Introduction
BBB relies on supply chain management (SCM) software for inventory tracking across the UK. The SCM worked well until the company decided to expand and run two entities independently. Consequently, the SCM failed to meet BBB growing needs.
Clearly, there were inefficiencies of the system as it could not control the current inventory of the company. This system frustrated internal control processes. Therefore, the company needs an IT consultant to conduct an audit and improve the system. These are the step the company must consider when choosing IT consultant.
IT Consultant Competencies
Professional
BBB must ensure that the consultant is a professional and certified from a recognised institution. This shall ensure that the company achieves the right remedy for the problem.
Support
The consultant should be able to provide IT support to BBB whenever a need arises. This shall ensure that the company gets the necessary support in time. The consultant must work with the IT department of BBB.
Proactive monitoring
The consultant must provide a roadmap for monitoring changes and events. The roadmap must show the company how to monitor various changes and resolve them. The roadmap must also align IT strategy with the business objectives.
Bespoke IT solution for BBB
The IT consultant must adapt the SCM system to business requirements of the BBB and Twilight. This shall meet unique needs of the two entities in terms of inventory management across the UK and Eastern Europe.
Experience
BBB must ensure that the consultant has a wide experience in order to get the right support needed to fix the SCM system to handle inventory across various departments, fix unofficial network that managers have created, and handle the floor stock.
Costs
BBB should not engage expensive consultant amidst the recession. The company should look for an affordable consultant who can deliver solutions that can serve needs of the business. The company must avoid excessive fees through requesting for offers from various consultants. The company must focus on getting efficiency that can drive performance.
Allegiance consultant
The company must look for a consultant that shall make a commitment to BBB IT system. This is to ensure that the consultant aligns the IT strategy with the business strategy. This factor is necessary to ensure that the consultant is pragmatic and willing to make the system succeed.
The consultant must also be ready to listen to needs of the company. This shall ensure a long-lasting partnership and better working relationships.
Provisions of other services
The company must ensure that the consultant can provide a back-up support and facility whenever unforeseen events occur. At the same time, the consultant must be willing to provide “system integration, process optimization, infrastructure management, software engineering, IT service management and IT governance” (Kress, 2010).
The company should request for bids or conduct Internet searches in order to identify a consultant that can meet its IT needs. This must also involve conducting a proper background of the company.
BBB must also consult other firms who have used services of its preferred consultant and determine strengths and weaknesses of the consultant. BBB must also consider the consultant’s infrastructure and technological skills and knowledge so as to determine the consultant’s capacity to handle the project.
Once BBB chooses a suitable consultant to fix its SCM problem, the company can be sure that the consultant can fix and provide a suitable IT solution to meet needs of both BBB and Twilight through integration.
Internal and External Business Environment for BBB
An internal analysis of BBB focuses on both strengths and weaknesses of the company by analysing its internal environment. This is the only way to determine advantages and disadvantages that BBB can focus on to meet needs of its customers. Analysis of BBB internal environment involves resources and capabilities (Kaplan and Norton, 2000).
Resources
We focus on both tangible and intangible assets and human resources of BBB when looking at the internal environment.
Financial resources: BBB has over eight million pounds in reserve, and its credit is good. However, profit margins have dropped, and the financial crisis will soon affect the company’s revenue.
Physical assets: the company has six manufacturing sites across the UK. BBB later moved its manufacturing base to Eastern Europe due to low costs of labour. The company also invested in computers and SCM software in order to enhance its operation. There are also floor stocks and warehouses.
Technology: currently, the company relies on the SCM system that cannot serve its expanding operation. Therefore, it needs to update its IT system so as to serve its customers effectively.
Brand/Image: BBB is an old and well-established brand in the UK. This brand has promoted the company’s image and reputation across the UK and Eastern Europe.
Human resources: the company has managers who can adapt to situations and invent their systems to handle the current situation. BBB has knowledgeable, reasoning, adaptive, and skilled managers with quick decision-making abilities. These employees also show commitment to the company.
Capabilities
BBB can only realise productive activities through engaging its resources. Therefore, the company should focus on the following aspects.
Corporate processes: the company is an old one that has survived and exploited market opportunities for many years. The management is responsive to changes in the market. This is evident through the formation of its Twilight entity.
However, the current system of cost management is not effective due to increasing costs of shipping. Coordination of different branches is also poor as managers have to call up to 12 other managers to establish availability of a coffin for an urgent purchase.
The company also has capabilities of meeting customers demand within 48 hours. This is a quick turnaround time for BBB.
Information management: at the moment, company has a poor system of controlling the flow of information to facilitate business. For instance, managers have to call up to 12 other managers in case of emergency purchases. This slows down business and increases costs of shipping.
Innovation of new products: the company has innovation capacities. It formed Twilight to serve the prepaid market of the old customers. It also grew through providing other products like cremation urns and ornamental masonry, and headstones and services related to funeral arrangements.
Marketing: BBB uses a product catalogue delivered twice a year to funeral directors of the UK to market its products and services. This approach may not be effective with the dwindling profits and recession. The company needs to involve other approaches such as using traditional media and promotional strategies to enhance its marketing efforts.
Sales growth: BBB has experienced success over the past years. However, acquisitions of other chains of funeral directors and expensive processes of shipping have affected its sales and profit margins.
