Strategic Information Systems: A Case Study of IBM Bank in Australia

This study examines the use of accounting software packages in IBM Bank, Australia, a leading banking institution. It explores the current organizational structure, operational problems, and sales procedures of the bank. The study analyzes the benefits and challenges of adopting accounting software packages, specifically SAP, and discusses the competitive landscape within the Australian banking industry. It also highlights the importance of addressing security concerns and ensuring proper implementation of accounting software for optimal results.

HI5019
Strategic Information Systems
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Part 1...........................................................................................................................................................4
1) The current organizational structure................................................................................................4
2) Operations problems with current organizational structure..............................................................5
3) System acquisition method..............................................................................................................6
4) Sales Procedure of IBM bank..........................................................................................................7
5) Control problems in the system.......................................................................................................9
Part 2.........................................................................................................................................................10
1) Development and adoption of the accounting software packages..................................................10
2) The current market size..................................................................................................................11
3) Market leaders and competitive advantage....................................................................................12
4) Problems and challenges faced by accounting software packages.................................................13
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................14
References.................................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
With the continuous expansion of the information technology in the modern world, Strategic
information systems are continuously evolving in response to the corporate business initiative.
The business organization nowadays is rapidly investing the strategic information systems in
order to avail competitive advantage against the competitors. Strategic information systems offer
an opportunity to the business organizations to perform the business operations smoothly and
deliver the products and services as per the needs and expectations of the customers. The study
presents a literature review that will offer thorough knowledge and understanding about the use
of information systems like accounting packages in the businesses with the consideration of a
renowned banking organization in Australia, IBM banks that provide valve banking services for
personal, home and car loans, saving and investment accounts and other banking services. The
organization uses the accounting packages in order to ease the accounting transactions and
operations. There will be the critical investigation of the organization operations and problems
and how the use of software package will smooth the business operations with greater ease and
flexibility.
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Part 1
1) The current organizational structure
IBM is a banking service provider organization in Australia that offers authentic and valuable
financial services to the customers and maximizes their satisfaction and experience in an
efficient manner. The organization uses the accounting software packages to simplify the
accounting operations and minimize the time incurred in the accounting operations with the
traditional accounting approaches. Accounting software is an effective application that involves
the recording and analysis of the accounting transactions like accounting statements etc. with the
use of the functional modules. With the use of the accounting software IBM bank provides better
and quality banking services to its customers and ensure their commitment and loyalty to the
organization for the longer time. The organizational structure of IBM bank is wide and consists
of the number of hierarchy (IBM, 2018). The current organizational structure of the organization
is displayed below:
(Source: Created by Author)
4
Chief
information
officer
research
operations
Special advisor
HR operations
Relationhship
marketing
Technology
customer
services
customer
engagement
Accounting
department

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2) Operations problems with the current organizational structure
As it is seen from the above organizational structure, IBM bank has the tall organizational
structure that generally results in the creation of the number of operational and administrative
problems. The frequent operational problems hamper the business operations and also affects
the decision-making process of the organization. With these kinds of the issues, the operational
flexibility of the organization affects that declines the image of the organization in the market
against the competitors. Hence it is not easy for the organization to handle the competitive in an
efficient manner (IBM, 2018). The current organizational structure is wide and involves the
number of hierarchy that results in the creation of conflicts and misunderstanding among the
employees that hampers the entire business performance and affects the profitability of the
organization. It is important to bring coordination and cooperation among the employees so as to
achieve the desired results and objectives without any error and complications.
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3) System acquisition method
In the words of Bento, et. al. (2015), while implementing the information systems, it is necessary
to analyse the systems effectively so as to avoid the future errors and complications. ERP
solutions are an effective information system which can be used by the IBM Bank for improving
the operational activities with greater ease and flexibility. Enterprise resource planning or ERP is
widely used by the business organizations that are used by the organizations for the collection,
storage, management and interpretation of data used in the business operations. The ERP
solutions consist of an integrated system that operates in real time and supports all the
applications across the modules. With the adoption of the enterprise resource planning, the
banking operations will be highly secured and the organization will have access to systematic
analytics and evaluation, attractive information base etc. In addition to it, the organization will
also be able to meet the upcoming challenges and complications in the operations in a systematic
and structured manner (Bento, et. al., 2015).
