Management Information System MIS 201 Semester 1 (2017-2018) Assignment Details Prepare an in-depth analysis of four case studies during the semester. Here are some guidelines: This is an individual assessment, which is a part from your course score. It requires effort and critical thinking Answer all the questions listed below for each case. The ‘answers’ to the questions are best formulated by reviewing the case and the reading materials up and including the current week in the course. The questions are worded to help you apply the readings to the case, so don’t limit yourself to the case’s terminology and perspective. The best analysis will abstract the case content by applying the reading materials to draw broader lessons about the material Case Study 4 Questions: Zappos Define SCM and how it can benefit Zappos. Explain CRM and why Zappos would benefit from the implementation of a CRM system. Demonstrate why Zappos would need to implement SCM, CRM, and ERP for a connected corporation. Analyze the merger between Zappos and Amazon and assess potential issues for Zappos customers. Propose a plan for how Zappos can use Amazon’s supply chain to increase sales and customer satisfaction. Case Study 4: Zappos Tony Hsieh’s first entrepreneurial effort began at the age of 12 when he started his own custom button business. Realizing the importance of advertising, Hsieh began marketing his business to other kids through directories, and soon his profits soared to a few hundred dollars a month. Throughout his adolescence, Hsieh started several businesses, and by the time he was in college he was making money selling pizzas out of his Harvard dorm room. Another entrepreneurial student, Alfred Lin,bought pizzas from Hsieh and resold them by the slice, making a nice profit. Hsieh and Lin quickly became friends. After Harvard, Hsieh founded Link Exchange in 1996, a company that helped small businesses exchange banner ads. A mere two years later, Hsieh sold Link Exchange to Microsoft for $265 million. Using the profits from the sale, Hsieh and Lin formed a venture capital company that invested in start-up businesses. One investment that caught their attention was Zappos, an online retailer of shoes. Both entrepreneurs viewed the $40 billion shoe market as an opportunity they could not miss, and in 2000 Hsieh took over as Zappos’ CEO with Lin as his chief financial officer. Today, Zappos is leading its market and offering an enormous selection of more than 90,000 styles of handbags, clothing, and accessories for more than 500 brands. One reason for Zappos’ incredible success was Hsieh’s decision to use the advertising and marketing budget for customer service, a tactic that would not have worked before the Internet. Zappos’ passionate customer service strategy encourages customers to order as many sizes and styles of products as they want, ships them for free, and offers free return shipping. Zappos encourages customer communication, and its call center receives more than 5,000 calls a day with the longest call to date lasting more than four hours. Zappos’ extensive inventory is stored in a warehouse in Kentucky right next to a UPS shipping center. Only available stock is listed on the website, and orders as late as 11 p.m. are still guaranteed next-day delivery. To facilitate supplier and partner relationships, Zappos built an extranet that provides its vendors with all kinds of product information, such as items sold, times sold, price, customer, and so on. Armed with these kinds of details, suppliers can quickly change manufacturing schedules to meet demand. Zappos Culture Along with valuing its partners and suppliers, Zappos also places a great deal of value on its employee relationships. Zappos employees have fun, and walking through the offices you will see all kinds of things not normally seen in business environments—bottle-cap pyramids, cotton-candy machines, and bouncing balls. Building loyal employee relationships is a critical success factor at Zappos, and to facilitate this relationship the corporate headquarters are located in the same building as the call center (where most employees work) in Las Vegas. All employees receive 100 percent company-paid health insurance along with a daily free lunch. Of course, the Zappos culture does not work for everyone, and the company pays to find the right employees through “The Offer,” which extends to new employees the option of quitting and receiving payment for time worked plus an additional $1,000 bonus. Why the $1,000 bonus for quitting? Zappos management believes that is a small price to pay to find those employees who do not have the sense of commitment Zappos requires. Less than 10 percent of new hires take The Offer. Zappos’ unique culture stresses the following: 1. Delivering WOW through service 2. Embracing and driving change 3. Creating fun and a little weirdness 4. Being adventurous, creative, and open-minded 5. Pursuing growth and learning 6. Building open and honest relationships with communication 7. Building a positive team and family spirit 8. Doing more with less 9. Being passionate and determined 10. Being humble Zappos’ Sale to Amazon Amazon.com purchased Zappos for $880 million. Zappos employees shared $40 million in cash and stock, and the Zappos management team remained in place. Having access to Amazon’s world-class warehouses and supply chain is sure to catapult Zappos’ revenues, though many wonder whether the Zappos culture will remain. It’ll be interesting to watch!19

