Information System Management and Strategy of Woolworths Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Woolworths' information system management and strategy. It begins with an introduction to the organization, its competitive environment, and global supply chain. The report then delves into the company's IS maturity, the emerging ICT technologies, and their strategic impact. It highlights potential opportunities for competitive advantages, including branding, marketing, and sales strategies. The report also addresses overcoming resistance to change and the governance structure of Woolworths. Furthermore, it offers future recommendations for the company, such as embracing social media promotion and participating in CSR activities. The report concludes by referencing key sources and providing a detailed analysis of Woolworths' business model and performance in the retail industry. This analysis aims to provide valuable insights into Woolworths' strategic approach to information systems and its impact on business development.

RUNNING HEAD: Information Systems Management and Strategy OF WOOLWORTHS
Information System Management and Strategy OF WOOLWORTHS
wOOLWORTHS, AUSTRALIA

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 1
Contents
Overview of an organization:......................................................................................................................1
Competitive environment:...........................................................................................................................2
Global supply chain:................................................................................................................................2
IS maturity:..................................................................................................................................................2
Emerging of ICT technologies of Woolworth’s organization:.....................................................................2
Strategic Impact of ICT technologies:.........................................................................................................3
Potential opportunities for competitive advantages.....................................................................................3
Potential opportunities:............................................................................................................................3
Competitive Advantage:..........................................................................................................................3
Overcoming resistance to change the way of working:...............................................................................4
Possible Leadership in supermarket industry:..............................................................................................4
Governance structure of Woolworths:.........................................................................................................4
Conclusion:.................................................................................................................................................5
Future Recommendation..............................................................................................................................5
References:..................................................................................................................................................6

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 2
Overview of an organization:
Australian Woolworths Limited is the well-established retail company leading in the
supermarket industry. Woolworths has opened its first store on Friday, 5 December 1924 in
Sydney as a bargain basement store outlet. Founder and CEO of company Percy Christmas stated
on website that: ‘Every city needs a Woolworths: Sydney has it now. Every man, woman and
child needs a handy place where good things are cheap.’
1927- Branching out, Source by-
(https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/The_Woolworths_Story/
How_We_Were_Founded)
Woolworths officially became a “chain” when the second store has been opened on 6 August
1927. Woolworths opened its first retail store in New Zealand, 1929. Company had 16 retails
stores across, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia by 1930.

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 3
1940-Making room, Source by-
(https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/The_Woolworths_Story/
How_We_Were_Founded/)
First warehouse of the company was established over 2 floors just above the Oxford Street, in
1929. Woolworth’s first self-service store was located in Sydney’s Beverley Hills, by 1955. Now
the company has 3,200 stores, across Australia and New Zealand. Australia has 840
supermarkets and New Zealand has 156 supermarkets (Wu, et al., 2015). Company has also
global store presence in India with a joint project agreement, with Indian super market Chain
Tata. In India there are 22 supermarket retail stores, which generated total sales profit of $104
million in 2007-2008.
Competitive environment:
Global supply chain:
According to the present CEO of Woolworths, He stated that “Woolworths maintained a clear
focus on meeting our customers’ needs by delivering lower price, greater ranges and better
shopping experience across all our brands”. A successful business conclude four interrelated
factors which are very useful in competitive environment (Ward, et al., 2012).
1. Global supply chain: company has focused on efficiency and price deducting in
managing unnecessary expenditures.
2. Branding: Slogan of Woolworths “The fresh food people”, which indicates a good
quality products and economic cost range of products.
3. Technology and innovation: Woolworth has adapted many new technologies and
innovation to improve their product quality day by day.
4. Addition: Company supplies products by manufacturing its own inputs just to increase
the market power of company.
IS maturity:
It is important to maintain the safety and security of the information in an organization. And give
the appropriate training to company employees for strategy and policy growth which mainly
energies to maturity and to have the achievement in the projects. Maturity should be exist to
evade the risks and intimidations, which are taking place to the company. There are some
important elements to avoid the risks and threats and to get maturity in the web security:
1. Analyzing of the collective data to prevent from the cyber risks and threats.
2. Maintaining the safety and security policies in organization.
3. Providing the security training to all the employees and that should be mandatory to
follow by every employee in organization.
4. Explaining the Cyber Indicators.
5. Extenuation of the Risks (Torugsa, et al., 2012).

