Strategic Information System Report: Wesfarmers Company Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of a strategic information system, focusing on its application within the Wesfarmers Company. It begins by defining business processes and their importance in achieving organizational goals, followed by an examination of the specific business requirements of Wesfarmers, including retail, industrial, and other sectors. The report then delves into system requirements, such as online shopping, login/register features, accessibility, reliability, performance, security, and accuracy. The process of software and vendor selection is discussed, emphasizing the importance of communication, automated processes, and vendor evaluation. Furthermore, the report identifies three ways to improve business efficiency through information systems. It also analyzes the level of efficiency achieved through technology implementation, potential security risks, and guidelines for managing these risks. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for Wesfarmers' strategic information system.

Running Header: Strategic Information System
Strategic Information System
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Define Business Processes...............................................................................................................3
Develop Business Requirements.....................................................................................................5
Determine System Requirements....................................................................................................6
Software and Vendor Selection.......................................................................................................7
3 ways for improving the efficiency of business.............................................................................8
The level of efficiency of the technology implementation..............................................................9
Potential security risks, data breaches...........................................................................................10
Guidelines for managing risk.........................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems allow centralization of data for the users accessing
the system. It contributes in taking effective decisions for the company and thereby creating
competitive advantage. It provides cross-functional business processes for an organization. This
allows companies to bring changes in their organizational behavior. It customizes the way
business processes are performed in an organization. Besides these advantages of enterprise
resource planning systems, these also have some disadvantages (Chunhe Yang, et al 2013). ERP
systems are prone to security vulnerabilities like DDoS attacks. Hackers find it easier to attack
the system's privacy due to an out-dated version of the system. This report wills going to
describe the use of enterprise resource planning systems for an organization. It is the systematic
approach that is used by most of the companies to enhance their business procedures effectively
and efficiently. This report will provide information regarding Wesfarmers Company which is
using ERP systems to manage their business processes (Bryson, 2017).
Define Business Processes
Business Processes are the collection of activities that are performed systematically to achieve
organizational goals and objectives. Business processes are based on rules that are strictly
followed by the organizations. This helps them to improve their economic value among the other
competitors of the market. Business processes provide a direction to the company in maintaining
specific organizational value in the market (Adil, and İlker, 2017). A lot of things has been
changed due to globalization and therefore companies have to give priorities in efficiently
managing their business processes.
There are different types of business processes which are as follows-
 Manufacturing- this type of business process focus on the development of quality assured
products on demand of the customers. In such a business process, continuous
enhancements and maintenance are done for the developed product. Manufacturing
mostly involves the external stakeholders to make deals for every new project (Dewi and
Suprapto, 2017). However, internal stakeholders are responsible for looking after the
machinery and other resources. Finance- this involves the risk management process for an

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organization regarding the status of their accounts (Caterina, Karen, Evans and Kara,
2009).
 The billing process is also a part of a financial business process. Every day companies
make a lot many transactions some are the payments that are received from customers
while others are the bills that need to be paid (Ecomputernotes.com, 2018).
 Health- these are the medical assessment related processes which are done for the welfare
of people. This allows individuals to take drugs in order to cure their diseases. Health is
both Government and private based which have different facilities and costs depending
on the type of treatment (Editorial Board, 2017).
 Banking- all individual wants to protect their account asset, therefore, banking processes
are used to ensure that the customer’s and employees money is safe. The credit and debit
processes are the part of a banking process (Darshana and Guy, 2010).
 Travel- to organize trips and events for the individuals who want to view and experience
all of their favorite places. Tourism companies also face many challenges in their
business process due to frequently changing prices.
 Defense- these are the emergency based business processes which are used to protect the
personnel from any harm. It is done for the welfare of the citizens of a country.
 Public Sector- this is related to the Government sector. There are many policies and
procedures developed by the Government to fulfill the requirements of their citizens.
 Human Resources- to manage the personnel that is being hired by the company’s
officials. Human resources are the most important asset of the company.
 Among the above-discussed business process, manufacturing business process has been
chosen. Wesfarmers is a manufacturing company that focuses on providing best quality
products to their customers. The company Wesfarmers has a proper schedule to run their
business processes simultaneously without interrupting the whole system. A company is
using an appropriate format to run their business to attain customer satisfaction (Gareth,
White, Charles and Aneka, 2016).
 The enterprise resource planning system will be helpful for the company to manage its
important information. This will manage the ever-increasing costs in the market. A
company wants to expand their business to different parts of the country as well.
Therefore, an enterprise resource planning system will be helpful for the company to

