IT Management Assignment help on : E-strategy for Praga
E- Strategy in Organisation
Benefits of having e-strategy in Organisation
Praga aims at making use of digital technology and innovative methods of using the web resources for revitalizing the experience of online shopping among the customers in fashion sector. The company targets the younger internet savvy customers with the use of this technique. In this sector, the shopping experience of the customer is not only restricted to browsing. The digital model and its growing acceptance challenge the traditional view that the consumers would not buy clothes and accessories till the time they are not able to get feel of the fabric.
Importance of having e- strategy
All the companies in the industry are taking steps for grabbing the opportunity of using digital mediums for bring innovations in their business models aiming at improving the experience of the customers in the virtual market. In order to make positive changes, in the online shopping experience Praga aims at making use of CRM practices and making the use of social power through the medium of internet. The business models like CRM practices and social web are the main focus of the online mediums (Chen 2005). Specifically the new digital model will provide the company with a space to use it for the following functional areas like personal subscription, mass customization, social merchandising and collaborative consumption. E-commerce plays an important role in increasing the profit and market share of the company and thus is preferred by the companies for expanding their business.
Aligning e-strategy with organisation
The initial steps of starting the online business of the company starts with closing down of the store and outsource manufacturing. In this context if the business outsources its workers to small scale industries it will be able to focus on the development of online store. Outsourcing will be very helpful of the company to gain hold in the market (Bragg 2006). The company can outsource its highly skilled expertise and specialized knowledge. Before outsourcing, the company should ensure that it is working with the right partners. Since, the company is outsourcing its business it is very important that it focuses on better supply chain management which will help procurement of raw material and in delivering of the products to the customers on time. Once the company is able to work upon its outsourcing strategy and manage its supply chain effectively it will be able to do full justice to its online business.
Development of E-Strategy for Business
Requirement of e-strategy
Praga is a fashion company, which was highly prestigious and known company at one time. The company is a maker and retailer of outer wears and also offers both formal and leisure wear for both sexes. The company also deals in products like perfumes, watches, wallets, bags and purses. The sales level of these sectors of the company is low and unsatisfactory. The company is dealing in traditional products, which have lost their charm in the present business scenario. The main situations which cause apprehension in the working of the company are:
- Old fashion styles which result in falling sales.
- Decline in profits.
- Large shops and concession in stores.
- Out of date production process.
- Increasing competition and introduction of new designs in accessories.
Personal subscription
Personal subscription will prove to be helpful for the company as it will enable detailed subscription providing information about the latest offers on the selected products, which will match the customers’ style, size and preferences. The personal subscription is a useful technique, which can be easily used by the company for withholding its existing customers by the use of reinforcement strategy. If the company continues deliver the personal subscription on the mails of their customers than it will be never out of their sight. The personal subscription is designed on the basis of customized requirements of its customers. The subscription model gives the feeling of association as the customers feel that the company gives them due importance as it is sending them personalized mails (Chen 2005). Along with this, Praga can also give a boost to its sales since the company will be delivering as per the demands of the customers which are likely to make a positive impact on its sales.
Social merchandising
Social merchandising model will prove to be helpful in getting the customer feedback and reviews which are used as the base for promotion of the products and will play important role in engaging the customers. The customer reviews play an important role since the company is able to get the deep understanding about the expectations of the customers and work accordingly. This model is useful as the company is working on confirmed guidelines which will play an important role in better utilization of the raw materials and other resources of the company. The customers also feel highly satisfied since they get what they demand from the company (Dave 2008). Fashion industry is highly influenced by the requirements of its customers. The company has to be highly responsive towards the needs of the customer because if they don’t other competitors in the market will. The market is highly volatile in nature and this raises the requirements of getting the customer feedback and reviews. These reviews are highly effective in promotion of the products.
