Murdoch University ICT622 Information Technology Strategy Case Study

This case study analyzes the IT strategies for Petersons, a major American retail chain, from the perspective of a CIO. The analysis involves a SWOT analysis to identify the company's strengths and weaknesses, as well as an assessment of opportunities and threats. The study uses Porter's Value Chain Model and Competitive Forces Model, along with Ansoff's Matrix, to categorize and evaluate various factors impacting the business. The analysis identifies how the company can leverage technology such as RFID, Big Data, and AI to enhance customer experience, improve operational efficiency, and gain a competitive edge. The study emphasizes the importance of adapting to new technologies, implementing reward programs, and utilizing data analytics to understand customer behavior and increase sales. The solution also provides recommendations for addressing weaknesses and threats through strategic alignment of strengths and opportunities, ultimately aiming to improve the company's market position against competitors like GoodMart.

Running Head: IT Strategies 0
IT
Strategies
Memo
Student name

IT Strategies 1
Memo
Date: September 5, 2019
To: CEO of Petersons
From: CIO of Petersons
Subject: Regarding the analysis of strengths and weaknesses
We are having a good position in the market because of our strengths as well as other services.
In addition, we have to increase our performance to compete with our competitor especially GoodMart.
Therefore, it is necessary to identify our strengths to grab opportunities in the future and analyze our
weaknesses to manage our threats in a proper way (Wu, Straub, & Liang, 2015). I have used SWOT and
Porter five-force analysis model to identify various strengths and weaknesses of us, which has
mentioned in below table:
Strengths Value Chain
Segment
Competitive
Force
Ansoff’s
Matrix
New technology and
innovations
Inbound Suppliers New Product
Experience in the
industry
Process Substitute
Products
New market
A large number of
products and
services
Inbound Buyers New products
Known for the
products and
services
Marketing Buyers New market

IT Strategies 2
Weaknesses
Price Marketing Service Addressed by
Strength products
location Operations New Entrants Addressed by
Opportunity
rewards point
Propositional offers inbound Buyers New products
Opportunity
Rewards programs Inbound Buyers New Market
Lower price for
customers
Process
Environmental
friendly products
Inbound Service New products
Threats
Conventional
supermarkets
New entrants New markets
A bad economy and
tax rates
Process Service
All those factors make huge impacts on the products and services of the company. Therefore,
the company should adopt new technologies and various reward and loyalty programs to take
competitive advantages (Schaffner, 2010). The company should implement RFID technology to make
proper tags on the products, which is a reason to attract customers, as it saves their time of billing. It will
also beneficial for the company to manage its inventory on daily basis (Akbar & Ahsan, 2014).

IT Strategies 3
In addition, the company can target local markets to increase business based on the lower price
strategy. The company can attract different types of customers for the advanced shopping experience,
such as baker, butcher, and many others. Moreover, company can use Big Data for data analytics and
understand behaviour of customers to provide them better offers and discounts based on their
necessity (Wasserman, 2017).
It will increase sales of the company in a short-time period. In addition, Petersons have used
electronic data interchange (EDI) system to create new capabilities for the company. However, we are
not able to place order automatically to suppliers based on the sales data, which can be possible using
big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Obeidat, North, Richardson, & Rattanak, 2015).
Furthermore, the company has used analytical software to analyze cost of the products based
on sales and purchases. In addition, the company can change the prices more benefits, such as milk and
bread. The company has deployed scanning devices to make different processes faster (Pike, 2019).
The company will provide more advanced services to its customers, which are related to credit
cards, such as cybersecurity, and many others. It will make faith in their customers, as customers are
always worried about personal information. Customers will happier with new technologies and less time
in billing and another process .it will also increase the sales revenue (Schaffner, 2010).

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References
Akbar, S., & Ahsan, K. (2014). Analysis of corporate social disclosure practices of Australian retail firms.
International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 6(4), 375-396.
Obeidat, M., North, M., Richardson, R., & Rattanak, I. (2015). Business intelligence technology,
applications, and trends. International Management Review, 11(2), 47-56.
Pike, K. (2019). 5 Technology Trends Set to Transform Retail in 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019, from
https://retailnext.net/en/blog/5-technology-trends-set-to-transform-retail-in-2019/
Schaffner, M. (2010). How Technology Enhances Collaboration. Retrieved March 10, 2019, from
https://www.forbes.com/2010/01/19/collaboration-cisco-software-technology-cio-network-
schaffner.html#33827d675ed5
Wasserman, T. (2017). 10 Technologies That Could Change Retail Forever. Retrieved August 8, 2019,
from https://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/10/27/10-technologies-helping-to-
overhaul-the-retail-experience.html#gs.veyhql
Wu, S. P., Straub, D. W., & Liang, T. P. (2015). How information technology governance mechanisms and
strategic alignment influence organizational performance: Insights from a matched survey of
business and IT managers. Mis Quarterly, 39(2), 497-518.