Strategic Management Information Systems Report: Troy Yachts Analysis

This report analyzes the strategic management information systems (MIS) of Troy Yachts, a company specializing in equipment for sea-going yachts. The report begins by establishing the link between information systems and organizational strategy, highlighting how IS supports decision-making and helps achieve business goals. It then evaluates frameworks for integrating IS with organizational strategy, such as the business process framework and supply chain management framework, and discusses their benefits. The report also explores tools for analyzing organizational strategy and assesses the extent to which information systems are integrated within Troy Yachts' strategy. Recommendations are provided regarding the information system, along with an evaluation of how the IS strategy helps achieve organizational goals. Finally, a plan for implementing an information system strategy is presented, including priorities, costs, benefits, and associated risks.

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION SYSTEMS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
ACTIVITY 1..............................................................................................................................4
1.1Link between information systems and organisational strategy.......................................4
1.2Frameworks for integrating information systems with organisational strategy and
analyse the benefits of this approach......................................................................................5
ACTIVITY 2..............................................................................................................................7
2.1 Tools which can be used to analyse organisational strategy............................................7
2.2 Organization’s strategy.....................................................................................................8
2.3 Assess the extent to which information systems are integrated within the strategy of the
chosen organisation................................................................................................................9
ACTIVITY 3............................................................................................................................11
3.1 Recommendations regarding the information system....................................................11
3.2 Evaluating the Information system strategy which helps in achieving the organizational
strategies...............................................................................................................................12
ACTIVITY 4............................................................................................................................14
4.1 A plan for the implementation of the information system strategy which consists of the
stated priorities, costs and benefits of such strategy............................................................14
4.2 Determining the associated risk with the planned implementation................................15
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Today most of the businesses are using information systems within their organizations. These
information systems are used by organizations to process, create, distribute, filter and manage
information or data within an organization. Strategic management information system is a
kind of information system that is developed by organizations in response to corporate
business initiatives (Laudon and Laudon, 2016). It is mostly used by organizations to gain
competitive advantage within the market they are operating in. It also helps the organizations
to bring innovation within their organization as well. Other than this, strategic management
information systems are used to deliver products or services of an organization at
differentiated quality & at lower price as compared to their competitors as per the demand of
the markets they operate in. It is one of the best feature or systems that most of the
organizations prefer for transferring, creating, modifying and developing information or data
within their organization. Strategic MIS not only help the organizations to use, transfer and
maintain information within their organization, gain competitive advantages but it also helps
organizations to develop their business strategy in such a way that they can sustain their
competitive edge. Organizations using information system easily achieve and fulfil
challenging requirements and continue to develop in the competitive environment. It has
become one of the most necessary part of an organization which helps them in their growth
and expansion. Organizations that uses strategic management information system can easily
bring changes within their business strategies as per the changing market requirements (Orna,
2017). This report is based on Troy Yachts, which is an India based organization which was
founded in the 1990’s and builds specialised equipment for sea going Yachts. As an intern at
this organisation, I got an opportunity to delve deep into the subject. This report will lay
emphasis on links between information system and organizational strategy, frameworks for
integrating information systems with organizational strategies, tools used to the analyse
organizational strategies, evaluation of Troy Yachts using strategy analysis tools, assessment
of information system and integration of these systems with organizational strategies,
information system options based on analysis of chosen organizations strategy and plan for
the implementation of an information systems strategy which considers the priorities, benefits
and costs of the strategy.

ACTIVITY 1
Link between information systems and organisational strategy
Information system (IS) and organizational strategy are directly linked and related to each
other. Information system helps in building organizational strategy such that business can
achieve their targeted goals and objectives. IS helps in taking the right decisions, helps in
building relationships and structure and informal network. Many companies who uses IS
build their organizational design and structure in such a way that the IS becomes a part of
organizational culture and management control system as it helps in data collection, planning,
evaluation, performance measurement, rewards, incentives and many more. Businesses also
need to continuously update their organizational structure in order to facilitate information
flow by developing IS and delivering its services (Seidler, 2019). IS system’s main use within
the organization is to provide information such that management can take required decisions
in order to keep the organization working. It is important because decision making is one of
the most important part of an organization which is used in each and every part of an
organization. It helps the management of an organization to build organizational strategies so
the planning, controlling, managing and directing activities of an organization can be
managed smoothly. It also helps the organizations in maintaining and accepting the changing
requirements of the users or customers. Not only this, visa versa as well i.e. organizational
strategy is extremely important for businesses to plan their information systems so that it can
further support relevant information to the organization. Maintenance of this relationship
between information system and organizational strategy is a continuous process which helps
the IS to support business structure and remain relevant to the strategic objectives and goals
of an organization.
In other words, with the help of IS an accurate business strategy can be build which further
helps an organization to gain competitive advantage. But this can only happen if the IS is
used properly meaning information generated by such systems is used properly to take
necessary decisions. Operability of such IS systems is as per the requirements of an
organization, its goals and objectives (Ibrahim, Musa and Leng, 2018). Usage of information
system depends upon the environment in which the business is run, its functions, resources
used and overall customer base of the company. Based on all the above factors, usage of
information system is decided so that it can be used accurately and can support organizational
structure, objectives and goals. If the link between IS and organizational structure is accurate
then it helps the organization in reducing its overall cost, repetitive work, human errors,

