INF 102: Introduction

to Information
Systems

MODULE 6: Business Across the

Enterprise

instructor:
Maryam Garba Mubi
spring 2025
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Identify and give examples to
illustrate the following aspects of
customer relationship management,
enterprise resource management, and
supply chain management systems:
 Business processes supported
 Customer and business value provided
 Potential challenges and trends
 Understand the importance of
managing at the enterprise level to
achieve maximum efficiencies and
benefits.
GETTING ALL THE GEESE LINED UP:
MANAGING AT THE ENTERPRISE BUSINESS
LEVEL
 Customer
Relationship
Management,
Enterprise Resource
Planning, and
Supply Chain
Management all
share the same
Goal: to get the
organization to line
up and head in the
same direction (like
geese).
 SECTION 1

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT:

THE BUSINESS FOCUS

INTRODUCTION
 Customer relationships have become a
company’s most valued asset.
 Every company’s strategy should address

how to find and retain the most profitable

customers possible.
 Businesses today must be Customer

centric/Customer-focused – Customer,
Customer, Customer!
WHAT IS CRM?
 CRM uses information technology to create an
enterprise-wide system that integrates and
automates many of the customer-serving processes
in sales, marketing, and other customer-related
services that interact with a company’s customers.
 Managing the full range of the customer relationship
involves two related objectives:
 to provide the organization and all of its customer-facing
employees with a single, complete view of every customer
at every touchpoint and across all channels; and,
 to provide the customer with a single, complete view of
the company and its extended channels.
 Siebel Systems, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP AG,
Epiphany, and Microsoft are some of the leading
vendors of CRM software.
MAJOR APPLICATION
COMPONENTS OF A CRM SYSTEM
 Contact and Account Management:
capture and track relevant data about past
and planned contacts.
 Sales: providing software tools and data

sources to manage sales activities, and

optimize cross-selling and up-selling
 Cross-selling – selling related products to current
customers
 Up-selling – selling better products than the one
currently purchased
MAJOR APPLICATION
COMPONENTS OF A CRM SYSTEM
 Marketing and Fulfillment: automate
direct marketing, scheduling, and tracking,
and assist in scheduling responses and
requests, while capturing relevant
information for the marketing database.
 Customer Service and Support: provide

customer service software tools, and real-

time access to the customer database
 CallCenter Software – routes calls to customer
support agents
 Help Desk Software – provides assistance for
customer service agents having problems with a
product/service
MAJOR APPLICATION
COMPONENTS OF A CRM SYSTEM
 Retention and Loyalty Programs: enhancing
and optimizing customer retention and loyalty is
a major business strategy because:
 It costs 6 times more to sell a new customer than an
existing one
 Dissatisfied customers will tell 8–10 people about
bad experiences
 A firm can boost sales 85% by increasing customer
retention 5%
 Odds of selling a new customer – 15%; Odds of
selling a current customer – 50%
 If a firm resolves a service problem quickly, 70% of
complaining customers will do business with the firm
again
THE THREE PHASES OF CRM
 We can view CRM as an integrated system of
Web-enabled software tools and databases
accomplishing a variety of customer-focused
business processes that support the three
phases of the relationship between a
business and its customers.
 Acquire – CRM helps a new customer perceive
value of a superior product/service
 Enhance – CRM supports superior customer
service, and cross-selling/up-selling
 Retain – CRM helps proactively identify and
reward the most loyal and profitable customers
HARD ROCK HOTEL AND
CASINO: DRINKS – AND CRM –
GO MOBILE
 What is the usual problem at a Las
Vegas bar?
 What idea has Hard Rock come up

with?
 What technologies are involved?

 What other customer services can

it provide?
 What other benefits does it accrue

for Hard Rock?

HARD ROCK HOTEL AND
CASINO: DRINKS – AND CRM –
GO MOBILE
 What is the usual problem at a Las Vegas bar?
The typical issue is the chaotic and frustrating
experience of getting a drink. Customers often face
pushing and shoving to reach the counter, then
shouting their orders, hoping the bartender gets
them right, followed by more jostling to get the drinks
and bring them back to their table.
 What idea has Hard Rock come up with?

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino has implemented a system

that allows customers to place orders via a
smartphone app without leaving their tables. The
drinks are then delivered directly to them, avoiding
the traditional bar hassle.
 What technologies are involved?

 What other customer services can it provide?

