Business Applications Project
MIS 2101 Project 1- Business Applications
PART A – Customer Relationship Management
1) Developing a CRM strategy is discussed in chapter 8 of the Valacich book. What changes are necessary for an organization to successfully implement a CRM?
In order to successfully implement a CRM, you need to have organizational policies and procedures, management, process changes and employee training that all reflect a customer-focused culture. As well, all aspects of the customer experience should be tracked and analyzed in order to optimize the CRM software. If only some aspects of the organization reflect a customer-focused culture, the CRM that is implemented will not be successful.
2) In chapter 8 of the Valacich book, the terms analytical CRM, collaborative CRM and operational CRM are introduced. According to the book, what is an analytical CRM? What is a collaborative CRM? What is an operational CRM?
Analytical CRM: Systems for analyzing customer behavior and perceptions in order to provide business intelligence.
Collaborative CRM: Systems for providing effective and efficient communication with the customer from the entire organization.
Operational CRM: Systems for automating the fundamental business processes for interacting with the customer.
3) List one function that a CRM performs for the sales organization (from the Microsoft site).
For the sales organizations, CRM can use integrated sales intelligence to target profitable opportunities. By creating visualizations of these prospects and goals, it gives insight to managers and executives as to what methods for sales are working and what needs revision.
4) List one function that a CRM performs for marketing organizations (from the Microsoft site).
For the marketing organizations, CRM allows companies to market their products across multiple channels. Because customers today have so many choices when it comes to how they want to connect, being able to reach them across different platforms and creating meaningful relationships with them is imperative.
5) List one function that a CRM performs for customer service organizations (from the Microsoft site).
For the customer service organizations, CRM improves transactions with customer service by publishing all employee-customer interactions and the solutions. By making this information available, employees are able to look up similar problems within CRM and see how a similar problem was solved previously, instead of starting from scratch.
PART B – DECISION SUPPORT SYTEMS
1) Which Sales Plan scenario provides the highest total revenue (printer & ink cartridge) over the life of the product? Sales Plan 2 has the highest total revenue at 1,926,817,103.
2) Which Sales Plan scenario provides the highest level of total profit (printer & ink cartridge) over the life of the product?
Sales Plan 2 has the highest total profit at 1,066,996,970.
3) Can it make sense to sell printers at a loss, in order to maximize revenue and profit? Why?
Yes, because when a customer buys a printer they are going to need to buy ink in order to keep the printer functioning. Once they have purchased the printer they are subject to whatever price you sell the ink at, because despite the fact that the cost of ink might be high, it is not as expensive as buying a completely new printer.
4) As a manager using this DSS application, which Sales Plan would you choose? Why?
As a manager I would chose Sales Plan 2, because not only does it have the highest revenue, but it also has the highest profit. It seems like a risky option given that you are selling the printers at a loss, but over time you are going to make your money back along with a significant profit by selling the ink at a premium.
Sales Plan 1:
Sales Plan 2:
Sales Plan 3:
Sales Plan 4:
PART C: Business Intelligence
Which customer spent the least amount of money in February?
Lopez Maria spent the least amount of money in February ($565).
Which customer spent the most in February and which sales person was responsible for the majority of these sales?
Rose Clair spent the most money in February ($6471.95). Dakic was responsible for a majority of these sales, at $3440, which is about 53%.
Which product provided the most revenue?
Laser printers provided the most revenue at a total of $9210.
Which salesperson provided the most sales revenue?
Dakic provided the most sales revenue at $7874.70, between 5 customers.