Collaborative consumption
Collaborative consumption model will facilitate peer-to-peer platform on the internet for creating a marketplace which will be helpful in product sharing, product swapping, product trading and product renting. This is the most technical approach which is used for creating a digital model for the company. This is a new approach which has its main focus on decentralized transaction. The model is still in its infancy stage and is used for sharing, renting and swapping of goods, ideas and experiences between different users (Dave 2008). The idea is not new idea in the market though many alternations have taken place in idea for making it adaptable to different business patterns. This idea will prove to be very helpful for the business in promoting sharing and swapping of products among other retailers online which will prove to be beneficial for the companies in the long run. Thus, above discussed are the major digital models which will be adopted by Praga for effectively establishing itself in the online market. These models will prove to be helpful in improving the situation of the company and also will also contribute in helping the company to overcome its major apprehensions. Along with proposing the digital model, it is highly important that an effective implementation strategy is also proposed so that the strategy can be effectively implemented in the working of the business to increase the profit level of the company. Further the report will also propose the strategies which can be adopted by management team for performance measurement and control.
Technical Infrastructural Requirements
The company will be requiring a strong technical infrastructural base in order to progress successfully in the online market. The company will be making requiring website, operators , bug tracking, manager for real time chat, etc. these will be the initial requirements of the company when it enter the online mad once it establishes the requirements of the company will expand along with the development in technical infrastructure.
Implementation of E-Strategy
Resources required for implementation
Deciding the Name of Website
An implementation plan will help in determining and evaluating the resources that will be required to make the fashion business successful. This would include the name of company’s website. The resources involve the number of staff that will be required to manage the online business. The most important factor is the logo of the company that will be displayed on the website. This logo acts as identification for the company and most importantly for the customers. The name of the website should be such that people remember the name of the company instantly. This would create a brand name for the fashion store.
An Appropriate Domain Name
The name of domain plays an important role in determining the success of business. The domain name should be specific and simple, or else if it is complicated then people would not think of the site and prefer to visit the online merchandise offered by the competitors. Therefore a creative and unique domain name should be selected for the online website of the Praga fashion store. There are two concepts for selecting an appropriate domain name (Tiffany 2001). The first concepts provide that the name should be unique and is easy to remember by the people. It is important that the domain name turns out to be a good and renowned brand name. The other concept relates to the choice of a name with an appropriate keyword. It is important the name should be based on an effective keyword. People tend to remember such names that include actual keyword. An example in this case may be that if a person wants to get information about loans then he will go to loans. Com. So Praga fashion store should use the name shopatparaga.com. This website will provide information to the customers about the offerings of the company. The third step of the implementation plan relates to the decision regarding the design of Praga’s website. The design decision of Praga relates to both the form and the function of the website. It provides the presentation of the visual display of the website shopatpraga.com. An effective and attractive presentation includes a combination of good content, layout, usability and navigation. These factors are important in attracting the customers so that they prefer purchasing from the company and not its competitors. Therefore an effective and eye-catching website is important in determining the success or failure of the objective of Praga’s online fashion store.
Adapting the requirements
‘ For designing the website it is important to consider such matches that fulfil overall purpose of the company. It is important to determine such a design that reflects the overall purpose of the website (Going Global). An important step in this concern relates to the objective of advertising about the company and its products so that brand building can be done effectively. The website should include proper ad spaces and the formats in which ads can be sold for deciding the layout and presentation of the website. This includes the decision regarding the size of the page that will be used for the advertisements. The second purpose of deciding the presentation of website is the product oriented purpose of Praga. In this context it is important to identify the way products will be presented in the design of the website. Up-sells and cross-sells may be used along with the proper space for the products that will be featured on the website.
Design of the Product
Another important step includes the decision regarding the design of the product. The design of the website should be appealing to the customers. It must reflect the image of the Company that it wants to project for its customers. In this concern it is important to identify if Praga wants to present a clean and simple look of the website or it wants to use vibrant colors and animations for attracting the potential customers. Therefore, the layout of the site should convey the contents of the site in an effective manner. It should be easy and simple for the users to navigate through the site (Okonkwo 2007). The next step of the implementation plan identifies the process of creating the website. For the purpose of creating website Praga may use two approaches; one the company may create its website by its own or it can hire a professional person from outside who is proficient in creating an effective and useful website for the customers. The professional person may be a web designer who can create the website for Praga. If the company goes for creating the website itself, the company should have appropriate software for the creation of website. The company can go for the creation of a database driven site with the use of appropriate technologies.
