Eect051 Information Systems : Electronics Assessment Answers

Part 1: The Nintendo case study 

1.Provide a rich picture consisting of the relevant stakeholders (actors and organisations), people, and technologies, structures and processes that are relevant to the launch of "Revolution". Within your rich picture you need to depict relationships and add comments to represent the (possibly conflicting) interests of the various stakeholders and actors. The rich icture should be self-explanatory and there is no need to add a verbal commentary 

2.Nintendo's "Revolution" technology has led the company to adopt a business model that depends on a "platform", also known as a "two sided network." Analyse the strategic implications of this setting. Your analysis must address the following: 

A. Explain the term "two sided network' and evaluate how it makes Revolution's business model different from other, more traditional business models. In your answer, refer to (i) the unique properties of the value chain involved, (ii) the concept of increasing returns to scale, and (iii) the significance of complementary products 

B. Given its business model, Nintendo must make st rategic decisions regarding its contractual relations with both sides of the network. Explain these decisions and the considerations involved. How do they compare to decisions made by providers of similar platforms, such as Nintendo's competitors?

3.Recommend one IT/ISrelated system to improve communication, collaboration or coorcination between stakeholders appearing in your rich picture (provided in your answer to 2.1.1). Your recommendations must align with Nintendo's overall strategy. Justify your recommendation by demonstrating how it relatesto your analysis in

4.Support your argumentsby reference material from appropriate sources  

Part 2: Comparative analysis -

independent research (weighting f or module credits: SOSO 

Identify TWO different case studies in which organisations introduced, upgraded or changed information systems to improve communication, collaboration or coordination (internal or external). The case studies should be relatively recent and comparable, drawn from appropriate resources (such as Athens or Google Scholar). Your answer may not be based on cases used in class as for the purpose of comparison (for example, you should not base your comparison on the Bovis or Accenture cases which were part of the required readings for the seminars). Ig Provide a comparative analysis of the two cases, structuring your answer as follows:

1.An introduction that includes the following information

A. Summary: for EACH of the two case studies, produce a brief summary, providing background about the organisation AND the information system involved

B. Rationale:explain why you chose these two case studies for the purpose of comparison and what is the benefit of comparing t hem? 

C. Dimensions: choose three dimensions for comparison and justify why you have chosen 
each dimension 

2.For EACH of your dimensions, a relevant comparison between the two cases ..

3.A conclusion that synthesizes key !earnings from this comparison: who might benefit from this comparison and under what conditions?

Part 1: The Nintendo Case Study

The following paper is divided into two sections. The parts will discuss about the different attributes of the knowledge management in the organizations. The first part will discuss about the case study about an organization of the real world. The organization that has been selected for the discussion in the first part is the Japanese giants in preparing the video games. The section will consist of the various factors like providing the rich picture for the organization by describing the stakeholders, the driving force behind the success of the organization, the ‘Revolution’ strategy used by the company and the recommendations on how the company can improve its market position. In the second part, the topic of description will be a comparative analysis. This comparative analysis will look to find the two case studies in which the organizations have used some specific strategies within their organizations and that has catered to the growth of the organization.

The implementation of the information systems within the organizations is the major part in the discussion of the second part of the discussion. Some important topics have to be included in the first part of the assessment like the ‘two sided network’. The different strategies that Nintendo must make in order to succeed within their industry will be discussed as well. These various kinds of discussions will help to provide an outline on how the organizations look to implement their strategies to gain the competitive advantage. The usefulness of the various business models will be addressed in the first assessment part too.

Brief Background of the Company

Nintendo is one of the biggest names in the electronics industry in the world. The company is headquartered at Kyoto in Japan (Girl and Squid, 2017).The most important part of its development in its industry is its capability to develop some strategies that would enhance their profitability in the real world business. They have developed most of the top selling and best known video games like Pokémon, The Legend of Zeida and Mario (Girl and Squid, 2017). The total profit they had made at the end of the year 2016 ¥16.505 billion. They would want to increase their profitability in the coming reason. For this reason, they need to use some strategies and implement some effective business models and frameworks, so that they can stay ahead of their rivals in this competitive business environment (Girl and Squid, 2017). Their innovativeness is in the video games where they are considered as the topmost in the world. They have a total market value of ¥85 billion that has been overwhelming figures in the Japanese perspective.