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 4
Emerging of ICT technologies of Woolworth’s organization:
For every company changes are must, for most understandable and extremely high technological
environments. Expansion of the technology is more increased in the technology oriented method
for an organization. Many opportunities are available for enhancement in the various sectors as
such information gathering, data analyzing, fund rising etc. The ICT tools are used for skills and
technologies been applied and planned for the potential needs, and improving the resources being
used for the execution (Vom Brocke, et al., 2014). Technologies used in Woolworths Company,
for creating the awareness among employees for the new innovation and ideas. Basically, ICT
being used for the development:
1. Client Sourcing- Client sourcing can be defined as the implementation of the ideas and
innovation, and data by asking helps from the clients of the company.
2. Big Data Analytics: This tool is used for the advance methods, which is used for
producing the Big Data.
3. Crises Planning: This tool is used for the mobile application and web based applications
in Woolworths Company (Therivel, 2012).
4. Digital Data Collection: This tool can be defines as, it is been used for the replacement
of old techniques of data collection and technology to store by collecting the data
digitally using web and cell phones.
Strategic Impact of ICT technologies:
The Woolworths has successfully implemented, the new technologies with their system. The
impact of the ICT technology on the company system is very helpful in the growth of company.
 To maintaining the security and reliability of web data of the system, ensuring the
permanent availability to the IT system.
 The bigger impact of the ICT technology, is on performing the operations in very easy
way, and provide the good quality support and centralized organization management.
 This tool is also used to developing the awareness among organization people about the
ICT technologies and prevent from cyber-crime.
Potential opportunities for competitive advantages:
Potential opportunities:
 Potential to enhance the client’s base.
 Potential opportunity to enhance, the market shares (Subramaniam, et al., 2015).
 Evolution in the health and food sector.
 Opportunity to implement the ICT technologies to reduce the cost and follow the new
sales opportunity.
Competitive Advantage:
Woolworths accepts a combined competitive strategy which is the combination of both over-all-
price leadership and variation in strategies, in search for maintainable competitive advantage
above its competitors in the supermarket business. According to porter “ a company can

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 5
outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve.” In Woolworths case
the below competencies- which make the organization a leader in supermarket industry (Sousa,
et al., 2014).
 Branding and marketing place
 Global supply chain
 Combination strategy
 Sales and marketing strategy
Overcoming resistance to change the way of working:
To overcome from the disasters and to get a leader place in the supermarket industry, it is
essential to change the complete way of working in an organization. The change in the working
procedure mainly helps in:
 Creating a good relationship among employee and help to discuss about the new
ideas, thoughts and technologies among them.
 Promoting the new technologies and innovation in every communities.
 Developing a proper key structure, to maintain the decorum in an organization
(Schwalbe, 2015).
Possible Leadership in supermarket industry:
The possibility of leadership in the industry depends upon the techniques and strategy and the
responsibility for delivering the objectives. It is necessary for every organization to build an
executives network and bring the customers together for the betterment of organization in
supermarket industry. It should nessaccary for every organization to respond the customer’s
feedback and try to change in the services accordingly.
Governance structure of Woolworths:
Corporate governance practices of Woolworth’s organization set out in many number of key
documents and terms-condition. Every year Woolworth’s organization present a corporate
governance statement that releases the framework of governance accepted by the board (Jenkins,
and Williamson, 2015).

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 6
Source by – (https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/icms_docs/185964_annual-report-2014.pdf)
Conclusion:
Conclusion of this report has brought, the retail industry in Australia is advanced and strongly
competitive with a less profit potential. According to Porter, he stated that “Rivalry is especially
destructive to profitability if it gravitates solely to price because competition transfer profits
directly from an industry to its customer”. In case of Woolworth’s, it has 10.7% growth in
company sales, which indicates its greater business model (Black, et al., 2012).
Future Recommendation:
Future Recommendation for Woolworths is:
 Woolworths should accept the social media promotional strategy to get less-cost
promotion events.
 Company should offer some organic and GM-free diet.
 Company should take participate in the CSR activity, to improve goodwill of the
company.

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 7
References:
Black, D., Clemmensen, N.J. and Skov, M.B., 2012. Pervasive Computing in the Supermarket:
Designing a Context-Aware Shopping Trolley. In Social and Organizational Impacts of
Emerging Mobile Devices: Evaluating Use (pp. 172-185). IGI Global.
Jenkins, W. and Williamson, D., 2015. Strategic management and business analysis. Routledge.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Sousa, K. and Oz, E., 2014. Management information systems. Nelson Education.
Subramaniam, N., Wahyuni, D., Cooper, B.J., Leung, P. and Wines, G., 2015. Integration of
carbon risks and opportunities in enterprise risk management systems: evidence from Australian
firms. Journal of Cleaner Production, 96, pp.407-417.
Therivel, R., 2012. Strategic environmental assessment in action. Routledge.
Torugsa, N.A., O’Donohue, W. and Hecker, R., 2012. Capabilities, proactive CSR and financial
performance in SMEs: Empirical evidence from an Australian manufacturing industry
sector. Journal of business ethics, 109(4), pp.483-500.
Vom Brocke, J., Schmiedel, T., Recker, J., Trkman, P., Mertens, W. and Viaene, S., 2014. Ten
principles of good business process management. Business process management journal, 20(4),
pp.530-548.
Ward, P.R., Henderson, J., Coveney, J. and Meyer, S., 2012. How do South Australian
consumers negotiate and respond to information in the media about food and nutrition? The
importance of risk, trust and uncertainty. Journal of Sociology, 48(1), pp.23-41.
Wu, J.H., Neal, B., Trevena, H., Crino, M., Stuart-Smith, W., Faulkner-Hogg, K., Louie, J.C.Y.
and Dunford, E., 2015. Are gluten-free foods healthier than non-gluten-free foods? An

INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMNET AND STRATEGY OF WOOLWORTH 8
evaluation of supermarket products in Australia. British Journal of Nutrition, 114(3), pp.448-
454.