produces interconnected information flow, contributes towards provision and usage of correct
information for decision making, supporting all business processes. Other than this it also
helps in making necessary predictions that can be used to bring changes in required
organizational strategy. Overall management of an organization can also be improved and
interconnectivity among business operations can also be brought with the correct usage of
information system. This accurate linkage also helps in better management and gain
competitive advantage for the business.
Frameworks for integrating information systems with organisational strategy and analyse the
benefits of this approach
Most of the organizations rely on effective use of information system in order to remain
competitive and compete with their competitors. Not only organization but employees and
management of an organization also rely on information systems in order to complete their
daily activities. This helps the companies to increase their productivity and save overall cost
(Ahmadi, Nilashi and Ibrahim, 2015). It has been observed that more an organization grows,
more they purchase and use information system. For this organizations need to integrate
information system and organizational strategies and for this they need to develop a
framework. There are various kinds of frameworks that are used for integrating information
system with the organizational strategies. These not only help the organizations to integrate
their strategy with the information systems they use but it also helps in increasing the overall
security of the system and the data which is produced by them. Many organizations develop
their own framework in order to integrate their IS systems and strategies all together. It has
also been observed that these frameworks also help in addressing any kind of technical or
non-technical issue that arises within the IS system, organization or their internal/external
environment. These frameworks also assure that all the operations, strategies and information
systems are used in an effective and efficient manner such that organization’s overall
processes, objectives, productions and other things of business importance are being fulfilled.
One of the most commonly used frameworks is business process framework. Business
process framework is one of the most common framework that is being used by the
organizations that provide services to their customers. This framework assures the
segregation and integration of information system according to the business needs in order to
fulfil business objectives. It also helps in forming a blueprint to enable successful
transformation of business. It is multi-layered framework that helps in running a business
efficiently. It is also known as ETOM framework as well. This framework helps the

organizations to increase the strategic use of information systems within an organization so
that business strategy can be developed (Arms, 2015). This framework consists of various
information system opportunities which helps in development of organizational
methodologies and strategies for the development of the business. Other than this, this
framework also helps in enterprise management, other business operations and helps in
improving all products and services offered by the organization. There are various benefits of
this framework such as: it helps in integration of all the information systems used by the
organizations according to their use, it supports both customer facing activities and supplier
facing activities. Other than this it helps in product life cycle management, infrastructure life
cycle management, operational and resource management, customer relationship
management and various others. It also helps an organization in bringing improvement in
existing processes and systems. The business process framework helps in creating and
maintaining high quality end to end process which further helps in eliminating duplication of
any system. It also helps in integrating information systems used within an organization and
business strategies which provide organizations with competitive advantages and helps in
reducing risks associated with it. Another commonly used framework is supply chain
management framework. It is quite a complex framework because it encompasses flow of
different activities, functions, components, role players etc. this framework is import for
organizations in order to achieve competitive advantage. It helps in analysing how the
processes are implemented by corporations in order to create maximum value chain for their
shareholders, customers, suppliers and other shareholders as well. There are various
companies that uses this framework as it makes many other organizational processes much
more easier like customer relationship management, supplier relationship management,
customer service management, demand management, order fulfilment, manufacturing flow
management, return management and various others.
Benefits of integrating the information systems and organizational strategy
There are various benefits of integrating organizational strategy and information
system such as: information system helps in delivering strategically important information
within the organization, which helps them to attain strategic goals. It also helps in providing
real time data required to make organizational strategy according to the competitive market.
The real time data provided by the integrated information system is quite accurate which
reduces the chances of human error and helps in bringing changes within organizational
strategy or helps in obtaining organizational strategic goals. With the data or information