2.Two sided network

Two sided network is a very important framework for the video games consoles industry. On one hand there is the traditional value chain model and on the other there is the two sided frameworks. In the case of the traditional value chain models, the value moves from left to right side. The cost moves towards left and the revenue moves towards right. In the case of the video game consoles industry, the two sides of this framework are the gamers and the game developers. There are three groups of agents in the two sided frameworks for the video games industry and for Nintendo, the case is the same. Consumers use the social networking sites to interact with the other consumers and they play the games sometimes on social sites as well.

It can be easily considered that there is a large market for the portable gaming devices. This market is dominated by Nintendo and Sony. The gaming facilities can also be availed in the multi-function devices like the iPad and iPhone developed by Apple. Along with the other giants in the video games consoles industry, Nintendo has also joined to function as fully independent media hubs with the ability to download and to stream movies, music, television and other forms of digital entertainment. This two sided network based on the gamers and game developers of the organization, they can develop several communication strategies and IT related systems that will help them to outsmart their rivals. There was a huge crash in the demand for the video games hardware and software systems in the 1980s. This caused a heavy draught in the industry. In order to combat the drowning in the industry, NES had decided to employ such strategies by which they can overcome the barriers put in front of them. The severed off the third party game developers from their network and then they had understood that a greater variety of new software programs for developing new games would help them to reach more customers. This action of theirs would also prevent the entry of unwanted programs in their network. They built such a security system that unauthorized games could not be launched if the game developers could not possess the cartridges without the proprietary chip of Nintendo. Thus a direct relation between the gamers and game developers could be built in a two sided network. This would help them to gain the competitive advantage over other giants like Sony and Microsoft.

Development of new IT systems to improve communication

Nintendo can help the gamers to communicate with themselves through some new and improved plans that they will be looking to employ within their organization.

Nintendo can build a new project management system that would help them to communicate with their consumers.

They can also create an online forum so that the consumers can share important information and respond to the questions of the game developers. They can also send them feedbacks about what they want.

The company can ask for suggestions from both the gamers and the game developers so that they can share their viewpoints. This function can be done through emails.

Direct stakeholders 

Nintendo is the direct stakeholder since they are the producers of the Wii Video games and consoles (Quandt 2013). They have to take the responsibilities of the actions, systems, customer interactions and many more factors. The customers are also the stakeholders of Nintendo because they have to listen to the wants and needs of the customers and improve on the weak points they have. They cannot handle the hardware problems after deploying but they can easily fix the software problems through skilled software professionals (Das and Bhowal 2013). 

The game developers are also the direct stakeholders of Nintendo. They are the ones who use the famous platform of Wii to develop their games and distribute them. Their products also can affect the customer focus and satisfaction (Wilson et al. 2012).

Indirect stakeholders

The game publishers are one of the most important key indirect stakeholders in the business. They decide the shipping address of the games. The watchers are also the indirect stakeholders of Wii. The third party accessory companies who produce the spare parts for Nintendo Wii are the key indirect stakeholders as well (Fullerton 2014). The stores are also the indirect stakeholders as they have the responsibility to sell the games according to the age groups.

Porter’s Five Forces

Supplier power

The suppliers of Nintendo have a low bargaining power with the company. The only suppliers that Nintendo needs to worry are the game developers because they can produce their own products and sell them. Nintendo has the supreme authority over their suppliers (Dobbs 2014).

Buyer power

One of the biggest forces in the video game industry are its buyers. They have the power to decide the sales of the consoles and in turn it decides the sales of the video games. The public and the game community show their interest in some changes within the games and the parent company has to bring in the changes for good (Dobbs 2014).

Competitive rivalry

Nintendo is one of the companies considered as the Big 3 in the video games console market. The other two competitors are Microsoft with Xbox games and Sony with their PlayStation version. Nintendo focuses on the innovation process and family friendly atmosphere of the video games (Dobbs 2014). Thus they have to huge competition from hardcore gaming process of Sony or gaming mentality of Microsoft.

