Strategic Information System Analysis of Woolworths Limited Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Woolworths Limited's strategic information system. It begins by examining the company's current organizational structure and the operational challenges it faces, particularly concerning its digital business platform and CRM approach. The report then explores the system acquisition methods used, focusing on the implementation of SAP ERP and its benefits. A system flowchart of the sales procedure is presented, followed by an identification of control problems within the system. Part 2 of the report delves into the development and adoption of accounting software packages, specifically discussing MYOB and its market position in Australia. The report identifies key competitors like Xero and compares their features, highlighting competitive advantages. Finally, it addresses the current gaps and challenges encountered by users of accounting software, offering recommendations for improvement. The report provides a good overview of the strategic information system, the adoption of ERP, and the issues related to accounting software packages. The report provides an excellent overview of the strategic information system, the adoption of ERP, and the issues related to accounting software packages.

Running head: STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Strategic Information System: Woolworths Limited
Name of the student:
Name of the university:

1STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Part 1................................................................................................................................................2
1.1 The current organizational structure......................................................................................2
1.2 The operational problems the company is facing due to this structure.................................3
1.3 The most likely system acquisition method used by Woolworths Limited...........................3
1.4 Description and preparation of system flowchart of the sales procedure of the company....5
1.5 Identification of the control problem of the system...............................................................6
Part 2................................................................................................................................................8
2.1 Development and adoption of accounting software package................................................8
2.2 The current market size.........................................................................................................9
2.3 Identification of the leaders that gives competitive advantages............................................9
2.4 Identification of current gaps and challenges encountered by e users of the accounting
software......................................................................................................................................11
Relevant recommendation.........................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

2STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Introduction
This study aims to describe the history of accounting software packages in Australia. One
case study has been selected to namely Woolworths Limited. Current operational problems of the
organization have been described along with the use of information system within the
organization. Current market of Australian Accounting Software Packages has been also
described.
Part 1
1.1 The current organizational structure
Figure 1: Current organizational structure of Woolworths Limited
(Source: Arli et al. 2013, pp-23)

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1.2 The operational problems the company is facing due to this structure
Due to the organizational structure currently the company is facing a major challenge that
is affecting the revenue model of the company. With the help of new cloud contact centre and
platform the company is willing to change and develop their existing organizational structure.
The main operation level challenge that Woolworths Limited is facing is improper digital
business platform (Wang and Tan 2015). The Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
approach that Woolworths Limited utilizing is not at all appreciable from both the consumer’s
and business perspectives. The customers of Woolworths fail to interact with their owners due to
improper CRM (Rose, Hawryszkiewycz and Kang 2015). On the other hand, the company do not
use open communication approaches and for this reason the employees do not feel free to
interact with the higher authority to share their point of views.
Again due to the external environmental condition the growth strategy of Woolworths
Limited is getting highly affected by their competitors. For promoting and giving competition to
some companies Woolworths has raise some of the product prices (Bailey 2017). The growth of
Woolworths Limited is affecting due to the governmental intervention. The company failed to
adopt proper protection data storage mechanisms and for lack of security, they are losing many
consumers throughout Australia.
1.3 The most likely system acquisition method used by Woolworths Limited
In order to reduce the identified issues different issue mitigation technologies and
mechanisms are available in the market however based on the type of business the management
authority is required to adopt the most suitable application (Klettner, Clarke and Boersma 2014).
The identifies options are commercial software, customer software and Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) However the company has implemented SAP ERP for managing huge amount of

4STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
data with a higher security mechanism. Though, besides the ERP, for establishing accurate
interaction between the consumers and service providers for Woolworths Limited it is necessary
to adopt the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
After analyzing the current market situation of Woolworth Limited it has been found that
the company is facing major challenges due to lack of proper managerial operation. As day by
day the numbers of consumers are increasing thus it is becoming very difficult to manage large
set of information manually (Mertens, et al. 2016). In order to mitigate the traditional data
management issues the company has adopted ERP system. With SAP ERP it has gained huge
and secured information storage. The SAP ERP helps to increase the flexibility and application
suitable customer solution for their consumers. Not only will this but also for the industry
specific modules the users be able to gain highly integrated solution.
The overall cost for sales processing got diminished after the adoption of SAP ERP. Even
the time for calculating the selling price also reduced and the onetime event in terms of increased
cash flow is another advantage that the company has gained after the adoption of SAP ERP.
The order delivery time and the invoice processing time are also reduced for the ERP (Das Nair
and Dube 2017). The timely information processing reduces the payment processing time. Even
the huge array module with large spectrum of functionalities fails to provide other ERP
application but this SAP software is able to provide all the application requirements.