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achieve the competitive advantage within the manufacturing industry market (Goni, et al
2017).
 Wesfarmers is developed by the committee of cooperative farmers that used to serve the
rural community of Western Australia. This company mainly provides services as the
agricultural merchandise to the rural and urban cities of Australia. The company became
a leading manufacturer of liquefied petroleum gas which was exported to different
countries. Besides that, Wesfarmers performed various business activities in the field of
retailing, industrial, energy and insurance. Wesfarmers has become a public company
providing best of their services to the customers. The products and services of the
company have now reached to New Zealand area as well having a significant growth in
their business.
Develop Business Requirements
Wesfarmers wanted to expand in different business processes like industrial, retail, energy and
many more Therefore, their business requirements have changed to what they used to do earlier
when the company was just started. Wesfarmers divided their business requirements into two
main categories one is retailing and the other one included chemicals, energy etc. Business
requirements for Wesfarmers are as follows-
Retail Others
Coles which consists of liquor, foods and
convenience retail
Home Improvement facilities for the customers
Office supplies as per the market demand
Kmart for which is a departmental store
Industrial for coal mining and production
Insurance for the individuals
Chemicals that is fertilizers, energy, and safety
Other activities
The company designed their business requirements and has reached to their targeted milestones.
Starting Coles retailing, Wesfarmers has increased their revenue and also increased sales. It has
become the largest retailer in Australia. This success of Wesfarmers is measured by the
economic value it has achieved with the years of hard work and the effective decision-making
process by the senior managers of the company. Wesfarmers generated 58% revenue in 2010

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after they started the different businesses altogether. The company received positive reviews for
the products and services they sell to the customers (Guillaume, et al 2011).
Determine System Requirements
System requirements are a set of statements that consists of a document which is shared by all
the staff members of the company. It specifies the requirements of internal and external
stakeholders of the company. The aim of system requirements to collect and determine the
specific requirements of a customer. The system requirements will include the hardware and
software requirements for the development of ERP system. The document of system
requirements will also specify the functional and non-functional requirements that will be used to
develop the system. The system will be able to automatically save the data of the users which
will allow easy retrieval of information in future whenever required. The system will be reliable,
accessible and will have better performance for the users.
Online shopping- Customers of Wesfarmers will be able to make the request for a product
online. Online shopping helps customers to choose the products according to their specific needs.
They can set a payment method like credit/debit card or cash on delivery as suitable. It makes the
customer know each and every detail about a product they want to purchase than the offline
purchasing (Guo and Miguel, 2009).
 Login/Register- the new users for the ERP system have to first register into the system
using their personal details like email address, contact number, password, city etc. Where
as existing users have to simply enter their valid email address and password to
efficiently access the system. This ensures that only authenticated users are accessing the
system.
 Accessibility- the software system will be accessible to all the users. There will be a user
manual provided to the users so that they can access the system efficiently using the step
by step process (Glenn, Roan and Gareth, 2015).
 Reliability- the system will have the option of automatic update and auto-detection of
issues (if any) within the system. This will reduce the cost of maintenance and will
provide reliability to the users.

