Information Systems and Business Strategy: Telstra Corporation Limited

This report analyzes the information systems (IS) of Telstra Corporation Limited, a major telecommunications company in Australia. It begins with a description of Telstra and its products, focusing on the importance of IS in supporting business strategy and gaining a competitive advantage through the implementation of a decision support system (DSS). The report then explores the contributions of IS to Telstra's organizational success, highlighting benefits like time savings, enhanced effectiveness, improved communication, and cost reduction. It identifies three alternative IS solutions: Management Information System (MIS), Executive Information System (EIS), and Transaction Processing System, providing a cost-based analysis for each. The report also discusses the distinction between in-house development and outsourcing components. The report concludes by justifying the requirement of an information system in Telstra and the selection of a specific IS product.

Running head: INFORMATION SYSTEM
Information System: Telstra Corporation Limited
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................2
2.1 Brief Description of Organization and a Product.............................................................2
2.2 Importance of Information System for supporting Business Strategy and gaining
Competitive Advantages........................................................................................................3
2.3 Information Systems Contribution to the Organizational Success..................................5
2.4 Identification of Three Alternative Information System Solutions with Proper
Explanation............................................................................................................................7
2.5 Discussion of Distinction between in House Development and Outsourcing
Components in Telstra...........................................................................................................9
2.6 Justification of Requirement of an Information System in Telstra................................10
2.7 Justification for Selection of IS Product in this Project.................................................11
3. Conclusion............................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................13

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1. Introduction
IS or information system ca be referred to as a collection of formal, socio technical as
well as organizational systems, which are being intended for collecting, better processing,
storing and even dissemination of data (Laudon and Laudon 2016). Such systems are majorly
comprised of four subsequent systems of task, technology, structure as well as people. A
proper information system has the core objective of supporting decision making process,
better management and execution of operations. It is a part of information and
communication technology, which any specific company utilizes to ensure subsequent
interaction with the technology and supporting business processes (Theorin et al. 2017).
Information systems interrelates with various data systems as well as activity systems.
This type of system is extremely important and significant to bring out new
advantages and benefits in the company for the significant purpose of eradicating all types of
complexities and issues related to information management. Since, it improvises decision
making process, almost all popular and significant organization use this system in their
organization (Bajdor and Grabara 2014). This report provides a proper description on
requirement of information systems within one of the major and famous organizations in
Australia, Telstra Corporation Limited. The organization has been providing few important
telecommunication services to their customers.
2. Discussion
2.1 Brief Description of Organization and a Product
Telstra Corporation Limited is one of the major telecommunication companies in
Australia that is solely responsible for building as well as operating telecommunication
network and market voices, internet accessibility, mobile, pay TV or even any other product
and service (Telstra.com.au. 2019). The head quarters of this particular company is within

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Melbourne, Australia and they have serving their customers for last forty four years. The
most important and significant products and services of this specific organization include
fixed line and mobile telephony, data services, internet connection, network services and
even pay television. The total revenues of the company during the last year was almost 26
billion AU dollars and respective operating income was about 6.2 billion AU dollars
(Telstra.com.au. 2019). More than 32000 employees are working in this company for making
the entire organization much more effective and efficient in comparison to others.
One of the most popular and important product of IS would be enterprise resource
planning or ERP. This particular product can be made better with the successful
implementation of decision support system. This specific information system is responsible
for providing effective decision making process and also improving quality of decisions to a
high level. Moreover, the customers would be highly satisfied with better quality of services.
2.2 Importance of Information System for supporting Business Strategy and gaining
Competitive Advantages
Information system is quite effective and important for supporting the respective
business strategies. This type of system, whenever utilized to provide information for their
managers requires to manage the confidential information (Demir and Krajewski 2013). The
main objective of this particular information system provides subsequent information to the
management so that it is extremely helpful for functioning. As decision making is one of the
major tasks that is being performed by organizational management, an information system
can help out the managers to undertake such decisions in an effective manner (Sepulveda and
Young 2013). Planning, controlling, organization as well as directing the activities of any
particular organization is the next important and significant objective of IS.

