Multimedia University Faculty of Business

BEL7084 INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND E-COMMERCE

IndividualAssignment

Trimester 3, 2019/2020 (1923)

Due date:25 October 2019

General information:

Organisation Individual
This assignment contributes to 30%of the total overall marks.The assignment consists
Assessment
of a case study on the role of technologies as a strategy for problem solving.
Student Learning
This assignment shall take 8 hours to complete.
Time
Submission to Dr.Hasmida Jamaluddin
Evaluation form Please include the attached form into your report.
Typeface/Font Times New Roman
Font size 12
Submission
Line spacing 1.5
requirements
Margins Top: 2.54 cm; Bottom: 2.54cm; Left: 2.54cm; Right: 2.54cm
Length 10 pages, excluding preliminary pages and appendices
Reference format APA Style
Binding Comb binding

Mapping of assignment learning outcomes to subject learning outcomes:

Assignment’s Learning Outcomes Subject Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this assignment, students
should be able to:
1 Analyse the problem occur in the organizations
and propose the right information systems
solutions and strategies.
Upon completion of this subject, students should be able
to:
CLO4 Demonstrate an understanding of the role of
information systems and e-commerce as a
strategy for problem solving, competitive
advantage, and to handle issues with change
and challenges in business environment

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CASE STUDY

Carter's Redesigns Its Business Processes

Carter's has built a big business dressing little ones, and you probably wore some of its products when
you were growing up. This company is the largest U.S. branded marketer of apparel exclusively for babies and
young children and includes the OshKoshB'gosh brand. Carter's merchandise is sold online, in more than 1,000
company stores in the United States and Canada, and in 17,400 department and specialty stores. The company
has annual revenue of $3 billion and 16,800 employees and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Carter's financial
systems handle hundreds of thousands of transactions each day.
Until recently, the systems Carter's used to process these transactions were heavily manual and þaper-
based and could no longer keep pace with the company's growth or the increasingly digital business
environment. For many years that company had relied on more than 20 legacy financial systems, some of which
were homegrown and antiquated. If the systems did not integrate with each other as they should, Carter's used
manual processes to keep everything working together. This created bottlenecks that slowed down processing
and also increased the chances of human error. For example, managing chargebacks required a great deal of
manual data entry and tracking down spreadsheets, emails, folders, and faxes from various systems in order to
reconcile a specific chargeback to the appropriate ledger. (A chargeback is the return of funds used to make a
purchase to the buyer if the buyer disputes the purchase.)
Carter's management wanted to transform the role of the finance function from preoccupation with
transaction processing to focusing more on analyzing financial data and guiding decision making. To accomplish
this goal, the company needed to improve both the business's finance processes and technology. This meant
streamlining and simplifying financial processes so the finance department had more time for analysis and
reporting work. In 2015 Carter's launched a "Vision to Value" initiative to achieve this goal.
In addition to replacing outdated systems with more up-to-date technology, including a centralized
enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the project provided an opportunity to modernize financial
processes. Carter's selected SAP Business Suite 4 SAP HANA (also known as SAP S/4HANA) software for this
purpose and worked with Deloitte Consultants for assistancewith systems integration and implementation. SAP
S/4HANA is a business software suite based on SAP's proprietary HANA ultra-high-speed data management
and computing platform and is designed to support the day-to-day processes of an enterprise. The new software
solution had to interact well with other related systems beyond financials such as order management systems
and point-of-sale systems. SAP S/4HANA offers integration to multiple data sources from many different SAP
and non-SAP applications, financial and otherwise.
Business process redesign was as crucial to the success of the project as new technology.
Implementing SAP software helped Carter's transform older and inefficient processes into modern processes
reflecting best practices for its line of business and its industry. Carter's had to benchmark its financial processes
against these best practices, many of which were incorporated in the SAP software. Thorough benchmarking
required questioning the rationale behind every core financial process. For each process based on existing
technology, the implementation had to ask whether it could be redesigned on a new technology platform to be
more efficient. Carter's also examined whether the process would be better served by remaining on a legacy
system rather than migrating to SAP S/ÄHANA. Carter's decided to keep a process on its existing system unless
migrating to SAP S/4HANA provided clear benefits. For the systems that ran core financial processes, SAP
S/4HANA was superior.

