Understanding Organisations

Understanding Organisations
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Aim: This report seeks to understand how organisations use digital technologies such as apps, websites and social media to enhance the organisations’ CRM and relationships with its customers.  This will include analysis of how the particular digital technology tools above impact on customer behaviour, enhance customer value and experience, improve customer engagement, build customer loyalty, assist in customer acquisition, retention and development. In addition, the final group report should examine what are the implications of the digital technology tool for the systems and processes of the organisation and its overall strategic customer management.
Due Date: There are two components to the Group Project Report: The individual component (Part 1) will be due in Week 7 and is required to be submitted via Turnitin located on the unit website by 11pm, Monday 10th April (Sydney time). The second component (Part 2) will be a group submission due in Week 12 and is required to be submitted via Turnitin on the unit website by 11pm, Monday 29th May (Sydney time). The Case Study Report is worth 40% of the total assessment in MKTG814 with each part (individual, group) being worth 20%. For every day or part day late a 10% penalty will apply.

Report Tasks:

Groups are to select an appropriate organisation from the potential sectors/organisations listed below. Once that organisation has been selected by the group, all output from the group including the output of Part 1 (individual component) must be on that organisation.

Part 1: Group Project Report: Part 1 – Situation Analysis Report (Individual Component – 20%)

Once an organisation has been selected, Part 1 (individual component) will be a situation analysis on the chosen organisation with one separate part of the situation analysis being done by each member of the group. The group members should decide by consensus which group member will be allocated to which part of the situation analysis.

The parts of the situation analysis are as follows:

i)    Internal Environment – Organisational Capabilities and Resources, Alliances and Networks, Competitive Environment
ii)    Customers- Customer Behaviour, Segments, Satisfaction, Loyalty
iii)    External Environment – Technology, Social Trends, Economic, Government and Legal Factors
iv)    Digital Presence – Websites, Social Media, Apps and Customer-related Technologies

The Situation Analysis parts should outline relevant information for each part and should connect the information to the organisation’s relationships with its customers and other network entities.

The Situation Analysis Report (Part 1) for each group must combine all of the above components into one Report with a suitable cover sheet. Each of the parts of the Situation Analysis should be approximately 2000 words so the total report should be approximately 8000 words.

There must be a clear indication on the cover sheet of the Report which student has completed the separate components of the Situation Analysis Report. This Report is required to be submitted via Turnitin located on the unit website by 11pm, Monday 10th April (Sydney time).

Part 2:  Group Project Report: Part 2 – Group Component (20%)

Groups will be required to investigate one of the digital tools (app, website or social media) used by the organisation with respect to the organisation’s overall Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Groups are free to choose from any of the organisations listed below and are free to choose one of any of the apps, organisational websites or social media sites (on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc) of that organisation. The group will need to analyse the app, website or social media site primarily with respect to how the digital tool selected impacts on the CRM of the organisation by addressing the issues listed below.

In selecting an organisation and a relevant digital tool be careful not to be too broad or narrow in your selection. If there are major segments targeted by the organisation pick one of the major segments for your choice of digital tool. For example, airlines tend to have economy and premium traveller segments or even domestic, international segments and telecommunications companies have consumer and business segments. Your group can narrow your focus to these segments and their associated digital tools (websites, apps, social media sites) instead of the entire organisation. On the other hand, picking a particular social media site for the organisation may not provide you with enough evidence to answer most of the questions indicated below. You may need to expand your choice to the organisation’s overall social media presence.

The report should address the following major areas in detail, in addition to any other
areas the group considers relevant to the organisation and its CRM. The following questions serve as a guide and may not be relevant to all organisations or digital tools. However, as far as possible groups should seek to address these questions in a suitable narrative (don’t just answer each question one by one but weave the answers into a story with evidence for support).

Groups should seek to analyse rather than just describe the evidence they gather. The group will need to provide specific examples of how the digital tool impacts on the relevant CRM aspects. For example, it will not be good enough to say the website has an online sales tool. You will need to briefly analyse and suggest how this online sales tool adds to customer experience or value. It will be useful to use concise screenshots to show the relevant component of the digital tool being analysed and discussed in the Case Study Report.

Areas to be addressed

(1)    Customer Analysis:  Here you will need to analyse the digital tool with respect to the impact of the tool on potential consumer behaviour and customer relationship components. How does the particular digital tool impact on customer behaviour? In what way does the digital tool enhance customer value and experience? How does the digital tool add to the customer/organisation touch points? Are there components of the digital tool that are designed to improve customer engagement? How does the tool assist in building customer loyalty? How does it help the organisation in the areas of customer acquisition, retention and development?

(2)    Organisational Impacts: This section of the report should investigate how the digital tool connects to the CRM systems and processes of the organisation. What are the data implications of the digital tool including data collection and integration? How can the data collection and analysis potentially assist in the organisation’s CRM in future? What is the impact of the digital tool on organisational systems and processes? What are the resource implications for the organisation of maintaining the digital tool? How are partners/suppliers and employees impacted, if at all, by the implementation of the digital tool.

The choice of organisation should come from one of the sectors indicated below. Groups will pick ONE organisation from ONE sector only. The choice of organisation will be in general up to the student to decide, however, most organisations will have relevant presence in its sector/category. Groups may want to investigate the digital tools available for each organisation before you make your choice as not all organisations may have apps or social media presence. Note that the organisations are typically large with presence in more product/sector categories. You are limited to the product/sector category indicated. Try and pick an organisation and a product/sector that will make it easier for your group to answer the questions above.

Sectors/Organisations to Choose From
1.    Motor Vehicles (passenger division) – Ford, Honda, Great Wall Motors
2.    Banking services (non-commercial division) – ANZ Bank, Bank of China, HSBC Bank
3.    Airlines (passenger division): Virgin Airlines (Australia), Cathay Pacific, China Southern
4.    Telecommunications: Vodafone, Optus, Telstra
5.    Fashion: Zara, Lorna Jane, Hugo Boss
6.    General Retailers: Coles, David Jones, Sears
7.    Communications (smartphones): Apple, Samsung, HTC