You need to choose an organization and write a report (3500 words) where you use the strategic framework tools discussed in the lectures to review the efficiency and effectiveness of technology within...

INF701 - MANAGEMENT INFORMATICS
ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF ICT SYSTEMS WITHIN AMAZON
TASK 2
SEMESTER 1, 2019
Executive Summary
ICT or Information and Communication is a technological framework that is used by modern businesses in order to integrate and align the various communication channels and systems within their business processes and organisational functions. The implementation of an ICT framework plays an integral part as it enhances the flow of information within the businesses which, in exchange, enhance their decision-making capabilities in multiple aspects. However, to ensure optimal efficiency and effectiveness of the ICT frameworks, it is of pivotal importance for businesses to consistently monitor the systems and implement changes whenever necessary. Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, is one of the largest e-retailers and the most successful e-commerce business.
As an e-retailer, it is hardly surprising that Amazon has employed various technological innovations within their business processes in order to enhance performance and profitability. In this assignment, the effectiveness and efficiency of Amazon's ICT framework have been evaluated and discussed through the utilisation of strategic tools. In addition, this assignment also deals with the development of recommendations that may bring positive changes to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the ICT framework and the development of an implementation plan for successful implementation of the recommended strategies.
Table of Contents
Introduction    4
Background of Amazon    4
The extent of Alignment    5
Assessment of Efficiency and Effectiveness    7
Recommendations    10
Implementation Plan    11
References    14
Appendix A    16
Introduction
The recent technological advances and the ever-growing presence of digital media have presented modern businesses with enormous opportunities to expand and improve their range of operations, profitability and efficiency. ICT or Information and Communication Technology is one of such advent. It is an extensional term for IT, which emphasises on the development of unified and integrated methods of communications. The usability and adaptability of ICT have enabled modern businesses to enhance the efficiency and performance of organisation procedures and functions massively (Vaishnavi & Kuechler, 2015).
In the current tech-advanced world, several factors drive the implementation of ICT including institutional regulations, enhancement of business functions or intent to supply modified and improved service and product offerings. A successfully implemented ICT system allows organisations to achieve their strategic objectives rapidly and adds significant value to the actions carried out by them (Vaishnavi & Kuechler, 2015). The current essay aims to assess the extent to which, the ICT framework within Amazon has been efficient and effective.
As one of the largest e-retailers, Amazon puts considerable emphasis on using ICT in several functions or processes to achieve objectives. The essay has been divided into three parts. The first part deals with the assessment of how effectively Amazon uses their ICT framework in light of the environmental transitions, as well as, hurdles. The second part revolves around the development of suggestions to enable the firm to enhance the current capabilities and range of functions of the ICT framework. The third and final part focuses on the development of an implementation plan for the recommendations developed in the second part.
Background of Amazon
Established in 1994 in Washington, Amazon currently holds the position of the world's largest e-commerce marketplace. The company was formerly known as Cadabra Inc., which was changed to Amazon in 1995. The founder of the company, Jeff Bezos started the company with the intention to sell books online. However, soon the company began selling software, furniture, toys, apparel, electronics, video games, jewellery, food and basically anything. Walmart was regarded as the most valuable retailed within the US taking into account market value. However, in 2015, the market capitalisation of Amazon surpassed Walmart's. As of the fiscal year 2018, Amazon has made whopping revenue of $232.88 billion.
Amazon is extensively used by people from all around the world for buying items/commodities. In addition to being a retailer, Amazon also manufactures its own product lines, which include Amazon Kindle, Amazon Echo and many more. As of the fiscal year 2018, Amazon has employed over 645,000 employees in its worldwide offices and branches. With the launch of the premium delivery and video streaming service, Amazon Prime, the company was able to gain more than a hundred million subscribers from all over the world. Amazon strives to offer the clientele the maximum convenience through providing them with, potentially, the best available choices in exchange for the lowest possible prices. It envisions being the number one consumer-centric organisation in the world, which can be used by customers to find and buy anything they want (Rossman, 2016).
Extent of Alignment
SWOT Analysis
SWOT is an acronym that stands for S=Strengths, W=Weaknesses, O=Opportunities and T=Threats. The SWOT analysis enables the users to develop a strategic framework, which facilitates the assessment of the competitive positioning of companies. With the help of the SWOT analysis, companies are to analyse and evaluate both the internal, as well as, external elements along with the present and future potential associated with the company. The fundamental agenda of SWOT analysis is providing significant aid to companies for the development of strategic planning (Bull et al. 2016).
This strategic tool is designed in a manner, which facilitates generating an evidence-based, realistic and information-driven overview of the strengths, as well as, weaknesses of a company or an industry. The four components of this framework serve different purposes. The first component, strength, assesses the capabilities of the organisation along with the strong areas, which facilitate business processes and operations. The second component, weaknesses, is used to assess the areas within the business processes and operations along with the external conditions, which may hinder the efficiency of the businesses.
The fourth component, opportunities, is used in order to evaluate the external conditions, which if exploited correctly, could offer the company with some added value such as increased profitability or enhanced efficiency. The fourth and final component, threats, is used in order to evaluate the external conditions, which may threaten the overall profitability of the business along with the efficiency of the operations.
Balanced Scorecard
A balanced scorecard can be referred to as metrics for scoring the performance of the functions and business processes carried out by organisations. The balanced scorecard is an integral component within strategic management, which is utilised by the companies in order to determine and enhance the several intrinsic processes, as well as, functions and the extrinsic outcomes that would be generated by the intrinsic processes and functions. In addition to being able to measure the performance of the intrinsic functions and processes, organisations are also able to obtain feedback on the manners, in which to improve the current efficiency and effectiveness of their operations and functions (Akkermans & Van Oorschot, 2018). Balanced scorecards work in close association with critical quantitative information, which makes data gathering of paramount importance.
The gathered information is then presented to managerial level staff members and executives who then interpret the presented data. A proper application and execution of the balanced scorecard tool allow organisations to consolidate the decisions they make in order to enhance the business functions, as well as, operations. A balanced scorecard typically involves the isolation of four distinct business components including business processes, learning and growth, consumers, as well as, finance. The fundamental agenda behind the use of a balanced scorecard is to obtain measurements, objectives, initiatives and desired goals, which are generated from the aforementioned components. Additionally, a...