Case Study: Knowledge & Info Management Skills at John Deere

This case study examines John Deere's approach to knowledge and information management, highlighting the company's use of information systems, customer relationship management (CRM), and big data analytics. It classifies the information systems implemented by John Deere, discusses the range of data gathered to generate knowledge, and explores the advantages and challenges of implementing a CRM system. The study also analyzes how John Deere applies IS/IT to counter Porter's five forces, including competition, new entrants, supplier power, buyer power, and the threat of substitutes. Furthermore, it discusses how big data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) assist in managing knowledge, weighing the pros and cons of using such technologies. The case study concludes with recommendations for strengthening knowledge management practices within the company. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments.

Case Study – John
Deere

Table of Contents
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1
Task 1 ..............................................................................................................................................1
Classify information system implemented in chosen company and list of range of typical data
gathered to generate knowledge ...........................................................................................1
Discuss the use of customers relationship management system in efficient operation of
company and explain advantage and challenges of implementing CRM system .................2
Discuss how could chosen company apply IS/IT to counter each of porter’s five forces .....4
Explain how Big data analytics and the internet of things (IOT) will assist in managing
knowledge of John Deere company. Discuss both pro & cons of using such technology. ...6
Recommendation....................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References .....................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
The term information management is defined as the process of collecting and managing the
relevant information from the essential one source to another source and also transferring and
distributing that information as per the requirement. It helps in transfer of relevant information
for the purpose of decision making effectively. the information management and knowledge
management are very essential for the success and growth of the business, the knowledge
management allows to enhance the performance of the individual so as leads business towards
growth and success. it focuses on learning through the experience and support of the information
required effectively (Albanese and Paturas, 2018). For this report the John Deere company is
taken as the base company. The John Deere is one of the well established multinational company
dealing the manufacturing of agricultural machinery and enhancing the efficiency of crop
production, the company was founded in 1837 by John Deere continuously working towards
satisfying the needs of its customers effectively, company was ranked 329th in the global ranking.
This report highlights the various information system implemented in the company also the range
of typical data gathered by the company also the customers relationship management system
along with its advantage and challenges is also highlighted. In addition to this application of
IS/IT to counter each porter’s five forces along with importance of big data analytics and internet
of things in managing knowledge is also highlighted and the recommendation for strengthening
the knowledge management practices is also highlighted in this report.
Task 1
Classify information system implemented in chosen company and list of range of typical data
gathered to generate knowledge
The information system is defined as essential software which enables the organisation to
organise and evaluate the data, it allows the business organisation to convert the raw material
into required information which can be used for the decision making in the company, it is an
integrated set of elements for gathering, assembling and processing data and offering information
and required knowledge (Asonitou, and Hassall, 2019). The information system helps business
organisation to easily store the data and collect it whenever is required, with vast number of
activities done by the company it becomes essential for the company to store and record their
activity and data so that it can be later found easily in case of any problem. It enables the
1

business organisation to store the operational data, communication data also various documents.
In context to the John Deere, this is one of the top multinational company dealing in the
manufacturing of agricultural machinery and has continuously enhancing the efficiency of the
crop production, company has introduced various Big data enabled services which allows the
farmers to be benefited from the crowd sourcing, actual time monitoring of data and information
and also gathering of those data effectively. the company has gone form a simple machinery
company to the smart technology company, the company has effectively developed its product
development across various innovation in three main areas such as the electrification, autonomy
and the most important artificial intelligence which will leads the company towards future
growth and development.
The are continuously working towards enhancing the informational technology which
enables them to work effectively and enhancer their productivity and profitability, their ag
products is effectively efficient to transform the rugged machines into the an intelligent in-field
partners that effectively unlock value for the earliest tiniest seed to the major biggest plant, they
have implemented various technology in their system which is easy to use. The company is
actively using the crowd sourcing technology which allows them to store and transfer the data
and information gathered about the potential customers whenever is required. The crowd
sourcing allows the company to store the data required to carry out the essential activities. In
addition to this another information technology used by the company is the real time monitoring
of data gathered from its vast number of users. The real time monitoring will enable the company
to collect the data and also provide it as per the requirement and also monitoring it regularly.
Discuss the use of customers relationship management system in efficient operation of company
and explain advantage and challenges of implementing CRM system
The customer relationship management is defined as the process of effectively analysing
and interacting with the customers and target customers, it allows company to interact with the
customers and build an effective relationship with them (Burbekova, 2021). The customers
relationship is the process of managing and evaluating the company’s relationship with the target
customers which leads to increasing the customers base and enhancing the overall performance
of the company, it also allow company to build strong relation with the customers. A effective
customers relationship management system allows company to regularly stay connected with the
potential customers leading towards increasing the sale of the company as the customers as the
2

