Business Report: Monet - Evaluating Merger and Business Decisions

This business report critically analyzes the decision of five holiday resorts to merge into a single entity, Monet. It examines the assumptions made during the transition, including improvements in service quality, increased revenue, and operational cost reductions. The report evaluates key strategic decisions such as the implementation of a customer loyalty scheme, the development of interactive tools, an integrated ERP solution, and an ultra-intelligent electronic portal. It differentiates between information technology and information systems, and explores their impact on customer choice, patronage, and brand loyalty. Recommendations are provided on how to attract new customers, including offering discounts and establishing new premises in strategic locations. The report aims to provide insights into the strengths, weaknesses, advantages, and disadvantages of the merger, along with actionable recommendations for Monet's future operations and expansion. The report highlights the importance of technology, customer service, and strategic planning in achieving business success.

Running Head: Business Report Based on Monet
A BUSINESS REPORT BASED ON MONET
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A BUSINESS REPORT BASED ON MONET
Executive summary
The purpose of this business report is to critically analyze and evaluate the decision made
by 5 holiday resorts to merge into one big business/ company. The five resorts have reached a
final mutual decision to merge and operate under one management with an intension of
increasing on their revenue/ profitability level and providing an improved standard of service to
their customers. The new merged company brand is Monet which now offers a diverse and wide
range of living quarters, among others include; homes to luxurious suites, beds and breakfast and
back packers all around Australia. The company also provides alternatives to its customers who
would prefer to use online booking. The company offers booking opportunities through popular
holiday booking websites which include booking.com, travel.com, among others. All the
booking are managed in a single website that is supplemented by a mobile application. The
report will therefore investigate and establish the strengths, weaknesses, advantages and
disadvantages of the decision made and where possible, recommendations will be made basing
on the report findings.
Assumptions
During the transformation, as the business amalgamates from the five different resorts
into one business units, Monet, various assumptions were made. Among others included; the
merging of the firms will cause an inevitable improvement in the quality of services rendered to
the customers. As seen in the executive summary, improving services was one of the primary
basic goals of the merging, implying that the firm directly assumed that there is going to be a
guaranteed improvement on service delivery.

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It is also assumed that the amalgamation of the firms into one business unit will
ultimately lead to an increase in the sales and revenue of the new big business. The new
company is expected to enjoy economies of scale which include managerial economies of scale,
research economies of scale and many others which are characteristic advantages enjoyed by
large firms. It is also expected that the operational cost of the firm will go down as a result of the
merging. The cost efficient strategies being adopted by the firm will help in reducing the total
costs incurred by the business. The development of a single website will perfectly and effectively
manage the customer bookings, while the customers will be able to perfectly operate the new
mobile application developed for the company (Chen, Hsu, & Tzeng, 2011, p.920)
As a result of merging, it is assumed that the level of risks and uncertainties will
considerably reduce. Some of the risks such as high levels of competitions, inability to meet the
financial demands of the company are all expected to be curbed. This therefore implies that the
business is expected to progressively and steadily improve and expand its operations. In the
course of the merging, it is expected there will be a tremendous improvement in the level of
technology which will improve on the business efficiency of the new company (Chiu, W. Y.,
Tzeng, & Li, 2013, p.50).
Critique of the final decision reached by the senior management of Monet
This part of the report is intended to provide a detailed evaluation and analysis of the
management decision in merging into one big company. This will help in drawing of the
recommendations that can be used for the firm’s future effective operations and expansion.
Customer loyalty scheme (monetLoyalty); Monet’s decision to create a customer
loyalty scheme (Monet loyalty) will considerably boost and increase on the company sales.

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literature reports by various research conducted in customer care indicate that customers are
always willing to come back for as long as they get high quality services accompanied by a
friendly customer personnel (Mircea, Ghilic & Stoica, 2011, p.50). This therefore implies that
Monet’s decision to organize and design a specific team to handle the customers is a good
decision towards boosting and increasing the company sales. It is however very important that
the company considers the communication skills and strategies to be used by the customer
department. It should equip the team with the best skills on handling customers from a cross-
cultural environment. The ability of the customer care team to provide free tours is one of the
promotional strategies that can be used by the company to attract new customers. It is therefore
vital for Monet to create a customer loyalty scheme (Seelos, & Mair, 2007 p.60).
Developing of interactive tools to provide choice to customers; a decision on
developing interactive tools to help customers choose a particular tour they would wish to take is
very vital to the company. This is a stronger way of creating product differentiation in the
business world. By the company being able to offer services that are not usual to other
competitors, Monet has a high prospect of attracting new customers to their business. The
interactive tools provide the customers with a diverse experience to take on their sovereignty.
This is also a good strategy for the expansion of the business. To a great extent however, this
strategy may not work if it is not analytically designed to meet the customer’s expectations. It is
therefore important that the development team conducts a thorough research to find out the needs
and choices of the customers.
Developing an integrated ERP solution; the company’s decision to develop an
integrated Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is the most crucial decision it is
undertaking. ERP is a multi-functional management software used for the general optimization

