Assignment Task
QUESTION
How the selected organization will adopt use technology to build competencies?
Oyanna (2018) technology is revolutionizing businesses and it is becoming a fundamental requirement for a successful business. In today’s business environment small to medium enterprises must adapt to new technologies to stay relevant in the competitive economy. Technology has a big impact on the way businesses are currently run and presents ways in which businesses can use technology to increase revenue and reduce operational costs. The world is changing, technology is becoming the new normal, therefore business owners and entrepreneurs need to adapt to these changes brought in by new technologies. The following are how Pep can use technology to build competencies.
An accessible website
The internet is a place where virtually all your potential customers and clients spend most of their time. Most people use the internet to get information and potential customers use their smartphones to decide what to buy. Pep shouldn’t be left out when people search for services on the internet. Not having a website will make potential customers question the integrity and credibility of your business. Having a website that is easy to navigate is a great way that Pep can use to gain a strong online presence and a competitive advantage. This is where many people will get to know the business’s product or service (Oyanna, 2018).
Self-service checkouts
According to Watson (2020), the majority of customers complain about having one till open and many customers in the queue. Having to wait in line at the checkout counter can be a dreadful experience. Pep stores should implement self-service checkouts to make the in-store shopping experience better. By implementing these self-service checkouts, Pep will attract new customers while staying ahead of the competition. Self-service will be beneficial for both Pep and customers. Since everything has moved online, self-service could help keep costs down.
Implementation of this type of technology will mean less maintenance from in-store employees and will also increase employee productivity. One thing about this self-service technology is that it can dehumanize Pep and can also increase theft. This technology will help Pep track every item that has been taken and put it back. When a customer has finished shopping, they can leave the store and will receive their bill via email. When a customer approaches the counter, the machine rings up all items inside. Customers will no longer have to take everything out one-by-one scan it, Watson (2020).
Point of sale(POS)
Modern POS has reporting capabilities that shed light on your sales and inventory metrics. To stay ahead in the game, Pep should have a POS solution to see what type of reports are available, Nicasio (2021). For example, inventory on hand will help Pep know how much merchandise they have in their store. A low stock report will tell Pep which items are running low to can avoid being out of stock. Pep will have to run this report regularly so that they can spot patterns around which items are always running low. The product performance report will tell how much merchandise Pep has sold over a given period of time as well as a summary of items sold per month or per week. PPR will determine which items in Pep are worth investing in and which ones shouldn’t. (Nicasio, 2021).
Smart fitting rooms
Tagiev (2017) online is becoming the new online, but not all customers prefer buying online. Some prefer buying clothes in physical stores rather than on the internet. People want to try on items they like and pay for them it being sure the item fit. Pep should install smart fitting rooms. Smart fitting rooms are large mirrors with a touch screen installed in a fitting room. Customers can call in-store assistance with other models and sizes for fitting. With these fitting rooms being installed at Pep, customers can create a profile where their history will be stored. Pep store should have these fitting rooms so that customers don’t have to call an assistant while standing naked in the fitting room.
Also need to make extra changes to return to the shopping floor while hoping no one will occupy the booth. By installing these smart fitting rooms, customers will know which products are available in the store. These mirrors can recommend a related product that may make a customer look even better. Interactive technologies will help customers make more meaningful purchase decisions. Having these fitting rooms will let customers look through the available items without going back to the shopping floor, Tagiev (2017).
These features that the smart fitting has engaged the customer not just for one-time shopping, but will help establish long relations with Pep. After Pep provides these services that no other stores provide, the customer will keep on coming back again. Fitting rooms are the best place for Pep to collect analytics about how a customer interacts with products. For example, which trousers are usually bought after fitting, or which one was tried several times but wasn’t bought anyway? Information like this is valuable and will help the store know what their customers want and offer them the range of products and the quality of services the customer expects, Tagiev (2017).
Cloud computing
Managing, storing, and analyzing data can be an exhaustive task. Businesses are quickly adopting cloud technologies to effectively manage and process data. Broberg (2021) explained that cloud technologies allow businesses to move some of their operations to third-party servers accessible via internet connectivity. This allows for variable data packages and rapid expansion on mobility without the fear of crashes or permanently lost data. Companies who adopt cloud can innovate quickly, scale efficiently and even bring new market capabilities more quickly.
For Pep to thrive in this competitive industry, they must extend their reach to the customer with multiple stores and efficiently manage supply chains to provide a unique customer experience. Integrating cloud computing will reduce IT costs, simplify the workflow and improve efficiency and end-user experience. Cloud computing will help Pep from reducing infrastructure, storage, and computing costs to enabling real-time access to operational and inventory, Naik (2021).
Inventory management is one of the common challenges that the retail industry has. Big companies like Pep with multiple stores at different locations cannot check or manage their stock in real-time. With cloud computing, Pep can have a broad view of their stock. Having multiple stores, they don’t need to manually synchronize the inventories of each store as they can access data at any time, anywhere to check stock availability, Naik (2021).
