Sports Global is a business that provides and sells sports-related goods through a number of high street stores, distributed throughout the country. Previously, their purchasing department acquired goods from wherever they could find them at low cost, but now they are thinking of taking a strategic decision as follows:

• To specialise in a few chosen sports and provide/sell goods relating to only those sports
• To link up with a few manufacturing companies in the Far East who would supply goods/products based on requirements specifies by Sports Global.

Sports Global have also realised that if they decide to make a strategic change as above, they will also need to update and devise new procedures, implement new technologies (such as automated ordering), work more collaboratively and adopt new approaches to management. They already have a number of information systems (IS) but they are aware that changes will need to be acquired. They are also aware that they will need to make necessary changes elsewhere as well.

The organisation has not yet taken a strategic decision to create what they call ‘new-look Sports Global’, but they are conducting a feasibility study and seeking advice from experts.

The above is a brief description of the situation at Sports Global. In this scenario, you are not required to know how the company operates or what their policies or decision making procedures are. However, you are required to answer the questions asked below, based on the broad scenario described above, and provide your opinions and suggestions based on the knowledge that you acquired through the study of this module. Please note that any technologies or information systems that you mention in your answers must be relevant to the new-look Sports Global.

1. Suggest THREE (3) Information Systems (IS) that Sports Global may already have that can be kept for the new-look Sports Global. Provide rationale for your suggestion.
2. Explain the purpose of Management Information Systems (MIS). Suggest THREE (3) management processes where MIS may prove useful for the new-look Sports Global.
3. One approach Sports Global could take to acquire a new IS is to purchase off-the-shelf. Discuss TWO (2) benefits and TWO (2) limitations of this approach.
4. Discuss the cost and time implication for Sports Global of developing new IS ‘within the organisation’ versus ‘commissioning the IS development by a software house’.
5. Sports Global already have the necessary hardware infrastructure. Explain what is meant by Enterprise IS and provide TWO (2) scenarios or situations in terms of Enterprise IS use that might require the company to update or replace the existing hardware.

Following the Cooper and Quinn classification, organisations are generally classed as follows: open systems, human relations type systems, process oriented systems, and goal-oriented systems.

• Briefly illustrate what these organisational types refer to.
• In your opinion, which of these types Sports Global falls into?

6. Explain the purpose of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Critically discuss whether or not implementation of ERP would be beneficial for new-look Sports Global. Provide FOUR (4) reasons to support your argument.
7. Discuss what stakeholder analysis is in the context of a typical business organisation and explain why it is important to conduct stakeholder analysis.
8. Sports Global are thinking of acquiring a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Discuss how a CRM system would benefit the company (identifying FOUR (4) relevant advantages), especially with respect to the new manufacturing partners.
9. Describe THREE (3) HCI principles as defined by Neilson, or otherwise as generally accepted by software engineers.
10. Sports Global’s new strategy appears to be focuses on ‘product specialisation’. Discuss THREE (3) benefits that the new-look Sports Global might achieve through this approach.
11. Identify FOUR (4) characteristics of a 21^st century organisation. Discuss whether you consider the new-look Sports Global to be such an organization, providing THREE (3) arguments to support your view.
12. Sports Global would like to sell goods relating to certain carefully chosen sports. Discuss how IS might assist with any training that the sales staff might need. Also provide a workable strategy for such training.

Sports Global would have contractual agreements with manufacturing companies. Discuss the impact this might have on the following:

• Organisational structures
• Organisational processes

Summary

This question belongs to management and discusses about information system management in the “Sports Global” company.

Word count: 1866

 

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