Strategic Information Systems: A Case Study of Curtis Australia

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Curtis Australia, a luxury pen and jewelry manufacturer, focusing on its strategic information systems. The analysis includes an examination of the business and industry background, general and competitive environments, and opportunities and threats. Porter's Five Forces model is applied to understand the competitive landscape, and both tangible and intangible resources are identified. The report recommends a suitable information system, specifically a decision support system, to enhance business processes and maintain a competitive advantage. Curtis Australia's strengths, such as its handcrafted products and global recognition, are highlighted, along with potential threats like price competition. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of strategic information systems for Curtis Australia's continued growth and success.

Running head: STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Strategic Information System
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
Part 1....................................................................................................................................3
1.1. Business Background................................................................................................3
1.2. The Industry Details.................................................................................................4
1.3. General Environment Analysis.................................................................................4
1.3.1. Economic Analysis............................................................................................4
1.3.2. Physical Analysis...............................................................................................5
1.3.3. Socio-cultural Analysis......................................................................................5
1.3.4. Global Analysis.................................................................................................6
1.3.5. Technological Analysis.....................................................................................6
1.3.6. Political/Legal Analysis.....................................................................................6
1.3.7. Demographic Analysis.......................................................................................6
1.4. Industry Environment Details...................................................................................7
1.5. Competitive Environment.........................................................................................8
1.6. Opportunities and Threats.........................................................................................8
Part 2....................................................................................................................................9
2.1. Tangible and the Intangible Resources.....................................................................9
2.2. Capabilities of the firm...........................................................................................10
2.3. Suitable Information System..................................................................................10

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2.4. Decision Support system........................................................................................11
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................11
References..........................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The aim of the report is to analyse the internal and the external environment of Curtis
Australia. Curtis Australia is jewellery and pen manufacturer of Australia. The strength of Curtis
Australia is that it manufactures handmade jewellery and pen (Curtis Australia. 2018). The
uniqueness about this company is that it makes use of traditional techniques in development of
the products thus making it a luxury brand. The report discusses the business background along
with the industrial background of the Curtis Australia. The competitive environment along with
the threats and opportunities that the company might face will be discussed in the report as well.
Apart from the external analysis, the internal analysis of the company will be covered in the
report as well. The report will be identifying the tangible and the intangible assets of Curtis
Australia and the competitive advantage it can achieve (Reich and Benbasat 2013). The report
will be identifying the competitive environment of Curtis Australia to evaluate its need for an
information system. A suitable information system will be recommended for Curtis Australia to
improve its business processes. The report is divided into two parts; the first one is external
analysis of Curtis Australia while the second one is internal analysis of the company.
Part 1
1.1. Business Background
Curtis Australia is pen and jewellery manufacturer of Australia that deals with handmade
instruments, stationeries and diamond jewellery. Curtis Australia is a jewellery manufacturer that
ensures that the products that they are delivering are not only functional but are beautiful as well.
The company specializes in development of luxury watches along with beautiful pens. The
collection of pens is quite extensive starting from simple ball point pen to luxury products

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(Curtis Australia. 2018). Curtis has certainly made recognition in the pen making world. The
industry details of Curtis Australia are discussed in the following paragraphs.
1.2. The Industry Details
The company Curtis Australia is a luxury pen maker that has recently expanded its
purpose to design pens. One of the competitive advantages of this company is that Pens of Curtis
are beautifully handcrafted that makes its products unique. This has resulted in a drastic growth
and dramatic increase in the pen range of Curtis Australia in recent years. It has a heritage of
craftsmanship and the company has won many awards on basis of the products that are offering
to the customers (Curtis Australia. 2018). The business advantage of this organisation is that it
ensures customers satisfaction by delivering world class products to its customers. Curtis is
Australian based pen manufacturer that makes use of handmade writing instruments and
diamond jewelleries. The general environment analysis of Curtis Australia is discussed in the
following sections.
1.3. General Environment Analysis
The general environment analysis includes the economic analysis, physical analysis,
socio-cultural analysis, global analysis, technological, political and the global analysis. An
accurate analysis of these fields is necessary to ensure correct strategic analysis.
1.3.1. Economic Analysis
The economic analysis of Curtis Australia is necessary in order to identify the benefits,
opportunities and the threats associated with the organization. Curtis is leading Australian
Company and the company is mainly focused on sustainable growth. A clear and planned