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4) Sales Procedure of IBM bank
Sales procedure is the structured series of the procedures and actions that are used for the
mapping and tracking interactions at the first stages of engagement (Webb, 2017). With the
planned and effective sales procedure, the organization can be able to deliver the services in
accordance with the needs and expectations of the customers. The sales procedure of the IBM
bank is represented as under;
(Source: Verbal Xpress, 2012)
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Steps Activities Process owner Sales activity
support
1. Enquiry Customer Research Sales team Assistant sales
team and
Marketing
2 Identifying the
requirement
Solution approach Sales team Sales team
3 Tech discussion
for technical
clearance
Sales presentations
Follow up
Sales team Sales team
4 Closing deal by
documentation
Delivery of the final
solution to the customer
Operations Finance
The brief description of the sales proceeds of the organization is reflected in the table
below;
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5) Control problems in the system
According to the views of Kayworth and Whitten (2012), there is the number of problems occurs
in the sales process of the organization that hampers the entire sales operations and brings a
number of errors and complications. It is not easy to maintain proper control in the sales
procedure due to the complexity of the tasks and activities. There is the number of errors
emerges due to the complexity of the sales tasks that leads to the delay in deliverables to the
customers and creates the negative impression of the organization in the eyes of the customers
(Kayworth and Whitten, 2012). Also, the sales process of the organization is lengthy that often
creates confusion and misunderstandings among the sales personnel. Longer decision time frame
is another operational problem in the sales procedure that does not accelerate the lead flow in an
efficient manner. Also, the sales team of the organization is not able to meet the deadlines as
they are unable to respond to the changes in a systematic way. Also, they face problem in the
process inconsistency that affects in centralizing the sales compensation process. Also, there are
some problems arises in the sales procedure due to the negligence of the sales personnel that
affects the sales profits and revenues of the organization.
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Part 2
1) Development and adoption of the accounting software packages
In the words of Kellner & Swihart (2014), as the organization is facing a number of operational
problems and errors, hence the adoption of the accounting software packages will help in ease
the business operations and processes up to a great extent. The IBM must opt for the attractive
and effective accounting software package in order to meet the needs and expectations of the
modern customers and also to avail competitive advantage in the market against the competitors.
The introduction of the accounting software packages will help in the offering of best and
computerized solutions to the customers that will improve their loyalty and commitment within
the organization (Kellner & Swihart, 2014).
Among the present accounting software packages, SAP is one of the most widely used software
packages that satisfy the accounting needs and expectations of the organization of any size and
structure. In order to bring innovation in the business operations, the organization can adopt the
SAP software that will offer effective accounting models and personalized solutions in a better
and more systematic way than earlier. The software offers a wide range of accounting products
that will improve the banking operations of the organization with greater ease and flexibility.
Also, the offerings of SAP can be customized in accordance with the needs and expectations of
the customers. It is a financial accounting and information software that helps in the recording,
operating and analysing the accounting and financial transactions. The installation of this
accounting software into the application will help in improving the business performance as well
as the profitability of the organization and offers an opportunity to the organization to focus on
the others areas of improvement in order to attain the desired goals and objectives more
effectively and efficiently. The employees will also feel fewer burdens by the installation of the
software as they will not need to keep the records of the lengthy and complicated accounting
transactions as the software is efficient in maintaining, keeping and analysing the accounting
transactions in an innovative manner (Hao and Shihong, 2015).
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2) The current market size
There is no doubt in the fact that the banking sector is wide and vast and continuously growing
due to the growing banking and financial needs and demands of the customers. Also, the level of
competition is high in the industry due to the changing and fluctuating needs and demands of the
customers. The banking industry in Australia comprises of national banks, private banks, foreign
banks and subsidiary banks that progressively working for the accomplishment of the banking
needs and demands of the public in an efficient way. With the expansion of the information
technology, the banks in Australia consistently innovating their business operations by
introducing strategic information systems like accounting software packages in order to deliver
the services in accordance with the needs and expectations of the customers. Also, the banking
organizations with the use of the accounting software packages are improving their decision
making process and performance in the market and availing competitive advantage.
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3) Market leaders and competitive advantage
As per the views of Larrinaga, et. al. (2014), in order to survive in the competitive market with
greater ease and flexibility, the banking enterprises are continuously investing in the accounting
software packages so as to offer better and customized results as compared with the competitors.
Use of information system is the need of present organizations if they want to retain in the
competitive scenario for the longest time. In the banking industry of Australia, the level of
competition is very high where the competitors are consistently struggling to improve their
services better than that of the competitors with an objective to maximize the performance of the
business as well as profitability (Larrinaga, et. al., 2014). For IBM bank in Australia, the major
competitors in the industry are Hume Bank, Westpac, and AMP bank ltd. These banking
institutions are also investing in the accounting software packages like XERO, cloud computing
in order to improve the structure of the banking and financial operations with greater ease and
flexibility. IBM bank must improve the operations in accordance with the strategies employed by
the competitors and create better and stronger image in the eyes of the competitors than that of
the competitors (Starinsky, 2016).