provided by integrated system effective organizational strategies can be build which will
eventually help in increasing overall productivity of an organization. So, from the above
benefits it has been analysed that there are various benefits of integrating information system
and organizational strategies. It helps in increasing the overall sales and revenue of the
company and integrating such organizational strategies can help the organization to gain
competitive advantage. For example integration of sales management system can help the
organization to develop their organizational strategies like with the help of sales management
system can help the company to track their inventory and identify which area has maximum
sales. This will help them to bring changes within their organizational strategies so that they
can increase their sales in low sales areas as well. This way integration of organizational
strategies with information systems are helpful.
ACTIVITY 2
2.1 Tools which can be used to analyse organisational strategy
It is extremely important to analyse organizational strategy in order to map out all the
important and best possible directions in which a business can move and work in a productive
way. This helps the organizations to take important decisions which helps them to achieve
both long- and short-term goals (Valmohammadi and Ahmadi, 2015). This also helps the
organizations to identify all kinds of necessary changes that are required to be made and
implemented within an organization which further helps in improving organizational
planning process. There are various kinds of tools that are being used by organizations which
helps them in improving and developing organizational planning process. Main tools used for
organization strategy analysis are explained as follows:
SWOT Analysis: This tool is used for strategic planning of an organization. It helps in
identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. It is one of the
most powerful tool used for analysing all kinds of threats, weaknesses, opportunities and
strengths associated with the organization, such that weaknesses and threats can be reduced
and opportunities and strengths can be increased.
TOWS Matrix: This tool helps in developing strategic options from internal and external
analysis done with the help of SWOT analysis tool.
SOAR Analysis: This tool helps in focusing on all kinds of positive opening opportunities for
an organization. Organizations use it to create a vision for future aspirations. If this tool is

used in an optimal way then it can help an organization to achieve results as per
opportunities, strengths and aspirations associated with the business.
Porter’s five force Analysis: This tool helps in analysing as well as developing competitive
influence of an organization within its specified market. It helps in identifying and analysing
five main important factors that can effect organizations competitive position. It is one of the
most important tool that is being used by the companies as it helps in evaluating all the five
forces and the way they can impact a business (Liao and et.al., 2015).
PEST Analysis: It is one of the most useful tool which helps in understanding the overall
market growth or decline. The overall political, economic, social and technological impact on
an organization can be analysed with the help of this tool. It mainly helps in identifying
opportunities associated with the business and threats that can decline the overall market
growth of the business.
PESTLE Analysis: It is an expanded version of PEST analysis.
Value chain Analysis: This tool helps in analysing organizations’ business activities which
helps them to analyse the ways in which organizations can create a competitive advantage for
themselves. It helps the organizations to understand and add value to their products or
services subsequently so that they can improve value of their products and services by
generating or increasing generated profit margin.
Four corner Analysis: This tool help in analysing organizational strategies by assessing their
competitors’ objectives, strengths and intent and by using this information achieve their
overall objectives (Ahmad and et.al., 2017). It helps in analysing competitors’ future goals,
current strategies, market and assumptions.
2.2 Organization’s strategy
Troy Yachts has integrated some of their business strategies with information technology.
These strategies have been set according to their requirements as per their competitive
market. Troy Yachts uses porter's five force model as an organizational strategy in order to
gain competitive advantage. Evaluation of these organizational strategies of Troy Yachts has
been described below:
SWOT analysis of Troy Yachts:
Strengths Weaknesses

 One of their main strength is that
they always analyse the market in
which they operate which helps
them to reach their customers and
maximize their sales which further
helps them in increasing their
profitability and overall revenue.
 Their internal processes are
completely automated which
increases their employee’s
efficiency and reduces human
efforts and errors.
 High raw materials price is one of
their main weaknesses as high raw
material cost increases the overall cost
of final product which works as a
hindrance in their overall sales (Scholl
and et.al., 2018).
 Production of same goods and
providing same services to their
customers is one of their weakness as
due to this reason their overall sales is
getting hampered.
Opportunities
 Bringing innovation among their
goods and services can help in
increasing their customer base and
sales as well (He and et.al., 2017).
 Reduction of overall cost of the
raw materials used by them can
also help them in reducing the
overall cost of their final products.
Threats
 One of their main threat is increasing
number of competition. Competition
and competitors in this industry are
increasing continuously due to which
it has become a compulsion for them
to improve their sales and bring some
innovation among their products and
services.
Troy Yachts can use SWOT analysis to evalute and build their organizational strategy
for example they can focus on their weaknesses that work as a hindrance in achieving
organizational goals and can work on changing those weaknesses into organizational
opportunities which will help them to build and effectvie organizational strategy. This will
also help them to eliminate threats of an organization.
Five force analysis of Troy Yacht:
Threat to new entry: Threat to entry for this organization is low as it is not easy to enter and
establish a new business in this industry and as Troy Yachts has already established
themselves so threat to new entry is low for them. This is largely due to high capital
expenditure required in setting up a similar business. This threat to new entry will not affect
organizational strategy of Troy Yachts.

