Smartvile Factory Report: Information Systems and Business Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Smartvile factory, a modern manufacturing site utilizing advanced information systems. It begins with an introduction to the factory, its operations, and its use of information technology. The core of the report focuses on the information systems that underpin Smartvile's business, including transaction processing systems, management support systems (encompassing decision support, executive information, and expert systems), and database management systems. Each system is described with its purpose and overview. The report then delves into Porter's generic strategies, outlining cost leadership and differentiation, and selects cost leadership as the most suitable strategy for Smartvile. Finally, the report addresses the Data Protection Act, its components, and discusses a data theft scenario, determining if it falls under the Act's purview.

Management
information
technology

INTRODUCTION
Business organisations utilise advanced technology which includes modern information
systems and information technology in order to increase organisational efficiency and produce
technologically advanced goods swiftly. Smartvile is one of the most modern manufacturing
sites in the world. This factory is located in France, Hambach and was established in the year
1994 as a joint venture between Dalmier-Benz and Swatch which is a Swizz based
manufacturing company. This factory utilises Information systems and automation technology to
produce smart cars with daily capacity of 750 cars. This report includes description about
information systems which act as foundation of Smartvile business with their purpose and
overview. Porter's generic strategies are described in this report and strategy suitable for the
Smartvile business is also selected in this report. Data protection Act and three main components
of the act are mentioned in this report. Apart from this situation of data theft is discussed in this
report with focus on if the report falls in the Data protection Act.
MAIN BODY
Information systems which act as a foundation of Smartvile business with their purpose and
overview
Information systems is an incorporated set of components for collecting storing and
processing data and providing information and digital products. Business organisations utilise
information systems to conduct daily business operations, interact with consumers and suppliers
and compete with rival organisations.
Description of Porter's generic strategies with selection of appropriate strategy for Smartvile
business with explanation Information systems are used at the modern production site Smartvile
and form the core of the business. Purpose and overview of information systems used at
Smartvile are provided below:
Transaction processing system
This information system includes a computer hardware and software which provides transaction
oriented application that performs daily transactions which are essential for conducting business
(Turulja and Bajgoric, 2018).

. Smartvile utilises transaction processing system to reduce processing time, lead time and order
cycle time. Usage of this information system has helped the Smartvile lower personnel, ordering
and warehousing costs.
Purpose: Transaction is a simple process which occurs during daily business operations.
Transaction business processing system manages consumer transaction which helps the company
in smooth completion of daily business operations. A transaction processing system registers
non-inquiry transactions along with it's affect s itself in the database and constructs
documentation related to such transaction. Automation of such simple and recurring process
assists Smartvile in effective completion of their daily businesses process.
The main advantages gained by Smartvile with the implementation of Transactions processing
systems is that it minimizes errors in daily data transaction and generates on time results for daily
business transaction. Smartvile is able to protect data corrupt with the help of this information
system as multiple users cannot modify same data under this information system.
Management support system:
This information system is computer based which is either used by mangers or assists the
mangers in effective accomplishment of their daily business goals. Management information
system is centred around administrative usage of information resources. this information system
utilises various data analysis tools for analysis external data and internal data of the organisation
( Lecerf and Omrani, 2020). Analysis conducted with the help of various data analysis tools is
used by the management information system to support managerial staff in planning.
management and decision making. Smartvile utilises this information management system to
support managers at every organizational level with their information requirements.
Purpose: The main purpose of this information management system is to help staff members at
the medium and high levels of the managerial hierarchy with administrative usage of information
resources. Smaetvule has been able to increase the effectiveness of various management
activities with the help of management support systems.
There are three types of management support systems namely decision support system, executive
information system and expert system.
Decision support system is centred around enhancing the decision making process of the
mangers in semi structured and unstructured business conditions. This task is accomplished by
data analysis tool and models provided to the system by the manager ( Foote and Halawi, 2018).

This information system provides managers at Smartvile option for selecting input data tools of
analysis and depth of analysis and dependence on the results of the analysis for making various
business decisions. Managers at Smartvile are able to take effective decisions and formulate
strategies for varying business scenarios with the help of decision support systems. This is
because the decision support system create an interactive environment where managers can
experiment with data and models to make decisions which are favourable for the company.
Executive information system are developed to support managers at the topmost position in the
managerial hierarchy. Information requirements of managers at high ranking managerial position
includes swift accessibility to updated and precise information along with exception reports. In
addition to this, provisions for personalized data and analysis is required by high ranking
managers for efficient discharge of their business functions (Perrin and Kingsley, 2018).
Executive information system in context of Smartivile performs the task of providing external
and internal data which is relevant business goals of the factory to executive level staff members.
This helps high ranking managers at the respective enterprise enhance their strategic decision
making process. The main advantages of this type of management support system is several
distinguished characteristics of this system which is helpful to high ranking managers. Graphical
representation of data is a feature of this information system which helps high ranking managers
at Smartvile simplifies complex data for making effective decisions. Apart from this, trend
analysis is another vital feature of Executive information system which is helps managers predict
future trends and make decision helpful foe progress of Smartvile.
Expert system is a kind of management support system which is used with the objective of
extending decision making capabilities of experts employed by an organisation. Smartvile
designs smart vehicles which requires high interaction between functional managers and expert
staff members to complete various business objectives in a timely manner. Human experts
employed by Smartvile have certain limitations and implementation if this information system
ensures smooth collaboration between managers and expert human resources to gain desired
results in a timely manner. Business expert system imitates human behaviour, continuously
captures and system business knowledge which extends the decision making skills of costly and
rare expert human resources of the purpose built factory (Avila and Garcés, 2017). This helps
Smartvile manufacturer high quality vehicles which are technologically advanced and maximise
consumer satisfaction.

