Purpose of Assignment
This assignment gives you the opportunity to apply the concepts of the Porter Five Forces model to a specific business, explain and support an identifieda strategy for competitive advantage for Kelly's Salon, and analyze the identified business process that could be improved with the use of technology. This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:
- analyze business strategy to recognize how technology solutions enable strategic outcomes
- analyze internal and external business processes to identify information systems requirements
Overview of Business Environment Analysis for Kelly's Salon
Kelly's Salon has been in business since 1995 and has seen an increase in competition from a variety of competitors, as described in the Case Study. With the news that a Hair Cuttery is likely to open only five miles away, Kelly, the owner of Kelly's Salon, is concerned and has begun analyzing her situation and what could be done to remain competitive in this changing environment. She has recognized that scheduling her employees and her customers is causing her problems, and she thinks she should focus on that first, as it is fundamental to her business.Kelly also believes that there must be a technology solution that could help her run her salon, but she has no idea where to start.
You are a Systems Analyst, and Kelly has asked you to help her with determining how she can improve her business. Kelly has requested, specifically, that youverify and provide added support to her own analysis that has resulted in the identification of a Strategy for Competitive Advantage and a Business Process for Improvement. This will be the basis for defining business and systems requirements for an IT solution.This Strategy and IT Solution will help to bring Kelly's Salon into the 21st century and take advantage of current technology. You will analyze her business environment using Porter's Five Forces Analysis. Then, you will use the results of that analysis to explain how it supports Kelly'sStrategy for Competitive Advantage, and the business process that she selected for improvement through the use of technology.
It is important to note that a business owner has many areas where improvements can be made, such as: staff, building facility, supplier agreements, advertising, etc. There are also many possible solutions that could improve the business strategy and processes. Since time and costs are involved, the owner should address basic problems first in choosing the strategy and which processes to improve. (Consider a lemonade stand; while it would be nice to have a chair to sit behind a table to serve the lemonade to customers, that is not crucial;however,having lemonade and cups are crucial to the business.)
A second important concept for this class is that, among all the ways that competitive advantage and processes can be improved, the focus is on information technology solutions. In your role as a Systems Analyst, you will be supporting Kelly's selected strategy and process for improvement, and proposing an appropriate IT solution. This work begins with an analysis of Kelly's Salon using the Five Forces Model.
Five Forces Analysis:
You know that Michael Porter's Five Forces Model is a useful tool for analyzing a business. The Model is used to help understand the importance of the five competitive forces and determinea strategy to develop and maintain a competitive advantage. The Five Forces are described and discussed in Chapter 7 of the e-textbook. They are:
- Buyer Power
- Supplier power
- Threat of substitute products or services
- Threat of new entrants
- Rivalry among existing competitors
Business Process:
Following a Five Forces Analysis and selection of a strategy for competitive advantage, the next step is to identify a process for improvement that will support the strategy and provide the most benefit, and position the business for future improvements. While there are severalareas in need of improvement, Kellyhas decided that Customer and Employee Scheduling is the most important process to be improved.
In your role as Systems Analyst, Kelly wants you to provide solid justification for the strategy for competitive advantage and the business process that she has selected, and help her determine if an information technology solution can help.
Assignment: Kelly's Salon Stage 1:Create a document that includes:
I. Introduction
Brief introduction providing the background of the case, why you are writing and what is to come in your paper. This should only be 3-5 sentences.
II. Five Forces Analysis
Perform a Porter's Five Forces analysis for Kelly's Salon, addressing each of the five forces in two or three sentences. For each of the five forces, your analysis should include:
- Explanation of the force and what it means to Kelly's Salon
- Assessment of the force's impact (Positive, Negative or Neutral) on the business
- A statement as to whether it should affect Kelly's strategy for a competitive advantage (yes or no).
Kelly's Salon Case Study
Identify and explain the next steps in implementing the solution (Stage 5)
The case study and assignments address the Course Outcomes to enable you to:
Purpose of the Assignments
This case study specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:
- analyze business strategy to recognize how technology solutions enable strategic outcomes
- analyze internal and external business processes to identify information systems requirements
- identify and plan IT solutions that meet business objectives
There are four staged assignments which use the Case Study and are designed to follow the relevant course topics in the class schedule. The weight of the assignments is shown in the Course Syllabus. The due dates are shown with the Assignments. Upon completion of these assignments, you will have performed an array of activities to demonstrate your ability to apply the course content to a "real world situation" to:
- Analyze the business environment and justify Kelly's selected generic strategy and process for improvement
o Stage 1 Project: Business Environment Analysis (Word document with analysis)
- Determine the functional (business) requirements by analyzing inputs, processing and outputs for the process selected for improvement, using the process model provided
o Stage 2 Project: Business Analysis and Functional Requirements (Word document with table of inputs, processing and outputs)
- Evaluate various IT requirements
o Stage 3 Project: IT Requirements (Word table)
- Propose an IT solution and evaluate what it would take to implement your solution
o Stage 4 Project: Proposed IT Solution and Next Steps (Word document)
Attachment:- kellys-salon-case.pdf