35973 Operations And Information Management Assessment Answer

Answer:

Business Process Models 

  The Business Process Modeling involves the development and creation of explicit graphical model of a business process that includes the internal knowledge on that particular process.  The Business Process Models that would be developed for CC Music would follow the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) .The Business process models that should be used in order to capture the existing and the proposed business processes for CC Music are as follows:

• Collaborative (Public ) B2B Processes
• Internal (Private ) Business Processes

Collaborative B2B Processes – The collaborative B2B Processes would be very fruitful for the CC Music. The collaborative B2B process involves the interactions between the two or more entities of business . The graphical representation of these types of business models are from the global point of view. The collaborative B2B processes does not rely on the views of the any particular participant of the process but it shows the interactions between the participants involved in the business process models . The interactions which talks place in this business process models involves a series of activities and also the exchange patterns of the messages that takes place between the participants of the business process models . The activities that are involved in this business process models, for the collaborations of the participants of can be considered as the “touch-points “between the involved participants. Thus, it can be said that the process involved in the business process model, clearly defines the interactions, which are visible to the public for each participant. If the process is observed in only one of the pool, which is for one participant, the public process is also called an abstract process. The actual processes or the internal processes, includes more activities and also contains more details in comparison to what is shown in the collaborative processes.

Figure 1: Collaborative B2B Business Process Model

Internal (Private) Business process – The internal or the private business process focuses on the view of the single business organization, in this case the business organization is the CC Music.  Even though the internal processes involved in this business process model depicts interactions with the external participants, they also define and highlight the activities, which are not commonly visible to the public. Thus, these processes involved in this business model can be considered as the private activities. The internal business process will be contained within a single poll if swim lanes are used in the internal business process . Thus, it can be said that the Sequence flow of the process is included within the pool and they are limited within the boundaries of the pool . However, the Message Flow can cross the boundary of the pool in order to exhibit the interaction that exists between the various separate internal business processes. Thus, it can be said that the Business process diagram can more than one private or internal business process .

Figure 2: Internal Business Process Model

Strategic Analysis of CC Music 

SWOT Analysis 

SWOT analysis is the analytical framework or structure that is used for the assessing or evaluating the competitive position of any company or organization by identifying the strengths, weakness, opportunities and the threats of the company. The SWOT Analysis of any company helps to accomplish the objectives of the company and also identify the obstacles which is needed to be overcome or curtailed in order to achieve the results which are desired .

The SWOT Analysis of CC Music is as follows:

• Strengths –  The strength of the company CC Music includes the ability of the artists, Chris and Clive to ensure quality of their productions and their ability to produce. Both Chris and Clive have been former music and music technology teachers . Thus, it can be said they possess the knowledge as well as the capability to produce quality outputs.  The strength of the CC Music is that the income that would be generated from the tours and merchandising would be handful because of the recognition of both Chris and Clive. Music is an indispensable commodity for the various fans across the world, specific genres and artists have fan bases, which cannot be substituted.
• Weakness – The weakness of the company CC Music is that the company is not well-established ion the market and CC Music can be deemed as the small to medium enterprise (SME). The other weakness of the company CC Music is that the both Chris and Clive lack the knowledge of the professional business information technology. Because of the lack of knowledge, they posses they are hesitant to invest funds for the business software that are to be used for the company CC Music.
• Opportunities – The daughter of Chris and the niece of Clive are both keen to support and also potentially mange the business of CC Music in the future. Both of them are very young and their involvement will be very fruitful and vital for the company, CC Music. They are eager to run the company in democratic style, which would enable everyone to take part in the business decisions . Thus, it can be deemed as the opportunity for CC Music.
• Threats – The company CC music has still not utilized the ever improving technologies that are been used in the music industry, which the other competitive companies in the market have already started using. The lack of technological infrastructure in comparison to the already existing rival companies in the market is the threat of the company, CC Music .

Open Source Software Comparison Table

Customer Relationship Management software and Enterprise Resource Management software

The Customer Relationship Management software and Enterprise Resource Management software and their characteristics that would be fruitful for CC Music are as follows:

Introduction 

 The importance of business process modeling is increasing because firms have raised the use of certain models which helps to improve their business processes. The managers and the business executives have realized the a well-structured and well –documented business methods support to achieve the goals fast. The business operations are functioned properly by the help of business processes. The trackability, consistency and the focus towards the goals are attained by incorporating suitable business process and models. The business process modeling combines various steps such as process discovery, process mapping, process simulation, process improvement and process analysis. A perfect business process model covers all these steps in –details and yields remarkable benefits. The preset report will deal with the case study of CC Music which is a small enterprise and needs to expand its business and networks. This company needs advanced information technology.  The report will also cover how the proposed changes can be achieved by the company.  A recommendation will be provided for the software used for keeping the business accounts, calendar events and tracking the communications between themselves.

