Business managers are moving from a tradition where they could avoid, delegate, or ignore decisions about IT to one where they cannot create a marketing, product, international, organizational, or financial plan that does not involve such decisions.
There are as many ways to use information technology in business, as there are business activities to be pursued. As a business end user, you should have a basic understanding and appreciations of the major ways information systems are used to support each of the functions of business. Thus, in this assignment we will discuss business information systems, that is, a variety of types of information systems (transaction processing, management information, decision support, etc) that support the business functions of accounting, finance, marketing, operations management and human resource management. In this assignment, first of all, I will make a presentation of the company Amazon.com and its history. We will see in this part the changes of Amazon.com from its early first-mover advantage through to the technology bubble crash in 2000, the introduction of a cost discipline, and its eventual emergence to what seems to be a profitable company.
[...] In creating this potential powerhouse of shopping services and offerings, Amazon.com looks to be moulding itself into not simply a Wal-Mart of the Web but rather a next-generation, retail commerce portal. Imagine a customized site where, through a Junglee-like shopping service, you will not only shop easily with a trusted brand for books, videos, gifts and more, but you will also research the features, price and availability of millions of products from a single store-front that has Amazon's (and your) name on it. [...]
[...] a major factor to Amazon's success Geographical diversity Diverse selection of merchandise First mover advantage Successfully marketed Easier to make ads and promotion on the website (on the homepage in order to attract the customer) Large target market Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Information Technology support Amazon's business strategy Amazon is a huge global brand External Analysis What opportunities are present in the market place? What threats? OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Enormous growth potential All successful Internet businesses International presence w/o attract competition Investments in bricks and mortar EBay, other book retailers The size, speed and growth rate of Declining industry the Internet. [...]
[...] cashing in on its credentials as an Joint ventures, strategic alliances online retail pioneer by selling its and mergers could see Amazon losing expertise to major store groups. For its top position in some markets. example, British retailer Marks and Spencer announced a joint venture with Amazon to sell its products and service online. II/ Porter's five forces analysis Let's now turn to an analysis of the industry as it exists at present. We will focus on the online book selling industry and study the various forces of competition that affect it, based on Porter's five forces analysis. [...]
[...] Amazon.com completed its initial public offering in May 1997, and its common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol AMZN. Amazon.com went through various phases of change during the 1995 -2003 period, and these broadly were: 1995 - 1996: Early start-up 1995 and 1996 involved building capacity in the business including establishing relationships, distribution, and developing software. ( Highly focused growth with a narrow product segment offering. 1997: From early Growth to IPO 1997 was a year of exponential growth but there was a continued focus upon the US book market. [...]
[...] III/ Business information systems Amazon.com Inc. is implementing business-intelligence tools and analytic applications from SAS Institute Inc. as part of its efforts to become as profitable as it is big. The companies disclosed an extensive five-year deal under which Amazon.com will use SAS's technology to improve relationships with customers and suppliers and for financial and business- strategy analysis. Amazon.com plans to leverage the SAS products to simplify internal processes and predict customer demand, Jim Miller, the company's supply- chain operations VP, said in a statement. [...]
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