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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS: DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION2014

Name Venus Ngar Tung KwanNetID Vkwa898Group Number: 418Website Link: http://infosys1102014group418.blogspot.co.nz/

Tutorial DetailsTutor: Day: Time:Khushbu Tilvawala Thursday 12pm

Time Spent on Assignment: 28 hours Word Count: 1645

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STUDYBLOCKINTRODUCTION

Thousands of students around the world achieve bad grades because of social media constantly distracting them. To help solve this problem, the mobile app StudyBlock was created. This app blocks social media and is personalized to individual needs, working both as an organizer and a study helper to assist students better manage their time

3. BUSINESS SECTION

3.1 Vision

To have all students use StudyBlock and help themselves achieve their potential grades so graduating from university will be as easy as pie.

3.2 Industry Analysis: Educational and time management app

Industry: Educational and Time management app industry this includes mobile apps that

have the functions of blocking social media and working as an organizer.

Force: High/Low: Justification:

Buyer power: High There are a lot of apps out there that are similar

to StudyBlock, and since apps are easily

accessible, buyers have a wide range of apps to

choose from, hence making buyer power high.

(Google Play, 2008)

Supplier power: Low Supplier power is low because apps do not

require a lot of services. There are many app

programmers out there, so companies have a

wide range of choice. Besides, most companies

have their own IT department, hence, supplier

power is low.

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Threat of new entrants: High Threat of new entrants is high because there is a

low barrier of entry due to it being an online

industry. Only basic testing before launching is

required. Thus, setting up is easy and cheap, only

a $25 registration fee to launch an app on google

play store. (Google Play, 2008)

Threat of substitutes: High Threat of substitute is high because customers do

not have to depend on apps to help themselve

get organized and study. Customers can choose

writing up their own timetable or setting up their

alarm over using StudyBlock.

Rivalry among existing

competitors:

Low Rivalry among existing competitors is low because

most competitors do not invest heavily on

promotion, rather they rely on word of mouth.

Also most app companies offer their apps for free

so there is no price wars. Therefore, rivalry is low.

Overall attractiveness of the industry: Relatively unattractive because there is too much competition in the industry. However, to increase the chances of success, StudyBlock will be promoted heavily.

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3.3 Customers and Their Needs

The target market for our product is customers age between 18-25, i.e. university students. This is because achieveing good grades is particularly important to them. It has been proven that teens consume media for more than seven and a half hours a day, this indicates that seven and a half hour is wasted. Furthermore, although students can multi task, they can not do it efficiently or accurately. Numerous studies in the past ten years have reflected poorer grades when multitasking with technology. Therefore, our customer needs something to help them better manage their time so they can concentrate solely on studying when required and achieve better grades.

3.4 The Product and Service

StudyBlock fulfills customer needs because it blocks all media (such as facebook, twitter etc) when a certain time is set. This enables students to concentrate fully on their studys rather than multi tasking. Without social media, students will most likely be able to achieve better grades. Moreover, studies have shown that android users spend almost 90% of their time on phones using apps. With these figures, apps are perfect for student to use and the chances of consumers using StudyBlock is high. Furthermore, StudyBlock works as an organizer that can be tailored to individual needs so that their timetable, test exams and daily reminders can be applied only to them. This further helps students become organized and achieve better test results. StudyBlock helps students develop skills in time management and this will be valuable in their daily lifes.

3.5 Suppliers and Partners

A supplier of StudyBlock will be software designers that help create, develop and update StudyBlock. This supplier is vital to our business as competition is high in this market. Therefore, IT firms must regularly update StudyBlock with the newest technology.

Another supplier of StudyBlock will be the Google Playstore. Google playstore is a place where customers go to purchase and download apps. Google playstore will supply StudyBlock a place to market itself.

Apps are accessible worldwide, however, to begin with, our main market will be new zealand and australia. Our partners will be universities based in New Zealand and Australia. The company and the university will work together to make sure the app is being used by all students and that the app is useful to them. The university will provide information to

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StudyBlock, such as students timetable and exam times, so the app will better suit student needs.

Another partner of StudyBlock will be the government. StudyBlock will be applying for a government grant as ourapp is part of the educational sector and helps students achieve better grades and improve time management skills. these benefit to students will encourage the government to be our partner who funds and overlook this project to enable all students can use the app.

3.6 Strategy: Focused strategy

StudyBlock will be based on focused differntiation strategy, i.e. unique features and narrow market. Our target market are university students who own a phone and want to improve their grades, thus, they only consume a small proportion of the entire market.. Our main competitve scope will be differentiation because of the different features StudyBlock offers. The app has a tailored marketing mix specifically for students so that their every need is fulfilled. This differentiation is our main competitive advantage and will lead StudyBlock to success. The strategy is therefore: focused differentaition strategy.