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Business strategies of any organization are also eventually supported by the
information system. The business strategy is extremely vital in planning for the respective
information systems and these systems could eventually support every strategic objective of a
company even in the future (Turel 2015). Hence, strategic responsibility of IS must be
properly defined within planning processes. The information that is needed for supporting
business strategies as well as development of information system are quite relevant in
providing requirement of information to be planned or fitted with one another. A proper
alignment of business strategy with these information systems eventually results in the
execution of information system strategies (Laudon and Laudon 2015). This is a continuous
procedure, which helps information system support structure for remaining relevant to the
various strategic objectives and goals of a company.
Competitive advantages or strategic benefits are obtained in a better manner with the
successful incorporation of decision support system. As Telstra is a telecommunications
company, it is highly required to achieve the vision and mission or organizational objectives
(Li et al. 2014). Prioritization of goals and successful competition is also possible for
optimization of financial performances with their previously existing business model.
Business objectives and goals will be highly affected with the incorporation of the
information systems within the respective organization of Telstra and for maintenance of
strategic focus. Moreover, DSS is extremely time effective and it helps in improvement of
inter personal communication by eradicating all issues related to bad quality decisions. There
are two types of decision support systems, which are model driven and data driven (Al-
Sakran 2015). Amongst these two, the most effective and efficient type of decision support
system for Telstra would be data driven DSS as it would enhance effectiveness of decisions.

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2.3 Information Systems Contribution to the Organizational Success
Information systems are responsible for bringing organizational success to a high
level. Modern technology could easily boost up organizational performances as well as
productivity. Organizations mainly rely on these systems for developing new and innovative
methods for generation of revenue, engaging customers and even streamlining of time
consuming tasks (Boonstra 2013). With the help of every information system, the
organizations could easily save resources like time or money during making of smarter
decision. The internal department of the business like marketing or sales could even
communication in a better manner and can also share information promptly. As this
technology is automated and utilizes complicated algorithms, it can easily and decrease
human or manual error (Schwalbe 2015). Moreover, employees could even focus on the
major features of any business and not only on spending several hours collecting data or
undergoing manual analysis.
Decision support systems in the organization of Telstra Corporation Limited can be
extremely vital and effective for bringing benefits in the business by enhancing ERP. The
main contributions of decision support systems within the organization of Telstra are
provided below:
i) Time Savings: The first as well as important contribution of decision support
system for this specific company of Telstra is time savings (Dutta, Geiger and Lanvin 2015).
Employee productivity is highly incremented and there is timely information for the entire
procedure of decision making. This time savings should be documented from utilization of
computer based DSS and hence ensuring data quality.
ii) Enhancement of Effectiveness: The second important and significant contribution
of this decision support system for Telstra is the subsequent enhancement of effectiveness

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and efficiency (Bilbao-Osorio, Dutta and Lanvin 2013). Decision making efficiency are
harder for documenting as well as measurement. The soft measures such as perceived
decision quality are required to be examined for understanding objective measures.
iii) Improvement of Inter Personal Communication: The third vital and noteworthy
contribution of DSS to the organization of Telstra is improvement of inter personal
communication. Collaboration amongst decision makers is also possible with this specific
information system (Marchewka 2014). Data driven decision support system is highly
recommended and suitable for Telstra as it encourages fact based decision support system.
An improvement in in data accessibility of even an important motivation to build this system
and the main advantage is to provide better communication systems.
iv) Reduction of Costs: DSS is also responsible for reducing the overall expenses so
that effective decision making process is being enhanced without much complexity
(Dahlstrom, Walker and Dziuban 2013). The main reason for this type of reduction of costs is
that infrastructure or technology expenses are highly reduced within Telstra.
v) Increment of Decision Making Quality: The entire procedure of decision making
process is extremely benefitted and thus decision quality is enhanced. DSS might eventually
reduce complexity to a high level and allows customer satisfaction to a high level
(Holtshouse 2013). Since the entire process of decision making quality is being enhanced, it
is required for bringing more effectiveness and efficiency in the organization.
vi) Increment of Organizational Control: The data driven decision support system
even makes an increment of organizational control. It makes business transaction data
accessible and available for better monitoring of performances as well as ad hoc querying
(Bloom et al. 2014). This type of information system could easily enhance overall