Content of Website
The next step involves the decision about creating the content of website. For this purpose a content plan is required to be made. This plan will determine the sources of content, the frequency of updates and the person responsible for the maintaining development of content. It also requires the management of budget in case of acquiring any kind of content. The goal of the website will help in determining the nature if the content. For the creation of a new website it is important to display appropriate information about the company and its objectives. The website should be informative for the customers to give them knowledge about the products offered by the company. The website will require pictures of the product to be displayed, the description of product, along with the copy of sales (Mullins 2009). The requirement of content depends upon the type and nature of the website. For the display of the pictures of products the company decides whether to hire a photographer form outside or do it internally. If the company decides to do it internally it is important to identify if company has appropriate skills, proper equipments and competency for taking good quality pictures. If the photographer is to be hired form outside the company has to decide the amount of budget it would invest in the display of the website and pay to the photographer. The next step, deals with site of the content that is an online publication, in which the company has to decide the number of articles, stories or news reports that the company needs in a day. In the management of content Praga will have to ensure that the privacy policy, terms of use and the about us page is appropriate and provides exact information to meet the need of the customers. The next step involves the decision regarding the management of content. This can be done in two ways. Either the company can manage its content manually or adopt some adopt an automated system for website management. There are a number of content management techniques that may be used by the company. Another major decision that s necessary to be taken by the company is regarding the number of persons involved in the creation of content. The system of content management should be such that it can handle several users even if they are at different locations.
Management of the Website
Finally, it is necessary to decide the system of management of the website. After the creation of website it is necessary to identify the person who will be responsible for addition of the content (Luther 2011). The process of making corrections and changes in the content and the layout is also important. . Here it becomes a crucial factor that the company has appropriate skills for managing the content of the website. The way elements will be added to the site like discussion forum and shopping carts, which was not planned in the initial decision of Praga.
Target Audience
Determining the target audience is the key element for the strategy of the business. It is important for the company to identify its target audience so that the strategy can be developed accordingly. It is very important for the company to meet the expectations and the factors that can appeal the potential customers. It is the target audience of Praga that will determine the content of the company. The next important decision relates to the expectations of the customers, what appeals them, how the website can attract the customers. It is very important to ensure that appropriate information and features are provided to the customers. The audiences want to know about the location where Praga is situated along with a proper map for getting the directions.
Managing e-strategy
Evaluating e-strategy
The planning that has been done for strategy and its implementation will only be successful if the company is able to effectively measure its performance and take control measures. The performance measurement is a very crucial activity for the business since the measures which have been taken need to be evaluated. The performance measurement is done against the set benchmarks which are decided on the basis of norms of the competitive industry. The performance of the new digital model will be measured against the set standards in order to get clear understanding about is effectiveness for the organization (Kreitner 2008). If the performance of the new model is able to match the set benchmarks then it is clear that the strategy proves to be very helpful for improving the working of the business. In case the standards are not able to deliver the expected results it becomes important for the company to undertake control measures. These control measures will prove to be very helpful for the company to remove the obstacles in effective performance (Kreitner 2008). The control measures will be useful in overcoming these barriers and matching the performance of the new digital model with the set benchmarks of the industry. The strategy that has been proposed will only prove to be effective if it is managed properly. The management of strategy is very important as it will help in increasing the profit level. In order to effectively managing it is very important that the company sets specific benchmarks which are the target of every employee and accomplishment of these objectives will be helpful in achieving the objectives of the business (Kreitner 2008). The benchmarks evaluate the performance of the new digital strategy and its contribution in the profit level of the company. The benchmarks will be set in context of Traffic metrics, Transaction metrics and customer satisfaction. In the transaction metric the focus will be on profit and sales level of the company. The profit level of the company is the major determinant which is used for determining the success level if undertaking a strategy. If the profit level of the company bounces back at a higher level it will prove to be very helpful for the company and will help in effectively measuring the benefits of using the strategy (Griffin 2012). The profits of the company are currently at a very low level and the new strategy is used with an intention to make a positive change in the profit level. The profit level is set at an achievable margin which is easily achievable and calculated on the basis of the performance of the counterpart teams. The new digital model that has been adopted by the company should be able to meet the profit benchmark standard. This