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1.4 Description and preparation of system flowchart of the sales procedure of the
company
Figure 2: System flowchart for Woolworths Limited
(Source: created by author)

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According to the above diagram, the sales processing approach of Woolworths Limited is
maintaining every general factor. The process starts with consumer data gathering and ends up
with either successful or unsuccessful sales (Bailey 2017). If the sales opportunities are utilized
properly then the sale will be unsuccessful which is not even beneficial to the consumers and not
even profitable to the business owners. However in order to gain measurable success from the
competitive market it is necessary to understand every individual aspects of the sales flowchart
developed for Woolworth Limited.
1.5 Identification of the control problem of the system
It has been found that different kinds of challenges risks are associated in the system and
those might face possible frauds. Due to fraud the revenue model of the company will also be
affected. Though ERP is one of the most widely used technical solution for any business
organization but proper management and control of the system is needed to achieve the accurate
outcome (Yigitbasioglu, Mackenzie and Low 2013). The components those are associated to
ERP solution include business intelligence, CRM, financial management, manufacturing and
distribution.
Due to negative outcome of the company the revenue structure of the company will be
affected very badly (Madurapperuma 2015). The ERP systems are basically resides over multiple
numbers of computers thus challenges might occur regarding optimum coordination between the
systems. Improper online reporting could negatively impact the data reliability and availability.
Another technical complexity of the system is incorrect configuration.
In order to combat this issue proper cross field checking and alternative data viewing
approaches are required to be adopted and at the same time certain data storage security

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mechanism should be adopted to minimize the rate of data hacking (Ma 2015). Again, through
online data processing the data transaction will be done in a balanced manner and at the same
time the demand for data validation could be served properly.

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Part 2
2.1 Development and adoption of accounting software package
Data management is referred to as one of the most frequently raised issues that are
continuously affecting the revenue model of any business organization. In order to mitigate the
data management oriented issues it is necessary to adopt proper accounting software package
considering the business type (Ma 2015). It provides effective platform to the consumers through
the help of internet services with a fees on monthly or yearly basis in spite of high IT
maintenance cost, IT infrastructure, purchasing expensive. The employees who are working for
the organization will be able to work on the organizational content through the help of the cloud
accounting using different kinds of devices (Steele, Smith and Steele 2015). Different issues
might occur during the data processing period and these roadblocks could be completely
eliminated with the help of accounting software package.
More than 1000 companies are currently using the MYOB accounting software for
managing and arranging their data in an organized manner. The users of the accounting software
packages will be able to access information regardless of any location and time as well (Wang
and Tan 2015). For effective financial management, also the business organizations are relied on
accounting packages. It helps to automate the manual data processing with advanced design
control approaches by detecting and eliminating different kinds of redundancy errors (Rose,
Hawryszkiewycz and Kang 2015). A solid budget could be completely exhausted with hardware,
accounting fees and operating system.

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2.2 The current market size
It has been found that there are many accounting software package providers in Australia
however, based on the business types the software are selected by the management authorities of
the organizations. The effective implementation of MYOB is referred to as one of the planned
processes. MYOB also serves trail version for the companies to communication and data
migration (Daru 2015). MYOB is able to provide proper return to Australia security exchange.
Based on initial share price, the business of MYOB is worth a more than of $2.5billion.
However, just after the opening of the company it will be able to provide $3.90. MYOB claims
many products and services throughout Australia to more than 1.2 million of people (Ng,
Harrison and Akroyd 2013). The initial value of share price $3.65 is being increased up to $800
million over only 2 to 3 years.
2.3 Identification of the leaders that gives competitive advantages
There are different business organizations that are using the different accounting software
packages based on their products and services. Many accounting software providers are there
such as Xero, Saasu, QuickBooks etc (Madurapperuma 2015). Most of the medium and small
business organizations use the accounting software packages for managing the organizational
information with reduced error. However, Xero is the biggest competitor to MYOB.
Factors MYOB XERO
Setup and access The accounting software
package services their services
through online application.
Xero also provides online
services to their consumers
and the trial version is very
much helpful.
Affordability The subscription charged by According to the offered

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MYOB is between $29 and
$65 and based on the
operational management the
subscriptions are selected by
the organizations.
subscription Xero charges
$19, $49 $64 per month.
However, for the small and
medium business, Xero offers
the subscription of $49.
Accessibility On the other hand, MYOB
provides live account access to
the users. The premium
software allows more than 50
users to access the server at a
time without any kind of error
(Culley et al. 2017).
The users of Xero allow the
users to access the server
through login details.
Security MYOB serves proper
commitment to secure data
from the external attackers.
None of the unauthenticated
users are able to access data
from the server without proper
permission.
No such data security issues
are determined with Xero.
With the help of SSL
certificates each data are
secured from the external
attacks. It has proper
encryption keys to protect data
from the external attackers.
Data backup MYOB provides proper data
backup. It allows the users to
create backup facility so that if
Due to the stringent backup
policy no such data backup
practices are available in case

11STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
any kind of disaster took
place, the company could be
able to retrieve data from the
backup server.
of Xero. However offsite
backup approaches are
available in Xero.
2.4 Identification of current gaps and challenges encountered by e users of the
accounting software
After analyzing the services and practices served by MYOB it has been found that,
different issues are associated to it those are completely required to be mitigated
(Madurapperuma 2015). The gaps or challenges encountered by the user of MYOB accounting
software packages are as follows:
Security issues: Security is referred to as one of the most important factors that are
strictly required to be considered by the company who are adopting accounting software package
for data management (Ng, Harrison and Akroyd 2013). Sometimes the online contents are found
to be vulnerable enough thus those could be accessed or hijacked by the external attackers very
easily.
Utilization: Another risk associated to online accounting software is its utilization. The
system architecture is very much complex and due to this reason the system is not that much user
friendly (Steele, Smith and Steele 2015). In order to avoid the user level complexity the users are
unable to apply the functions and operation properly.