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management understanding of business processes as well as managers perceiving financial
benefits.
2.4 Identification of Three Alternative Information System Solutions with Proper
Explanation
Three distinctive alternative information system solutions for Telstra Limited for the
product of ERP are management information system, executive support systems and
transaction processing system. The details of three alternative information system solutions
are as follows:
i) Management Information System: A MIS can be referred to as a computerized
system that comprises of software and hardware, which serves as the significant backbone of
the organizational operations (Sittig and Singh 2015). This particular information system can
easily and promptly gather confidential data from various online systems, analyse the
required information and the report this data for aiding within management decision making.
The major purpose of this management information system is to improve decision making
process by simply providing upgraded as well as accurate data over a series of several
organizational assets like marketing, inventory, personnel, financials and raw materials
(Robey, Anderson and Raymond 2013). An objective of management information system is
to correlate numerous data points for the core purpose of strategizing methods and hence
improving business operations.
The implementation of management information system although is an expensive
investment, however is responsible for including purchases of software and hardware and
integration with the previously existing systems or training of every employee (Watson and
Tinsley 2013). MIS can be viable for better coordination, controlling, analysis or even
virtualization of information within any specific organization. The ultimate objective of

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utilization of management information system is incrementing the profits and value of
business. Cost based analysis of MIS must be absolutely comprehensive, which refers to each
and every factor of potential relevance to the entire procedure of decision making and is not
only based on economic efficiency (Von Solms and Van Niekerk 2013). The most significant
issues of uncertainties and risks for understanding project measurement. The computer and
equipment maintenance costs, supply cost and personnel cost are subsequently included in
this specific information system.
ii) Executive Information System: The second alternative information system is EIS.
It is a kind of the information system, which eventually facilitates as well as provides support
to any type of senior executive information or decision making requirements (Ullah and Lai
2013). This particular information system provides easier access to both external and internal
information that are much relevant to the various business objectives. Telstra will be
obtaining some of the major and the most important benefits with successful implementation
of an executive support system (Tarafdar et al. 2015). As they are into telecommunication
services, executive information system would be extremely viable for monitoring
performances and identifying major problems and opportunities. The various technologies of
executive information system and data warehousing are converging within market place. The
cost based analysis of an EIS could be done in an effective management after understanding
the requirements and needs of business (Robey, Anderson and Raymond 2013). The initial
cost of this information system be maximum so that the other costs of implementing this
system is lowered majorly. As a result organizational efficiency is highly enhanced without
much complexity.
iii) Transaction Processing System: The third important and significant alternative
information system for Telstra Corporation Limited is TPS or transaction processing system
(Dahlstrom, Walker and Dziuban 2013). It is a set of information that eventually processes

