Strategic Information System: Woolworths

This paper evaluates the strategic information system of Woolworths, identifies potential operational problems, suggests system acquisition method, and discusses the development and adoption of an accounting software package.

Running head: STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
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STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
INTRODUCTION
Woolworths is one of the major organisations of the Australia and one of the most
significant reason for its sustainability is the organisation’s strategic information system
(SIS). Hence, it becomes a necessary action to evaluate the organisation’s SIS and many
literary work have done the same. The discussed paper has also added to the literary work, for
which the report has discussed the organisational structure of the deemed organisation and
identified the potential errors that the organisational operations may face. The most readily
system acquisition method has also been suggested along with a flowchart of the sales
procedure. The paper will also discuss potential fraud and control issues that are possible in
system before moving to the second part where the development & adoption of an accounting
software package is done. Identification of the market size, market leaders and the challenges
of the accounting software will be done before concluding the paper with appropriate
recommendations. The details presented in the paper have been collected by reviewing the
literary work that had been done in the past over the same topic.
PART 1:
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
The organisational structure of an organisation defines the working pattern of the
organisation and in the process its sustainability. The subject of the paper follows the
functional organisational structure where the board of directors are at the top of management
chain followed by the management board and so on.
The IT management structure of the organisation is presided by a central computer
that links all the electronic cash registers. The data of the offerings (goods such foods,
groceries and others that are offered by Woolworths) of the subject are in the barcode form.
The contributors to the information system (IS) of the organisation are the staffs who inputs

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
the data into the system by scanning the organisational offerings. Another notable fact about
the IT management structure off the organisation is that it is hierarchical, which means that if
one information process is halted than the others will too face difficulty.
Potential Operational Problems:
The centralisation of the power in both the organisational structure and the IT
management structure can offer significant challenges to the organisation. First, in the case of
the of administration, the board of members can introduce some organisational change which
the internal stakeholders may consider unfit and the difference of opinion may result in some
undesirable results for the subject.
Secondly, as stated earlier all the systems of the organisation are linked to a central
computer and in case of the failure of that central source, the whole operation of the
organisation may get halted which will cite some impactful negative results on Woolworths.
The halting of the system will generate discomfort for the external stakeholders which will
ultimately affect the sustainability of the organisation in long run. Another notable, fact is
that Woolworths have a geographically distributed network and hence, to sort the problem at
one of the divisions, the central system must be informed which can prove to be time and
effort taking task. Instead of having a centralised system, the organisation may decide to have
two or more systems attached parallel to act as the central computer which will ensure the
functionality of the organisation even if, there is failure of one of the central system.
SYSTEM ACQUISITION METHOD
Acquisition of the ERP system is one of the most complex issue, because of the cost
factor and the care it demands. Post implementation of the system also, it will have to offer
the same amount of care and cost that are associated with the maintenance. The discussed
procedure takes place in steps. The initiation phase is the phase where the team is formed for

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
the acquisition and they are shouldered with the responsibility of identifying & solving the
problems associated along with defining the process of caring out the process. Woolworths in
this phase can formulated a team consisting of its IT staff along with general staff to help the
IT team in identifying the problems and formulating the plans accordingly.
The second step involves identification of the most suitable system for acquisition.
The market offers various ERP system which offers almost same features but suitable for
different environment and structure. Hence, depending on the structure of the Woolworths,
the team should identify, the most suitable ERP vendor and adopt the system. The
identification of the most suitable ERP system for the system can be done by gathering the
organisational information and analysing them to conclude on the need. The final phase of
the involves verifying and justifying the selection of the ERP system. The stage takes
consideration of the functional, technical and economical aspects of the selected ERP vendor
and their offering. Pursing the discussed step will ensure the suitability of the system for the
organisation while meeting other requirements of the organisation. Another notable thing that
is evaluated in the final stage is the vendor. The reason for doing so is based on the fact that
depending on the vendor’s evaluation the sustainability of a system can be predicted. The
technical verification involves integration of the proposed system with the existing
infrastructure of the organisation, comfort that the database offers, development language,
system architecture and others. The functionality verification involves the comfort that the
stakeholders enjoys with the system and similar others. The economical aspect measures the
budget proposed by the organisation and whether or not the system fits within it. The
evaluation of the vendor involves measuring the market of the vendor and the customer
satisfaction it is offering. Following the deemed measure can verify the suitability of the
system after which, the findings about the system should be submitted to the management of
the Woolworths as a report to justify the selection.

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
FLOWCHART OF SALES PROCEDURE
Figure 1: Sales Flowchart of Woolworths
(Source: created by Author)
It is a crucial discussion because the sales flowchart of an organisation states the
processes, decisions and the tasks that are needed for the satisfaction of a customer. The
figure above shows the sales procedure of the subject which starts with a quotation and ends
at the delivery. The reason for selecting the word quotation here is because the flowchart here
represents the big customer and not the small customers who use the offerings of the
organisation for personal use. Additionally, the quotation is also validated to ensure that the
offering requested by the consumer can be provided by the organisation. The first step
involves measuring the quotation and validating it. If the quotation is determined to be valid