How Pep creates value
Pep makes it possible for their customers to look and feel good. They offer products and services at the lowest possible prices. Pep continues to offer customers’ needs by opening up market access to value-for-money, homeware (Pep Home), while Pep cell ensures that customers are able to stay up to date with telecommunications technologies.
Sending gifts and other items to family and friends can be pricey. Luckily Pep store has paxi, a package service that allows you to send, collect and return parcels to various collection points around the country. Paxi parcel service creates a valuable in-store addition to the overall Pep experience. It offers the lowest price for sending a parcel from one Pep store to another. It is affordable with a standard price starting from R60. All a person has to do is go to their nearest Pep, select and pay for a big size and service type, pack and seal your goods and hand them to the shop assistant. Paxi has a website where you can choose whether you’re collecting or sending.
Once your package is handed to the shop assistant, the package will then be registered on paxi, after that, you select its destination. You will immediately receive an SMS when the parcel is logged and again receive it once the parcel arrives at your collection point. You will get another SMS to let you know when the parcel leaves its destination. People can use paxi website to track it. This gives shoppers a chance to save time and money. What’s even more exciting is that paxi also offers a free service for UNISA students to send through a hard copy of assignments to the University. All you have to do is finish your assignment two weeks before it’s due (to ensure it’ll be delivered on time). Taking it to your nearest paxi point and sending it off, you will get an SMS when the assignment gets delivered.
With everything moving online, we think that Pep should add more to their services. For example, some located in rural areas who have to travel long distances just to send or collect the parcel. These people spend too much money just to arrive at the nearest mall. Pep should offer a collection of goods from door-to-door to make things easier for their customers. This will work by a person making a phone call or sending a text through WhatsApp and asking for his or her goods to be collected from their homes. After a phone call, a person will have to send their location on WhatsApp or at their nearest benchmark, where a collection vehicle can easily locate them.
A customer will then hand over the goods to the collection driver, and then he/she will register it on paxi. The same applies when parcels arrive a Pep. People don’t have to travel long distances to get their parcels. We live in a cruel world, you can get mugged after collecting your parcel at the nearest store. To avoid such things from happening, the collection driver will collect the customer’s parcel from Pep and deliver it to the customer’s door or designated destination. Such services could make Pep be on top of their game.
Using data warehouse, data analytics, and knowledge management as a competitive advantage
Data warehousing
Staff (2021) defines data warehousing as a system that stores data from a company’s operational databases as well as external sources. Data housing platforms are different from operational databases, because they store historical information, making it easier for business leaders to analyze data over a specific period time. Data warehouse platforms also sort data based on the different subject matter, such as customers, products, or business activities. Loxton (2020) suggests that Pep store should implement a data warehouse because it will provide insight into the business, all the way from satisfying regulatory requirements to predicting what will happen in the future and how Pep should respond.
All organizations have a common goal and that is to make better business decisions. Once Pep implements data warehousing in their business, it will benefit them in numerous ways. Data warehousing will standardize, preserve, and store data from distinct sources, adding the consolidation and integration of all data. Since critical data is available to all end-users, Pep will make informed decisions on key aspects. Executives can query the data themselves with little to no IT support, saving more time and money. Data warehousing will convert data from multiply sources into a consistent format. Since data from across the organization is standardized, each department will produce results that are consistent. (Benefits of data warehousing, 2020).
This will help Pep lead to more accurate data, which will become the basis for solid decisions. Data warehousing will help Pep data holistic view of their current standard and evaluate opportunities and risks, thus providing the organization with a competitive advantage. It will also provide better insights to decision-makers by maintaining a cohesive database of current and historical data. By transforming data into purposeful information, decision-makers can perform more functional, precise, and reliable analysis and create more useful reports with ease. (Benefits of data warehousing, 2020).
According to Taylor (2021), data warehouse allows business users to quickly access critical data from some sources all in one place. Data warehousing helps to integrate many sources of data to reduce stress on the production system. It stores a large amount of historical data. This helps users to analyze different periods and trends to make a future prediction.
Disadvantages of using data warehouse
According to Taylor (2021), the following are the disadvantages of data warehousing:
A data warehouse can be outdated relatively quickly.
It is difficult to make changes in data types and ranges, data source schema, indexes, and queries.
The organization needs to spend lots of its resources for training and implementation purposes.
Despite best efforts at project management, data warehousing project scope will always increase.
The data warehouse may seem easy, but it is too complex for the average user.
A data warehouse is not an ideal option for unstructured data
Data analytics
Dixon (2019) defines data analytics as a process of cleaning, changing, and processing raw data and extracting relevant information that helps businesses make informed decisions. Data is now an important tool for businesses to utilize, whatever sector they operate in and whether they’re a global company or a small firm (Big data.2021). Data analysis can help Pep deploy resources accordingly and provide personalized customer service. Data analytics can capture and break down customer purchase history in a detailed customer profile. Data analytics can even depict what a customer will buy, and under what circumstances. Competitive advantage is vital for any organization to survive.