HARD ROCK HOTEL AND
CASINO: DRINKS – AND CRM –
GO MOBILE
 What technologies are involved?
•Kickback: The mobile ordering system created by Kickback Mobile.
•Smartphone App: Customers download an app to place orders.
•GPS Technology: Determines the customer’s location within the seven
Hard Rock venues.
•CRM Integration: Tracks customer behavior and preferences.
•Point-of-sale (POS) Integration: Enables real-time order and payment
processing.
 What other customer services can it provide?
•Room service through the same app.
•Personalized advertising or marketing campaigns based on real-
time data, customer preferences, and location.
HARD ROCK HOTEL AND
CASINO: DRINKS – AND CRM –
GO MOBILE
 What other benefits does it accrue for Hard
Rock?
•Real-time tracking of spending behavior, including when, where,
and what customers purchase.
•Enhanced CRM capabilities, offering insights into customer
preferences and habits.
•Improved customer engagement and brand loyalty through
seamless, personalized service.
•Marketing opportunities by targeting customers with relevant offers
and promotions via the app.
BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF
CRM
 The potential business benefits of customer
relationship management are many:
 It allows a business to identify and target its best
customers so they can be retained as lifelong
customers for greater and more profitable
services.
 It makes possible real-time customization and
personalization of products and services based
on customer wants, needs, buying habits, and
life cycles.
 It can enable a company to provide a consistent
customer experience and superior service and
support across all the contact points a customer
chooses.
CRM FAILURES
 Although over 70% of firms plan to
implement CRM, over 50% of CRM
projects fail to produce promised
results due to:
 Lack of senior management sponsorship
 Improper change management
 Projects take on too much too fast
 Poor integration between CRM and core
business systems
 Lack of end-user incentives leading to low
user adoption rates
TRENDS IN CRM
 Firms
must create tighter linkages with
customers while enhancing the
customer experience
 Operational CRM – supports/synchronizes
customer interactions
 Analytical CRM – extracts customer
information and predicts customer behavior
 Collaborative CRM – enables collaboration
with customers, suppliers, and business
partners
 Portal-Based CRM – enables access to
customer information and CRM tools
TRENDS IN CRM
 SECTION 2

ENTERPRISE RESOURCE
PLANNING:

THE BUSINESS BACKBONE

INTRODUCTION
 ERP serves as a multifunctional
enterprise-wide backbone that
integrates and automates many
internal business processes and
information systems within the
business functions of a company.
 ERP is recognized as a necessary

ingredient for many companies to gain

the efficiency, agility, and
responsiveness required to succeed in
today’s dynamic business environment.
WHAT IS ERP?
 ERP is the technological backbone of
e-business.
 Enterprise resource planning is a

cross-functional enterprise system

driven by an integrated suite of
software modules that supports the
basic internal business processes of a
company.
BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF
ERP
 Major Business Value from ERP
 Quality and Efficiency – significant
improvements in quality and efficiency of
customer service, production, and distribution
 Decreased Costs – significant reductions in
transaction costs, hardware and software, and IT
support staff
 Decision Support – provides cross-functional
information that enables better decision making
across the enterprise
 Enterprise Agility – breaks down
departmental/functional walls and enables more
flexible, adaptive organizational structures
BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF
ERP
 Costsof ERP – if you do not do ERP
properly you can kill the firm
 Causes of ERP Failures
 #1 cause – underestimating the
complexity of planning, development, and
training necessary for success
 Failure to involve affected employees
 Trying to do too much too fast
 Overreliance on claims of software
vendors/consulting firms
ERP IMPLEMENTATIONS: WHEN
THEY FAIL, THEY FAIL BIG
 How is an “ERP Failure” define?
 What was the original budget?

What was the last cost?

 If the project was a failure, why

did they go ahead with it?

 What part did the users have in

the failure?
ERP IMPLEMENTATIONS: WHEN
THEY FAIL, THEY FAIL BIG
 How is an “ERP Failure” define?
An ERP failure is defined as a project that:
 Burns through large amounts of cash
 Fails to deliver expected results
 Takes much longer than planned (if ever completed)
 Destroys careers
These failures often result from breakdowns in the partnership
between customers, vendors, and system integrators.
 What was the original budget? What was the last
cost?
In the New York City ERP project, the:
 Original budget was $60 million
 Final cost ballooned to over $700 million (and still counting)
 If the project was a failure, why did they go ahead
with it?
 What part did the users have in the failure?
ERP IMPLEMENTATIONS: WHEN
THEY FAIL, THEY FAIL BIG
 If the project was a failure, why did they go ahead
with it?
Despite the disaster, the city continued because:
 Mayor Bloomberg believed the system was desperately
needed
 He felt that officials underestimated the complexity
 There was poor management of scope creep—they kept
adding features they thought “made sense to do”
 What part did the users have in the failure?
Users played a significant role in other ERP failures (like
Lumber Liquidators) by:
 Struggling to adapt to the new system's structure
 Coming from a more flexible, easy-to-manipulate system,
users found the structured ERP (SAP) difficult
 This user difficulty impacted performance and contributed
to weak earnings
TRENDS IN ERP
 Improvements in Integration and Flexibility –
ERP modules have become more flexible and
easier to install
 Extensions to Business Applications – access