The main objective of this information system is to gain the expertise of human expert and
convert it into standardized so that other employees of Smartvile can utilise this knowledge to
make effective decisions. Apart from this, the Smartvile factory utilises business expert systems
to make decisions to product launch, to conduct project evaluations and enhance product
development.
Database management system:
This information management system is constructed for storing, retrieving, defining and
managing information in a database. A database management system works by the utilisation of
system commands which includes gaining instructions from the database manger and instructing
the system in accordance to the orders given by the database manger. The instructions given by
the database management system could include retrieving data, modifying data or loading data
which is present in the database. Smartvile utilises this information system to ensure effective
data sharing, enhance data security, lower data redundancy, increase data protection and data
privacy of the production plant.
Purpose: The aim of this information system is to remove data inconsistencies, increase easy
data accessibility, protect valuable data of the company from cyber crime, solve data isolation
issue and ensure that data values stored in the database of the company satisfy certain
consistency constraints (Ettlie, Tucci and Gianiodis, 2017).
The ability of the database management system to accomplish various objectives described
above help Smaetvile organise valuable company data in a secured manner. Database
management plays a vital role in handling and manipulating high influx of data at Smartvile
which is one of the largest purpose built factories in the world and is highly dependent on
technology and data for completing daily business operations. Database management system
forms the core of this factory as it helps the factory monitor performance if application and their
data tuning and establishes a powerful backup solution for recovering information in emergency
situations.
Porter's generic strategies described which could be applied by any organization to secure a
competitive position in their industry.
Porter's generic strategies described approaches which could be applied by any organization to
secure a competitive position in their industry. Cost leadership and differentiation are two main
strategies which could be used by any firm to boost their sales and surpass business rivals.

Cost leadership
This strategy revolves around minimizing costs of the company and selling goods and services at
the industry average price. The company is able to secure competitive advantage through this
strategy by expanding market share as the price of the products is moderate (Piercy, 2018).
The firm is able to make high profits despite average price of the products due to cist
minimisation. Main sources required for implementation of this strategy is technological
advancements for reducing organisational costs and effective logistics. In addition to this
businesses which aim to adopt this strategy need to find sustainable ways of lowering costs in
comparison to industry opponents. This will help the company maintain beneficial industrial
position for a long time period and remove the threat from low cost producers undercutting
prices of the company. Threat of low cost competitors undercutting prices of the firm can halt
attempts of the firm at increasing their market share.
Benefits: The chief advantage of this business strategy is that the firm is able to increase thier
market share while maintaining high profit margins. Adoption of this strategy increases the
sustainability of an establishment. The establishment is not threatened by sudden market collapse
as the cost leadership strategy reduces loss suffered by the company. This helps the
establishment survive in the corporate world for a long time period (Avgerou and Walsham,
2017).
Drawbacks: Functional departments of the firm facing financial cuts is the main drawback of
cost leadership strategy. Reduction in innovation and presence od organisation using similar
strategy is another problem associated with this strategy.
Differentiation
This strategy focuses on developing unique products and services which have distinguished
characteristic from other products in the industry. The company gains prominent position in their
industry by offering products or services which provide unique solutions to problems faced by
the consumer. The company adopting this strategy is able to increase their sales as consumer are
persuaded to purchase the unique and innovative products offered by the company. For success
of this strategy, business organizations need to conduct profound research in order to build
unique products or services which solve certain issues faced by the consumer. In addition to this,
the company needs to develop capabilities for providing high quality products. Improvement in
sales and marketing strategies is essential for successful utilization of this strategy as business