Substitute

The impact of having new companies launching new games with new technologies is always a threat in the video games industry. All of them are selling entertainment to their customers so it does not matter what new technologies they are using. All that matters is how they are attracting the customers.

New entrants

The threat of new entrants is not so much. The entire size of the distribution networks, the size of the gaming market, and the total production costs of the industry has kept the new entrants out of the market. Nintendo do not have to worry much about that (Dobbs 2014).

3.Strategic Analysis of Nintendo

Nintendo has been one of the leading organizations in the video games consoles and they have certain strategies to implement in their organizations. The valuable gaming brands that they have developed in the gaming industry are Mario, Peach, Doneky Kong and Pokémon. If the strategies of Nintendo can be compared with that of Sony and Microsoft, neither of them have such strong brand values as Nintendo. Nintendo follows a very strict strategy and their intellectual property rights are very strict. Their licensing policy is very strong as well. Nintendo has been able to market their products with a successful implementation of their plans and strategies. The examples can be given that Nintendo had worked on updating the games like Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario World. This worked behind as one of the best things that have happened to the strategies of the company.

 The family friendly set up of the organization is one of the benefits to the success story of Nintendo.  They allow the parents to buy the hardware of the games for their children after being convinced that that hardware would be of no harm to the children. It can be interpreted by the fact that the video game consoles become family activities for the children and this will lead to the appealing to the people who are outside the main gaming markets. Other companies like Sony and Microsoft offer child friendly games but they offer an exclusively child friendly section of the game store. This helps them to keep their reputation in the gaming industry.

Blue ocean strategy  

Nintendo has been able to implement the blue ocean strategy in their working areas. One of the major advantages that they have is to develop the video games for the women, children and the people who are over 60 years of age. This has helped to bring new people under their disposal. This has been also a strategic part of their business. They do not take away the core customers of their rivals but they expand their own customer base. They implemented the blue ocean strategy and they have invented the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii. These game consoles are very easy to handle since the gamers can move their arms naturally and this helped them to capture the casual gamers rather than the hardcore gamers who are already the targets of the rivals.

Strengths

• They have strong brands who have dedicated followers.
• They have a family-friendly set ups.
• They have licensed these strong brands.
• The brand heritage of these games has been highly valuable.

Weaknesses

• They have lost their importance to the hard core gamers.
• The graphic capabilities of their brand are weaker than their rivals.

Opportunities

• They have a increasing demand for the family friendly games.
• They can enter the market for using the VR devices at home.
• They can enter the new market where they will be able to incorporate their games in smart phones and tablets.

Threats

• They have restricted some games because of the violence on the gamers.
• The entry of the companies like Apple, Google, Amazon have affected their business market.

4.The CATWOE model analysis

The CATWOE model is best to measure the impact of the Nintendo company products on their customers. All these six exponents of the model determine certain things that reveal the way the company has a hold on the video games business industry (Siriram 2012). 

Clients/Customers

The clients are one of the major stakeholders of the business. The success or failure of the business depends on how the customers have preferred their products over their rival companies (Siriram 2012). The Nintendo Company prepares the video games which are liked by most of the customers of all ages. So, they have a huge range of customer faith at their disposal.  They are the ones who will be most affected if the company changes its process or system. Here, if they introduce the revolution technology the clients can be benefitted a lot by getting a super gaming experience.

Actors

The actors in the process are the people who are involved in the process. The people are the makers of the entire process (Siriram 2012). The president will be looking to bring this new gaming console in front of the customers for sale next year probably. It can be assumed that this version of the game will be sold at a very high rate in the local market as well as the global market (Boutellier, Gassmann and Von Zedtwitz 2013). The distributors will be benefitted as well.

Transformation

The transformation of Nintendo in terms of the gaming business has been great. They have given various inputs like implementing the new technology and this can turn out be a profitable output for the organization. The market competitiveness is very high since the competition between Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft is getting powerful.

World View

The world view of the implementation of the introduction of this new theory means that what implications the new Revolution technology can bring to the overall business. It seems that it will bring a revolution in the video games literally as the customers and regular gamers are waiting eagerly for the launch of this technology and gaming console. On a wider aspect, it can lead to betterment of the organization on a whole (Siriram 2012).

