Business Analytics Final Exam

Business Analytics Final Exam How would you use IT to drive competitive advantage and differentiation in your company if your company were in Banking, etc.? Banking  Overview of competitive advantage in IT  Overview of banking  Disaster Recovery and BC Planning  Online services and implementing new systems  CRM Competitive advantage from IT is rapidly disappearing because systems can be easily imitated by competitors. Data storage, data processing, and data transport are functions that have become affordable and available to all. The true advantage comes from how we invest in IT and how we manage our systems. In today’s digital age, it would be hard to imagine our daily lives without the technological advances in banking, such as ATM’s and online banking. Imagine what would happen if a bank’s online services were to shut down without warning? This would be a disaster that can lead to regulatory fines, panicked customers, and even a major financial crisis. This is why banks need to be prepared for all possible scenarios and contingencies to prevent their services for ever becoming unavailable or difficult to use. Preventing this type of disaster takes planning, and if customers are going to trust my services over a competitors’, I would need to demonstrate that I’ve mastered it. I would invest time and money into a good disaster recovery and business continuity plan which would allow customers to trust in my product and services, leading to possible increase in demand. It also protects my company’s image and reputation which will prevent the loss of customers and shareholders. Foot traffic in banks are decreasing by 10% every year, and 80% of customers use some form of online banking. With this preference for web-based finance comes high expectations that these services work consistently and perfectly. I would focus more improving web-based services rather than in services in actual bank locations. Since banks handle a large amount of data coming from a variety of different sources every day, we cant simply put operations on hold in order to optimize the IT infrastructure. I would follow rather than lead in the case of IT. I would let my impatient competitors shoulder the high costs of experimentation, while I will wait to spend money on implementing a new software/process until standards and best practices are solidified. With that in mind, I would implement whatever process or software necessary to accurately predict and analyze demands for services in real-time and anticipate problems before they occur. Customers are the key to success in any business. I would also implement a good CRM system as it would create value for the customer and the company over the longer term. When customers value the customer service that they receive, they are less likely to look to alternative suppliers for their needs. CRM focuses on strategically significant markets. Not all customers are equally important. Therefore, relationships should be built with customers that are likely to provide value for services. Building relationships with customers that will provide little value could result in a loss of time, staff and financial resources. Healthcare  Overview of Healthcare IT  Sharing Integrated EHR  Brand Recognition In the healthcare industry, organizations spend millions of dollars on healthcare IT. Most people in the profession see this as an expense/obligation to meet government regulations. What they fail to see is the enormous marketing opportunity created by the same technology. The money spent on healthcare IT should be seen as an investment not just in creating higher revenues and broader network affiliations, but also in improved patient care. The key is to think like an entrepreneur and a marketer rather than an administrator. An integrated EHR (Electronic Health Record) is the central component of health IT that is an enormous expense made mandatory by government. EHR is a person’s official, digital health records and can be shared among multiple healthcare providers. In order to gain competitive advantage, I would make the large investment in an EHR system and share it with local community provider and smaller hospitals—this opens many opportunities. I would be creating a potential crossover among my hospital and the smaller community facilities. Even if wont have anything other than a shared platform, I can create operational efficiencies in the emergency department and other areas where patients access my system. Data on patient medication, allergies, diagnoses and medical history would be available to all providers instantly which can lead to higher revenue potential from increases patient accessibility, greater efficiency and lower costs.—not to mention improved care made possible because physicians have the data they need to treat patients more quickly and effectively. Sharing technology will also make it easier to do business and maximize my resources. For example physicians can order MRIs from my hospital more easily and efficiently rather than from a third party facility. Even if my healthcare organization doesn’t want to make money on the sale or sharing of technology, I can do it just to improve patient care and eventually as a brand recognition, which is one of the biggest competitive advantage in my eyes. Manufacturing  Overview  ERP and CRM  Spend less Information systems play a major role in coordinating activities within the manufacturing industry—from raw materials, supply chain to order fulfillment. IT systems ensures efficiency in the supply chain and connects the manufacturer to customers and suppliers. The core functions of IT—such as data storage, data processing and data transport are available and affordable to everyone so it doesn’t serve as a differentiator. What would differentiate my company is how I invest in IT and how I manage my systems. Obviously I would implement a good ERP System, and a CRM system that would break down silos and integrate activities from the entire organization in order to streamline processes, make data more usable, and allow employees and executives to access insightful information from customers, trends and demands to allow decision makers to create powerful strategies. Using these systems I would achieve the lowest operational costs and the lowest prices. I would also incorporate a ‘Just in time’ delivery with my suppliers, which would allow us to build a better relationship with them. I will make effective use of analytical data to gain greater insight into customer, supply chain, product development and production needs, as well as be able to better anticipate cost, quality, productivity, or customer service issues. I would use my systems to understand the customers needs and wants. Since IT systems are highly replicable by competitors, when it comes to new expensive systems, I would let competitors spend all that money and experiment with these new systems and wait to make my purchase until the systems are standardized and solidified.