major source of income for any company. it is the sum of various practices, strategies and
technologies taken into consideration by the company to manage and analyse their customers. In
context to the chosen company, the company is continuously working towards managing their
customers and building strong relationship with the them effectively. The company uses various
technology in order to stay connected with their customers and continuously interact with them
so as to understand their needs and preference and accordingly satisfying them and also solving
their problems which leads to building customers loyalty. Company has their own online website
which allows them to directly interact with the potential customers and also company is also
active on various social media platforms because of the increasing numbers of customers
available on such platforms. This allows company to directly interact with the customers and
build strong relationship. The company uses Anvil CRM App which allows company to
effectively hold the essential dealership details, including the customers accounts, their contact
details, tasks and so on. this app allows company to handle all the customers interaction to helps
business enhance the relationships and stay connected with their potential customers. it allows
company to easily tract the information of the customers and understand their needs which leads
to effectively carry out the operations (Chernyak-Hai and Rabenu, 2018).
Advantage of CRM
Some of the advantage of implementing the customers relationship management in the
company, in context to the chosen company are mentioned below:
Enhance effective customers services: The customers relationship management helps in
offering number of strategic benefits to the company, implementation of customer relationship
management allows company to build relationship with the customers through understanding
their needs and accordingly satisfying them. In context to the chosen company this system will
allow company to effectively enhance their customers services through understanding their needs
and satisfying it accordingly.
Helps in identifying new customers: The implementation of the customers relationship
management helps in identifying new potential customers through tracking and analysing the
information of the existing customers, which leads them to connect with them regularly and
through them company can reach the new customers. in context to the John Deere, this system
will allow company to keep track of their existing customers and their growth and attract new
customers (Guffey and Loewy, 2021).
3

Enhance customers revenue: The customer relationship management allows company to
effectively coordination of the marketing campaign which allows them to understand the
changing trends and changing taste and preferences of the customers so that offer the products
and services accordingly satisfying their needs. In context to the chosen company, analysing the
needs of the customers through the use of customers relationship management will allow
company to satisfy their needs which leads to increasing the profitability of the company.
Challenges of CRM
Some of the challenges faced by the company in implementing the customers relationship
management in context to the chosen company are highlighted below:
Lack of communication: The implementation of the CRM system is taken by the top
management in all the business organisation and after the implementation the required decision
and the implantation process needs to be communicated to all the employees so that they can
understand the process and effectively contribute to it. In case of the chosen company, the top
management needs to ensure that process is effectively communicated and any kind of
communication needs to be avoided by the company.
Lack of technology integration: All the process of the company are done through the use
of some software but the problem happens when these software are not connected with each
other and the flow of data among them is missing, a successful CRM system is only possible
when the needs of each and every employees is taken into consideration at each level. In context
to the company, the lack of technology integration should be avoided and there should be
effective flow of information (Le and Lei, 2018).
Discuss how could chosen company apply IS/IT to counter each of porter’s five forces
Porter's five forces model- It refers to a model which is used by an organisation for better
identifying & effectively analysing the various competitive forces which will shape every
industry & assist them in determine an industry's weakness & strength. This model is developed
by Michael E. Porter's in his book Competitive strategy in 1980. This model is based on five
main forces which are mention below:
 Competition in the industry- This factor will define the number of competitors an
organisation will have and their ability to undercut an organisation. It is analysis that
large number of competitors with various number of similar products & services they
offer, will reduce the power of company. On the other hand when a company will have
4