Owner

They are the people who have the authority to take the major decisions regarding the introduction of the revolution technology (Vorderer and Bryant 2012). They can be identified as the major internal stakeholders of the organization. They can give the orders to stop the process or get back to the former process as they wish.

Environmental factors

The environmental factors in the business domain for Nintendo includes the factors like financial constraints, the ethical limits of the employees and other stakeholders, the resource limitations and other factors. Nintendo gives special care for its employees and the employees are always loyal to the. They are aware of their responsibilities and the ethical issues in this aspect.

Development of new IT systems to improve communication

Nintendo can help the gamers to communicate with themselves through some new and improved plans that they will be looking to employ within their organization.

Nintendo can build a new project management system that would help them to communicate with their consumers.

They can also create an online forum so that the consumers can share important information and respond to the questions of the game developers. They can also send them feedbacks about what they want.

The company can ask for suggestions from both the gamers and the game developers so that they can share their viewpoints. This function can be done through emails.

Recommendations 

The recommendations for Nintendo can be given that:-

• They are the innovators in the industry but this is not working for them anymore. So, they need to go back to the basics.
• They need to focus on the games that the gamers care for.
• They should cease to care about the non-gamer demographics and start to think about the splits between the aging and young gamers (Kuss and Griffiths 2012).
• They can reproduce their classic games to bridge the gap.
• They can bring back their old term ‘Nintendo bard’ in the video game industry.
• Nintendo can adopt a ‘focus’ generic strategy that could be based around the alternative customers who are not serious gamers.
• Nintendo should aim to continue its investments on supporting the true innovation process.
• They should develop a greater range of business opportunities between the different business units. This will help to build a better communication.
• The games unit of Nintendo should have better communication between themselves.
• Nintendo should be more attractive towards a better supply chain management.
• They should be able to assess the success or failure of their products in the industry by making surveys among their customers.

Part 2 Comparative Analysis

In this part, two of the case studies have to be chosen to compare the information systems of the two organizations. To do so, the two organizations that have been chosen are Apple and Microsoft.

Apple is one of the leading global technology companies who have catered to all the needs of the customers (Apple, 2017). The founder of this company was Steve Jobs. They have 498 retail stores all over the world and they serve the worldwide area of telecommunication and mobile technology. They produce the iPhone smart phone, iPad tablet computers, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch Smart watch, Apple TV digital media player(Apple, 2017). They invented the iOS operating system as well. In the recent times, they have felt that they needed to upgrade their information systems so that they can cater to the needs of the customers as well.

Microsoft is also an American multinational technology company who serve a worldwide area (Microsoft.com, 2017). The headquarter of the company is located at Redmond in Washington. They do multipurpose things like developing, manufacturing, licensing, supporting and selling computer software, personal computers, and consumer electronics and may things. They have recently launched the Microsoft smart phones powered by the windows 10 software. They have launched the flagship project of the Xbox video games consoles (Microsoft.com, 2017). All of these things are based on technology so they will need to change and upgrade their information systems to stay updated with the latest technology.