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of the business operations. ERP is a software that manages a series of interconnected company
applications. The decision taken by the company to develop ERP is very important as it will
determine business’ efficiency. When choosing to design ERP, the software base should be put
into consideration, that is to say whether cloud based or offline based. This decision will be
determined in relation to the security sensitivity. The company should endeavor to utilize the
most efficient and latest technology when developing the software. This is because, its failure to
have a well-designed ERP will consequently lead to non-effective performance, ultimately
leading to losses which may be finance based of company vital information (Schiffauerova, &
Thomson, 2006, p.550)
Developing an ultra-intelligent electronic portal; this will enable the company
customers to directly place their orders from their places of residences. Through the company
website, clients will also be able to directly contact the business support team for live help. This
implies that the platform will play a great role of linking the customers to the company. Today,
businesses have adopted well-designed and user friendly websites for their clients to manage
their own accounts. Through the ultra-intelligent portal, the users can also be able to make their
payments online. This is an advantage to the company as the hectic costly manpower will be
reduced. However, Monet should consider developing a user friendly websites that will suit the
needs of the clients. The company should be able to monitor fraud websites as it may lead to loss
of customers. Situations where customers lose their money to fraud websites as a result of cyber
scam (Wang, & Tzeng, 2012, p.5600)
Today, most businesses are seeking to expand and gain a large market share in the
industry/ market in which it deals in. they aim at outcompeting their rivals by gaining financial
stability needed in the operations of the firm, improving the level of production. In this case, the

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decision taken by Monet to merge may provide an advantage in tax reductions and tax benefits
from the government. It is absolutely true that bigger firms have a tax levy advantage as
compared to the small firms. It is therefore important for the firm to merge into one company to
reduce the tax levels (Gorla, Somers, & Wong, 2010, p.215)
As a result of merging, the firm is likely to gain a competitive advantage other small
businesses operating in the same industry. When capital is pooled together, it makes it hard for
the new firms to enter into the market. This will offer Monet a monopolistic advantage which
will in turn lead to abnormal profits. However,
The difference between information technology and information system.
To a lay man, information system and information technology can be used to mean the
same i.e. it is often used interchangeably. However, the two terms, information system (IF) and
information technology (IT) differ in meaning. Information technology can primarily be
understood as the study, management, design, support and implementation of computer based
data/ information systems. It mainly involves the use of computer software, hardware, databases
and networking among various computers in the field of information system. In other words,
information technology is typically computer based processing of information and it involves the
use of technology in the creation, manipulation, distribution, and dissemination of information
(Husted et al. 2006, p.80).
On the other hand, information system (IS) is a general term used to refer to the processes
and people designed to create, manipulate, distribute, store, disseminate and distribute
information. For a clearer understanding, information technology can be referred to as a subset of

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information system implying that all processes and activities involved in information technology
is under information system (Montibeller, Gummer, & Tumidei, 2006, p.10).
The effects of IS and IT on Customer choice, continued patronage, and brand
loyalty.
In todays’ business world, information technology plays a leading role in influencing
customer’s choice, patronage and brand loyalty. Businesses use information technology as the
primary medium of getting in touch with its customers. Advertisement gives a clear evidence of
the extent to which technology is playing when it comes to influencing customer choice.
Research findings indicate that the most successful businesses are employing high levels of
technology in advertisement. Customers can easily be persuaded on line customers can easily be
persuaded and influenced to follow pop-ups and ads in the websites, through technology, the
company can always contact the customers in attempt to persuade their interest into the products,
customers are also able to make reviews of the products they purchase (Prajogo, & Sohal, 2006,
p.310).
Basing on the subsequent information, Monet Company can use extensive information
technology systems in persuading new customers through television, radios, online ads and
popups, among others. The company can also use information of the existing customers in
contacting them directly to find out their experience with the company (Naik et al., 2010, p.231).
In other words, Monet can make use of the mobile application as a media for customers to make
reviews. In this way, the business will adjust according to customers experience and
expectations.

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However, Monet’s decision to extensively use technology in engaging customers and
maintaining the customer loyalty should consider the threats that are likely to come up. This may
be inform of fraud websites that may negatively impact on the company reputation.
Recommendation/ Suggestion on how to attract new customers
Offering of discounts to both new and old customers. This will induce the spirit of
customer loyalty. Given the fact that consumers/ customers always prefer to maximize utility
from their available income, clients will always seek for places where they gain maximum
satisfactions (Dehning, Richardson, & Zmud, 2007, p.820). For example for the company to
induce online orders and bookings, the management can take up a decision of offering a certain
percentage discounts to customers who use online bookings for as long as the discount does not
affect the company’s performance. Most of the customers will wish to enjoy the discounts and
therefore automatically induced to use online services (Sahibudin, 2008, p.750). The business
should also consider establishing new premises in areas with more favorable demographic
information as far as their customer base is concerned. Some businesses gain more revenues as a
result of strategic/ proximity location of the business. For example, hotels and resorts require
places with few inconveniences in terms of traffic congestions. Other strategies may include
customer follow ups.
Depending on the target market the company can choose to sponsor an event where it
identifies its potential class of customers. Currently, many organizations are sponsoring events as
a way of reaching the public about the availability of their products and the type of services
offered. The events that Monet intends to sponsor should be in line with the target customers.

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Use of social media advertising. In today’s business world, social media plays a graet role
in promoting companies reputation and market share. A social media c=account can be created
where all updates of the upcoming invents are posted to help the clients keep up to date with the
company activities. Through social media, the company can also get direct feedback from the
clients regarding the services offered. This can be an adjustment point for the company in
relation to the taste and preference of the customers. The most prevalence platforms that the
company can make use of include; Facebook, twitter, and emailing of old customers among
others. Making of billboards and smart flyers (Sakao, & Shimomura, 2007, p.592). The company
can improve on its prevalence in the market by making use of public billboards to target a large
audience for example in the streets and main roads. This will create an insight in the potential
customers to visit the company outlets (Romm, 2014). To so extent, the company can make use
of local means by printing smart flyers that are distributed to the local population.

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