A Software Application - Essay Example

Log book As a part of the undergraduate degree programme, all the students are required to complete a significant body of independent work that draws from and extends the taught elements of the degree programme. It was outlined that the project should either focus on providing a practical investigation of some theme or issue relating to the business and Information Technology disciplines or developing a part or all of a software application in response to an identified business or commercial problem. I had previously thought of developing a software application for managing the supply chain for a retail format. However, on the very first day of my research I heard an interesting comment being made by a retail store owner. He said that the supply chain management systems currently in use in the UK are not good enough and are not as comparable as the systems used in the US. Such a statement completely threw me off-balance and I decided to investigate the matter. On asking a few more retail store owners, I heard similar responses. Therefore, I decided to undertake my research on finding out ways to improve the performance and quality of automatic supply chain systems in the UK by comparing the supply chain systems of the US and the UK. Project framework Once the topic was decided, it was imperative to draw out a framework for the project, as without a framework it would be difficult to proceed. Therefore, I would speak with few of my friends to first discuss about this topic and find what kind of framework would be suitable for this project. However, even before speaking with my friends, it was important to understand the topic myself and I started doing some research on the topic. I found that most of the literatures talked about the integration of the supply chain management system and the important of developing such a system. Most of the literatures separately talked about the supply chain management systems currently in us in the UK and the US. However, not a single literature talked about the comparison between these two systems. This is when I decided to create a comparison between the systems of both these countries, to find out why the UK companies prefer the US systems. My friends also had the same opinion. They also thought that the US systems were much better than the UK system, and gave me some insights like the flexibility of updating regulations and the systems being user-friendly etc. With the help of my friends, I drew a rough sketch of my project. The sketch is given below: Researching about the project Finding out existing literature on the topic Defining a clear project hypothesis Steps on how to prove this hypothesis Once the rough framework was made, my work became easier and I could easily focus on finding out materials for my project topic. I also spoke with my tutor to find out if my research topic was fine enough for this project. I realised that it is important to get the topic approved in the beginning itself rather than getting it scrapped after putting in a lot of efforts into researching for the topic. It was during this interaction with my tutor that my tutor suggested to go for chapter wise and thereafter section wise division of the paper. My tutor said that such a selection would help in organising my thoughts in a better manner. Developing a methodology While conducting a through research on the topic, I found that my research needs to be supported by facts and figures. If I wanted to prove my hypothesis, I had to present real life situations to my tutors. This could only be done through conducting survey with the supply chain managers. I realised that this would be an extensive process and therefore, decided to take a little bit more time to understand the best procedure to undertake such a research. I thought of doing a full-fledged quantitative research on the topic and interview around 1000 managers through an Internet survey. However, my tutor and my friends both asked me not to take such a route as my study needs more qualitative input than quantitative. Therefore, I thought of using a qualitative research method and undertake a sample survey. However, even before creating the sample survey, I understood that I would require in-depth knowledge of the subject matter as the interviews may ask me any sort of question regarding the topic and I should be prepared for it. Researching existing literature I have started my research process by using the library books and journals. I believe that for a subject like this, it is important to read as much and use peer-reviewed and reliable sources, as most of the premises of my research topic is based on the perception of people. Interestingly, I did not find much material on the topic, especially while trying to find articles on the comparison between the UK and the US systems. Therefore, I decided to tackle them individually and then draw out a comparison between the two. Some of the interesting information that I was able to collect through my literature search were: “The myth of eCommerce is that information entered at the source is instantly available to all members of the supply chain who need it, and that data flows seamlessly to points of use without manual intervention. The reality is that manual data re-entry is widespread, and that differences in data formats are resolved by intensive manual interpretation making inconsistencies and incompleteness prevalent. This results in over stocked items, inefficient spend and reduced ability to respond effectively to supply chain events.” -- Juanqiong, G, Tingting, M, and Jingjing, L 2007, ‘A Research on Supply Chain Integration Strategy Based on Virtual Value Net, Springer Boston, 887-891. “In the 21st century, there have been a few changes in business environment that have contributed to the development of supply chain networks. First, as an outcome of globalization and the proliferation of multi-national companies, joint ventures, strategic alliances and business partnerships, there were found to be significant success factors, following the earlier "Just-In-Time", "Lean Management" and "Agile Manufacturing" practices. Second, technological changes, particularly the dramatic fall in information communication costs, which are a paramount component of transaction costs, have led to changes in coordination among the members