INFS 5058: Strategic Information Systems Analysis of Woolworths

This report analyzes Woolworths' strategic information systems, focusing on the write-down of IT assets related to the Mercury 2 initiative. It examines the challenges Woolworths faced, particularly in supplier relationships and supply chain management, and the reasons behind Mercury 2's underperformance. The report uses Porter's Five Forces to analyze the competitive landscape and discusses the short-term and long-term pros and cons of Woolworths' IT strategy. It also explores the changing role of IT within the organization, the rationale behind the IT asset write-down decision, and the responsibilities of the CIO. Furthermore, the report suggests the use of Management Information Systems (MIS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) for effective operations, and discusses the impact of project slashing on the IT/IS system. The report concludes with a discussion of the roles of different managers within the MIS and DSS frameworks, and their respective functions in supporting strategic decision-making. The report is based on research from various online sources.

Running Head: Subject Name_ Student Name_ Student ID
Strategic Information Systems M
Subject Code-INFS 5058
Trimester No.-
Student’s name-
Word Count -1000
Name of the tutor -

Subject Name_ Student Name_ Student ID
Ans. 1:
Woolworths had decided to write down the initiative of Mercury 2 in millions. These
write down are related to IT assets (Coyne, 2016).
Ans.2:
Woolworths had been facing challenges with respect to the supplier relationships.
This was because of the problems with the arrangement of its replacement and inventory
structure (Rapoport, 2016).
Ans.3:
Mercury 2 was not yielding higher returns and performance as expected from it. The
plan of Woolworths was to make its supply chain more effective. In spite of investing around
fifty percent of funds in it, the results were not up to mark and this led to the taking of
strategic decisions (Coyne, 2016).
Ans.4:
Woolworth’s bargaining power of suppliers is quite weak because of the presence of a
retail market. Due to strong customer’s bargaining power, Woolworths are required to keep
their prices low and competitive. Woolworths is not facing the threat of new entrants as the
existing competitors and setting up of business with so many numbers of stores is not an easy
task. Woolworths is facing a higher threat from the substitute products. Due to diversified
competitive strategies and innovation in the market, substitutes at times provides a better
quality at reasonable price. Here, the organization is prone to a major threat. The power gets
balanced when it comes to the threat of substitutes and strong customer’s bargaining power.
They tend to make extensive analysis so as to maintain their customer base and thus the threat
gets neutralized. Woolworths’ operating model is linked to the knowledge of customer’s
needs and having an effective supply chain management. This strategy if succeeded, if end up
in giving desired results (SmartInsights, 2016).
Ans. 5: Pros and cons in the short term:
Woolworths may face issues in the implementation of the new project and phase out
Mercury 2. Proper planning and identification of loopholes in the new IT strategy are
important otherwise the result will turn out ineffective.
The end result from Mercury 2 was not up to the mark and in order to maintain its
position in the market, the new IT strategy was quite important. This will guide Woolworths
in the required direction and would fulfill the incomplete task of the previous strategy
(ProjectsParadise, 2017).
Pros and cons in the long term:
The source of funding for the strategy is a major issue. If the strategy fails,
Woolworths will risk its employment levels and revenue.
If the strategy succeeds, Woolworths will accomplish its desired goals. This will help
in gaining control in the market (ProjectsParadise, 2017).
Ans.6:
The role of IT in Woolworths will change its working mechanism. The end result
derived from the IT will actually help Woolworths in the implementation of its long planned
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Subject Name_ Student Name_ Student ID
strategy for supply chain management. The new management does not underestimate this role
but it tries not to ignore the other relevant factors of the business. The management is trying
to link the other factors of business with the IT for fruitful results. Thus, IT is very important
for its course of operations (Linton, 2016).
Ans. 7:
Writing down of investments means reducing those assets which are overvalued
when compared to its market value. I agree with the decision of the new management in its
writing down of IT investment. It is because its asset value is quite overvalued as compared
to the market value. Additionally, it is not yielding the desired outcome. Recently, Softbank