less competitors than they will enjoy more power and able to charge high price. It is
analysis that because of large size of company the rivalry among the industry is
comparatively weaker. Company will have mainly five competitors which are Kubota
Corp. Japan, AGCO Corporation and so on. It is analysis that company innovation in the
IT sector will help them to achieve competitive advantage in market (Liebowitz and
Beckman, 2020).
 Potential of new entrants into the industry- It is analysis that the power of an
organisation will also get affected by forces of new entrants in the market. If there is no
barriers on entering into the mark and require very less time and cost that they can
become an strong competitors and reduce the power of company. On the other hand an
industry with strong barriers to entry is beneficial for existing company and make them to
charge higher price. In context of selected company, this factor will have low force on
company as because it will require a lot of investment to set up such kind of business.
Other than this if in future this force will increase then by more investing in research &
development activities company will able to reduce the effect of this factor. Other than
this company will get valuable customer data which will assist them.
 Power of suppliers- This factor in the porters five forces model will define how easy it's
for suppliers to drive up the cost of input. This factor will affect the company on the
bases of numbers of suppliers are available for providing raw material to company and
how unique these imputes are & also how much cost company will bear at the time of
switch to another supplier. In context of selected company, they will buy their raw
material from various suppliers which will reduce the force of this factor (Liu, Ngai and
Ju, 2019).
 Power of customers- This factor will define the power that customers of organisation
will have to dive the price lower. This factor will affect with the number of customer an
organisation will have and how much it cost a company to find new customers. It is
analysis that an organisation will have many customers will be able to charge high price
form them and enhance the profitability. In context of selected company this factor will
have low force on company as because there are few competitors are available in market.
Company will use cloud computing technologies which will assist them in effectively
5

storing the information about their customers which will assist them to better satisfied
their customers and retain them for long period of time.
 Threats of substitute products- Last important factor of this model which will affect the
profitability of an organisation is the availability of substitute goods. It refers to those
goods which can be use in place of a company good. An organisation will produce goods
& service which have no close substitute will enjoy more profitability in market. In
context of selected company it is analysis that the more availability of substitute goods
will make the competitive environment challenging for selected company. It is analysis
that company will effective use the Information technology and better analysis the
requirements of their customers. This technology will assist them in improving the
quality of their product, maximise value for money and set a strong differentiation which
discourage their customers to use substitute products.
Explain how Big data analytics and the internet of things (IOT) will assist in managing
knowledge of John Deere company. Discuss both pro & cons of using such technology.
Big data- It refers to the combination of structured, semi structured and unstructured data
which is collected by organisation which will assist company in smooth functioning of their
business and enhancing their profitability (Nisar, 2019). In other words big data refers to a data
which is huge in size. It is a term which will describe a collection of data that is huge in size and
yet growing exponentially with time. Other than this big data analytics is the use of advanced
analytics technology against a very large data from various source. Various examples of Big data
analytics are stock exchange, social media sites, jet engines and so on. Big data analytics will
play an essential role in effectively managing the knowledge of John Deere company. With the
help of its embedded predictive analytical capabilities it is able to effectively manage the
knowledge. It is designed for organisations to better process & integrate large, diverse volumes
of highly detailed data & also assist in presenting the information or data in a common, familiar
format so that organisation & IT managers will make informed strategic decision. It is analysis
that big data will help selected company to present the whole data of their customers in a easy
and familiar format. This will assist them in effectively managing their knowledge.
Internet of things (IOT)- It refers to a system of interrelation, internet-connected objects
which will assist an organisation in effectively collecting and transferring the data over a
wireless network without any human intervention (Nisha, and Rajasekaran, 2018). Their are
6

