Reebok Assignment PDF

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Reebok case study...

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MBARARA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACULTY OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COURSE WORK GROUP DISCUSSION/PRESENTATION MBA SEMESTER ONE 2018/2019 LECTURER: MR. AMOS BARYASHABA

GROUP MEMBERS NO .

NAME

REG. NO

1.

MUHANGAAZI ANDREW

2018/MBA/

2.

KYOKUNDA ANNAT

2018/MBA/

3.

JOHN BOSCO

2018/MBA/

4.

DEOGRATEOUS

2018/MBA/

5.

NUWASASIRA BENSON

2018/MBA/

6.

BYENSI LEVI

2018/MBA/

7.

ATUHAIRE SHARON

2018/MBA/020

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REEBOK AND ADIDAS 1.

Why is business integration important to Reebok?

Business integration is a strategy whose goal is to synchronize information technology and business cultures, objectives and align technology with the business strategy and goals. Business integration is the technique used to align the technical components of a company with its business goals in order to create a smoothly running system for example information in the finance office can be used by the management or marketing department at their convenience, information about a new product can be accessed from all branches or outlets. Business integration is basically the coming together of two companies with the aim of achieving competitive advantage, cutting costs, and to maximize revenue for example Warid andAirtel Company merger. Business integration is classified in four ways such as horizontal, backward vertical, forward vertical and conglomerate integration. In this case of Reebok and Adidas, horizontal integration was used. Horizontal integration is where businesses in the same industry that operate at the same stage of the production process are combined. Business integration is important to Reebok because of the following reasons; Cutting costs to achieve greater efficiency Reebok was suffering high costs of production. Marketing of its products was not coming out well and had a lot of chain supply problems.They accomplish this mainly by cutting across and linking together the traditional functions of the business, in the same way that good business process management does. This always refers to replace inventory with information.. So Reebok can use а business integration system to link its forecasts to production scheduling and ultimately to procurement.Whereas shoes were moved in bags by sales people other companies` products were being seen by customers on laptops. Marketing and administration costs were cut down seriously after the introduction of use of internet where products styles and fashions could be viewed online by the retailers and other customers. Skyrocketing of expenses from 23.6% of sales in 1991 to 32.7% in June 1995 due to cost of endorsements while at the same time Nike managed to decrease its expense ratio was enough to drive Reebok to merge with Adidas to benefit from shared distribution technology and marketing. Improved distribution system Business integration helped Reebok to have an improved distribution system including a new ware house in Belgium that consolidated from 30 different facilities in Europe. The information system that brought on board the retail outlets, sales people, and Reebok management reduced lead time to almost three months or even lower. Small distributers and subsidiaries were given access to the system through personal computers and this speeded up the ordering and delivery process. 2|Page GROUP2

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Reebok integrated to create close ties with retail stores aiming at selling through data from retail stores directly to suppliers. This helped to use real time demand to pull products through the supply chain. Implementation of business integration allows Reebok to incorporate its manufacturing partners and customers around the globe through Internet EDI links as well as ultimately plans to tie its systems directly to theirs. The Adidas strategy from their website emphasizes the importance of using information technology to create a flexible supply chain. The company wants to share information from a point of sale down to the production lines to ensure everyone has the correct information to produce and ship the right products to each market. Increased value creation through enhanced research and development Adidas was an award winning technology leader in the industry with the Adidas innovation team having developed cutting edge technologies such as adidas-1, the first “intelligent running shoe”, Climacool TM and a 3R. Reebok also had a very talented group of experienced research and development professional who had developed distinguished portfolio of breakthrough product innovation including the pump.2.0 and DmX. By harnessing both companies,R&D expertise,the new Adidas group expects to accelerate new product introductions in footwear, apparel and hardware to help drive increased brand awareness and consumer demand across all brands. Customer satisfaction By making everything that company knows about their customers available at every touch point across in their business, they can meet their needs throughout the customer life-cycle.The improved communication as a result of integrating its information systems like when it installed a privately designed architecture for voice,video and data that made distribution easy across all business outlets worldwide. Orders could be worked upon very first hence satisfying customers in terms of reduced ordering lead time.Hoover a data capture system was linked to customer databases that track all the information about what customers have ordered and what they want. By 2010, Reebok had an online store and running on the Web. Customers could now purchase shoes and apparel directly from the company. Strategic insight When everything is integrated it is easier for company executives and other officers at top management to understand how their organization is operating and ensure processes are as streamlined as possible.For example in 1997, Reebok installed Radnet. Inc`s Web share group system to maintain its Website. The system had tools for e-mail, discussion groups, and bulletin boards to have interactivity to the site and build a community of users. The system made it easy for Reebok managers to add content that they deemed necessary could be answers to the customers about new fashions wanted or introduced in the market. The company used the QuickTime from apple to create CDs for its sales people and using the macromedia on its 3|Page GROUP2

