Bradley Simonsen
Tim Hamel
Charlie McCubrey
Jon Wytennus
11/1/11
MGMT 210
Case Study 8
1) This case implies that frequently acquiring brands with their own forms of information systems
is difficult for one organization to keep track of each individual component and can be
expensive. Within each information system, there are 5 components; hardware, software, data,
procedures and people. If one organization has to use multiple IS to run each brand component,
the problems arise. Such problems include individual malfunction of a certain component, lack
of consistency between each component, lack of connections from one component to the next
and overall more components than necessary. For an organization, this causes confusion to its
users and more work and money spent by the organization to assimilate the components. If one
single information system is used that brings all the separate components under one
application, many of these problems are resolved. The component of the application that is
most resolved is the data portion. Rather than having multiple separate data collections that
need to be joined to create useful info, all data collected is organized and stored on one system.
2) Using information systems gives THL a competitive advantage in creating new services because
THL can collect data in the form of online reviews from the users. The research can often
enhance a service by tailoring it to best fit the needs of a customer. As far as implementing
process, IS can be used to lock in its buyers and sellers if the system is effective and customers
have ease using it. As for suppliers, if the selling process is tedious, it is not easy for either the
buyer or seller to interact and creates more stress and loss of revenue. When the organization
develops solid customer, buyer and seller relationships that are familiar with the information
system, the barriers for market entry are high for competitors. Finally, costs are reduced when a
means of effectively reaching your audience is found without having to excessively advertise.
3) New Zealand Pass:
a. The strengths the user interface has are its graphic organization of sites and
attractions on the map that can be modified to show detail. Also, the use of general
categories of interest that have sub-categories of specific activities is used well in
fitting a full trip to you, rather than having to find the trip yourself. Some
weaknesses, however, include the lack of information on hotels and lodging.
b. The map instructions are adequate in providing the general idea of how the map
should be used and describes the passes option that will highlight the passes that
best fit you interest, but the icon that it says to click is not immediately easy to
locate.
c. The main ways this site uses social networking is in the share section of the page. In
multiple places the site encourages the user to share with friends on a number of
different platforms ranging from email, to Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and many
more.
d. It is an example of a mash-up because they use outputs from multiple websites to
create their user interface. The map is provided by Google and links to other social
networks are provided as free advertising that the users will spread around the
internet and grow a customer base.
4)
Kiwi Experience Social CRM Analysis:
a. The customer touch-points: Search, Links, Authoring, Tags, Extensions and Signals.
The search touch-point allows customers to look up areas of interest to them as
appose to finding relevance in structure content. Links are hyperlinks that when
clicked bring the user to a different web domain. Authoring allows the user to input
content of their own using blogs, discussions and reviews. Tags result in
folksonomies that structure content based on processing many user tags. Extensions
tailor content to the user based on previous patterns to cut down on searches, ex
Pandora radio. Signals present content to users based on subscriptions.
b. The kiwi experience site contains a number of these touch-points including a search
bar, links on the site to additional content as well as other websites, blogs and
review options and custom content that is presented based on previous usage and
patterns.
c. The major touch-point I believe the site could expand on is the extensions.
Extensions make the web experience unique to your tastes as the user and prevent
content that you are not interested from appearing during your web experience.
Also it is nice to spend little time searching for things if the web presents them to
you and they apply.
d. A way that a better use of extensions can be integrated into the Kiwi Experience is
by tracking a user’s hits on key interest points like the activity categories for
designing a trip pass. If certain criterion is selected, the site can present more
relevant points of interest to the user. This includes trips, links and ads.
e. My recommendations would help generate a trusted relationship by giving the
appearance that personal use of the web resources is based on the individual and
not just anybody. This builds trust for the organization and strengthens customer
confidence.