Discussion 

Current situation of CC Music

CC Music is a small company founded by Chris and Clive both of whom are the former music technology teachers retired early deliberately.  They are experienced session musicians who have played in various bands. Hence, both of them even after the retirement wish to stay busy for the rest of their lives. They used to look observe the playing at events, studio work and other related TV and radio programs. At present, they are asked by various bands to represent them so that other artists also get promoted. Hence, they have decided to start with a small music agency which requires a proper business approach.  A proper business approach would maintain the social media marketing department, accounts, calendar events and communications. The new agency CC Music as they have named it is in need of appropriate technology to support it and make advancements.  A professional business information would help them to make the correct decision of investing in a right business software. The founders of the company also want to make it a full –time small business company in future. The CC Music company needs to avail the benefits of the customer relationship management software and the enterprise resource management software. The current situation of the CC Music company is in the beginner’s stage where they need various modifications and development in different parts of the firm.

How the changes will be achieved?

The proposed changes in the CC Music company will be achieved by the application of proper business process models, strategic implementation of those models into the business and open source software into the company. Two of the most effective business process models are Collaborative (public) B2B Processes and Internal Business processes. The collaborative business process model allows designing intelligent business processes by encouraging real-time collaboration among multiple stakeholders such as between the business and the IT users. The collaborative modeling will help the CC Music company to conduct real-time chat and the process sharing between all the members. The interaction remains unhindered and fruitful. This B2B process will enable to have the business perspective from a global viewpoint and encourage improvement.  It clearly shows the communication among the members of the organization. The business activities, the business related messages among the participant of the organization will be well maintained. It enables the company to conduct reusability of the business logic and the process artifacts. The CC Music company will achieve benefits by this process such as, it will have easy workflow keeping the standard of the work intact. The collaboration of the members will be seamless due to the effective nature of real-time interaction. The business operations of the CC Music agency will be better monitored with in-detail audit reports and logs. All the process related documents will be secured by this business process.

The internal business process or the private business process concentrates on the independent business organization. The CC Music company will be highly benefitted by this business process. Although this business process is referred to as the private business process, it also conducts external business interactions among the participants.  This is usually not visible in the public.  A singe poll of swim lanes will be used in the internal business process. The flow of sequence in the internal business process . Usually the pool is limited within the boundary but it can exceed in order to merge with the individual business processes.

Recommendation for Software implementation 

 The CC Music company is recommended to use Hub Spot CRM, Sales force Essentials, SAP business One and Loomly as these have been considered to be four of the most effective software in strengthen then customer relationship management and enterprise resource management. The customer relationship is essential for a small enterprise as well as for a big enterprise. The customers are the foundations of the success of a firm and their preferences, doubts, and queries must be resolved in order to retain them and help the business succeed fast. The CC Music agency must examine the customer behavior and study their psychology, background, choice that influence their purchasing behavior. The Hub Spot CRM software is used for accomplishing the complex processes and also meets all the requirements of an ideal customer relationship management software.  It can organize all the customer details that are used for maintaining the customer details.  It is supportive of creating an accurate track of the business accounts. The sales force essentials on the other hand is designed for the small size businesses like the CC Music agency.  It is known as one of the vital software extremely helpful for firms which have little resources and little amount of time.  The CC Music company is recommended to utilize the benefits of this software as much as possible.  It is helpful for storing the mater data of the company.  The SAP business one software will also be fruitful for the company as it has the most advanced features such as it keeps track of the incoming and outgoing payments of the CC Music company. Loomly is one such software that has been used by many startup companies, freelancers, non-profit organizations and the CC Music company too is recommended to make the best use of this software to meet their proposed changes.

The implementation of advanced software in a company is a serious task and must be handled sensitively. The CC Music company is recommended to strategically deal with the problem that comes along with the implementation of a new software in the company.  First of all, the CC Music company must appoint one central person or team to observe the planning, scoping and various needs of the business.  The team /person will select suitable software for the company and try to strategically deal with the challenges of new software such as employee inability to adopt the changes leading to retention issues.  The IT department must be involved for the success of software implementation.  The current position must be revisited by the company and the details about the software must be communicated to the employees with much transparency.

Conclusion 

Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the CC Music company must has proposed some changes in their organization in order to grow fast. The managers and the business executives have realized the a well-structured and well –documented business methods support to achieve the goals fast. The business operations are functioned properly by the help of business processes. The trackability, consistency and the focus towards the goals are attained by incorporating suitable business process and models. The company is recommended to conduct proper implementation of the software and business process strategically for better results and meet the requirements.

Reflection on your contribution to the online discussion

From the paper, I got comprehensive knowledge about the business process models .These models were aligned with the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). I was made aware of the various theories associated with the Business Process Modeling Notation. These made me aware of the various terminologies related to the BPMN like Business Process diagrams or BPD. The BPD is made up of the various graphical elements that includes the flow objects , connecting objects and the swim lanes . From the paper I understood that the Business Process modeling is used for the communication of wide variety of information target to different audiences. I came to know as well as identified two business process model that was suited best for the company, CC Music. These two models followed the BPMN.  Considering then case and the demands or the requirements of the company ,CC Music I identified total of 4 software , two of which are the Customer relationship management software (CRM)  and two which are Enterprise resource management software (ERM) . These four software would help the company, CC Music to efficiently perform their operations and functions by making use of technology. I was acquainted with the various features of the software , the list of the software includes Hub Spot CRM, Sales force Essentials, SAP Business One and Loomly. I believe these software are apt considering CC Music is small to medium scale enterprise and it would serve several purpose of the company CC Music .

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