to intranets/extranets
 Broader Reach to New Users – use of the

Internet, intranets and extranets provides

new links to customers, suppliers, and
partners
 Adoption of Internet Technologies –enables all

the above
 SECTION 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT:

THE BUSINESS NETWORK

INTRODUCTION
 A successful SCM is based on accurate order
processing, Just-In-Time inventory management, and
timely order fulfillment; this was theoretical 10 years
ago, but is now a competitive weapon.
 Supply chain management helps a company get the
right products to the right place at the right time, in
the proper quantity and at an acceptable cost.
 The goal of SCM is to manage this process efficiently
by:
 Forecasting demand;
 Controlling inventory;
 Enhancing the network of business relationships a
company has with customers, suppliers, distributors, and
others; and
 Receiving feedback on the status of every link in the
supply chain.
WHAT IS SCM?
 Supply chain management is a cross-functional
interenterprise system that uses information
technology to help support and manage the links
between some of a company’s key business
processes and those of its suppliers, customers, and
business partners.
 According to the Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals (CSCMP), supply chain
management encompasses the planning and
management of all activities involved in sourcing,
procurement, conversion, and logistics management.
 It also includes the crucial components of coordination
and collaboration with channel partners, which can be
suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers,
and customers.
THE ROLE OF SCM
 To optimize the effective/efficient movement
of materials between suppliers, customers,
and other partners
IMPERIAL SUGAR: SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT TO THE RESCUE
 What was Imperial’s problem
following the refinery explosion?
 What software did they use to

help?
 What did this software offer them

to help with the problem?

 Which ERP system failed them?

Why did it not work?

IMPERIAL SUGAR: SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT TO THE RESCUE
 What was Imperial’s problem following the refinery
explosion?
Imperial Sugar suffered a catastrophic explosion at its Port
Wentworth, Georgia refinery in 2008, destroying about 60%
of its production capacity overnight. The plant was
offline for 20 months, and they had no safety stockpiles.
As a result, they struggled to fulfill customer orders,
disappointing many customers and risking the survival of the
business.
 What software did they use to help?

They used a demand-management software solution from

Demand Foresight, which they had implemented in 2006.
 What did this software offer them to help with the

problem?
 Which ERP system failed them? Why did it not work?
IMPERIAL SUGAR: SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT TO THE RESCUE
 What did this software offer them to help with the
problem?
The Demand Foresight software helped by:
 Learning how demand ebbs and flows over time
 Providing insight into inventory availability by product line
 Allowing real-time “available to promise” visibility across
departments
 Enabling the team to react quickly to changes and track
performance
This allowed them to maximize the use of available inventory
and fulfill more orders than they would have without it.
 Which ERP system failed them? Why did it not work?
The ERP system that failed them was [Link] failed because
its demand-management module was not capable of handling
the complexities of Imperial Sugar’s business—particularly the
predictive modeling required for seasonal and consumer cycles
in large contracts with food and beverage manufacturers.
BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF
SCM
 SCMsolutions are becoming more
complex

 Benefits:
 Faster,More Accurate Order Processing
 Reductions in Inventory Levels
 Quicker Times to Market
 Lower Transaction and Materials Costs
 Strategic Relationships with Suppliers
BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF
SCM
 Challenges – SCM Failures Caused By:

 Lack of Knowledge about Demand

Planning
 Inaccurate/Overly Optimistic Demand
Forecasts
 Inaccurate Production, Inventory, and
Other Business Data
 Lack of Adequate Collaboration Among
Marketing, Production, and Inventory
Management Departments
TRENDS IN SCM
3 Stages to SCM Implementation
Improve Internal Supply Chain
Processes and Improve Relationships
with Suppliers and Customers
Use Supply Chain Software,
Intranets, and Extranets with Trading
Partners
Develop and Implement
Collaborative SCM Applications