Case Study Four

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Question one

Supply chain management is considered as an active supervision of supply chain activities that capitalize on customer’s value and attains a sustainable viable advantage in the marketplace. The supply chain administration system is efficient to Zappos who is an online shoe retailer in that it makes him as a distributor to be more productive through tracking, safeguarding and scrutinizing inventories in the entire supply chain (Stadtler, 2015). The system has encouraged the production of his goods for the manufacturing process, highlights the best to the mode of transport and as many sizes and styles as possible. The supply chain management also provides the clients with relevant information; for instance, the goods that have already been sold, the time they were purchased, and the number of customers who continually buys products and services. Therefore, such details allow the suppliers to adjust their manufacturing strategies with the aim of meeting deadlines and demands.

Question Two

According to Kumar, V. (2010), customer relationship management can be defined as the strategy or the process that an organization applies in the study and learning of different client’s needs and their purchasing behavior to come up with a stronger bond. Implementing customer relationship management system at Zappos business is likely to take some time however it has tremendous positive effects that might include improved customer service within the market. These systems give the industry the chance to personalize and customize bonds with their customers despite the employee who deals directly with them. Moreover, the system will benefit Zappo’s business in that it will simplify the marketing of goods and services through enhancing the communication channels. The system will also ensure a more significant number of customers and revenue as it will identify the potential clients thus being in a position to keep them and seek for a more extensive base.

Question Three

Zappos would need to engage SCM, CRM, and ERP for a connected corporation as these are some of the essential parts of any business to grow and become top in the marketing environment. Supply chain management is typically the management of data that flows in between and among operations in any supply chain to increase the whole supply chain success and corporate prosperity. Therefore, Zappos would need to embrace supply chain management as it will bring his supply chain together (Chakravorti, 2011). The customer relationship will allow Zappos to acknowledge his customers shopping preferences and behaviors. The ERP system brings together the entire department and operates throughout an institution into one information technology as this allows customers to come up with informed decision through viewing extensive business data about all business operations. Therefore, this will make Zappos central the degree of consistency between the entire departments thus allowing workers make decisions on the flexibility within the business.

Question Four

The merger that is between Amazon and Zappos is that Amazon will buy the entire outstanding shares, options and warrants from Zappos for close to $10 million shares in exchange of Amazon’s favorite stock which is currently reading $810 million. Moreover, Amazon will be charged with the duty of making available $40 million in cash and controlled supply specifically for the Zappos workers (Taylor, 2014). The Zappos will strictly operate in Las Vegas, and the management group will not be replaced. There is a possibility that Zappos will lose its potential clients service and culture through following the Amazon’s culture and standards of operation.

Question Five

Typically, a supply chain management comprises of the whole parties involved either directly or indirectly plus in the procurement process of goods and services. The supply chain management entails the control of data flowing in between and among various stages in any supply chain as it will maximize the entire supply chain. Therefore, the supply chain management is typically a plan that Zappos is capable of using to increase their sales and customer satisfaction (Taylor, 2014).

References

Chakravorti, S. (2011). Managing organizational culture change and knowledge to enhance customer experiences: analysis and framework. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 19(02), 123-151.

Kumar, V. (2010). Customer relationship management. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Stadtler, H. (2015). Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Taylor, B. (2014). Why Amazon is copying Zappos and paying employees to quit. Harvard Business Review.

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