has announced of writing down its investments worth $550 million. This shows that in order
to stay competitive in its diversified world, one needs to be closely in touch with the real
underlying value (HindustanTimes, 2017).
Ans. 8.1:
As a CIO of Woolworths, it is my responsibility to look after the IT operations and its
management. After the write down of IT assets, CIO is responsible to look after whether the
process of write downs has been properly implemented or not. It is important to analyze
whether the write downs are in line with the Woolworths’ goals or not. To balance the IT
budget for the new implementation, collaboration, and innovation in the course of operations
and motivating the IT staff are some other duties. As far as the case of the Soft bank is
concerned, its CIO has carefully analyzed the impact of write downs on its course of
operations and the required support needed to facilitate the write-down (TechTarget, 2015).
Ans. 8.2:
The ideas will be backed up by the statistics, planning, and roadmap for
implementation which will vouch for its success. The plan shall be flexible enough to
incorporate the feedback of the management.
Ans. 8.3:
If my ideas would be rejected by the CEO, I shall have another framework of an idea
which will act as a backup. This will help in saving my time and resources if my idea gets
rejected (TechTarget, 2015) .
Ans. 9:
Woolworths should have Management Information System (MIS) and Decision
Support System (DSS). MIS helps in acknowledging summary, detailed and action reports
which are quite helpful. For example, budgeting system, management reporting system etc.
DSS helps in making and analyzing the forecast and summary reports. Spreadsheet models,
financial planning systems are its examples (Kimble, 2017).
Ans. 10:
Due to slashing down projects, IT will suffer from loss of employees and other
related resources. For a significant period of time, it will impact the natural course of IT/IS
system. Shifting from one project to another, applying all the available resources in the other
projects and at the same time recovering from the drop out project is a difficult task.
Woolworths will be able to deal it provided it adopts proper planning and action for the
implementation of its task. The company has the vision to survive in the long run. By this
vision, it will work out its course of action in an above-explained manner.
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Subject Name_ Student Name_ Student ID
Ans. 11:
MIS – Lower and Middle managers, CIO and CEO. For DSS – Senior Manager, CIO,
CEO.
Ans. 12: MIS –
 For having summary reports.
 For understanding the efficiency level.
 To know the trend of past and the present (Kimble, 2017).
DSS-
 For facilitating forecast.
 For supporting analytical capacity.
 For financial modeling of information (Kimble, 2017).
References
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Subject Name_ Student Name_ Student ID
Coyne, A., 2016. Woolworths writes down millions in IT assets. [Online]
Available at: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/woolworths-writes-down-millions-in-it-
assets-431300?
eid=3&edate=20160725&utm_source=20160725_PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_camp
aign=daily_newsletter)
[Accessed 22 August 2017].
HindustanTimes, 2017. Softbank writes down $550 million Ola and Snapdeal investments.
[Online]
Available at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/softbank-writes-down-550-
million-ola-and-snapdeal-investments/story-VhHmjUqM5PAyMNPS9JnXQI.html
Kimble, C., 2017. How many different kinds of Information System are there?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.chris-kimble.com/Courses/World_Med_MBA/Types-of-
Information-System.html
[Accessed 22 August 2017].
Linton, I., 2016. Five IT Functions in an Organization. [Online]
Available at: http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/five-functions-organization-2102.html
[Accessed 22 August 2017].
ProjectsParadise, 2017. The Pros and Cons of Business Intution in Strategic Decision
Making. [Online]
Available at: http://www.projectsparadise.com/business-intuition-strategic-decision/
[Accessed 22 August 2017].
Rapoport, M., 2016. When Should a Company Write Down Assets. [Online]
Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-should-a-company-write-down-assets-
1474064470
[Accessed 22 August 2017].
SmartInsights, 2016. What is Porter’s five Forces model?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-models/porters-
five-forces/
[Accessed 22 August 2017].
TechTarget, 2015. Roles and responsibilities guide: What does a CIO do?. [Online]
Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/reference/Roles-and-responsibilities-guide-What-
does-a-CIO-do
[Accessed 22 August 2017].
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