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
then it will move on to the sign in process. After that the next step is validating the
availability of the offering, if it available, then the payment will be received and the delivery
process will be initiated. Contrary, if the offering is not available in the inventory then the
processing of the product will be intimidated and after it is made available, the payment
process will be initiated. Post-payment process the delivery process will be started after
which the delivery will be made and hence completing the sales procedure of the
Woolworths. The sales procedure flowchart of the organisation has offered an insight into the
sales pattern of the organisation.
CONTROL PROBLEMS
ERP is one of the most significant achievements of current era, that is offering
prominent assists to the organisations in their operations. However, it is not free of flaws and
can also cause some concerning situations for the organisation. The reason for the above
stated statement lays on the fact that the manipulation with the core system can affect the
performance of the ERP and have negative impact on the organisational operations. Slowing
down of the discussed system along with certain situations where the reports of the system
breakdown have been witnessed when ERP is taken into context. Additionally, as stated
above, it is a complex system and requires special skills to operate and if an organisation
lacks, the necessary skill than the system would prove to be worthless. The organisational
employee who have ample knowledge about the ERP, if leaves the organisation can cause
substantial problem for the organisation. Inputting, incorrect data into the system by the staff
members can form base for potential threats in the organisation because it will affect the
accounts of the organisation which may take time to resolve that in the process may affect the
organisational operations and hence, the sustainability. Hence, in conclusion, the discussed
system is not flawless and can offer some prominent challenge to its users.
PART 2:

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
DEVELOPMENT & ADOPTION OF ACP (ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
PACKAGES)
Accounts is one of the most crucial and sophisticated part of an organisation and are
cited special attention by the latter. The market is also offering different options such as the
blockchain, bookkeeping and others for assistance in the deemed service. Bookkeeping has
emerged as one of the favourite choice for the users because of its feature. The proposed
accounting software will be based on the same. The proposed accounting software will take
consideration of the general accounting task by gathering information automatically from the
central system because the PoS (Point of sales), barcodes and other modes of sales are
directly connected to the system. Apart from the sales figure, the expenditure that includes
the donation activity, organisational expenditure and other miscellaneous expenses will also
be considered within it. The accounting software will also measure the ROI (return on
investment), risks and other mandatory methodologies to maintain the accounts. Pre-
development of the system, a sketch for the needs of the organisation should be listed
(discussed above in the deemed section), followed by the investment and longevity. After the
sketch is complete an IT team should be hired to do the coding and develop the tool. It is
necessary for the IT team to develop the tool in such a manner that it does not affect other
necessary organisational tools performance and can be easily upgraded in future. Post-
development, testing of the tool should be done to measure its suitability and after it
suitability should be adopted. The adoption process would include the installation of the
software in a prototype system to measure its affects and on confirmation should be installed
with the existing IT infrastructure.
CURRENT MARKET SIZE
Currently, e-commerce and other online modes are taking over the accounting sales
and other modes in the market. Green means are also making their way into the global IT.

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
The transportation of the food and its impact on the environment has also been taken in
context which has led to increase in the market size however, then also it comparatively very
low at only 2-5% of online delivery.
LEADERS IN THE MARKET
Other supermarket’s such as Coles and Walmart are offering significant competition
to Woolworths and to sustain itself the organisation must gain technological advancements.
Additionally, since, the introduction of IT & IS for the SMEs (small and medium enterprises)
the competition have even become stiffer. Walmart, the world’s largest retail chain is gaining
competitive advantage by its cost leadership while Coles has stabled itself with the unique
offering. Hence, Woolworths need to measure the market gap and gain competitive advantage
from its competitors. The discussed organisation is the second largest in terms of employing
staff in Australia and largest in New Zealand and hence, should devise plans to gain
competitive advantage based on it.
CURRENT GAPS AND CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY END USERS
The discussed organisation is in foods market where freshness is of great vitality and
makes or destroys the perception of the consumer based on the same. The end-users of the
offering by the organisation are suffering from the availability of fresh offering. Additionally,
they have also been challenged by the quality and customer support of the organisation.
Flaws in the online delivery have also been identified by the customers which is making them
unhappy and dissatisfied. Hence, the organisation should devise plans to tackle the situation
and fulfil the desires of the end-users.
RECCOMENDATIONS
The discussed paper has offered an insight into one of the biggest retailing giant of
Australia, Woolworths. The IS of the organisation is in dire need of upgradation to maintain

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
competitive advantage from international, local and other competitions. The organisation can
adopt technology to assist in this service. One of the ways in which the organisation can use
technology is by adopting drones for online orders. The drones can be equipped to deliver
fresh and quality food to the customers within a very short frame of time which will impress
the customer greatly. It is also practical because the organisations such as Amazon are
already using it for delivering goods. Additionally, the organisation can develop an online
supply chain tool with which it can maintain an appropriate supply chain relation and can
also call for urgent need in dire situations. It will also reduce the cost and effort invested to a
significant level. Another significant step that the organisation can take to enhance, consumer
base it to build a stronger online consumer base by offering loyalty felicitations and other
discounts. The organisation tools will maintain the record of the customer and their
purchasing history based on which they should be offered a free shopping limit or a gift to
felicitate them. The organisation can also open mobile pick-up locations from where the
customers can directly collect their needs without waiting for long hours and standing in
ques. There are multiple other methods by which the organisation can build a stronger online
consumer base however, it depends on the organisation’s approach and the needs of the
customers on how they want to enhance their consumer base.

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
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STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM: WOOLWORTHS
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