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approach of business process is followed in Curtis Australia that gives the firm a competitive
advantage. The Company was founded in the year 2002 and since then the company has been
providing best jewelleries to the customers. The increased business opportunities for Curtis
Australia ensure improved economy for the organization (Abraham 2013). Curtis Australia offers
a large range of products which include Jeweller, writing instruments, watches, illustrative pens
and other notable innovative products. The company provides beautifully crafted products that
ensures good economic environment for the organization. Thus it can be said that the economic
environment of the company is quite good that gives the organization a competitive advantage as
well.
1.3.2. Physical Analysis
It is one the leading companies in Australia and the location of the company ensure that
the company is benefitted with their increasing business growth. The position of Curtis Australia
in market is quite good and the company always stick to its aim of delivering best products to its
customers. The socio cultural analysis of the company is elaborated in the following section.
1.3.3. Socio-cultural Analysis
The socio cultural analysis of each of the company is needed to be evaluated in order to
understand the position of the company in the market. The socio cultural aspect of the company
will be analysed in order to understand the market position of Curtis Australia (Hill, Jones and
Schilling 2014). The Curtis Australia is a pen manufacturer and the manufacturer of luxury items
such as jewellery and the watches. The collection of the goods offered by Curtis Australia is
extensive and they all are result of simple works (Amrollahi, Ghapanchi and Talaei-Khoei,
2013). The company focuses on meeting the organizational goals, which is to provide excellently

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crafted products to the customers. Curtis Australia is led by the master jeweller Glenn Curtis.
The products of Curtis are internationally recognised (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). The brand
reputation of the company is one of the significant reasons behind the improved socio cultural
aspect of the company.
1.3.4. Global Analysis
Curtis Australia operates on global market. It is a luxury brand and is world famous. The
handcrafted jewellery is a great demand in the global market as well (Curtis Australia. 2018).
The Curtis team create beautiful product that has a distinctive story to tell. With an exquisite
range of exclusive product the company managed to gain a global reach.
1.3.5. Technological Analysis
The use of leading technologies is reported in Curtis Australia. This is needed since
Curtis Australia is one of the leading companies in Australia. The online website of Curtis
Australia makes the jewelleries and the products accessible to the customers across the globe.
The customer support system of the company is quite flexible that is one significant benefits of
the organization.
1.3.6. Political/Legal Analysis
The company has not been associated with any legal issues in past. There are no political
issues associated with the organization as the company is one of the leading Australian firms.
Curtis runs a registered business in Australia and therefore there are very less chances of the
company being indulging in any legal issues.
1.3.7. Demographic Analysis

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Curtis Australia is a jeweller and writing instruments. It is a large sized company with
thousands of employees. The company is expected to expand its business further in future.
1.4. Industry Environment Details
In order to understand the industry environment of Curtis Australia, porters five force
model is used. It is an important tool that is used for understanding the different forces that shape
the competition within the company (Colvin 2015). Porter’s five forces deals with competitive
Rivalry, Supplier power, buyer power, threat of substitution and threat of a new entry. The
analysis of the industry environment on basis of Porter’s five forces and analysed in the
following section.
Competitive Rivalry: Curtis is a luxury brand and is therefore expected to observe
competitive rivalry. However, since Curtis is one of the most established brands in Australia, the
rivalry with the other similar companies does not have high impact on the organization
(Rothaermel 2015). Therefore, it can be seen that the competitive rivalry associated with Curtis
Australia is minimal.
Supplier Power: Analysing the supplier power is important for an organization since it
helps in identifying the actual profit of the organization (Hitt and Duane Ireland 2017). Curtis is
a manufacturer of pens and jewelleries. The potential suppliers of the organisation include the
suppliers of the raw materials. Curtis Australia is a leading company of Australia and possesses a
good supplier power.
Buyer Power: This is an important consideration for an organization as it ensures that
the customers will not choose any other brands. Curtis is known to serve the companies over the
years and the company is able to gain good brand recognition (Laudon and Laudon 2015). This

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drives the customers towards the company (Rainer et al. 2013). The products of Curtis Australia
are globally recognized and therefore it can be said that the organization has an efficient buyer
power.
Threats of Substitution: The threat of substitution can be described as the likelihood of
the customers in finding different ways of getting the goods offered by the company. The threat
of substitution of Curtis is considerably less considering its position in the market (Gholami et al.
2013). Furthermore, the company offers handcrafted products which are therefore exclusives.
This helps the company in gaining a competitive advantage over the other similar business.
Threat of a New Entry: Every Company is affected by the threats of new entry. It is the
ability of some similar businesses to enter into the market (Girotra and Netessine 2014).
However, Curtis is least affected by a threat of new entry particularly because of the range of
products offered by Curtis are exclusive and handcrafted. It is difficult to offer products similar
to Curtis and therefore, the threat of a New Entry for Curtis is considerably less.
1.5. Competitive Environment
Curtis Australia has a direct competition with Rolex, Omega and other luxury brands.
However, Curtis Australia is a world class brand. The products are particularly handcrafted with
beautiful design. Rolex is known to offer exclusive products as well. Curtis has a competitive
advantage mainly because of the uniqueness in the products that they offer.
1.6. Opportunities and Threats
Curtis Australian has golden opportunity to expand its business across the globe. Curtis is
a luxury brand and is well recognized. The company further has the opportunity to improve and