of the supply chain network” -- Grainger, Andrew 2003, ‘Supply chain management and regulatory controls: A case for trade facilitation’, Logistics Research Network, 162-167. I was also able to find out about the various past studies conducted about the use of supply chain management systems in the US and the UK, albeit separately. Some of the authors of these studies were Armistead and Mapes (1993), Berry, Towill, and Wadsley (1994), Bleil (1993) and Burt (1989). -- Armistead, C. G., and Mapes, J. 1993, ‘The impact of supply chain integration on operating performance’, Logistics Information Management, 6(4), 9-14. -- Berry, D., Towill, D. R., and Wadsley, N. 1994, ‘Supply chain management in the electronics product industry’, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 24, 20-32. -- Bleil, R. 1993, ‘Increasing competitiveness through better supply management’, Electronic Business Buyer, 72-74. -- Burt, D. N. 1989, Managing suppliers to speed. Harvard Business Review, 67(4), 127 - 135. However, the most interesting outcome of this literature search was the finding of the two case studies. While, reading about a study conducted by KPMG on the topic of supply chain management, I found about the successful implementation of this system in a UK-based and a US-based company. I thought that incorporating such information would provide authenticity to my report. Although, intrigued by the case studies, I was not able to decide how to use them. I asked my peers once again, and one of them came up with the brilliant idea of combining both the case studies and the sample survey and present them as findings. Therefore, I decided to use these two case studies as part of the project. The case studies helped me in better understanding the supply chain management systems used in both these countries. As the studies traced the companies right from the pre-implementation stage to the post-implementation measuring of benefits, an entire lifecycle of the systems could be studied through close quarters. As, I was not creating or implementing a supply chain programme myself, it was important for me to understand whether such a system can be created and implemented successfully. And these case studies were perfect instances. Conducting sample survey Although being the most crucial part of the entire report process, it also became the most difficult part of the project as well. The entire scope of the work could only be determined once it is being undertaken. I realised the same while conducting the sample survey. As this was an independent project, I had to conduct the survey all by myself I decided to create another framework along with a stringent timeframe to follow. The framework along with the timeframe is given below: Activity Timeframe Dependency factors Preparing a questioner 1 week Editing and checking the questioner, getting it peer reviewed 2 days Availability of peers Getting the final copy checked by the tutor 1 day Availability of the tutor In case of suggestions, incorporate them and prepare a fresh copy 2 days Creating a database of people to be interviewed 1 week Sending the list of people to the tutor for final approval 1 day Availability of the tutor Making cold calls or writing emails to the selected people to find out if they are interested in the research or not 1 week Availability and interest of the possible respondents Create additional list of people, in case not many agree for the interview 3 days Sending of the questioner with a detailed note about the research to the respondents who have agreed to participate 3 days Waiting for the answers, give at least a week’s time to the respondents to get back If not many respondents have gotten back, call them personally to find out 3 days Availability of the respondents Also call those people who have filled the questioner partially 3 days Availability of the respondents Conducting the sample survey became a very tedious task and required constant follow-ups with the respondents. Initially, I had short listed around 60 companies but could not find the contact details of the people to be contacted in these companies. Therefore, I decided to cut down my list to 50 companies. This was quite manageable. I called up or emailed these people explaining about the project. Out of 50, around 40 people agreed to be part of this research. However, most of them demanded a copy of the research as well. Thereafter, I send them a copy of the questioner and waited for their replies. I received 20 replies within a couple of days. However, other people failed to respond even after a week’s deadline. I decided to call up these people and reminded them to fill up the form. After the second reminder, I received 10 more filled questioners. Therefore, I had to call up again to the remaining 10 people. I found that 2 had left the company, and 2 were on company tour, while 1 said that he was too busy with another project. The remaining 5 promised to send the answers soon. They sent their replies within a few days. However, I found that two of them did not provide complete answers to the questioner and I had to call them again to find out the answers that the respondents did not provide. I was very particular about getting the right and proper information, as badly filled forms would means skewed data for the study. Data analysis This was another difficult stage as I required complete isolation to understand the data and interpret it in the right manner. However, disturbances in my immediate environment kept me away from the project for a few days. Thereafter, I devoted my complete time and energy into finding the results for the data gathered through the survey. I created a separate excel file and first of all crunched the data as per the questions. I also provided various heads for each of the graph. I took care of plotting the numbers in terms of percentage as it helps even a layman to understand the data in a better manner. After conducting a detailed analysis, I gave an in-depth discussion on my findings as well. I got these cross checked with my tutor to find out if I was proceeding at the right path or not. The data analysis method also helped in understanding the various gap areas in the implementation of the supply chain management system in the UK. Therefore, I thought of providing a comprehensive list of recommendations that people may follow while