Effective Management of Information Systems: Case Study Analysis

This document presents a detailed case study analysis on the effective management of information systems, examining four different companies: Apple, Vail Ski Resorts, Walmart, and Zappos. The analysis explores the interplay of data, information, business intelligence, and knowledge within Apple's operations. It then investigates the innovative IT systems implemented by Vail Ski Resorts, including season passes, lift line information, RFID technology, and customer intelligence software. The study further delves into Walmart's use of IT and IS to reduce costs and enhance customer service, while also addressing the challenges faced in the global market. Finally, the analysis explores Zappos's utilization of Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to improve efficiency, customer relationships, and overall business objectives. The document highlights the importance of IT and IS in achieving business success, offering valuable insights into the strategic use of information systems across diverse business contexts.

Running head: EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Effective management of the information systems
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Case Study 1: Apple Merging Technology, Business, and Entertainment
Response to Question 1
All the four items that is data, information, business information and knowledge are
something that defines the insight assets of an organisation. Data is something that is
available in the form of raw numbers, rows and columns in a database. On the other hand,
data that is useful for the organisation is termed as the information. Business intelligence is
the next form of the information where the information gathered is converted into knowledge
(IşıK, Jones & Sidorova, 2013). Knowledge is something that is gained with the help of
business intelligence. This is the reason for which all the above mentioned factors are
important for Apple. In context of the iPad, the pricing structures of the Apple accessories
can be termed as data, the collection of data under the heading of a same person is
information, process used to convert this information of the details in iCloud is Business
Intelligence and inheriting of the suitable information is knowledge.
Response to Question 2
Apple is one of such company that has grown over the years in the field of technology
and innovation. The capitalizing of the Apple products in the form of iPhone, iPod and iPad
has provided an additional boost to the company. After Apple was pushed to a stage of
bankruptcy, the management team of Apple has meticulously used the different forms of
information, the various tools of information technology has been utilised by the organisation
effectively (Gershon, 2013). The positive side of Apple as an organisation is that it is
destined towards servicing the best for the customers for providing a quality customer
experience. The feedbacks from the people had made Apple to come up with a standpoint in
the field of technology and science. In addition, Apple is only one company that allows
people to sell their own ideas under their name.

2EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Response to Question 3
In fostering with a particular business in the commercial market, an organisation
needs to have good terms with the customers by providing a quality service to the customers.
The customers are the valuable assets of any organisation. They are key stakeholders who
define the profitability and the stability of the organisation in the commercial. Thus, it goes
without saying that maintaining a good relationship with the customers is essential for the
company. Apple does exactly the same by focussing on the customers. Customer satisfaction
is of prime importance to apple for which the Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
wing of Apple will allow the organisation to have a competitive advantage over the other
competitors in the market (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). The CRM will also be advantageous, as
the data entry of the organisation will be automated. It will also have the potential to add
revenue to the enterprise.
Case Study 2: Vail Ski Resorts Goes High-Tech for High Touch
Response to Question 1
The Vail Ski Resorts have opted for the implementation of number of the systems for
betting the services in providing a premium customer system. The three types of systems that
have been adopted by the Vail Ski Resorts include the involvement of the Vail’s season pass,
lift line information, RFID lift tickets and key passes, and the SAS Customer Intelligence
software. The Vail’s season pass allows the customers to pick up tickets online, link the
PEAKS card to the credit card and accumulate the points for future use. The lift line
information can be obtained by the skiers with the help of social networking, streaming alerts
and the Witter account. The RFID lift tickets and key passes are focussed towards scanning
the tickets and the passes for tracking data with radiofrequency (Chandra, Soni & Keshari,

3EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
2014). The SAS Customer Intelligence software is focussed in collecting customer
information in a single database.
Response to Question 2
The systems extremely important for the Vail Ski Resorts because these systems help
them to critically perform the decision-making objectives that in turn help to provide
customer satisfaction. These are achieved with the help of the collection of customer insights.
Feedbacks from the customers through these systems allow the resort enterprise to improve
the business operations. The season pass provides benefits to the customers through the
collection of useful information. The lift line information helps to get a minute-by-minute
update about the congestions in the slopes. This betters the process flow. The RFID helps to
track the number of lift and the vertical speed ascended each day. The SAS customer
intelligence on the other hand helps to predict the habits of the customers through the help of
retrieving the stored information in a single database (Cooke & Zubcsek, 2017).
Response to Question 3
The systems discussed in the precious paragraphs portrays high importance for the
Vail Sky Resorts in the critical decision-making. The Vail’ season pass is extremely
important in the decision making because it can identify the members of the PEAKS Rewards
membership program and can offer the necessary benefits with the accumulation of the
redeemable points. The lift lines are efficient enough to figure out the amount of congestion
in the slopes with the help of received updates through social networking, streaming alerts
and the resort’s own Witter account (Hudson & Thal, 2013). The RFID is beneficial because
it helps to track the number of lift and the vertical speed ascended each day. The most
important of all the system is the SAS customer intelligence software that is entitled towards
predicting the habits of the customers through the help of retrieving the stored information in
a single database.

4EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Case Study 3: Walmart
Response to Question 1
Both of the IS and IT can be used effectively towards the betterment of the services
offered by Walmart. The IT systems have been used effectively by Walmart for quite a period
of time. It has used the IT effectively in the fields of inventory, administration,
customers and suppliers management. Technology has always been hand
in hand with the business processes of Walmart with the use of
computerized accounting system as the first technological investment
(Yue, Rao & Ingram, 2013). It also developed Point of Sale (PoS) system that is
capable of identifying the sold units, creation of sales receipt and storing
of information for future analysis and the reordering purposes. Walmart
also invested in RFID tags for meeting the purpose of the inventory
distribution management (Wild, 2017). The IS and the IT systems at
Walmart are focussed towards reducing the transactional and the
operational costs.
Response to Question 2
In order to foster in the global market, the CIO of Walmart had to go through a lot of
challenges. These challenges were prominent due to the fact that the areas of continuous
development and technological innovation were still in the stages of inception. In the initial
stages, Walmart suffered a lack in the customer involvement, for which it had to work a lot in
the upcoming years. In the 1980’s Walmart was trailing to K-Mart but later it was able to
recover from the position with the effective usage of technology and innovation (Joseph &
Kuby, 2013). Walmart also faced criticism from several sources regarding the use of eco-
friendly substances. The most important challenge of the lot is the involvement of the

5EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
customers because providing the best customer service and value for money had helped
Walmart in the involvement of customers for the growth.
Response to Question 3
To foster in the commercial market it is very essential for a business to get the
assistance of the Information Technology. With the help of Information Technology a
business gets the opportunity to conquer the greatest area in the market due to the fact that IT
opens a doorway of opportunities for the business sectors to have a competitive advantage
with the outside world. Walmart is one of such big businesses that got the continuous support
from the Information Technology. IT has enabled Walmart to reduce both the transactional
and the operational costs along with maintaining a stable relationship with the suppliers
(Eason, 2014). In addition, IT has also helped them to offer products at a nominal cost that in
turn helped them to acquire a competitive advantage over the others. IT has been a boon in
the growth and profitability of Walmart.
Response to Question 4
The Information Systems play a vibrant role in the uplifting the structure of any
business in the commercial market. Right from its inception, the business organisation have
been able to taste the fruits of their success with the reliability of the Information Systems.
Not only in the areas of operation but also in providing strategic excellence, Information
Systems for the enterprises have always been praiseworthy. The Information Systems also
allow the business organisations to develop a competitive advantage over the rival
organisations by keeping a close track on the companies’ activities (Stair & Reynolds, 2013).
In addition to all this, the Information Systems pave doorway of success for the business
organisations by providing them a suitable opportunity for the continuous development. IS
assists the organisations by figuring the possible way outs for the profitability.

6EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Case Study 4: Zappos
Response to Question 1
Supply Chain Management or the SCM can be defined as the drift of services and the
resources along with the involvement of the processes that are aimed at transforming the raw
materials into the finished products (Christopher, 2016). It is focussed towards intelligently
using the resources of the business to make the best out of it in maximizing the customer
value and gaining a competitive advantage over other businesses in the same genre. SCM will
be very much beneficial for the company of Zappos because it will enable the company to use
the resources effectively thereby turning the raw materials into the finished products and
store them as inventory. In addition, it will help to value the customers and will also help to
have a competitive advantage over the other enterprises in the market.
Response to Question 2
Customer Relationship Management or CRM is one of the parts of management that
deals with the practices, technologies and the strategies that are useful for the business
organisations in managing and analysing the customer insights and interactions (Choudhury
& Harrigan, 2014). CRM has a goal for improving the relationship with the customers
thereby inculcating the percentage of the customer retention. This enables the organisation to
develop a growth in the percentage of sales. Zappos with the implementation of CRM will be
extremely benefitted because it will help the company to improve the relationship with the
loyal customers thereby attracting new customers. The retention of the customers of Zappos
will be facilitated with the implementation of CRM. This would in turn drive the percentage
of sales within a particular period of time.

7EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Response to Question 3
As per the recent market trends it has become very important for the organisations to
invest on the implementation of the management information systems. Some of the basic
management information systems include the involvement of the Supply Chain Management
or the SCM, the Customer Relationship Management or the CRM and the Enterprise
Resource Planning or the ERP. For a connected corporation, Zappos would need to
implement on these information systems because it would be beneficial for the organisation
in reaching the business objectives with ease. The SCM would help Zappos in effectively
utilising the resources of the company. The CRM on the hand would help the company to
establish a stable relationship with the customers. Lastly, with the assistance of ERP, Zappos
would be able to predict the patterns of sales procedure and take necessary measures (Ahmad,
& Cuenca, 2013).
Response to Question 4
The company of Zappos was sold to Amazon.com for a price of $880 million. This
transfer of properties made the employees of Zappos to share a revenue of $40 million in
stock and cash while the management team of Zappos remained unmoved. The sale to
Amazon would allow Zappos to utilise the classic warehouse and the supply chain of
Amazon (Morgan, 2016). This would help in increasing the revenues of the company. On the
other hand, this might have an impact on the loyal customer of Zappos. The sale to Amazon
might affect the well-known Zappos culture where the customers would no longer be able to
avail the premium customer experience that they used to be served with before the handover
of the assets took place. Moreover, the relationship with the customers might be disrupted.

8EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Response to Question 5
With the handover of the properties to Amazon, the company of Zappos has got the
opportunity to use the classic warehouse and the supply chain of Amazon. These two
acquisitions might prove to be the greatest factors of success in increasing the percentage of
sales and the satisfaction of the customers thereby catapulting the revenue of the company
(Warrick, Milliman & Ferguson, 2016). The classic warehouse would enable Zappos to get
hold of the maximum inventory that Zappos did not have previously due to the small size of
the company. The supply chain on the other hand would enable Zappos to use the resources
effectively so there is notable dip in the waste reduction. This would also help in the
pertaining to a specific cost benefit structure.

9EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
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