management info. quiz #4

Customer-Touching Applications

Customer self-help applications/technologies (or electronic CRM and eCRM).

Customer-Touching Applications

Customer self-help applications/technologies (or electronic CRM e-CRM).

Inbound Teleservice

Customers communicate directly with the CIC to initiate a sales order, inquire about products and services before placing an order, and obtain information about a transaction they have already made.

Data Mining

Develops a purchasing profile or snapshot of a consumer's buying habits that may lead to additional sales through cross-selling, upselling, and bundling.

Organizational Flexibility and Agility

ERP Systems break down many former departmental and functional silos of business processes, information systems, and informational resources making organizations more flexible, agile, and adaptive.

Quality and Efficiency

ERP systems integrate and improve an organization's business processes, generating significant improvements in the quality of production, distribution, and customer service.

ERP SCM

Have capacity to place automatic requests to buy fresh perishable products from suppliers in real time.

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) System

Integrates existing systems by providing software, called middleware, that connects multiple applications allowing existing applications to communicate and share data.

Sales Lead Tracking System

Lists potential customers or customers who have purchased related products; that is, products similar to those that the salesperson is trying to sell to the customer.

Real-Time CRM

Organizations are able to respond to customer product searches, requests, complaints, comments, ratings, reviews, and recommendations in near real time, 24/7/365. Know a couple of these for quiz (terms above in this section).

Procurement Process

Originates when a company needs to acquire goods or services from external sources, and it concludes when the company receives and pays for them.

Order Fulfillment Process

Process in which the company sells goods to a customer originating when the company receives a custom order, and concluding when the company receives a payment from the customer (order-to-cash process).

Interorganizational Processes: ERP with SCM and CRM

Processes that involve suppliers and customers are considered (together with the production process) intraorganizational processes because they originate and conclude within the company. Processes that originate in one company/organization and conclude in another are called interorganizational processes.

Make-to-Order

Production is generated by specific customer order.

Loyalty Programs

Programs that recognize customers who repeatedly use a vendor's products or services.

Analytical CRM

Provide business intelligence by analyzing customer behavior and perceptions providing information concerning customer requests and transactions, as well as customer responses to the organization's marketing, sales, and service initiatives. These systems also create statistical models of customer behavior and the value of customer relationships over time, as well as forecasts about acquiring, retaining, and losing customers.

Decision Support

Provides essential information on business performance across functional areas which significantly improves managers' ability to make better, more timely decisions.

Search and Comparison Capabilities

Search and comparison capabilities offered to customers by online stores, online malls, and independent comparison Websites.

Operational CRM Systems

Systems that support front office business processes.

Business Intelligence

These modules collect information used throughout the organization, organize it, and apply analytical tools to assist managers with decision making.

Supply Chain Management

These modules manage the information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. They help organizations plan, schedule, control, and optimize the supply chain from the acquisitions of raw materials to the receipt of finished goods by customers.

Operations Management

These modules manage the various aspects of production planning and execution such as demand forecasting, procurement, inventory management, materials purchasing, shipping, production planning, production scheduling, materials requirements planning, quality control, distribution, transportation, and plant/equipment maintenance.

Customer Relationship Management

These modules support all the aspects of a customer's relationship with the organization. They help the organization to increase customer loyalty and retention, and thus improves its profitability. They also provide an integrated view of customer data and interactions, helping organizations to be more responsive to customer needs.

Human Resource Management

These modules support personnel administration (including workforce planning, and performance management and reviews), time accounting, payroll, compensation, benefits accounting, and regulatory requirements.

Front-Office Processes

Those processes that directly interact with customers (i.e., sales, marketing, and service).

Contact Management System

Tracks all communications between the company and the customer, the purpose of each communication, and any necessary followup which eliminates duplicate contacts and redundancy, which in turn reduces the risk of irritating customers.

Customer Interaction Centers (CIC)

Where organizational representatives use multiple channels such as the Web, telephone, fax, and face-to-face interactions to communicate with customers.

Marketing

CRM Marketing applications use data mining to sift through volumes of customer data.

Best of Breed Approach

Combines the benefits of the vanilla and customized systems while avoiding the extensive costs and risks associated with complete customization.

Make-to-Stock

Company produces goods to create or increase an inventory; finished products stored in a warehouse and available for sale.

E-Business

Customers and suppliers demand access to ERP information including order status, inventory levels, and invoice reconciliation. Furthermore, they want this information in a simplified format that can be accessed via the Web. As a result, these modules provide two channels of access to ERP system information - one change; for customers (B2C) and one for suppliers and partners (B2B).