3.7 Value Chain Activity: Providing service after sales

The most important value chain activity for this business is Providing service after sales

StudyBlock is highly concerned with the quality of its features. StudyBlock has to service customers after sales by upgrading its features, providing maintence, helping customers answer questions and evaluating feed back. StudyBlock must ensure a effortless and stress free usage so it will be easier for students to concentrate on their studys. When students change the feautures of the app to suit their needs, StudyBlock must update itself automatically to make sure it corresponds to that student. StudyBlock aims to provide the best for its customers and therefore, servicing is a very important value chain activity.

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3.8 Business Processes

3.8.1. CUSTOMER FEEDBACK PROCESS - Customer feedback links in with our strategy and value chain activity. Customer feedback process ensures the feedback that requires response is replied to, feedback that is helpful is saved and all feedback is read through. Customer feedback process is supported by the feedback system which alerts staff and replies to all feedback with a ‘thank you’ note so that customers feel appreciated. The scan for key words help staff sort through feedbacks more efficiently. Therefore, the customer feedback process ensures all customers are satisfied and that all problems are dealt with quickly.

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3.8.2. SOFTWARE PURCHASING PROCESS - Software purchasing process allows new software to be reported to the company immediately. Communication between suppliers and the company flows freely using a single system for communication. The software purchasing process must weigh out the advantages against the cost before making a decision. Once it is decided to purchase the software, the manager must contact the accounting department to ensure there are enough funds to purchase software and send payment to supplier. Supplier will then arrive; upgrade the software and teach IT staffs how to use it.

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3.9 Functionalities

3.9.1. CUSTOMER FEEDBACK PROCESS

Receive feed back from customers and notify staff Filter feedback into categories Staff send response to customer

3.9.2. SOFTWARE PURCHASING PROCESS

Supplier contacting company with email Communication between departments Send updated app to app store

3.10 Systems

3.10.1. FEEDBACK ANALYSIS SYSTEM- addresses the functionality of ‘receive feedback from customer and notify staff’. This system notifies staff that feedback has been received and ensures all feedback is delivered to customer service department. The system then filters the feedback into specific categories which allows time to be saved when staffs replies to feedbacks. By having this system, time and money can be saved and customers can interact with staffs easily.

3.10.2. COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - ties in with ‘communication between departments.’ This system allows communication between departments to be fast and easy. This is achieved by using one media for communication so that there will not be any confusion. Communication management system ensures StudyBlock is running smoothly as all departments are coordinated.

3.10.3. DECISION ANALYSIS SYSTEM - is incorporated with ‘send updated app to app store.’ This system will automatically contact the app store once StudyBlock is upgraded and send in the newest upgraded version to ensure customers gets the newest edition. The newest edition of StudyBlock with its new features means increasing the chances of students achieving better grades.

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3.11. SUMMARY TABLE: VALUE CHAIN TO SYSTEMS

Value Chain

Activity

Processes Functionalities Specific Information

System(s)

Broad Information

System(s)

Servic

e after

sales

1. Customer feedback process

1. Receive feedback from customers and notify staff

2. Filter feedback into categories

3. Staff send response to customer

Feedback analysis system

Customer relationship management system

2. Software

purchasing

process

1. Supplier contacting company with email

2. Communication between departments

3. Send updated app to app store

Communication managemnt system

Decision analysis system

Enterprise resource Planning

Decision support system

CONCLUSION

StudyBlock Incorporates functions such as blocking social media and acting as an organizer to help students achieve better grades. Information system and technology is vital to the success of StudyBlock as these systems allows the company to become efficient and effective. It helps customer with problems and coordinate all departments to ensure that StudyBlock will provide the best services. Information system reduce cost and help minimise errors, making every aspect of the company as best as it can be.

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REFERENCES

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2. Bloxham, A. (n.d.). Social networking: teachers blame Facebook and Twitter for pupils' poor grades. The Telegraph. retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8142721/Social-networking-teachers-blame-Facebook-and-Twitter-for-pupils-poor-grades.html

3. Mashable. (n.d.). Mashable. retrieved from http://mashable.com/2011/04/27/facebook-effect-students/

4. Social Media Linked to Poor Academic Performance. (n.d.). Social Media Use Tied To Bad Grades. Retrieved from http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1112821454/facebook-social-media-use-poor-academic-performance-bad-grades-041113/

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7. Google Play (2008) Get started with publishing Retrieved from http://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/start.html

8. Convince&convert (n.d.) why apps fail and other mobile marketing truths. Retrieved from http://www.convinceandconvert.com/mobile/why-apps-fail-and-other-mobile-marketing-truths/

9. Linkedin (n.d) why most brands are failing on mobile. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140509194647-11202010-why-most-brands-are-failing-on-mobile

10. Impact (2013) 5 inbound marketing practices you can learn from candy crush saga http://www.impactbnd.com/blog/5-inbound-marketing-practices-you-can-learn-from-candy-crush-saga

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