will prove to be helpful in measuring the performance of new digital model adopted by the company. The profit of the company will only go up if the sales level of the company increases. Since the company has high range of stocks of traditional wear it can become an asset and contribute in increasing its sales. The company can present its traditional wear after modifying them as ethic wear which will be able to gain the interest of the customers. Praga will be able to make a positive change in the working pattern with the use of new strategy which will ultimately increase the profit level of the company (Griffin 2012). Sales of the company are very important criteria which will be able to help in judging the effectiveness of the new digital model. The model of personal subscription will play an important role in attracting the customer which will help in gaining a larger market share. Along with this the technique of social merchandising is also an efficient digital tool which will contribute in increasing the profit level of the company. Thus the sales of will play an important role in determining the valuable contribution of the company. Sales level of the company if witness an increase with the use of this strategy will help in estimating the contribution made by the new digital model for improving the condition of the company. The performance measurement is very important so that the expense made for undertaking the digital model is justified (Griffin 2012). In traffic metric what is important is that the Praga needs to evaluate the number of people who are visiting the site of the company as it will help in understanding the level of acceptance of the website of the company among customers. Along with this the company will also be able to measure the performance of the new digital model with the aid of brand recognition. If the company is able to gain brand recognition among the customers it will also make a positive contribution for the company (Birnbaum 2009). Fashion industry is highly volatile and high level of brand recognition will prove to be helpful for the company to gain competitive advantage. If the company is able to establish a strong brand image it will be able to contribute in profit level of the company since the customers will be able to easily connect themselves with the products and the company. Brand recognition is a very important parameter of measuring the performance of adopting the new strategy. If the company is able to gain brand recognition it is clear that it will be able to earn benefit by using the new digital model otherwise not. High level of brand recognition is the signal of better satisfaction among the customers for the services of the company which will help in evaluating the performance of the company (Birnbaum 2009).
The above discussed are few of the common measures which will be undertaken by the company for measuring its performance. After performance measurement the next discussion in the paper is related to the monitoring the e-strategy that have been formulated for adopting the digital model. Monitoring strategy will be helpful in matching if there are any deviation between the actual performance and the set benchmarks for the fashion industry.
Monitoring e-strategy for Ensuring competitive advantage
The company will go for a regular monitoring of the strategy implemented. Monitoring is important to identify and evaluate if the strategy is working in accordance with the expectations and predetermined goals of the company. There can be various ways with which the monitoring of the e-strategy of Praga can be done. One of the benefits of having regular monitoring of the strategies of business is that it gives an early warning that there is something wrong in the working of the strategy. By the process of monitoring an effective communication is facilitated regarding the way company is carrying its operations. This will be helpful for the company to examine and identify the points where it is lacking, where the process is facing problems and what can be the opportunities of improving the current situation.
The monitoring strategy is helpful for the company in improving the implementation of its strategies and work in coordination and cooperation with each other in coming out from the current situation. With the help of a monitoring strategy the company can identify ways and approaches by which it can get back to its original position. Usually, the problems arise in the implementation of the strategy (Reading 2002). These problems may be dealt with appropriate changes and modifications. The company can modify the schedule time of its activities and strategies. It can change the tactics and approaches that were used in the implementation of the strategy. This will be helpful in changing the strategies adopted by Praga in adopting an online strategy for merchandising its products and improving its sale and position in the market. The company can use various techniques for monitoring the performance of e-strategy of Praga. These techniques can be Total Quality Management, which include Six Sigma concepts and other models. The next method of monitoring the effectiveness of the strategy of Praga is Balance Scorecard and the performance pyramid.
Balance scorecard is used to measure and monitor the financial perspectives of the strategy. It helps in identifying the drawbacks of the existing way of working so that new strategy can be adopted. Balance scorecard is a method that facilitates a link between the strategies of the company. In this manner, the objective of Praga for implementing an e-strategy and merchandising its products will be clear and specified. The concept of Six Sigma implies zero defects in the quality of products and services of the company. The products that will be offered will be free of any defect and will tend to provide the maximum quality service to its customers (Birnbaum 2009). Another strategy for monitoring the performance of the online strategy of Praga, performance pyramid may also be used as an effective approach. The performance pyramid helps in identifying the level of performance and the stage of growth that the company is achieving. With the help of performance pyramid the company will get an idea about where it is standing and what can be the ways of removing these obstacles that create a problem in successful implementation of the e-strategy of Praga.
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