A Summary

Apple has achieved much success with the information technology they use in their products and develop them for entire customer satisfaction (Newman 2014). They have found a flaw in their current information system is not being able to utilize the communication process so the gap can be amended between the different organizational structures of Apple. This issue can be identified by the fact that voice deployment process over the networks along with the current data collecting systems that are working to bridge the gap in the system (Dayer et al. 2013). The organization is very much innovative and they look to make a huge change in the value chain model so that they can cater to the needs of the customers by providing smart phones and make them avail the information process in the mobile mediums. The positive point about it is that the managers and the leaders would be making their decisions faster, smoother and more effectively (Kaner 2014). The companies can use several consultants to change and upgrade the information system simply because they have better knowledge in technology. There are some in house experts in the organization who can provide enough knowledge of technology and thus they can achieve more success in the future about the information system management. For these reasons only, Apple has changed the information systems recently and incorporated the feedback mechanism system (Ahuja 2014). Apple has been one of those organizations who have redesigned their product quality several times in order to improve them. This improvement has reflected in their quest for becoming the giants in the industry of mobile technology. The main competitors they have in this industry are Microsoft, Samsung, HTC and some others. There exclusive operating system iOS has gained the popularity all over the country.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is a mobile technology giant and their information system is very strong in the industry. Microsoft use certain improved technology for troubleshooting. They use such improved and technologically superior business information systems that help them to solve any queries related to the computer operations (Dague, Raiman and Devès 2013). The customers were not satisfied properly with the business information systems that were provided by the organization. So, they decided to install a new web platform by which all the problems could be solved in quick time. They launched the information system and upgraded it for the advantage of the customers. Suppose, if a customer could install an update from the Windows Update website and it still failed to meet the expectations of the customers, they could very easily restore the original files by running the Update Wizard Uninstall from the Tools menu in the Microsoft System Information (Kogan et al. 2017). Thus these kinds of up gradations have helped the customers to meet with their expectations and enjoy a whole new experience. Their new up gradations in the smart phones from the Windows 8.1 version to the Microsoft 10 version has given the customers to enjoy new things on their smart phones. Their Xbox console video games have also been in centre of attraction as compared to the PlayStation provided by Sony (Neil et al. 2013).  The products of Microsoft have been very trustable and their latest technology Windows 10 has been installed in the new mobiles they have developed and in some laptops as well.

Apple and Microsoft both have been at the pinnacle of the business market since they have provided the customers what have they asked for. They have looked after improving their innovative skills and this has catered for their customer base. The products they have provided to their customers have all been adapted to the latest technology and thus been very helpful for their growth in the industry.

Rationale

The two case studies in case of two organizations have been selected to compare because Apple and Microsoft both belong to the same industry. They cater to preparation of the various technological things. It is due to the innovation process within the organizations that they thrive to upgrade themselves every time. New technologies are getting into practice in very little time and the developers need to distribute their products to the companies. The companies, who want to stay ahead in this competitive market, need to adapt to these changes (Wu 2012).  The benefit of comparing these two case studies of these two organizations is they belong to the same industry of mobile technology. They are competitors in the market and target the same demographics for the selling of their products. The strategic implementations of their business are very important in this context. They look to capture the domestic and the international market through different technologies. This is why the application of useful technologies and the pricing strategies would be a decisive factor in measuring the growth of their organizations. They have to analyze the roles and responsibilities of their stakeholders in order to assess what kind of benefits they can provide to their customers (Chandler and Werther  2013). 

Dimensions

The three dimensions from which the comparisons can be made are the social, cultural and technological.

Social dimension

Apple should look to change the information systems from the social dimension to cater to the needs of the target audiences.

Microsoft should also change their information system from the social dimension because it will help them to access the needs of their customers and the gamers division that consists of the young generation and love to play the Xbox games (O’Donovan et al. 2012). The social dimension can be engaged in improving the service quality of the two companies. Apple users belong to richer demographics in the society where middle class families can also afford the smart phones that are produced by them.

Cultural dimension

From the cultural dimension the companies will look to assess the cross-cultural sections of the society. The needs of the all kinds of people should be fulfilled. The various aspects of the individualism and collectivism should also be kept in mind when distributing their products, games and technologies to their various customer bases (Chan and Cheung 2012).

The cultural dimensions have been very helpful to assess the business markets of the two companies. The employees of Apple are relatively paid higher wages than Microsoft. This will be a decisive factor as the employees will look to benefit from their resources of earning at the most.  

Technological dimension

From the technological dimensions, the companies had to make these changes because if they struck to the same technologies and did not go after innovation process and applying them in their organization, they would have lagged behind and some other organizations could have taken their spot by convincing their key demographics.

Conclusion

After a thorough discussion on the topic of knowledge management and information system, it can be said that the importance of evolving in this current business environment is immense. The companies like Nintendo should try to innovate many new ways so that they can stay ahead of their rivals in the video games industry. The need to introduce the new technologies is very useful because the target audiences of the companies can be very easily attracted by the companies. The customers get attracted towards the new things because they get bored of using same old things for a long time. The companies like Apple and Microsoft will look to implement new technologies that would cater to the needs of the customers. Thus, the new innovations in the knowledge management and information system will help the organizations to move ahead in this highly competitive business environment.