In July 2016 Carter's went live with SAP S/4HANA Finance with the procure-to-pay, invoice-to-cash,
fixed assets, and record-to-report processes among the processes supported by the new system. Moving the
procure-to-pay process to SAP S/4HANA increased efficiency by eliminating manual data entry and increasing
the visibility of a transaction as it flows through the system. (Procure-to-pay is the process of buying goods and
includes the initial decision to make the purchase, the process of selecting the goods, and the transaction to pay
for the goods purchased.) Instead of requiring various phone calls, emails, and paper copies of supporting
documentation, the software guides the process. The SAP Invoice Management application enables centralized
invoicing process by scanning, reading, and filing invoices via optical character recognition (OCR), which kicks
off aninvoice workflow through a preset list of coders and approvers all the way to invoice payment. Once invoice

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information has been entered, it can be accessed automatically anywhere along the process life cycle, and users
can view all information related to the invoice transaction on a single screen. For example, when approving an
invoice, the system makes it possible for Carter's staff to see the invoice data flowing to accounts payable to start
the payment process.
System-generated tracking of chargebacks and an improved capability to monitor chargeback status in
the system have created significant time saviligs and efficiencies in billing and collections. All the information is in
the SAP system, so whoever is approving the chargeback can see all the history in one place. In addition to
chargeback history, once a chargeback is approved, the system sends a specific chargeback to a specific
general ledger. The system has also made processes for fixed assets more efficient by eliminating manual
routing and spreadsheet dependence.

Sources: •carter's at SAPPHIRE 2016: Why SAP S/4HANA Finance?" and "Carter's at SAPPHIRE 2016: Implementing SAP S/4HANA
Finance," www.sap.com, accessed February 24, 2017; Ken Murphy, "A Next-Generation Finance Platform at Carter's," SAP
InsiderProfiIes, December 19, 2016; and www.carters.com, accessed February 26, 2017.

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Answer
1. How did Carter's previous business processes affect its business performance?

They were heavily depending on paper based and manual transaction possesses. Thus,
they couldn’t keep up with the company growth or the digital environment in
business. Carter was also having a very poor financial system where they had relied
on more than 20 legacy. They had to use manual process when the system did not
integrate with each other. More human error was occurred and also slowed down their
processing.

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2. What people, organization, and technology factors contributed to Carter's

problems with its business processes?

People, organization and technology all play key parts in a firm’s security of its
information. The people need to be able to use the proper techniques while they are on
the computer. They need to have knowledge of the software’s they use so they can be
aware if a problem arises and how to fix it. The people are also the ones that develop
the security policies and plans for if anything happens. The organization need to
deploy the security to the computer systems. Having properly trained employees will
help stop problems from occurring, and training is the organizations responsibility.
Technology is a big part of a firm’s security. They need to be up to date with their
software and have proper security features. The technology aspect implements web
site security systems, authentication technologies, and individual security eatures. A
firm’s security policies contribute greatly to a firm’s security controls. Software
controls prevent unauthorized access of software programs, system software, and
computer programs. Hardware controls ensure that computer hardware is physically
secure and check for equipment malfunction. Organizations that are critically
dependent on their computers must make provisions for backup.
This case study is a clear example of no matter how big a company is at a certain
point they need to upgrade their functions with technology and information systems.
Carter’s previous business processes heavily affected their business performance as
they processed all the transactions manually or paper based. As the company was
growing, these processes could no long keep pace with the growth and the
increasingly digital business environment. Just like other companies in the past,
Carter’s had relied on 20 legacy financial systems where some were homegrown and
anti-quated. For instance, if the systems did not function or integrate well with each
other, Carter’s back up plan is to use manual processes to keep everything working
efficiently. This process created several hiccups that resulted in slowing down
processing and increased chances of human error. Moreover, it became more time
consuming where going through spreadsheets, emails and folders to find a specific
entry was no longer the best and efficient option.

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3. Describe the role of technology in Carter's business process changes.