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 Performance- the framework of ERP system will allow managers of Wesfarmers to take
effective decisions regarding their business. This system will capable of keeping track of
the trends in the market and will provide the competitive advantage to Wesfarmers.
Security- the most important system requirement is the security(Naser, et al 2012).
 Since the internet has become a trend and also medium for communication, it is
important to keep the system secure. The ERP system will have authorization and
authentication so that the sensitive information of the company is saved from the
intruders.
 Accuracy- ERP system will provide efficiency in creating bills and maintaining records
of the company. The data will be automatically saved using sequential file organization
that will provide accuracy in the business processes.
Software and Vendor Selection
 The software solutions are required by almost every company if contrasting globally.
Software system increases work efficiency of the business processes that take place in a
company. Besides that, companies need effective approaches which can help in creating
better strategies. Selection of right vendor for a business is the necessary task. It can help
Wesfarmers to compete in the market with other similar companies and to guide about
effectively using resources of the company. Software and vendor selection process needs
to be done considering the positive and negative impacts of the software and how much
benefit vendors can provide to the company.
 Communication- companies follow a structured process when dealing with vendors to
ensure that their meeting could finalize some important decisions for the company.
Creating checklists to decide vendors for the business is not a good idea rather than a
conversation. Conservations can build better vendor-relations so that business processes
can be made reliable to use (Jenny and Helen, 2014).
Therefore, Wesfarmers has decided not to create a checklist for selecting a vendor but to
have a conversation with the recommended ones.
 Automated processes- such processes allow companies to have business continuity. The
continuous improvements in the business increase economic value of the company. It

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also helps managers in developing best suitable business strategy. It can be beneficial to
use automated processes but not too much otherwise it can lead to system failure.
 Evaluation of people- contract from the investors should be made on an appropriate basis.
All the terms and conditions must be defined earlier only. Cancellation fees, licenses and
so on should be clarified before launching or selling a product to customers. The software
vendors must be contracted according to the specified skills they have (Kamariotou and
Kitsios, 2017).
 Vendors should have complete knowledge about accessing the system as well as to
resolve issues that might occur in the ERP system. Vendors should be evaluated
according to their capabilities and who can provide effective business solutions for
Wesfarmers in growing their business rapidly (Jan, Paul, Van and Joseph, 2014).
3 ways for improving the efficiency of business
 The information systems are most widely used in different countries to manage the
business processes effectively. It allows companies to accomplish their goals/objectives
by providing opportunity market new products, create a business model, enhanced
decision-making process, maintaining the better relationship with customers and so on
(Kavanagh and Johnson, 2017). Wesfarmers requires having better productivity in their
business; therefore, the software system is important to be implemented in the company.
It is not possible for the staff members to manage a large amount of information on a
daily basis. Software system allows automated processes to accomplish task each day
more accurately and efficiently. This is the challenging situation for the company to
manage the different functional areas of production, designing, development, and testing
of a software.
 Communication software- team communication is necessary for Wesfarmers to manage
their ongoing business process. There should be no situation of miscommunication occur
in the company that might lead to the loss of business. Miscommunication can create the
loss of sales and productivity of the business. Video conferencing is the most effective
communication tool for the team members of Wesfarmers to transfer the messages.

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Task Management Software- this allows team members to create a schedule to perform business
activities in an efficient manner. Milestones can be framed for the projects to accomplish in the
given time duration. Wrike and Basecamp are some of the task management software tools to
manage projects (Sang and Seon, 2015).
 Time tracking tools- if enhancement in business performance is required then time
tracking tools are the best suggestion for Wesfarmers.
The level of efficiency of the technology implementation
Integrated systems are implemented by the organizations to measure the effectiveness of their
business processes. Every organization wants to have better economic growth and develop their
business value within few years of their start-up. But most of them fail due to improper
management of utilizing resources. Not only this, there are many issues that are raised by the
organizations for managing their business. The integrated systems allow companies to manage
their data about the international clients, internal and external business processes and many
more. Wesfarmers is also looking forward to innovative ways to attain competitive advantage in
the market which has been made possible by ERP systems. ERP systems allow business
processes to perform as a single process rather than a distributed one which makes the
performance level increased for any task. There are many modules provided by an ERP system
that allows business activities to be performed efficiently.
 Management Integration- employees of Wesfarmers can operate multiple systems while
managers have the access to the complete database system. This integration allows
managers to keep track of the activities performed by the employees. This system will
perform well even when multiple users will access the system (Smallbusiness.chron.com,
2018). Users are allowed to take guidelines for accessing the system efficiently so that
they can also perform few actions on the new system. This reduces the manual processes
and makes the work process much easier. This technology has provided benefits to the
users' ina ll sorts of performing business operations in a better way.
 Cost Benefits- ERP systems manage cost that is used by the company to purchase
resources. Processes like inventory management that requires a specific cost of ownership
are easily managed by ERP systems. Communication between different departments of a