Industry rivals: Industry rivals’ threat for Troy Yachts is high as there are huge number of
competitors in this industry. So, if Troy Yachts need to gain competitive advantage and
reduce this threat, they need to continuously bring improvement within their services and
products. Product and service innovation will be a key area to focus upon. These industrial
rivals can affect an organizational strategy. They need to bring changes within their
organizational strategy so that they can gain competitive advantage over their industrial
rivals.
Bargaining power of suppliers: Bargaining power of suppliers is high as there are not many
suppliers who supply raw materials to Troy Yachts. This increases their threat of suppliers
and as a result their overall cost of raw materials also increases. Looking into cross border
suppliers may be an option. Troy Yachts need to focuson increasing their number of suppliers
mostly cross border suppliers in order to maintain or lower their overall raw material cost
based on this they can bring changes within their organizational strategy.
Bargaining power of buyers: Bargaining power of buyers is also high for Troy Yacht as there
are many competitors or rivals of Troy Yachts who are ready to sell their products at lower
price then them. Due to this power of buyers also increases for them (Karoui, Dudezert and
Leidner, 2015). Cross border sales could be an area to look at for example hiring of sales
people in neighbouring countries. In order to develop an effective organizational strategy
Troy Yachts they need to focus on increasing their sales within neighbouring countries. They
can do this by expand their business within neighbouring counties through franchisee,
licensing and various other option. They also neen to bring changes within their
organizational strategy accordingly.
Threat to substitute: Threat to substitute is also high for them as there are various substitutes
for their products and services available in the market due to large number of competitors so
they need to bring continuous improvement and innovation among their goods or services.
This strategy helps the organization to meet their overall goals and objectives which
eventually helps in fulfilling organizational strategy for example evaluation of new entrants
and competitors helps the organization to build their organization strategy such that their
overall sales can be improved.

2.3 Assess the extent to which information systems are integrated within the strategy of the
chosen organisation
Information systems within Troy Yachts are integrated within their business strategy to quite
a certain extent. They use star integration where each of their sub systems are connected to
another sub systems using point to point connection. All the information systems used by
Troy Yachts are integrated to each other. Output of one is provided as input of another. They
use expert support system which helps them in strategic decision making and provides them
support in taking decisions related to revenue generation, inventory management, expected
sales and many more (Shen, Chen and Wang, 2016). This helps them in analysing their
overall sales, changes they need to bring within their inventory management etc. they also use
Decision support system which helps them to find possible solution to any difficulty, bring
automation among their processes. This helps them to improve overall performance of their
employees. This information system also helps them in improving organizational strategies
which helps them in improving their production process, bring automation among their
products and services development, in strategic decision making. In other words all the
processes from raw materials to sales of their products or services, organizational strategies
are integrated with information systems. This integration helps them to bring continuous
improvement within their organization. Not only expert support system and decision support
system, there are various other information systems that are integrated within the strategy like
OAS system, online analytical processing system and many more. All the information
systems used by the organizations are interconnected to each other i.e. output of one system
is used as input of another system like output of decision support system is used as an input
for expert support system other than this all the other systems used by the organizations are
also interrelated to each other.

ACTIVITY 3
3.1 Recommendations regarding the information system
The information system supports the Troy Yachts in achieving the main goal within the
company (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta, 2016). Also, a strategic management information
system is basically developed to respond to increased competition in this modernised world.
Therefore, the development of the effective and efficient system within the organization can
lead to competitive advantage for Troy Yachts.
IS can be termed as one of the essential requirements in the corporate world as it allows them
to allocate, store, process and manage the required data and information for the effective
operations within the firm. In order to enhance the business functions according to the
different strategies developed within the organization, IS must support the management of
large amount of business information so as to support the organizational strategies. With this
as background, some key recommended information system options for Troy Yachts are as
follows:
 It should be recommended to the Troy Yachts that TPS (Transaction processing
system) should be implemented within the organization. As this type of IS, is
basically designed to help management in recording day to day business transactions.
This information system is recommended the most because it gathers and analysis
transactional information of Troy Yachts (Cassidy, 2016). TPS mainly supports the
operational management level and record sales done by them.
 Another most recommended option for Troy Yachts should be the employment of the
Management information system (MIS). MIS basically helps in monitoring
organizational current performance status. In order to enhance the performance of the
company, tactical managers can use the output of TPS system as an input of MIS
system.
 It should be recommended to the staff of the Troy Yachts to implement OAS system
which will prove to be one of the most effective system for the company. This system
will benefit the company by improving the operational efficiency of the firm. This
system basically supports the company in enhancing the operational efficiency of the
staff members which leads to potentially higher profitability and hence maximum
profits.