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4) Problems and challenges faced by accounting software packages
There is no doubt in the fact that in addition with the number of opportunities and advantages,
technology also brings a number of challenges for the organizations that should be critically
considered in order to operate the business successfully in the competitive landscape. It is not
different in the case of accounting software packages that also needs to be critically investigated
and analysed so that it do not affect the performance and profitability of the organization. Safety
and security are one of the most important challenges faced in the accounting software packages
that create a negative impact on the organizational operations and at the same time hampers the
predetermined goals and objectives (Decker, 2018). The organization often indulges in
struggling with the safety and security errors associated with the accounting software package.
Further, the implementation of the accounting software packages is a costly process for the
organization that incurs heavy expenses to the organization starting from its introduction to the
maintenance. For an instance, if the installed accounting software like SAP is not efficient in
meeting the accounting and financial expectations of the organization, the entire investment on
the software implementation will be wasted. Hence before implementing the accounting software
package into action, its applicability to the business needs ad expectation should be clearly
identified so as to avoid irrelevant investment. Also, the accounting personnel should possess
complete knowledge of the accounting software package in order to meet the operational
problems and challenges in a better way. Training should be provided to the employees in order
to make them aware of the features and characteristics of the accounting packages. The software
package should be implemented as per the accounting needs of the organization. For an instance,
if the accounting operations of the organization consists of simple tasks and activities, then a
normal accounting software with simple features would be better but on the contrary if the
accounting needs of the organization are dynamic and complex in nature then latest and high-
quality accounting software package should be introduced for the accomplishment of the
business needs and objectives in an efficient manner. The accounting software packages should
be timely monitored and controlled in order to protect the software from the antiviruses as the
viruses can damage the entire system in a short period of time. Hence it should be kept in mind
while implementing the software package for better and desired results (Kanellou and Spathis,
2013).
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Conclusion
The literature review has entailed the use and application of the accounting software packages in
the business organization by considering IBM Bank, Australia. The use of the accounting
software packages in the IBM bank has been studied and analysed in order to develop thorough
understanding in the minds of the readers. With this literature review, one's knowledge about
accounting software has effectively improved. The study has presented the operational problems
and control faced by the organization with its organizational structure and sales procedure. SAP
software has recommended to the organization for the improvement of the accounting and
financial transactions. Also, the errors and complications regarding the implementation of the
accounting software have investigated in the study so as that corrective actions can be
implemented with greater ease and flexibility. Recommendations have also been stated that can
be used by the organization while implementing the accounting software that will help in the
systematic and successful working of the software as per the needs and expectations. The
organization should effectively implement the accounting software in accordance with the needs
and expectations of the business.
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References
 Bento, R., Bento, A., Bento, A. and ISTM, M., 2015. How fast are enterprise resources
planning (ERP) systems moving to the cloud. Journal of Information Technology
Management, 26(4), p.35.
 Decker, F., 2018. What Is SAP Accounting Software?. Bizfluent.
 Hao, Q. and Shihong, Z., 2015. Accounting Informationization Hierarchical Data Safety
and Prevention Based on Cloud Computing Environment.
 IBM, 2018. Explore our industry-leading solutions for your banking organization. IBM.
Available at https://www.ibm.com/industries/au-en/banking/solutions.html.
 Kanellou, A. and Spathis, C., 2013. Accounting benefits and satisfaction in an ERP
environment. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 14(3), pp.209-
234.
 Kayworth, T. and Whitten, D., 2012. Effective information security requires a balance of
social and technology factors.
 Kellner, K. F., & Swihart, R. K. 2014. Accounting for imperfect detection in ecology: a
quantitative review. PLoS One, 9(10), e111436.
 Larrinaga, S.E. and Perez, D.A., ZTrack and Inc., 2014. Sales Process Management and
Tracking System. U.S. Patent Application 14/510,682.
 Starinsky, R.W., 2016. Maximizing business performance through software packages:
Best practices for justification, selection, and implementation. CRC Press.
 Verbal Xpress, 2012. The Sales Process. Verbal Xpress. Available at
http://verbalxpress.com/salesprocess.php.
 Webb, A., 2017. Using earned value: a project manager's guide. Routledge.
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