References

Ahuja, I.S., 2014. An evaluation of impact of technology upgradations on manufacturing performance. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 9(2), pp.229-247.

 Apple. (2017). Apple. [online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/ [Accessed 12 Aug. 2017].

Boutellier, R., Gassmann, O. and Von Zedtwitz, M., 2013. Managing global innovation: uncovering the secrets of future competitiveness. Springer Science & Business Media.

Cameron, K., 2012. Positive leadership: Strategies for extraordinary performance. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Campbell, B.A., Coff, R. and Kryscynski, D., 2012. Rethinking sustained competitive advantage from human capital. Academy of Management Review, 37(3), pp.376-395.

Chan, A.W. and Cheung, H.Y., 2012. Cultural dimensions, ethical sensitivity, and corporate governance. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(1), pp.45-59.

Chandler, D. and Werther Jr, W.B., 2013. Strategic corporate social responsibility: Stakeholders, globalization, and sustainable value creation. Sage Publications.

Dague, P., Raiman, O. and Devès, P., 2013. Troubleshooting: when modeling is the trouble. Readings in Qualitative Reasoning About Physical Systems, p.435.

Das, S.K. and Bhowal, A., 2013. Self help groups as an empowerment model: Perceptions of direct stakeholders. American Journal of Rural Development, 1(5), pp.121-130.

Davis, K., 2014. Different stakeholder groups and their perceptions of project success. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), pp.189-201.

Dayer, L., Heldenbrand, S., Anderson, P., Gubbins, P.O. and Martin, B.C., 2013. Smartphone medication adherence apps: potential benefits to patients and providers. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association: JAPhA, 53(2), p.172.

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S., Smith, J.H. and Tosca, S.P., 2015. Understanding video games: The essential introduction. Routledge.

Fullerton, T., 2014. Game design workshop: a playcentric approach to creating innovative games. CRC press.

Girl, I. and Squid, I. (2017). Nintendo - Official Site. [online] Nintendo.com. Available at: https://www.nintendo.com/ [Accessed 12 Aug. 2017].

Kaner, S., 2014. Facilitator's guide to participatory decision-making. John Wiley & Sons.

Kogan, L., Papanikolaou, D., Seru, A. and Stoffman, N., 2017. Technological innovation, resource allocation, and growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(2), pp.665-712.

Kuss, D.J. and Griffiths, M.D., 2012. Internet gaming addiction: A systematic review of empirical research. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 10(2), pp.278-296.

Microsoft.com. (2017). Microsoft - Official Home Page. [online] Available at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/ [Accessed 12 Aug. 2017].

Missonier, S. and Loufrani-Fedida, S., 2014. Stakeholder analysis and engagement in projects: From stakeholder relational perspective to stakeholder relational ontology. International Journal of Project Management, 32(7), pp.1108-1122.

Neil, A., Ens, S., Pelletier, R., Jarus, T. and Rand, D., 2013. Sony PlayStation EyeToy elicits higher levels of movement than the Nintendo Wii: Implications for stroke rehabilitation. European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, 49(1), pp.13-21.

Newman, N., 2014. Apple iBeacon technology briefing. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 15(3), pp.222-225.

O’Donovan, C., Hirsch, E., Holohan, E., McBride, I., McManus, R. and Hussey, J., 2012. Energy expended playing Xbox Kinect™ and Wii™ games: a preliminary study comparing single and multiplayer modes. Physiotherapy, 98(3), pp.224-229.

Quandt, T., 2013. Multiplayer: The social aspects of digital gaming (Vol. 3). Routledge.

Siriram, R., 2012. A soft and hard systems approach to business process management. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 29(1), pp.87-100.

Vorderer, P. and Bryant, J. eds., 2012. Playing video games: Motives, responses, and consequences. Routledge.

Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J. and Gremler, D.D., 2012. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. McGraw Hill.

Wu, J., 2012. Technological collaboration in product innovation: The role of market competition and sectoral technological intensity. Research Policy, 41(2), pp.489-496.