major
drawback. The main characteristic of the community version of Openbravo is that user can
maintain data on the web browser through the green web interface.
Dolibarr- It is also an open source software based on ERP (enterprise resource planning) and
CRM (customer relationship management) features. It is a very flexible software. Dolibarr is a
very popular software with a huge user base (Heizer, 2016). Dolibarr includes so many great
features like CRM, HR, accounting, management, sales, inventory modules etcetera. It is free
software which is an amazing thing for small-scale businesses and medium scale companies.
Features- Dolibarr has so many great features. It is very flexible and comes with a dolostone
where a user can get all type of app they want and along with that, they can even obtain app as
per their requirement. It’s a very popular app and also user-friendly. Since it is a free app, it
makes it greater. The software is updated constantly because it has a great user forum which is
highly active. It also comes in different languages, which increases the diversity of the users. The
most important feature of the following software is CRM and ERP suite (Hitt, Carnes and Xu,
2016). Main modules of dolibarr include sales management, purchase management, stock
management, customer relationship management, account management, contracts management,
LDAP, reports, surveys etcetera. It also provides the platform for multi-users with different
levels of permission. It is very easy to use by the users and also come with inventory modules to
make the experience better.
VIENNA Advantage community edition
Most of the open source software’s it also has an ERP and CRM system and the whole system
revolve around these two systems. VIENNA is an online system which is web-based and can be
operated from anywhere without creating any compatibility issue for the user. It is a great
software for small-scale businesses since it provides so many great features. The community- e-
edition is the free edition. Many small-scale companies, technical companies, developers, small
enterprises etcetera can use this software without any worries.

Operations and Information Management
Features- The main feature is that it is a free software and small-scale music companies like CC
Music can use this easily without any compatibility issues. This software is perfect for all the
micro businesses that are looking to deploy software with all the specific features for their
company. This software is up to date software with many improvements. It is user-friendly and
easy to use since it comes with the feature module. This community edition is flexible enough to
give the user a chance to create his or her own module. This software also helps the user with the
market management by providing fast up gradation of the system, safe and secure all the
customization of the software. Although it is a bit difficult to install once it is installed, the user
will be able to use the software with the help of lots of modules that comes free with it.
Management, accounting, and reporting are it’s the best feature.
Part D
Reflection
After carefully examining and observing the report, I have analyzed that to manage the business
the most basic approach is operation management and information management. Operation
management allows the business entity to lay out their plans, functionalities, activities, tasks
etcetera in a carefully strategized way. These functions which are taking place in the
organization on a day to day basis can be managed with the help of this approach, on the other
hand, information management helps with the distribution of Information from an original source
to other or sending the information to where it is required. BPMN and Gantt chart approach is
amazing in order to perfectly lay out the plan and map out all the information regarding the task.
It also helps with the proper scheduling of the task. I have also observed that all these approaches
have proven beneficial for the business in so many different ways, in order for the business to
succeed, different approaches are required that can help with proper mapping out of the
operations and projects effectively and efficiently.
Conclusion
On the basis of above discussion, it can be concluded that operations management is a wide
aspect of business management. The report consists of three main parts which describes the
projected operations management process of CC Music, BPMN Modelling notation, SWOT
analysis of CC music and comparison of different type of software systems that can be used by

Operations and Information Management
the CC music to manage its operations in an effective manner. While describing the strengths
and weaknesses, the information is collected from the official website of CC music and the
related articles published in the regard. Along with this, opportunities and threats have been
analyzed on the basis of the market conditions in which the company is working. Further, on the
basis of understanding of SWOT analyzes, for majorly used software has been described with the
help of a comparison table to make a long lasting impact on the reader’s mind. Each tool or
software has been describes along with its features and weaknesses, so that the company may not
have to face any kind to problem at the time to selecting any one of them. Further, the writer has
described his own views about the whole study in form of personal reflection which works as an
essence of the whole report. The study also concludes that management of the operations is the
main tool to increase the profitability of the business and sustain in the industry for a long term.
This study provides a suggested framework to CC Music to manage its operations and to provide
customer satisfaction up to an extent. All the information has been collected form the
authenticated sources which includes website of the company, journal articles and the
information published on the government website.

Operations and Information Management
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Operations and Information Management
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