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increase its customers’ reach. The stationary products offered by the company are beautifully
handcrafted and therefore the threats of substitution in Curtis are considerably less. However, it
is seen that the price of the products offered by Curtis is high mainly because of its Uniqueness.
If any other company starts offering similar products in a less price, it can be a major threat for
the organization.
Along with the internal analysis, it is essential to perform an analysis of the internal
factors associated with the organization. The internal factors of the organization include the
tangible and the intangible resources, the capabilities of the firm, the core competency analysis
and the use of a suitable information system for ensuring profit in the organization.
Part 2
2.1. Tangible and the Intangible Resources
The tangible assets of the company include the physical assets of the company. This
includes the land, vehicles and the equipments of the company. The list of tangible asset of
Curtis Australia is quite long. The tangible assets of a company can be physically identified
(Arvidsson, Holmström and Lyytinen 2014). The inventory items of Curtis Australia are the one
of the most significant tangible asset of the organization. Along with that the profits and the
shares of the company adds to the most significant tangible assets as well. Identification of the
tangible resources of the organisation is essential mainly because of the fact that it gives an idea
of the capability of the organization.
The intangible assets of the organization include the non physical items that include the
trademarks, patents and the copyrights associated with the company. Although the non physical
assets of the company cannot be physically measures, the non physical assets are an important

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consideration for any business. The company reputation is an important intangible asset of any
organisation. Curtis Australia has a good brand reputation. Although the intangible assets cannot
be touched, it relates to the goodwill, development and the associated expenditure of the
company.
Both tangible and the intangible resources of the organization are important since it
explains the needs and the position of the company. Curtis is rich in both tangible and the
intangible resources that add to the competitive advantages of the organization.
2.2. Capabilities of the firm
The firm is capable of increasing their customer base by improving the customer base of
the organization. The marketing strategies followed by the organization are quite effective that
drives the customers towards the products offered by Curtis. Company has an ability of
managing the resources in an efficient manner and is capable of meeting the demands of the
customers. It is essential to evaluate the capabilities of the firm in order to understand and
redesign the business processes within the organization. The capabilities of Curtis Australia are
prominent from the fact that it is a leading manufacturer of jewelleries and pen.
2.3. Suitable Information System
The use of information system is important for any organization mainly because it helps
in organizing the different activities of the organization (Weill and Woerner 2013). One of the
most significant use of information system in any organization is that an information system
ensure a better decision making. This is because the majority of the information system in an
organization keeps in track of the needs of the customers and the needs of the customers
(Whittington 2014). There is a number of information systems that Curtis can make use of. Some

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of them are already in use within the organization. The need for the management of the
company’s business processes increases the needs of the information system within the
organization (Demirkan and Delen 2013). The use of information system makes it easier to
define, document and communicating the business processes within the organization. However,
in order to understand the need of the information system within the organization, the company
needs to identify the aims of the organization. The information system that is recommended for
Curtis Australia is decision support system.
2.4. Decision Support system
The decision support system is an information system that supports business and the
organizational needs. The decision support system is a computer program that helps the manger
of the organization in supporting the business decisions quite easily (Galliers and Leidner 2014).
A decision support system can be communication driven, data driven, document driven,
knowledge driven and model driven (Wheelen et al. 2017). A communication driven decision
support system is recommended for the organization as it will ensure an easier communication
among the employees of the organization (Willcocks 2013). The communication decision
support system analyses the present data of the organization which further helps in efficient
decision making (Bonczek, Holsapple and Whinston 2014). Therefore, the choice of
communication decision support system for Curtis Australia is justified.
Conclusion
The aim of the report is to analyse the internal and external environment of Curtis
Australia. The report analyses the business background along with the industrial background of
Curtis Australia. The analysis of the industrial environment is based on Porter’s Five forces,

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which are supplier power, buyer power, potential entrants, substitute products and rivalry. The
competitive environment of Curtis Australia is further discussed in the report. The report
evaluates the opportunities and the threats associated with the organization and recommend the
use of communication decision support system for ensuring easier decision making within the
organization. Decision support system will be beneficial for the company mainly because it
provides the managers with regular reports, which in turn helps in easier decision making.

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