various examples of IOT such as smart surveillance, automated transportation, smarter energy
management systems, and so on.
Both the big data analytics and internet of things will play an essential role in effectively
managing the knowledge of selected company. In context of John Deere company, this
technology will assist them in effectively managing their knowledge. It will enable the company
to effectively collect the data from diverse products, company assets or from the operating
environment. This technology will allows for the generation of better information and analysis,
which can significantly enhance decision- making. It is analysis that IOT platforms will have the
potential to successfully activate insight from available data to improve processes & efficiently
use more and more resources. It is analysis that both the Big data and Internet of things
technology will assist John Deere company in better managing their data.
Advantage and disadvantage of using such technology
In context of selected company they will achieve various benefits along with some
limitation by using this kind of technology in their organisation. Various prop & con are mention
below:
Benefit of using Big data analytics & IOT
 IOT and big data will raise self-service analytics- In context of John Deere company
with more inventions in the Internet of things field, most of the information technology
functions will help company in effectively handled with data automation & integration.
Other than this it is analysis that this type of technology will increasingly become self-
sufficient & straightforward to perform their organisation basic functions. Hence it is
analysis that analytics as a service will become more of self-service type (Patil and
Suresh, 2019).
 Assist in enhancing the ROI for business- Another important benefit of using this
technology in organisation is that it will assist in increasing the ROI for company. IOT &
big data analytics are transforming how John Deere will adding value by extracting
maximum information from data which will help them to achieve better business insight.
It is analysis that with increasing demand for data storage organisation will use big data
cloud storage that will assist them in reducing the implementation cost for them.
 Improve productivity- In context of selected company, it is analysis that both the
technology will assist them in improving the performance & productivity of company.
7

With the help of such kind of technology organisation is able to collect their employee
engagement data, performance ratings and various work-related parameters. This
technology will assist them in effectively streamline the day to day operations along with
effectively utilizing their employees energy & time (Ramlaul ed., 2020).
 Predict future trends- It is analysis that selected company will also use such kind of
technology in successfully predicting the future. Company can use this type of
technology for better track the energy which is uses for the purpose of creating reliable
estimates for future demand. In context of selected company it is analysis that it will
assist them in achieving better growth and success.
 Innovation- Most important benefit of using such kind of technology is that it will assist
an organisation to innovate something new which will assist them in achieving
competitive advantage in market. In context of John Deere company they are try to
innovate something ne3w for their customers and already innovate many technology. By
adopting this type of technology they are able to better identifying their errors in their
current design or technology.
Disadvantage of using such technology
 Security and privacy- In context of selected company it is analysis that they will face
challenges while adopting this kind of technology related to safety & privacy of their
information. It is analysis that keeping the data gathered & transmitted it with the help
of IOT devices is a challenge for organisation as because they evolve expand in use. It
is analysis that this type of technology will attract internet-based software attacks,
network- based attacks and also hardware-based attacks (Swai, 2019).
 Technical complexity- Another main disadvantage of using this type of technology is
related to technology as because it is analysis that technology like IOT will only
perform simple tasks such as counting entry swipes at a secure door, which will include
various complex technology which are involve in creating them. In context of select
company it is analysis that at the time of using this type of technology if they will
provide essential data to another system, this will negatively affect everything which is
connected to it. In context of John Deere company, it is analysis that they will require to
adopt effective strategies at the time of using such kind of technology (Thrift, 2020).
8

Recommendation
In context of John Deere company, it is analysis that it is old and a high profit making
company. But it will face various challenges because of COVIDE-19. It is analysis that this
pandemic will affect the performance of almost all type of organisation and John Deere is one of
them. It is analysis that company will face various challenges related to their customers and also
in relevance of their employees. It is analysis that their customers are not able to get the product
or also there is no source to collect information about product. On the other hand company will
face challenge related to health and safety of their employees. In context of selected company
various recommendation for company is mention below:
 From the above discussion it is recommended that company will require to adopt
customer relationship system. This tool will assist them in creating a strong relation with
their customers at the time of COVIDE-19. With the help of this company is able to
provide continuous support to their customers.
 Another important recommendation to company is that they require to adopt learning
management system. It refers to a software which will assist company to effectively plan,
execute and assess a specific learning process. In other words this software will assist
company in administration, documentation, tracking and recording (Wright and Chopak-
Foss, 2020).
 Other than this it is analysis that company will require to develop n innovative
technology in order to keep their workers safe. Such as thy can use 3d printer door
opener, which will not require to touch the handle of door.
9

Conclusion
From the above discussion on this report it is concluded that information technology will
play an essential role in the growth and success of an organisation. It is analysis that customer
relationship management will assist an organisation to build a strong relation with their
customers. This system will have various advantage and disadvantage also. Other than this porter
five forces model is analysis in this report which will help in analysis the competitive forces. It is
analysis that both Big data and IOT will be both beneficial and also have some limitation for
company.
10