organisations need to promote unique attributes of their products or services in order to increase
sales.
Benefits: Implementation of this strategy eliminates the presence of substitute products which is
highly beneficial for the company. This strategy helps the company gain loyal consumers as the
firm offers innovative goods and services. This strategy increases additional value provided to
the consumer which contributes in continuous growth of the company and construction of a loyal
consumer base (Arora and Rahman, 2017).
Drawbacks: This strategy requires large amount if resources which can burden the company and
result in loss of the firm. Enforcement of this strategy does not ensure profitability and the
additional value gained by the consumers reduces over time which makes this strategy
ineffective in surviving for a longer time period ( Nabelsi and Gagnon, 2017).
The most effective strategy for the France based production plant Smartvile is cost leadership
strategy. The manufacturing site needs to adopt this strategy by using technology for reducing
costs and aiming foe continuous improvement.
Explanation: The rationale behind recommendation of this strategy is that it will increase the
profit margin of the plant and help Mercedes-Benz reach a wide consumer base for their smart
cars. In addition to this, adoption of this strategy will help the company increase the sale of their
products and gain largest market share. Smartvile can easily adopt this strategy as the company is
technologically advanced and the process of continuous improvement for reducing costs. Apart
from this, the drawback of low cost producers imitating strategy of Smartvule is low as it would
require high investment in technology. This strategy will help the manufacturing pant produce
high quality products at low costs and maintain high profit margin for a long time period. This
will result in Mercedes-Benz-Benz becoming prominent members if the car manufacturing
industry swiftly.
Data protection act and three core aspects of the data protection in prospect to the selected
organization
Smarville is using various information technology for their operational and management system
due to which that is become very important for them to make effective data protection and
privacy system with in the help data protection regulation and legislation such as the Data
protection act 1918, GDPR. It helps to protect personal business plan information, helps to

manage privacy and continentality of employees and customers (Wilkinson, 2018). This helps to
protect the financial and resources information form cheaters. Helps to save revenues and so on.
Below is the brief explanation of data protection act and principles of that which help in all that
organization data protection.
The data protection act 1998
This legislative peace was first developed in 1998 by parliament of United Kingdom, with in the
objective of personal data protection, which stored on computers or in some paper filing system.
It involves the data protection directive 1995 provision on the protection, processing and
movement of data. This facilitates the specific guidelines and regulation for the specific and
correct use of personal information. This act protects integrity of data which held in business
organization related to the customers and employees. This act give right to the individual’s that
they can get access to their data and make it correct or change if require. Under the DPA 1998
every person was having their individual rights TO control their information by themselves. That
time there was not any restriction on domestic use. But in 2018 it was superseded by the data
protection act 2018 by adding GDPR, which started data regulation, collection, storage and use
of personal data significantly more strictly (Muhangi, 2019).

GDPR
The general data protection regulation EU law which was develop in 2016 and then 2018 it was
supplemented on data protection act 2018. it addresses and manage transfer of data outside of the
EU and EEA areas. This facilitates the technique and regulations through which individual can
make control over their personal data. So, this is effective and use full for smartville in context
to their data protection and security. This simplifies regulatory environment for international
business by combining the regulation with EU. Due to which smartville can effectively run their
international business along with the protection of their data (Baker, and Beeton, 2020).
Core aspects of data protection act
The GDPR are is possess seven principles or aspects for legislative processing of
personal data, such as the processing includes the collection, organization, structuring, storage,
alternation, consultation, use, combination, communication, restriction, erasure. Some core
principles of CDPR is given below.
Fairness and transparency
In context to the personal data protection this act is focus on fairness and transparency which
means, right use of individual personal data which should be morally correct and harm less for
person. In the case of smartville if their data get stolen or compromised then they can face issues

in management of fairness in their customers, employees and organization personal data because
this can be use by other in any wrong or impact full activities. In context to the data protection
transparency is the openness and willingness of the organization to share the clear information
about that where and why employees and customers data is going to be use. But in the situation
of data stolen organization can face issue in management of this principle.
Purpose limitation
According to this aspect of data protection act organization or any other user of others personal
data should have to be clear about their reason for obtaining data and what is their plan related to
its use. Once the organization provided their purpose of use then they can use that for only that
reasons of use. Such as organization cannot transfer their customers data to other parties and can
not use for the promotion of other companies. So, this helps the organization to build
relationship and loyalty between their customers. But due to the case of data compromise
organization get fail in satisfaction of this principle and face huge problems.
Data minimization and retention
This is one of another important aspect of data protection act which focus on the protection of
data misuse. This involves the rules according to which organization can collect only the limited
amount of data which require for the specific purpose. Organization can retain the minimum
amount of important data and remove unnecessary data from their storage. In the case of data
stolen organization gave to face situation of legal issues (Voss, and Houser, 2019).

CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that various information systems play an important role in
smooth functioning of a manufacturing plant. These systems help production sites effectively
utilise information resources for timely completion of business objectives. Porter's generic
strategies include cost leadership and differentiation strategy which have various drawbacks and
benefits. Business organisations need to adopt these strategies in order to gain competitive
position in their industry. This helps the company survive in the corporate world for a longer
time period. Data protection acts is centred around protecting integrity and privacy of data held
on individuals by businesses organisation. Manufacturing sites and enterprises which are
dependent on information for conducting daily business activities need to understand this act in
order to conduct their business activists in a lawful manner.