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data transaction within database system for monitoring transaction programs. This specific
system is extremely useful when any type of transaction is being done over the Internet.
Batch processing and real time processing is possible with this information system and thus
Telstra would be able to complete their respective transactions easily and promptly.
Moreover, it is extremely safe and secured and thus predictable response time requests are
provided in a better manner (Dutta, Geiger and Lanvin 2015). Due to better performances,
implementation of transaction processing system can be quite expensive for users. It might
not provide cost effectiveness to its users and major issues could be possible in respect to cost
based analysis. Thus, Telstra might not get major advantages of TPS in their business.
Acquisition, rollout and management plans of types of information systems are
required to be made in a proper manner (Bilbao-Osorio, Dutta and Lanvin 2013). The steps of
an acquisition plan includes defining requirements, acquisition strategy, request for proposal,
evaluation phase and finally management of risks and program objectives. The steps of a
rollout plan include development of site rollout plan, scheduling of organizational asset
delivery, scheduling of release implementation and finally coordination with communication
and training (Dutta, Geiger and Lanvin 2015). The steps of a management plan include
identification of stakeholders, or setting and prioritization of objectives, defining major
deliverables, creating the respective project schedule, recognition of all issues and execution
of a risks assessment and finally presenting a complete plan to implement information
systems to the stakeholders.
2.5 Discussion of Distinction between in House Development and Outsourcing
Components in Telstra
Outsourcing and in house development are the major methodologies to disperse work
amongst various departments and organizations for several strategic reasons. In house
development is mainly done within organizational own operational infrastructure and

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outsourcing eventually utilizes those organizations, who are not affiliated with this
outsourcing company for effectively performing any specific task (Sepulveda and Young
2013). There could be few resource and cost differences within outsourcing and insourcing,
which have major impacts on management decisions of Telstra Corporation Limited.
Cost is one of the major differences within insourcing and outsourcing. It is extremely
costly for any organization as the new working procedures should be developed for starting
new divisions in organization. However, outsourcing utilizes an outside organization, which
already has a distinctive developed work flow and staff of Telstra are familiar with the entire
procedure (Bajdor and Grabara 2014). Resources are the second type of outsourcing and
insourcing component that can be used for understanding differences. Telstra is using
outsourcing their own resources to provide network services. The organization even utilizes
their existing staff for setting up a new segment so that information system usage is better.
2.6 Justification of Requirement of an Information System in Telstra
Information system would be quite important and significant within the organization
of Telstra (Al-Sakran 2015). These types of systems majorly obtain their importance by data
processing from the organizational inputs for successful generating information, which is
extremely useful for management of operations. For the core purpose of increasing the
effectiveness and efficiency of information system, the user could either add more data for
making information accurate or even utilize the information in new methods (Schwalbe
2015). As Telstra Corporation Limited has to deal with telecommunication networks and
network services, a proper decision support system is extremely vital as well as effective for
the organizational benefits.
A part of company’s management is gathering or distribution of information and this
information system could make the entire process much more efficient and effective by

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simply enabling the business managers for communicating rapidly (Dutta, Geiger and Lanvin
2015). Electronic mails are quite quicker and effective, however managers could utilize the
information systems much more effectively after storing the documents within folders, which
are being shared with organizational staff. Collaboration is possible with all employees in
much systematic manner. All the employees hence could easily communicate extra
information by simply making changes, which the information system is tracking (Bilbao-
Osorio, Dutta and Lanvin 2013). Organizational decision making is also enhanced by
delivering required information. This will increase competitive advantages and providing
better customer services.
2.7 Justification for Selection of IS Product in this Project
The IS product of enterprise resource planning was selected in this project as ERP is
responsible for streamlining all the business processes into one business process (Dahlstrom,
Walker and Dziuban 2013). It eventually allows Telstra for utilizing a system of all types of
integrated applications for better management of business and then automating several back
office functionalities of technology, human resources and services. Products’ planning,
manufacturing, and development and sales or marketing are being combined into one
database, user interface and application. Data analysis and customization are possible with
this software and major issues of deployment and up gradation are easily eradicated without
much complexity (Sittig and Singh 2015). Repetitive processes are eliminated and
requirement of manual entry information is being reduced with the help of enterprise resource
planning software. Thus, this specific IS product was selected in this project of Telstra.
3. Conclusion
Therefore, conclusion can be drawn that IS are integrated collection of components
that are extremely vital and noteworthy for collection, storage and even processing of data.
These are also utilized for providing information, digitalized products and knowledge. The