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internet site, the company was able to update pricing, styles, and even new photos and displays on the fly. Knowing what is going on in the organization concerning sales, marketing, production and other functions helps the company to make strategic decisions easily and timely that is whether to produce new products, penetrate a new market segment, open new outlets, change method of production or employ more labor. Integration of all the communication tools, avenues and sources within a company into seamless business intragroup systems will maximize the impact on consumer and also minimal cost. Business integration is also important from the perspective of better administration and strategic planning. With an efficient integrated system, the administrative staff can better observe the company`s performance and can timely plan and provide their expertise to address any issue that arises. To meet market demand Shoe market was a highly competitive market, and for making profit in this market, it was important to lead the new market with new and fashionable design to attract the customers. Business integration can be helpful to link all the units of the company to any changes in the fashion trends and customer preferences. A quick and effective update among all the units will provide the company with ample time and resources to respond. To build competitive strength According to the data obtained by sporting Goods Manufacture Association International in 2004, Nike was the leader in American sports wear with market share of 36% leaving Reebok and Adidas the 2nd and 3rd with 12.2% and 8.9% respectively. It was an important opportunity for Adidas and Reebok to have a combined competitive strength over the leader Nike. Also Adidas was facing a tough competition with the fourth largest brand Puma, which compelled it to take a growth strategy through acquisition with Reebok. The new group formed would benefit from a more competitive strength.

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2. Diagram what information is collected and how it is used in the new system at Reebok. Specify the format of the data collected at each point. An illustration of the new system in Reebok

PRIVATE DESIGN ARCHITECTURE * Design for voice, videos and data * Electronic image library develop to product shots to be distributed to every country where Reebok had business. * Reduce the lead time * Increasing materials replacement

SOFTWARE PACKAGE “PASSPORT” * Product codes and shoe sizes * Small distributors and subsidiaries access the system through personal computers.

REEBOK’S NEW SYSTEM

LOTUS NOTES Store catalogs with mail links through cc: Mail

ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE Enables goods to be tracked through shipping companies, customs, and warehouses

HOOVER (A data capture system) sucks ininformation from databases around the world about customerorders. It islinked to customer databases. RE-ENGINEERING Form 5 Mega Process

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Mr. Trainer formed what he called five mega processes that streamlined procedures for production, sales and marketing, research and development, administration, finance and distribution. Re engineering is the analysis and design of system workflows and business process management technique to help the organization rethink how work can be done in order to improve customer service, cut operational cost and become a world class competitor. Privately Design Architecture Reebok installed a privately designed architecture for voice, video and data. This helped it to communicate well with its worldwide distributer base and also its ad agency and other suppliers. The IT developed an electronic image library to enable product shots to be distributed to every country where Reebok does business. The system dropped the new product lead time from six months to three months and sometimes one month. Passport A new software package called passport was designed to rationalize product codes and shoe sizes. It gives Small distributors and subsidiaries access to the system through personal computers and it would also function as a module by plugging into larger systems. Lotus Notes Store catalogs with mail links through cc:Mail Electronic Data Interchange Enables goods to be tracked through shipping companies, customs, and warehouses Hoover This is a data capture system linked to customer databases. It tracks information about what customers have ordered and what they want.

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3. When problems arise with the network, how can they be identified and resolved? How do we set up an IS group to solve problems and help users? The problem that arises can be identified by the complaint that had being made by the customer. For example complaints regarding the size or color of the product. The company learned about the problem almost immediately, based on the immediate feedback, they told customers to treat their product before sell it. The problem that happens also can be detected by doing a checking of the product inventories and raw material stocks when retailers and distributions placed orders. Once it has gotten the order but the inventories are not being reduced, it means that there’s a problem regarding the system in use and the company needs to make faster corrective action to make sure the business can be a success. Reebok saw the problem that they were facing in the AFS system and it took action by pushing for new features such as a Web-based system to handle business-to-business transaction with their suppliers. Slow connectivity: This is often caused by excessive Network Collisions. Slow connectivity is the mark of a haphazardly planned network, leading to extra collisions, which the network is incapable of handling. Heavy file transfers bring down the speed tremendously. At times, the network card, which is actually in charge, may also be overtaxed. The problem can occur as a result of bad network setup/plan, a user transferring a lot of information or jabbering network card. Note that a jabbering Network card is a network card that is stuck in a transmit mode. This will be evident because the transmit light will remain on constantly, indicating that the Network card is always transmitting. Solution: Users must be told to zip bulky files while transferring, which lowers the pressure on the network. Also, check if the network card is not suspended in the transmit mode, which indicates that the card is working overtime. Changing the IP address on one computer will fix this problem in no time. Duplicate IP Addressing: A common problem in many networking environments occurs when two machines try to use the same IP address. This can result in intermittent communications. Sometimes, two computers are assigned the same IP address erroneously; and because the IP address is the identifying feature of a computer, it leads to obvious connectivity issues. On the other hand, network cards enable computers to link, and faults in the network cards obviously disrupt connectivity Solution: Changing the IP address on one computer will fix this problem in no time. Software that is difficult to use: Many people have experienced first-hand the frustration of using software that is cumbersome, difficult to navigate, and requires several steps to perform simple tasks. This problem relates to a lack of understanding of how humans interact with computers and is also the result of a history of modifications that are not planned and coordinated to account for ease of use. For example, the addition of numerous workarounds over a period of time in legacy systems can have the overall effect of convoluting the original system design. Solution: Adequate training of users by experts 7|Page GROUP2

