System Thinking Approach for Redbubble Inventory Management Analysis

This report employs a system thinking approach to analyze inventory management issues within Redbubble, an online print-on-demand company. The report begins with an introduction to system thinking and then applies the CATWOE analysis to identify key stakeholders (customers, employees, and managers), actors, transformations, worldviews, owners, and environmental constraints related to inventory management. The transformation process is defined by the order placement and delivery, highlighting the impact of inventory availability on customer satisfaction. The report recommends implementing an ERP system to optimize inventory levels, reduce product unavailability, and gather data for informed decision-making regarding customer preferences and trending products. The analysis emphasizes the importance of efficient inventory management for customer satisfaction and revenue generation.

Running head: SYSTEM THINKING
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Name of student
Name of university
Author’s note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Task 1.............................................................................................................................2
CATWOE analysis.....................................................................................................2
Rich picture................................................................................................................3
Recommendation............................................................................................................4
References......................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
System thinking could be described as the holistic approach for conducting analysis
that emphasises on the study of interrelation of the constituent parts of any system and the
method by which the system works over time and within context of the larger system. This
report intends to analyse the present issue in Redbubble of inventory management and apply
the system thinking approach for determining the solution. Redbubble is an online company
providing print-on-demand products on the basis of the artwork submitted by the users.
Task 1
CATWOE analysis
C or Customer: The customer of the output from present business system are the
customers, employees and the manager of the company. All the stakeholders are affected by
the issue of inventory management in the company (Abidin, Jaafar & Alwi, 2019). The
customer are mostly impacted by this particular issue. Implementation of inventory
management system or ERP system could help the company to overcome this particular
issue.
A or Actor: The manager and the employees are the main actors of the system in the
business and they are the individuals who are facing significant issues due to the improper
inventory management. The customers are not being provided with the various products
whenever required.
T or Transformation: The customers places their order in the company and if the
products are available in the company, the required product is delivered to the customers with
designing according to the specification provided by the customers. The products are not

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delivered in time if the inventory of the company does not contain the products and this leads
to significant customer dissatisfaction (Tripto, Assaraf & Amit, 2018).
W or Worldview: For the customers of the company, they need availability of all
kinds of products in the inventory that the company claims. The manager of the company
needs the increase of revenue in the company and ensure that all the customers are products
are delivered to the customers in appropriate time (Borsci & David, 2020).
O or Owner: The owner of the Redbubble Company would be the only individual who
would provide the permission required for implementing the ERP system or any other
inventory management system in the company (Eilam & Reisfeld, 2017).
E or Environment: There are various environmental constraints that would influence
the innovative approach. The internet laws, cybersecurity laws and environmental laws would
be applied in the implementation of the inventory management system in the company.
Rich picture

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Recommendation
Therefore, it is recommended to the company, that ERP system should be introduced
for ensuring that the inventory of the company is managed at the optimum level and all the
products are available in stock. It would eliminate the issue of unavailability of required
products for the customers. The data gained from the improved inventory management
system could be analysed and appropriate information regarding the customer preference
would be generated. The information gained from the inventory management system would
help the company to stock the products that are trending among the customers.

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References
Abidin, N. Z., Jaafar, I. A., & Alwi, A. (2019, August). The application of system thinking in
solving complex problem: A case study of dengue transmission control policy. In AIP
Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2138, No. 1, p. 040001). AIP Publishing LLC.
Borsci, S., & David, L. Z. (2020). Human factors and system thinking for medical device.
In Clinical Engineering Handbook (pp. 829-831). Academic Press.
Eilam, B., & Reisfeld, D. (2017). A curriculum unit for promoting complex system thinking:
the case of combined system dynamics and agent based models for population
growth. Journal of Advances in Education Research, 2(2), 39-134.
Tripto, J., Assaraf, O. B. Z., & Amit, M. (2018). Recurring patterns in the development of
high school biology students’ system thinking over time. Instructional Science, 46(5),
639-680.