An external analysis of BBB focuses on opportunities and threats that BBB and Twilight need to consider in their strategies.
Customer analysis: BBB has segmented its customers into two categories distinguished by age. Twilight serves the older segment of the market through prepaid arrangements. The company also strives to serve unmet needs of its customers through provisions of related services.
BBB must also analyse its competitors and their strategies. In addition, it must also determine market needs and overall size of the market. The company must identify significant future trends, areas of uncertainty like recession and its effects on the business strategy.
SWOT analysis
PESTEL Analysis
Political: BBB operates in a politically stable country. Currently, there are no foreseen regulations that may affect the operation of the company.
Economic: the Global Financial Crisis is likely to affect the company’s revenue. It will lead to inflation, unemployment, and high interest rates. Consequently, customers may resort to their own funeral planning. The company’s disposable profits are dwindling. It still has a good credit record and eight million pounds in reserve.
Social: this is a socially sensitive industry. BBB formed Twilight to focus on older clients. The company has to deal with grieving relatives, observe religious reasons for early burials, and contend with relatives inputs in funeral arrangements. At the moment, BBB has been able to handle social factors well.
Technology: BBB invested in computers and SCM system. However, the SCM system cannot support the growing operation any more. Consequently, BBB may record loses unless it updates its inventory every quarter. The company has difficulty adapting to technological changes.
Environmental: there are no adverse environmental factors that can affect activities of the company.
Legal: the company has no legal issues to deal with at the moment.
IT Strategic Vision and Areas of Priority for BBB
The drops in profits and challenges with the SCM system have created a clear mandate for aligning business strategy with the IT strategy. The company must focus on cost-cutting and innovation in order to maximise revenues using the new inventory management system. The company can create competitive advantage through leveraging IT systems to improve business processes (Reynolds, 2010).
Participants
The company must involve top management in formulating IT and business strategies. BBB must involve all its managers and the IT department. This is to ensure that new strategies and changes receive support from all departments and managers.
This is the only way BBB shall create synergy across its various stores. BBB can achieve strategic advantage by relying on supports of the management team.
Method
BBB must identify the need for a new SCM system to manage its inventory. In this context, the company must focus on the following areas.
Holistic analysis of processes and IT solutions: the company should focus on aligning business and IT strategies, improving SCM software, implementing effective IT governance, and improving management operations.
The company must also define target portfolios, IT infrastructure, staff training, and management systems. This should address business needs for IT systems.
BBB must also focus on cost benefit-analysis in order to realise value propositions for aligning business and IT strategies. This should also provide a long-term roadmap that can address future changes so that the current situation does not recur.
Consultant’s role
The consultant must assist BBB improve IT performance and business productivity. The consultant must also focus on reducing the cost of providing IT services to BBB. In this case, the consultant must review, restructure, initiate, and implement effective IT system and governance.
The consultant must get active with the daily operation and management of the business and help in setting priorities of the business.
The consultant must ensure realignment of business strategy with the IT strategy. This process must also include all business units. It must also consider strategic plan of every BBB business unit and form a strategic approach in executing business plan.
In this regard, the consultant must understand BBB business needs and implement innovative system that can facilitate business processes. The consultant must also be consistent in addressing different challenges BBB faces currently.
The Need for Enterprise-Wide Solution
BBB needs an enterprise-wide solution for its management of operation. This is a better chance for the company to establish business performance on investments in the IT system. This system can also link BBB and Twilight business processes.
Areas of focus
BBB IT strategy must emphasise strategic alignment. This shall help the company improve tracking processes, reduce costs of keeping records, and long chain of communication among managers.
BBB must also involve consultant in order to ensure that BBB and Twilight achieve value from technology. In this area, the consultant must concentrate on processes that lead to wastage such as contacting other managers, shipping costs, and reduce floor stock that tie up money in the inventory.
The company has experienced wastage and now facing the Global Financial Crisis. Consequently, it must ensure that IT systems help in effective management of resources. It must also manage employees’ time and improve turnaround time for its customers. Management should also focus on reducing risks that BBB experiences.
Strategic business strategy and IT strategy must ensure that BBB improves its sales performance and growths in profits. This calls for effective management of the company’s operation.
Recommendations
BBB must also ensure effective IT governance when implementing its strategies. However, this depends on the commitment of senior managers. Effective communication is also necessary in implementing business and IT strategies.
The consultant must provide innovative solutions through a thorough assessment of how to improve the existing situation of BBB, and help the company leverage on a modern technology so as to improve business initiatives and processes.
BBB has suffered losses due to lack of prior planning. Therefore, the company should insist on IT system that focuses on future needs on the business by linking organisational strategy and IT strategies. This is the only way to ensure that BBB achieves new capabilities and concentrates on strategic initiatives. This shall ensure the business growth and increase in sales.
BBB also has many opportunities to exploit through improving marketing strategies, relying on skilled and adaptive managers, and enhancing inventory management.
References
Kaplan, R. and Norton, D. (2000). The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Kress, R. (2010). It Governance to Drive High Performance: Lessons from Accenture. Boise, ID: IT Governance.
Reynolds, G. (2010). Information Technology For Managers. Australia: Cengage.