Major Limitations of ERP Implementations

* Since ERPs are based on best practices companies may need to change their methods of achieving business objectives. * ERP systems can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming to implement. * Business Process Predefined by Best Practices * Difficult to Implement * Potential Failure

Three Major Disadvantages of Using a Cloud-Based ERP System

1) It is not clear whether cloud-based ERP systems are more secure than on-premise systems. 2) Companies that adopt cloud-based ERP systems sacrifice their control over a strategic IT resource. 3) Lack of control over IT resources when the ERP systems experience problems.

Three Major Advantages of Using a Cloud-Based ERP System:

1) The system can be used from any location that provides internet access. 2) Companies using cloud-based ERP avoid the initial hardware and software expenses that are typical of on premise implementation. 3) Cloud-based ERP solutions are scalable, meaning it is possible to extend ERP support to new business processes and new business partners (e.g., suppliers) by purchasing new ERP modules.

The Supply Chain Involves Three Segments

1) Upstream: Where sourcing or procurement from external suppliers occurs. 2) Internal: Where packaging, assembly, or manufacturing takes place. 3) Downstream: Where distribution takes place, frequently by external distributors.

Call Center

A centralized office set up to receive and transmit a large volume of requests by telephone.

Custom Approach

A company implements a more customized ERP system by developing new ERP functions designed specifically for that firm.

Vanilla Approach

A company implements a standard ERP package, using the package's built-in configuration options.

Product Knowledge System

A comprehensive source of information regarding products and services.

Sales Forecasting System

A mathematical technique for estimating future sales.

Mass Customization

A process in which customers can configure their own products (e.g., customized computer systems from Dell).

Source Data Automation

A process in which organizations try to automate the TPS data entry as much as possible because of the large volume involved.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

A simple tool for answering repetitive customer queries and when customers find the information they need by using FAQs the need to communicate with an actual person is eliminated.

Tiers of Suppliers

A supplier may have one or more sub-suppliers, a sub-supplier may have its own sub-supplier(s), and so on. For an automobile manufacturer, for example, Tier 3 suppliers produce basic products such as glass, plastic, and rubber; Tier 2 suppliers use these inputs to make windshields, tires, and plastic moldings; and Tier 1 suppliers produce integrated components such as dashboards and seat assemblies.

Information Flows

Data related to demand, shipments, orders, returns, and schedules, as well as changes in any of these data.

ERP 2 Systems

Interorganizational ERP systems that provide Web-enabled links among a company's key business systems - such as inventory and production - and its customers, suppliers, distributors, and other relevant parties.

Financial Flows

Involve money transfers, payments, credit card information and authorization, payment schedules, e-payments, and credit-related data.

Bundling

Is a form of cross-selling in which a business sells a group of products or services together at a lower price than their combined individual prices.

Business Processes Predefined by Best Practices

May require companies to change their existing business processes to fit the predefined business processes incorporated into the ERP software.

Production Process

Occurring only in companies that produce physical goods, this process follows one of two strategies: 1) Make-to-Stock 2) Make-to-Order

Customized Products and Services

Offering customers the ability to customize products, view account balances, check shipping status of an order, etc.

Personalized Web Pages

Organizations permit their customers to create personalized Web pages used to record purchases and preferences, as well as problems and requests.

Technical and Other Information and Services

Personalized experiences offered by organizations to induce customers to make purchases or to remain loyal (e.g., allowing customers to download product manuals; providing detailed technical information, maintenance information, and replacement parts to customers).

Reverse Flows (or reverse logistics)

Returned products that are damaged, unwanted, or in need of recycling.

Transaction Processing System (TPS)

Supports the monitoring, collection, storage, and processing go data from the organization's basic business transactions, each of which generates and collects data continuously, in real time.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

Systems designed to correct a lack of communication among the functional area IS and they adopt a business process view of the overall organization to integrate the planning, management, and use of all of an organization's resources, employing a common software platform and database.

On-Demand CRM Systems

Systems hosted by an external vendor in the vendor's data center which spares the organization the costs associated with purchasing the system, maintenance, and employees need to know only how to access and utilize it. Also known as utility computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS).

Customer Service and Support

Systems that automate service requests, complaints, product returns, and requests for information.

Outbound Tele-Sales

The CIC generates a call list for the sales team, whose members contact sales prospects.

Supply Chain Visibility

The ability of all organizations within a supply chain to access or view relevant data on purchased materials as these materials move through their suppliers' production processes and transportation networks to their receiving docks.

Sales Force Automation (SFA)

The component of an operational CRM system that automatically records all of the components in a sales transaction process.

Salesforce Automation (SFA)

The component of an operational CRM system that automatically records all of the components in a sales transaction process.

Batch Processing

The firm collects data from transactions as they occur, placing them in groups or batches then prepares and processes the batches periodically.

