Information Technology and Business Level Strategy

Question: Discuss about the Information Technology and Business Level Strategy. Answer: Introduction: As stated by Barber et al. (2016), with the evolving technology, businesses are becoming more and more depended on it. Technology has changed the business for better by streamlining the sales technique and sales process. In fact, as commented by Drnevich and Croson (2013), Companies those stay behind the successful utilization of technology for their sales or marketing purpose, fail to compete with the other competitors in the market. The aim of the report is to carry out a detailed analysis on the use of technology for the sales purpose. Dominos Pizza has been selected as the case study for this report. Dominos is a well known fast food brand and is popular for both dine-in and home delivery services. The report shall evaluate the sales objectives, methods of competitors evaluation, importance and benefits of data management and Web technologies. On the basis of the evaluation, certain recommendations will be made. Sales goals and objectives Technological advancement has widened the scope for E-commerce activities. It is for the same reason the sales objectives of an organization include both online and on-store objectives. For Dominos, these objectives can be mentioned here. Online sales objectives: To generate more sales: It is to be understood that Dominos is a fast food company with Pizza as the core product. These food items are usually asked for home delivery. For such instances, online ordering of food is the best possible option for the consumers. Therefore, this option generates more sales (Utvik and Jahre-Nilsen 2016). To improve sales conversion rate: One of the major goals of the Companies is to increase the capability of the particular website to generate more sales. Ordering food online can improve the sales conversion rate to a large extent. To improve sales support: For food selling either online or in store, assistance is important. Similar assistance like availability of a particular product, it ingredients and the cost can be easily available online (Ross 2016). Thus, technology helps to provide better support to the customers. Store-based sales objectives: To build sales and profit: The sales of product can be easily increased if the option of both physical and online stores is available to the consumers. Thus, the primary objective of store based sales in to increase the sales of the product. To increase customer traffic: In the view point of Rao et al. (2016), without the existence of a physical store, the identity of a particular company cannot be established. The customer traffic increases in a physical store and creates an identity for the particular brand or company. To build customer loyalty: Only a virtual store cannot create brand loyalty. However, this can be created if there is a store with a team of workers to serve the customers. Therefore, store based objectives include creating a brand loyalty (Agnes 2015). Tools used by the organization to analyse and understand the competitive environment Keeping a trace of the competitors in the market is very vital. Some of the tools used by Dominos are: Data analytics: It is the process by which, the profit margin and other data of the competitors are taken into account and a comparison is made. The complete process is based on technology and is done with the help of special software and devices. Dominos uses this metric to evaluate the market condition (Agnes 2015). Key Performance Indicators: Another means of analysing the competitors in the market is by evaluation the Key performance indicators. The software help to visualise and analyse the data and comprehend the same to understand the current position in the market. Customer analysis: Dominos also carries out survey and service feedback from the consumers and others to keep them updated about the dynamic choice of the consumers (Bhardwaj et al. 2014). This also help them to understand why consumers like other companies product and how they can make changes in their operational and business activities. Role of strategic alignment between sales goals and technology: The process of linking the organizational structure and resources with the strategies of the business is called strategic alignment. Strategic alignment enables better performance by optimizing the performance of the people in the organization. If the impact of technology is considered, it is one of the important factors that help to create an alignment between the sales goals and technology (Friedman et al. 2016). Therefore, it can be easily said that the business strategies and goal shall be set keeping the sales goals into consideration. As it has been evident that right from taking order to delivering the product, dominos is largely depended on technology and thus, it can be easily said that the Company has aligned the sales goals with technology. Discussion on the benefits of data management As commented by Hazen et al. (2014), the marketers and managers of a Company have to wrestle to keep pace with the management to keep a clean record of the data. With the rise of marketing automation and technological advancement, it has become evident that a clean, valuable and relevant data adds to the success of the sales. Some of the major benefits of data management are: Better control on the data: With better establishment of the data, the operational factors of an organization improve. Better control of the data let the users to list or leads the information irrespective of reach of the person who might be directly or indirectly related to the particular data or information (Law 2015). For instance, the data that is input during the ordering of food can be utilized by the Company to understand the demand of the particular product. Developing a data map: A data map is a onetime output that is designed as a part of arranging the data. A person who is directly involved in considering the data can easily refer to the particular data and get the information easily. For instance, the visitors and consumers of Dominos are asked to provide their personal details. These data are stored in the system and is actually beneficial at the time of contacting the consumers. Importance of adopting Web 2 and Web 3 technologies According to Hazen et al. (2014), Web 2 technologies can be powerful lure that helps to bring more employees in contact with the particular organization. This in turn, strengthens the bond between the consumers and the particular organization. Using the tools like Facebook and Twitter has enabled the Company to reach out more people in a lesser expense. In fact, the speed of communicating or reaching the consumers has also increased by using the Web 2 technology. Web 3 technologies shall allow more intense and clearer means of communication with the employees and the consumers (Bhardwaj et al. 2014). By utilizing this particular technology, a company shall be more benefitted. Threats due to complex and dynamic technological environment: Major threats and competitors of Dominos are other fast food companies like Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and Burger King. These Companies have both physical stores where consumers can visit and have their food and at the same time, these companies offer online sales and home delivery services. With the advancement of technology, the fast food companies are coming up with innovative approaches to attract consumers (Friedman et al. 2016). In addition to this, the companies also come up with discount and other offers that are available for online orders only. This creates situations where consumers are introduced with a number of choices and thus, the sale of the particular brand reduces to some extent because the consumers are opened up to certain choices. This has created serious threats for Dominos. Another important thing has to be considered, Dominos has their own apps which can also be used for ordering food. However, compared to other Companies app and online ordering service, the app o f Dominos is not effective enough (Bhardwaj et al. 2014). This is a serious drawback of the Company. Conclusion: A detailed analysis has been carried out to understand the impact of technology on the sales and other activities of Dominos. It has been found that the Organization has been utilizing the technological advancement for the purpose of its sales activities. However, due to the intense competition, Dominos has been facing certain drawbacks in the market. For instance, Pizza Hut, the major rival company has better sales services when it comes to both online and in-store sales. It has been evident apart from online ordering and calling facilities; Dominos has their app as well that is used for ordering food. It is recommended that Dominos should improve their App and make it more users friendly. In fact, there shall be options of comparing various food items with other pizza companies as well. This way the consumers would be able to compare the food products and there would be clearer chances of gaining better results in terms of selling their product. References: Agnes, M., 2015. Dominos Pizza: A Look At the Timelessness of A Social Media Crisis Plan. Barber, J., Metcalfe, S. and Porteous, M. eds., 2016.Barriers to growth in small firms. Routledge. Bhardwaj, P., Adhikari, R.S. and Ahuja, V., 2014. 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