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company like accounts, sales, and marketing. Operating costs of the company can be
managed efficiently by the integrated system. ERP systems increase the efficiency of the
organizational processes thus decreases operating costs.
 Strategic Planning- ERP systems help to analyze the activities performed by the
company’s competitor. It provides a way to identify the target market so that appropriate
strategies can be constructed by the managers. Strategic planning involves effective
communication between the external stakeholders and the managers of the company.
 Financial Controls- the financial department is the most critical part of a company that
consists of the most sensitive information (Stair and Reynolds, 2017). Using the business
analytics tool, company's managers can view the transaction details of the accounting
department. This helps to know about the opportunities that the company have by
analyzing the overall cost.
Potential security risks, data breaches
Security risks for the system-
Out-dated system and integration issues-
Unsupported software system disables users to perform business activities. Software versions
which have become old do not have efficient compatibility. The software also not integrate with
the advanced business processes. The out-dated systems are not capable enough to store a large
amount of information thus creates issues in the system (Thomas, 2018).
Loss of data control-
The functionality of the system does not address the requirements of the users which creates the
loss of accessibility to the data in an ERP system. Users want the system to be user-friendly to
perform the business operations. When user’s loss control to data they are not able to manage the
processes like maintaining excel sheets for keeping records. When records are not maintained
properly attackers get the way out to have access to the system.
Delayed Updates-

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This lead to software vulnerabilities as most of the hackers find it easier to attach to the system's
security (Whittington, 2014).
It is important for the companies to frequently update the system. Wesfarmers can either deploy
a system which can automatically install updates or customize the current system.
Guidelines for managing risk
One of the major issues for Wesfarmers was to implement an ERP system and then to manage
the security risks associated with it. Consequences of risks are that it creates the loss to the
economic value of the company resulting in decreased revenue. Partnerships with other
companies and other external stakeholders are also not managed properly due to loss of essential
data. Security vulnerabilities also affect the brand image of the company. Wesfarmers must
ensure that they will take appropriate advice from the software system experts and hire a
software engineer to manage issues regarding their current software system. This will reduce the
security risks for the system.
Use Demand-Driven MRP: this will help Wesfarmers to analyze the demands of the market and
will increase the reliability of the supply chain. Market records and customer behavior can be
analyzed at a higher level which will help in fulfilling the demands of the customer. This allows
companies to perform the business process in a real-life scenario. It enhanced the network of the
distribution channel for a company and ensures that the supply chain procedures will be managed
effectively (Rubik, and Frankl, 2017).
Automate recorders and manual tasks: One of the main causes of security risks is the mistakes
which are made manually. Companies can rely on the automation systems that provides accuracy
to the business processes. Automation helps in managing daily transactions, supply chain, sales,
and marketing department of a company like Wesfarmers. Automated systems also provide
opportunities to the companies to expand their business and to generate more leads.
Share supply buffers with partners: Wesfarmers should adopt the cloud services to manage the
data. Since a large amount of information is accessed daily, it is equally important to store that
information and manage that IT asset of the company. Cloud storage keeps the stock at a specific
level as required (Tsang, 2014).

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Improve decision-making with a single source of truth: improved decision-making process is
effective for each of the business. It ensures that the company will gain profits with the
constantly changing business strategy. Decisions are mostly taken by the higher authorities of the
company like the senior managers. Each of the issues, requirements, and views (Pearlson,
Saunders and Galletta, 2016).
Conclusion
Manufacturing companies like Wesfarmers have to constantly develop strategies to improve
quality of their business. This is because the competition has increased in the market and
innovations are the new trend that the customers want. Therefore, Wesfarmers has to focus on
maintaining better customer relationships. It is to conclude from this detailed report that in order
to manage business processes an efficient software system is required. The report has describes
the different types of business processes and how these can be managed by using a software
system. Benefits of an Enterprise resource planning system have been described and also ways to
mitigate the risks associated with it.