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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 2 THE SDLC 4 System Investigation 5 System Design 6 Programming 6 Testing 7 Prototyping 7 End-user development method 8 Outsourcing 10 Implementation 10 Conclusion 12 APPENDIX 14 BIBLIOGRAPHY 19 FRITO LAYˇ¦S DRIVE TO REPACKAGE KNOWLEDGE Introduction Frito-lay is a multinational company in the salty snacks industry selling their products in about 120 countries, which accounts for about 40% of the world market. 60% of this market is located in the United States where Frito-Lay could be considered the market leader. Frito-Lay is a billion dollar company accumulating nearly $13 billion in sales in 2000, which represents two thirds of the sales and profits of PepsiCo its parent company. Frito-Lay is very keen on their use of information technology and communication of information. Frito-Lay could be classed as an industry as being one of the first to implement computer technology into their operations. In 1989, the company installed a data warehouse so it would know the location and price of each bag of chips that was sold throughout the United States. The company was also one of the first to use the Top-Down approach, in 1991, when they gave their sales reps handheld computers enabling pricing and product decision making to move down the chain of command. In 1995, Frito-Lay further increased the flow of information, spending $130 million on 15000 new handheld computers so that there was better use of information technology. As technology improved decisions moved further down the organisation, reaching the sales staff at the organisational level. Companyˇ¦s main goal for its handhelds was to offer for its customers and through them its consumers, as much choice as possible by increasing communication between each channel of distribution. Therefore, the handhelds allowed for information between costumers and sales staff to be relayed quickly to the company so that appropriate action could be taken immediately. There was also a need to improve Frito-Layˇ¦s product forecasting and inventory management. The handhelds allowed sales staff to be better equipped to track inventories and to improve communication with their retailers. The handhelds reduced time consumption and improved efficiency since sales reps were able to lock in and agree to specific prices for given products ˇV which was previously the responsibility of regional or national management. Therefore the handhelds allowed the company to improve efficiency and effectiveness at the tactical level whist reducing costs at the operational level. However there was some problems being encountered with the highly acclaimed information system. The data was not linked with each other as it was fragmented among separate national databases in functions such as marketing and accounting. As such the tactical employees could not make effective decisions in certain situations. For instance, if management could see the sales information from the sales information system, then they could establish their cost price, selling price and thus their profit margin (per unit) and total revenue. Thus in the event of threat of entry into the industry, the marketing department would know if they could reduce price and by what proportion so as to retain market share. The sales staff also encountered various problems with handhelds. Those who were assigned to the same company had no simple way of sharing their knowledge about their customers. Sales people in different locations were asking the same questions for various departments, which was wastage of time and energy. Thus there was a problem with the Knowledge Work Systems. There was a lack of compatibility with the various systems and as such information was not flowing and thus answers could not be obtained and decisions could not be made. In the 1990s Frito-Lay was serving fewer, larger customers who expected their suppliers to provide more service. One these wanted to see study results supporting a marketing idea suggested by a Frito-Lay salesperson. As such Frito-Lay created a few national sales teams to work with this and other such customers on a national basis. Its goal was to provide more information to these large, centralised customers. The following is S.W.O.T. analysis of the New Information System (refer to appendix) THE SDLC There are various ways to develop an information system.
Approximate Word count = 2759
Approximate Pages = 11
(250 words per page double spaced)
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