implementing supply chain management system in the UK. Rough draft The initial draft of the project was ready by this stage and I read it again to find out if it represented all my thoughts. I gave it to my tutor to understand his point of view about the project. The tutor told me that the project was at the right track and gave me several suggestions to visually enhance the file. Further, my tutor also gave me various content related suggestions as well. My tutor told me to provide a report format to the entire paper by giving it specific headings at the relevant parts. Also, my tutor asked me to divide the paper as per various chapters and sub-chapters, and provide a table of content at the beginning. Also, asked me to cross-check the reference section to find out if the correct referencing system has been used or not. The tutor also provided various comments on the overall structure of the paper. Second draft I took a week’s time to incorporate all the suggestions provided by my tutor. I did this work very slowly as I did not want to miss out on any suggestion given by my tutor. I enhanced the paper not only in terms of its content but also improved it visually. I also decided to get it peer-reviewed once to ensure that the paper is error free. I submitted this draft to my tutor for his inputs. This time only minor changes were given by my tutor and asked me to submit the paper after incorporating them. Final paper I took special care to incorporate all the suggestions given by my tutor and read and re-read the paper again and again to find out if the paper is in order or not. I got it peer checked again to ensure that the paper is error free. Now the paper is ready for submission. Log file Some of the important passages that were used in the paper after rephrasing are as follows: “Supply chain efficiencies may be frustrated through requirements set by organisations like Customs authorities, revenue authorities, immigration services, security forces, health and safety legislators, food and environment legislators and transport regulators. Recent security scares and public health concerns have echoed calls for tighter regulatory controls across supply chain operations and at national frontiers in particular. Regulatory control is nothing new in international trade and non-tariff barriers remain an operational challenge in international supply chain management.” -- Grainger, Andrew 2003, ‘Supply chain management and regulatory controls: A case for trade facilitation’, Logistics Research Network, 162-167. “Transportation is an essential part of Carmeuse’s day-to-day business. This is an intricate situation with some customers managing the transportation versus others requiring Carmeuse to manage it. There is multimodal transportation via lake vessel, barge, train and truck. Management of the truck transportation is very complex and time consuming, due to manual processes leading to increasing cost.” -- KPMG 2009, ‘Logistics and Supply Chain’, KPMG, Transwide, Cardiff University, viewed on February 10, 2010 < https://www.kpmg.ch/Topics/15130.htm>. Based on Transwide’s customers’ performance in the large manufacturing sector, the following significant results were realised: Increased quantities loaded with the same workforce and equipment by approx 10% Increased on-time deliveries by 20% Reduction in freight claims by 12% -- KPMG 2009, ‘Logistics and Supply Chain’, KPMG, Transwide, Cardiff University, viewed on February 10, 2010 < https://www.kpmg.ch/Topics/15130.htm>. “The supply chain is a crucial part of most businesses – innocent being no exception – yet assigning dedicated IT staff to manually process orders and update back-end systems is resource-intensive, and few organisations, especially in the current economic climate, can afford to do so. Managing legacy connectivity systems can prove to be cumbersome, with system downtime and unreliable internet connections causing IT administrators numerous headaches, as well as impacting the business’ capability to process orders and invoices.” -- KPMG 2009, ‘Logistics and Supply Chain’, KPMG, Transwide, Cardiff University, viewed on February 10, 2010 < https://www.kpmg.ch/Topics/15130.htm>. “Supply chain management (SCM) executives face unique challenges, with respect to integrating supply chain specific strategies with the overall corporate business strategy. In recent years, given changing business realities related to globalization, the supply chain has moved up on the chief executive officer’ s (CEO’s) list of priorities.” -- Morten, J 2003, ‘Managerial Challenges within Networks: Emphasizing the Paradox of Network Participation,’ The Aarhus School of Business, 9(3), 372-375. “The importance of global integration to the Multi-National Company (MNC) lies in the differential advantage to be gained from the ability to exploit differences in capital and product markets, to transfer learning and innovation throughout the firm, and manage uncertainty in the economic or political environment in different countries or regions.” -- Morten, J 2003, ‘Managerial Challenges within Networks: Emphasizing the Paradox of Network Participation,’ The Aarhus School of Business, 9(3), 372-375. References: Armistead, C. G., and Mapes, J. 1993, ‘The impact of supply chain integration on operating performance’, Logistics Information Management, 6(4), 9-14. Berry, D., Towill, D. R., and Wadsley, N. 1994, ‘Supply chain management in the electronics product industry’, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 24, 20-32. Bleil, R. 1993, ‘Increasing competitiveness through better supply management’, Electronic Business Buyer, 72-74. Burt, D. N. 1989, Managing suppliers to speed. Harvard Business Review, 67(4), 127 - 135. Grainger, Andrew 2003, ‘Supply chain management and regulatory controls: A case for trade facilitation’, Logistics Research Network, 162-167. Juanqiong, G, Tingting, M, and Jingjing, L 2007, ‘A Research on Supply Chain Integration Strategy Based on Virtual Value Net, Springer Boston, 887-891. KPMG 2009, ‘Logistics and Supply Chain’, KPMG, Transwide, Cardiff University, viewed on February 10, 2010 < https://www.kpmg.ch/Topics/15130.htm>. Morten, J 2003, ‘Managerial Challenges within Networks: Emphasizing the Paradox of Network Participation,’ The Aarhus School of Business, 9(3), 372-375. 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