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Obsolete Software. Software that no longer works due to new hardware or support software changes. It refers to software that is based on functions found in older versions of databases and operating systems. An example of this can be found in old COBOL code that will not compile on new compilers due to the use of verbs that are no longer supported in the compiler. Many vendors try to make new releases of support software upwardly compatible, but there are usually cases where one minor area of non-support from the base system can cause a major revision of the system. The only other option is not to upgrade the support software. This decision can be justified for the short-term, but a point is usually reached where the software must either be replaced or modified. Drop in internet connections: Cables that connect different parts of a network can be cut or shorted. A short can happen when the wire conductor comes in contact with another conductive surface, changing the path of the signal. Troubleshooting Internet connection drops should begin with an examination of the router and a check for any configuration problems. Before you do that, just confirm if your signal strength is fine, and if it is, the problem is obviously internal Solution: Cable testers can be used to test for many types of cable problems such as; Cut cable, incorrect cable connections, Cable shorts, Interference level, Connector Problem.The solution lies in checking your physical connections and connection devices A quick inspection of your router or hub will tell you if some machine is disconnected, or if the culprit is a faulty cable. With wireless setups, it gets a little difficult to identify the source of the problem. However, in most cases, as mentioned before, the rogue computer could just be placed in a network-unfriendly zone. Incorrect or inadequate interfaces with other systems: This means that the software does not correctly accept input (data, control, parameters, etc.) from other systems or sends incorrect output (data, control, parameters, print, etc.) to other systems. An example of this is when a system has an electronic data interfaces (EDI) with external systems, but does not correctly receive or format the information. Incorrect matching and merging of data: This refers to situations where data is obtained from one source and matched or merged with data from another source. Examples include sorting multiple files into a single file or table or matching data from a master file to an ID number entered as a lookup entry. Problems Caused by Firewall Status:Along with providing the necessary security, Firewall settings can interfere with file sharing on connected computers. It is true that disabling security features can make your system vulnerable to attacks, but lowering security levels should not cause too much trouble. Solution: Rigid Firewall settings need to be adjusted to allow networked computers to share data. You may consider disabling the security settings temporarily, after having thoroughly considered all security related threats. Incorrect file and data handling - This refers to the software incorrectly retrieving data from files or tables. This could include retrieving the wrong data from the right source or the right type of data from the wrong data source. An example of this would be retrieving data from an old 8|Page GROUP2

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version of a file or table, thinking the data is being retrieved from the most current version. Another example is the inability of the software to process empty or full files correctly A secondary problem could relate to the software's inability to pass data correctly through the system. An example of this would be the incorrect processing of transactions, where data is inadvertently dropped during processing. Inadequate security controls - This means that unauthorized access to the system is not adequately controlled. In addition, people may also be able to perform transactions in excess of the authorization levels appropriate for their job functions. For example, a person without managerial levels of security access might be able to approve their own overtime. Or, a person not in the payroll department might be able to view the employee payroll files. Management secretes may leak to the un intended users and even other information may leak before the maturity period of communicating it. An example is a social media giant, face book’s admission that up to 50 million accounts were breached by hackers. We face constant attacks from people who want to take over accounts or steal information around the world. “Face book chief executive Zukerberg said” (New vision, Monday, October 1, 2018 page 57). Badly written software can crash or hang for no apparent reason Virus Software and networks can be attacked by virus. Examples of viruses are Trojan horses, File virus that attach themselves to computer files, boot sector virus that attacks the booting system, droppers; these are programs written to perform useful tasks like compressing files, previewing video clips, etc but end up introducing virus in the process of performing their functions, Malware infection on your computer and others. Virus can be detected in a situation of: boot failure, system crushes, corruption of files, un usual error messages, finding deleted files or data on storage devices, changing of file names into funny characters and slowing down the speed of the computer. Solution to Virus Scan all external storage devices before o...