Supply Chains

The flow of materials, information, money, and services from raw material suppliers, through factories and warehouses, to the end customers.

Cross-Selling

The marketing of additional related products to customers based on a previous purchase.

E-mail and Automated Response

The most popular tool for customer service, inexpensive, fast, and companies use e-mail not only to answer customer inquiries but also to disseminate information, send alerts and product information, and conduct correspondence on any topic.

Materials Flows

The physical products, raw materials, supplies, and so forth that flow along the chain. Material flows also include the reverse flows.

Open-Source CRM Systems

The source code for open-source software is available at no cost.

The Structure and Components of Supply Chains

The speed at which a company can deliver products and services after receiving the materials required to make them.

Social CRM

The use of social media technology and services to enable organizations to engage their customers in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent manner.

Financial Management

These modules support accounting, financial reporting, performance management, and corporate governance. They manage accounting data and financial processes such as general ledger, accounts payable, account receivable, fixed assets, cash management and forecasting, product-cost accounting, cost-center accounting, asset accounting, tax accounting, credit management, budgeting, and asset management.

Campaign Management

Applications that help organizations plan campaigns that send the right messages to the right people through the right channels (e.g., avoid targeting people who have opted out of receiving marketing communications).

ERP CRM

Benefits businesses by generating forecasting analysis of product consumption based on critical variables.

Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)

Business transactions are processes online as soon as they occur and the system performs these tasks in real time by means of online technologies.

Customer Service and Support

Allow an organization's sales, field service, and customer interaction center representatives interact directly with customers through customer service and support, sales force automation, marketing, and campaign management.

Customer-Facing Applications

Allow an organization's sales, field service, and customer interaction center representatives interact directly with customers through customer service and support, sales force automation, marketing, and campaign management.

Customer-Facing Applications

Allow an organization's sales, field service, and customer interaction center representatives to interact directly with customers through customer service and support, sales force automation, marketing, and campaign management.

Live Chat

Allows customers to connect to a company representative and conduct an instant messaging session enabling the participants to share documents and photos.

Mobile CRM Systems

An interactive system that enables an organization to conduct communications related to sales, marketing, and customer service activities through a mobile medium for the purpose of building and maintaining relationships with its customers.

Configurator

An online product-building feature that enables customers to model the product to meet their specific needs.

Transaction

Any business event that generates data worthy of being captured and stored in a database (e.g., product manufactured, a service sold, a person hired, and a payroll check generated).

Information Help Desk

Assists customers with their questions concerning products or services, and it also processes customer complaints.

Transaction Processing System (TPS):

* Continuous 'real-time' data collection. * Efficiency handle high volumes of data and large variations in those volumes. * Avoid errors and downtime. * Record results accurately and securely. * Maintain privacy and security. * Source data automation/batch processing.

Extended ERP Modules

* Customer Relationship Management * Supply Chain Management * Business Intelligence * E-Business

Analytical CRM Systems Analyze Customer Data For:

* Designing and executing targeted marketing campaign. * Increasing customer acquisition, cross-selling, and upselling. * Providing input into decisions relating to products and services (e.g., pricing and product development). * Providing financial forecasting and customer profitability analysis.

Operational CRM Systems Provide the Following Benefits:

* Efficient, personalized marketing, sales, and service. * A 360-degree view of each customer. * The ability of sales and service employees to access a complete history of customer interaction with the organization, regardless of the touch point.

Major Causes of ERP Implementation Failure

* Failure to involve affected employees in the planning and development phases and in change management processes. * Trying to do too much too fast in the conversion process. * Insufficient training in the new work tasks required by the ERP system. * The failure to perform proper data conversion and testing for the new system.

Core ERP Modules

* Financial Management * Operations Management * Human Resource Management

Major Benefits of ERP Systems

* Organizational Flexibility * Decision Support * Quality and Efficiency

Disadvantages of Open - Source CRM

* Risk related to quality control. * Company IT platform must match the development platform of the open source CRM system.

Benefits of Open - Source CRM

* Source code is available to developers and users. * Provide the same features or functions as other CRM. * Implemented either on-premise or on-demand. * Favorable pricing * Wide variety of applications * Easy to customize

Potential Problems with On-Demand CRM

* Unreliable Vendors. * Hosted Software Difficult to Modify. * Upgrades Only Available Through the Vendor. * Difficult to Integrate with Organization's Existing Software. * Information Security and Privacy Risks

On-Premise ERP Implementation

* Vanilla Approach * Custom Approach * Best of Breed Approach

Two Major Components

1) Customer-Facing Applications 2) Customer-Touching Applications

Two Main Enterprise Systems That Support Interorganizational Processes:

1) Supply Chain Management (SCM) 2) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems