Learning Objectives

Identify the main characteristics and types of enterprise systems
Discuss the purposes of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems
Explain the purposes and functioning of supply chain management (SCM) systems
Identify the components of customer relationship management (CRM) systems
Apply the customer life cycle concepts to CRM

Enterprise Systems

Personal versus Enterprise Systems

Enterprise systems are information systems that serve the needs of the organization or parts of the organization.

Three perspectives on developing enterprise systems have emerged:

Hierarchical perspective
- Information systems mirror the organization
- Meet the needs of a level within the organization
Functional perspective
- Meet the needs of a functional area – such as human resources or marketing
Process prospective
- Support the process at hand regardless of the organizational level or functional area
- It is a series of steps required to perform a task

Integration and Enterprise Systems

Main issues: Redundancy and lack of communication across department
The process perspective focuses on integration to solve those issues.
Business integration is the unification of business processes previously performed as separate activities to create cohesive and streamlined business processes. (Performed the best way they can be without barriers)
- Examples: CRM – Customer Relationship Management
Systems integration is the unification of information systems and databases that were previously operating as separate systems. It focuses on the technological components of information systems.
- Examples: ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning; CMSs – Content Management Systems; SCM – Supply Chain Management

Enterprise Resource Planning (EPR)

An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is a set of information systems tools that are used to manage an organization’s resources and enable information to flow within and between processes (and departments).

Before ERP systems, different applications for different functions.
With ERP, various modules offer integrated management of these resources.

Features:

ERP applications are built on a centralized database
It offers system and business integration (data integration)
Module based
Customizable

Benefits and Disadvantages of ERP Systems

Benefits

Efficiency – reduce data redundancy
Responsiveness – provide more accurate information and more rapid responses to demands
Adaptable – can be configured to fit the organization’s needs
Benefit from the expertise of ERP software vendors and consultants

** Disadvantages**

Enormous amount of work and very high cost
Users accustomed to the old way of doing business may offer significant resistance to an ERP implementation.

Supply Chain Management Systems

The typical supply chain involves the flow of goods from the manufacturer to the wholesaler to the retailer and to the consumer.

A well-managed supply chain can result in a reduction in inventory costs
It can also reduce the number of returned items through better inventory information
SCM can also improve a company’s overall relationships with partners through more accurate and timely communication about the flow of products, information, and payments.
A good SCM system also allows companies to offer just-in-time inventory – maintain the lowest level of inventory

Customer Relationship Management Systems

Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to an organization-wide strategy for managing an organization’s multiple interactions with customers.

CRM involves a set of activities and technologies meant to help companies understand the needs of current and potential customers.
CRM allows to attract and retain customers and manage customer relationships
It also allows company to analyze customer data

CRM includes three main goals:

Manage multiple channels of interaction with customer
Provide unified view of each customer across enterprise
Analyze information about customers

Customer Service Life Cycle

The customer service life cycle (CSLC) is a framework to help us understand the various tasks a CRM system can be useful for.

Four phases:

Phase	Description	Example
Engage	Creating customer awareness of the product or service. The goal of the engage stage is to generate leads and then convert those leads into customers.	Campaign management; Email marketing; Lead processing; Sales force automation; Web-based catalogs
Transact	All activities associated with the purchase process. The goal of this phase is to efficiently and effectively complete the purchase process so that customers do not abandon the purchase process.	Order management; Payment process and options; Product configuration; Product pricing
Fulfill	Delivery of the product or service to the customer.	Order tracking; Supply chain integration
Service	Supporting the customer during the ownership of a product or service.	Call center automation; Customer issues management; Self-service

Components of CRM Systems

CRM systems have three main components: operational, collaborative, and analytical.

Operational components of a CRM system – help the organization improve day-to-day interactions with customers.
- They are involved with the operations of the company, such as sales or repairs.
Collaborative components of a CRM system – help the organization interact and collaborate with its customers.
- Email, and automated response systems
- Interactive voice response (IVR) systems and voice over IP (VoIP) to allows live talk.
Analytical components of CRM – consist of technologies and processes organizations can use to analyze customer data.
- Data mining technologies and methods are often used to discover patterns and groups in the data stored in a data warehouse.

CRM Implementation Options

There are two main ways that CRM can be implemented: on premise or on demand.

On-premise CRM implementation means that the CRM system is acquired, leased, or developed by the organization and installed on tis local servers.
On-demand CRM, also known as software-as-a-server (SaaS) CRM, refers to the remote use of CRM provider’s applications through the Internet.

Benefts and Disadvantages of CRM