Apart from transforming the role of the finance function from preoccupation with
transaction planning, Carter’s took it upon themselves to replace outdated systems
with more up-to-date technology. This technology included a centralized enterprise
resource planning (ERP) system which would provide an opportunity to modernize
financial processes. Carter’s selected SAP S/4HANA to fulfil their purpose and
worked with Deloitte Consultants for assistance with implementation and integration.
This ultra-high-speed data management and computing platform is designed to
support Carter’s day-to-day processes. The new system goes beyond financial such as
order management systems and point-of-sale systems. Both companies recognized the
need to transform their finance functions, realizing that their existing finance solutions
would not support future growth. And both chose the same solution to support their
transformation. Deloitte not only implemented its own solution, but also used the
experiences and best practices gained from the deployment to support adoption at
Carter’s.
Finally, among other things, both companies are expecting to deliver four key benefits
to their organizations.
I. Support for future growth
Future growth at both companies depends on having systems that are scalable to meet
the increase in business they expect to generate, as well as flexible enough to support
evolving business models and functions.
II. Increased efficiency
Automation and simplified processes will reduce the time finance needs to manage
the business. This approach also shifts the focus of finance from transaction
processing to analytics and decision support.
III. Decreased risk to the business
Having an integrated system environment eases maintenance, reduces the need for
customization, improves stability – and cuts IT expenses.
IV. Enhanced controls and compliance
New automated processes and capabilities will reduce manual intervention, mitigate
the risk of inaccuracies, and strengthen governance, security, and access controls.

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4. How did Carter's redesigned business processes change the way the company
worked? What was the businessimpact? Explain.

The redesigned of the company worked in their favour because the business process
redesign was as crucial to the success of the project as new technology. Adapting the
new technology helped Crater’s transform older and inefficient processes into modern
processes reflecting best practices for its line of business and its industry. Due to the
incorporating of the SAP software, benchmarking Carter’s financial processes was
thorough as it required questioning the rationale behind every core financial process.
Carter’s also examined weather the process would be better served by remaining on a
legacy system rather than migrating to SAP S/4HANA. They choose to keep a process
on their existing systems instead of transferring it to a new one only if it provided
clear benefits. Efficiency would definitely increase with Carter’s examining their
options and choosing the one with the most benefits. This time Carter’s is smart to
balance the pros and cons of the new technology and how it would benefit the
business and its industry.

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Reminder on Plagiarism

 Plagiarism is a serious offence.

 Plagiarism include the following behaviours (but not limited to):
o copy another student’s work,
o fail to properly cite other people’s work or give proper credit to the original source,
o hire or ask another individual to complete the assignment for you,
o copy too many words or ideas from one or two sources, that makes up a significant portion of your
work, even with proper citation.
 The lecturer has the rights not to accept submission of plagiarised or duplicated work.

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 ATTACHMENT

EVALUATION FORM
 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT EVALUATION FORM
Maximum Marks
Task Description Remarks
Marks Obtained

Q1 Report 15

Q2 Report 15

Q3 Report 15

Q4 Report 15

Grand Total 60
Assessment Rubrics for the Assignment
Score Report
10 marks
80% - 100%  Well organised
 No grammatical or structural errors
 Good formatting
 Explanation is prepared in a professional
manner
 All references are properly included
 All submission requirements are met
60% - 79%  Well organised
 Minimal grammatical or structural errors
 Proper formatting but not outstanding
 Evidence that Explanation is carefully and
thoughtfully prepared
 All references are properly included
 All submission requirements are met
40% - 59%  Lacks organisation
 Some grammatical or structural errors
 Rather poor formatting
 Lack evidence that Explanation is carefully
and thoughtfully prepared
 Some references are missing
 Some submission requirements are not met
20% - 39%  Lacks organisation
 Apparent grammatical or structural errors
 Formatting issues
 Evidence that Explanation is carelessly
prepared
 Some evidence of plagiarism
 Significant submission requirements are not
met
0% - 19%  No organisation
 Apparent grammatical or structural errors
 Very poor formatting
 Evidence that Explanation is carelessly
prepared
 Clear evidence of plagiarism
 Submission requirements are not met
Oral Presentation
10 marks
 Appropriate voice and tone
 Good eye-contact
 Communicate naturally and fluently
 Clearly organised
 Appropriately dressed
 Appropriate voice and tone
 Good eye-contact
 Communicate naturally
 Properly organised
 Appropriately dressed
 Rather poor voice and tone
 Lacks eye-contact
 Lacks clarity in explanation
 Lacks organisation
 Appropriately dressed
 Poor voice and tone
 Poor eye-contact
 Communicate awkwardly
 Poor organisation
 Not appropriately dressed
 Inappropriate voice and tone
 No eye-contact;
 Fail to communicate the contents
 Not organised
 Not appropriately dressed