Dixon (2019) explains, to compete, organizations have to discover new ways to cut costs, deploy resources more effectively and develop ways to reach out to each of their customers individually. All this can be achieved with data analysis. Data analytics provide new insights not found in other tools. These insights can pave the way for other organizations to make better use of their resources, cut costs and personalize their services to strengthen their advantage. The following are ways in which Pep can use data analytics to their benefit.
Confident decision making: Analytics aims to improve decision making and big data continues to support this. With so much information available big data can help businesses speed up their decision-making process while being confident in the choice they have made. In today’s quick-paced world being able to act fast and respond to wider trends and operational changes is a huge business advantage. (Big data. 2021)
Asset Optimization: Pep will be able to monitor assets at an individual level. This means they can better optimize assets based on data sourced, improve productivity, extend the lifespan of assets, and reduce the downtime some assets may need. This will provide a competitive advantage by ensuring that Pep is getting the most out of its assets and links with cutting costs. (Big data. 2021)
Cost reduction: This can help Pep cut down their outgoings, from analyzing energy usage to evaluate the effectiveness of staff working patterns. Data collected by companies can help them identify where they can make cost savings without having a negative impact on business operations. (Big data. 2021)
Identify new revenue streams: This can help Pep identify new revenue streams and expand into other areas. Understanding customer trends and decisions and about the direction they should go. The data businesses collect can also potentially be sold, adding a further revenue stream and the potential to build partnerships with other businesses. (Big data, 2021)
Key market trend insights: Advanced analytics allows retailers to see current market trends and predict future market trends. Predictive analytics is a pre-emptive approach, where businesses use data from past transactions to predict future sales growth based on consumer behavior. This allows retailers to make data-driven decisions regarding employees and business growth-preventing organizations from being over/ short-staffed and not having high-demand inventory well-stocked.
Inventory access and customer expectations: Due to advancements in technology, customers expect to easily be able to view what is in stock at different store locations online. This means retailers need to practice excellent inventory management with radio frequency, identification technology to ensure full inventory transparency for curious customers. Retailers are using data analytics and predictive analytics to maximize this capability to increase online, cross-channel, and physical sales. By understanding how much inventory is available, where it is located, and where the demand for it is, Pep can ensure that they meet customer expectations.
Demand: By understanding data-based insights on customer habits, Pep can understand which of their products and services are most in-demand and which ones they should potentially stop offering. These insights will help Pep to give the customer exactly what they want, Lebied (2018).
Pricing: Pep will be able to gain a better understanding of which prices yield the best results on particular products. Big data technology can also be utilized for markdown optimization (an understanding of when prices on particular items should be dropped), Lebied (2018).
Knowledge management
Jones (2013: 348) defines knowledge management as a type of IT-enabled organizational relationship that has important implications for both organizational learning and decision making. The important benefit of using a knowledge management system is the development of synergies between people and groups. The organization should choose between codification versus personalization approach to creating an IT-based knowledge management system.
Codification approach: According to Jones (2013: 348), knowledge is carefully collected, analyzed, and stored in databases where it can be retrieved easily by users who input organization-specific commands and keywords. This approach results in a collection of standardized organization best practices, rules, and SOPs that can be drawn on by anyone who needs them. The codification approach, however, is only suitable when the product or service being provided is itself quite standardized so best practices can continually be discovered and entered into the knowledge management system to be used by others in the organization. It works best when the different functions in the organizations can provide standardized information about changing customer demands or product specifications.
Personalization approach: According to Jones (2013: 348), pursued when an organization needs to provide customized products or solutions to clients, when technology is changing rapidly, and when employees rely more on know-how, insights, and judgment to make decisions. In this approach, information systems are designed to show employees who in the organization might possess the knowledge they might need or might have confronted a similar problem in the past. Working in teams, consultants can also spread their knowledge across the organization, often globally, and IT is used to facilitate direct interactions between people and exchange of know-how by information employees about upcoming seminars and visiting internal experts. An organization’s information system plays a crucial role, for competitive success depends on the speed with which it can provide clients with a state-of-the-art solution to their problems.
According to Jarad (2013:18), knowledge management helps solve the most common business problems and helps companies maximize their benefits by:
• Protecting companies’ intellectual capital
• Focusing on their most important assets, which are the human capital
• Reorienting their culture by choosing the best knowledge sharing strategy
• Linking people to each other by establishing methods of collaboration
• Opening the door to a new era of collaboration and sharing
• Improving business solutions with easier access to experience and best practices
• Improving efficiency, productivity, and smart work by reducing the incidence of “reinventing the wheel”;
• Improving innovation through broader and limitless collaboration
• Reducing know-how losses through the collection of explicit and implicit knowledge
• Accelerating productivity with on-board training and timely access to knowledge
• Enhancing customer satisfaction by providing value
• Improving the quality and ability to collaborate by standardizing ways of working and conducting discussions with leading experts.
Jones (2013:349), knowledge management is, therefore, an important tool for increasing the level of integration inside an organization, among people, functions, and even divisions. Many companies have moved to develop knowledge management systems to speed learning and decision making, and for many of them, it has resulted in success. Knowledge management is expensive, people must be employed to help codify knowledge and disseminate it throughout the organization.
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