An Information System for Stakeholders of Amazon Australia
Description
In this assignment you are required to play the role of a trainee business analyst working on an information system solution for Amazon Australia. You work for an IT consultancy firm called Information Systems Wizards.
The Brief from Amazon Australia’s CEO (the Assignment Question)
The CEO of Amazon Australia would like you to analyse an existing human activity system within Amazon Australia that suffers from issues and needs improvement, and also to suggest a new information system for a specific purpose which can help Amazon Australia overcome those issues and perform better (the system can be an improved version of an existing system). You also need to come up with recommendations as to how Amazon Australia’s identified human activity system can better make use of a new information system in order to perform better.
Note: The chosen information systems can do anything you like.
Note: The HAS can be fictional or real. If the HAS is real, you need to identify a new problem and new information system, that has not been implemented by Amazon Australia (or in other countries).
Work Organisation
You need to submit a final report for the Assignment in Week 9 submitted online via the Learning @ Griffith course website. Details for the submission process will be supplied later in the trimester.
Assignment Objectives:
Your 3,000-4,000 word report will demonstrate that you have:
• shown competence in finding, reading, analysing and synthesising materials from the course readings and applied this material in the writing of your report
• made use of the concepts, theories, models and ideas introduced in the course to understand and analyse the requirements to make well-founded recommendations
• researched and understood the purpose and operational context of the identified human activity system at Amazon Australia
• shown creativity and initiative in understanding and capturing how Amazon Australia operates (for example, by looking on the Amazon Australia website, searching for relevant newspaper articles, drawing on your own experiences, or interviewing friends/family)
• identified, based on the aforementioned research, a new information system and its associated human activity system that you will recommend to Amazon Australia together with a brief discussion of its implications for Amazon Australia’s operation
• described the expected impact of the new information system on Amazon Australia’s operation and various stakeholders; and
• used analogies, where information was not available, to make logical and relevant assumptions (this could include information about how Amazon operates in other countries).
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Assignment Questions and Deliverables:
This assignment has 4 parts. In part 1, you will analyse the overall business of Amazon Australia by answering a number of questions. In part 2, you will identify an existing human activity system within the organisation which needs improvements and answer a series of questions in relation to that system. In part 3, you will suggest a new information system for a specific purpose supporting the HAS in part 2 that will help Amazon Australia perform better and answer a series of questions with regards to that information system. In part 4, you will synthesise the outcomes of parts 1, 2 & 3 into a report containing a series of recommendations to Amazon Australia’s management.
Part 1) An overall analysis of the business of Amazon Australia (10 marks):
In this part of the assignment, you will analyse the overall business of Amazon Australia by addressing the following requirements:
a) Provide information about Amazon Australia and locate relevant information about its strategy, how it competes in the market, and its operations.
b) Describe the organisational form of Amazon Australia using Mintzberg’s classification.
c) Present the value chain of Amazon Australia using Porter’s Value Chain Model. List and describe the primary and support activities of Amazon Australia.
d) Analyse the competitive strategy of Amazon Australia using Porter’s competitive forces model. For each of the five forces, explain if that force is low, medium, or high, and explain why.
Part 2) Analysing an existing human activity system that is problematic (18 marks):
In this part of the assignment, you will identify aspects of an existing human activity system within Amazon Australia which is problematic and needs improvement, and answer the questions below:
a) Identify an existing human activity system within Amazon Australia which could be identified by some stakeholders as being problematic and suffering from issues (problems). Also, list the stakeholders of this human activity system and define their roles.
b) Draw a rich picture showing the issues and the concerns of the stakeholders you have identified.
c) Draw a process model using the BPM notation for the process of the existing human activity system you have identified.
d) Use the DeLone-McLean Model of Information System Success to describe the areas in which the existing human activity system is not successful.
e) Describe measures of success (efficiency, efficacy, and effectiveness) for the existing human activity system identified, and explain using success measures where the HAS falls short.
Part 3) Suggesting a new Information System to support the HAS in part 2 (15 marks):
In this part of the assignment, you will suggest a new information system for a specific purpose, which can help Amazon Australia overcome those issues identified in part 2, and perform better. This must be a new or modified information system. Answer the following questions with regards to the new information system:
a) Identify a new information system which can clearly add value to the business of Amazon Australia. Is it a primary or secondary activity according to Porter’s value model? Also, list the likely stakeholders of this new information system and define their roles.
b) Describe the data and information that the new system involves, explain the types of knowledge that the new information system can create, and describe how it can inform decision-making.
c) Draw a process model using the BPM notation for the new information system you have identified.
d) Classify the new information system within Amazon Australia as either: front-end, back-end, customer- facing, or supplier-facing; and explain why.
e) Describe dimensions of impact of your proposed new information system within Amazon Australia for all stakeholders; identify intended and positive effects (and possible negative effects) and describe the proposed impact of the new system on the organisation, groups, and individuals.
f) Describe measures of success (efficiency, efficacy, and effectiveness) for the proposed new information system.
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Part 4) Recommendations and reflection (7 marks):
a) Synthesise the outcome of parts 1, 2, and 3 into a report containing a series of recommendations to Amazon Australia’s management.
b) You need to devise recommendations as to how it can make use of a new information system in order to provide better service to customers; and to ensure success of the information system by taking steps to avoid system failure.
Your report must be submitted using the mandated template, and follow the exact format of the template. Failure to use the template will result in your assignment receiving 0 marks. (See the marking criteria.) The template will be provided in the same place from where you downloaded this assignment specification document.
During the workshops, on a weekly basis, your workshop tutor will be making links between the course material and giving you more guidance on the assignment to help you deliver the above report. In particular, you will be given practical exercises each week that are similar in nature to those required in the assignment.
The workshop exercises are therefore very important for developing the skills required for the assignment. Workshop attendance is therefore essential and your attendance will be recorded. Please refer to your tutor in the workshops for further clarification or questions. The lecturer is also available after the lecture for consultation, in the common time, or by appointment.