ICT5150 Information Systems Report Sample

ICT5150 Information Systems Report

Assessment Details:

ERP and ITSM are interconnected in supporting the effective operation of an organisation's IT infrastructure and business processes. By aligning ERP and ITSM efforts, organisations can ensure the reliable performance, security, and usability of ERP systems, ultimately driving business efficiency and success.

In this assessment, you need to select one company of your choice (e.g., Walmart, Netflix, Spotify) and answer the question related to your chosen company. Considerable research is essential for being successful in this Assessment:

1. Describe the selected company, including its overview, offered products or services, business market position, target demographic or audience for its products or services, and organisational culture and core values.

2. Describe the ERP system applied by the company in detail. You need to explain what the ERP system includes and recognise the components of ERP.

3. Explain how ERP supports SCM (Supply Chain Management) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

4. Recognise the ITSM framework used in the company. In your explanation, you need to include the selected framework's components and attributes.

5. Describe how ERP and ITSM are connected in the company and support the business process.

Solution

Introduction

This paper provides findings on the ERP and ITSM systems in practicing corporation, namely Unilever, which is involved in the production of consumer goods. Referring to the SAP ERP in Unilever and the ITIL adopted in its supply chain, this report presents how these systems aid the supply chain and customer relations so that the Unilever runs uninterrupted. Also, the second part for MBA Assignment Expert describes the connection between ERP and ITSM, focusing on the combined influence on the improvement of data coherence, business processes’ productivity, performance measurement, and protection.

1. Company Overview

Unilever is a joint stock company originating from Netherlands and United Kingdom founded in the year 1929 as a result of a merger between the Margarine Unie and the Lever Brothers. With its operational offices situated in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands, the Unilever Company is one of the largest consumer goods companies in the world offering products within the food and beverages, cleaning products, and cosmetics/natural body treatments, and many others. Unilever serves over 190 countries and has over 400 subsidiaries, and over 150 000 employees all over the world.

Some of the brands under Unilever are so familiar to every consumer yet we do not what the company is all about, this companies are endowed with numerous brands in its manufacturing line, some of which are Dove, Knorr, Lipton, Hellmann’s, and Axe. Its position in the market is good and indicated by the ranking that the company has given in the league of other companies especially in the consumer goods industry. It is intended to work for different population, and to promote its products and services to the local and international clients.

Unilever’s organisational culture of sustainability the corporate culture of Unilever is highly geared towards sustainability and social responsibility because it seeks to make a positive impact in the society. Some of these principles include integrity, respect, responsibility and embracing change or new ideas as part of the company’s functions (Shaikat 2020). The outlined strategies Under levers’ strategies, and commitment to quality have enabled the organization to grow in the competitive consumer goods industry.

2. ERP System Applied by Unilever

SAP known as Systems Applications and Products in Data processing is used as the main ERP in the Unilever business for the improvement of its operations all over the world. To Unilever, SAP offers a set of tightly linked modules, which contain all the vital business functions including financials, logistics, purchasing, manufacturing, personnel management, and CRM (Di Camillo 2023). The integration also means real time processing and analysing the data that will see Unilever making correct decisions in record time.

Some of the aspects in the SAP ERP system used in Unilever include; Financial management used in accounting for instance, in reporting of financial accounts, supply management, which ensures timely and proper acquisition of inventory as well as logistics, and human capital management which is in charge of Human resources for instance in recruitment, payment of employees, among others. Furthermore, the CRM component deals with customers and sales to improve the customer experience and strengthen dependability.

Figure 1: Benefits of ERP Integration
Source: (Appinventiv 2023)

Thus, with the help of SAP ERP, the company’s operations reach a higher level of efficiency, costs are reduced, and interactions between divisions are enhanced on an international level. To this end, expertise and efficiency in the use of system, the gain of real-time information about different business processes that the system offers to Unilever enables it to operate competitively in the consumer goods market. Moreover, sustainability is well addressed through the enhanced resource consumption and waste minimization aspects of SAP ERP that corporate with the Unilever established goals and values.

3. ERP Support for SCM and CRM

SCM Support

A specific application of SAP ERP is in the enhancement of Unilever’s supply chain where the company is able to achieve timely and accurate information on inventories, sourcing and distribution. It facilitates proper coordination between the suppliers, manufacturing units, and the distribution centres. In Unilever’s planning and operations, real-time data in the ERP system allow accurate demand forecasting, optimal inventory control and avoiding of trapped situations such as stock-outs and overstock situations (Shilenge & Telukdarie 2021). The system also helps in procurement management that contains purchase order and supplier information as well as involved in ordering activities, which leads to cut down of lead time and expenses. Better skills in the management of the incoming and outgoing stocks minimize time wastage in the delivery of products, thus improving the supply chain.

CRM Support

For the case of CRM, SAP ERP compiles customer related information thus enabling organizations to have a coherent view of the customers. As such, integration enhances marketing communication through personalization of the campaigns, sharpening of sales strategies and customer service by Unilever. ESP within the automated ERP system enables control of the order and promotional functions, control of the sales performance analysis, and control of customers’ accounts. Further, the system helps the customer service departments by providing adequate details on the history and problems of the customers that can facilitate faster and better solving of the concerns and complaints.

4. ITSM Framework Used by Unilever

Figure 2: ISTM Framework Diagram of Unilever
Source: (Created by Self)

Service Strategy

ITIL is implemented in Unilever to ensure it organises the IT services in line with the general goals of the firm through the application of service strategy. This component entails evaluating market needs, financial plans, and service catalogue, to determine how IT services support Unilever business strategy.

Service Design

The service design phase pertains to designing actual IT services in order to address the growing/expected needs of the business. This consists of the creation of service solutions, services and procedures, Integrated Service Level Agreements (ISLA), IT security and constraints.

Service Transition

Service transition helps in controlling changes and releases in Unilever’s setting of IT. The respective stages include change management, release and deployment management, and service validation that attest to the key principles to ensure new or modified services are introduced into the network without any form of disturbance (Maes 2022).

Service Operation

This is the phase that deals with the routine delivery of IT services. Such aspects as incident management, problem management, event management, and request fulfilment guarantee constant and efficient provision of IT services.

Continual Service Improvement

The micro-level application of continual service improvement shows that Unilever uses this aspect to assess and optimise IT services on an ongoing basis. This entails examination of performance data, evaluation of determinants of performance and implementation of adjustments that would enhance IT service delivery.

5. Connection between ERP and ITSM in Unilever

Data Consistency and Accuracy

ITIL-based ITSM integration with SAP ERP ensures that the data flows in and out of the business functions are accurate and consistent. Data collected from the ERP system are fed into the ITSM framework for real-time management of the IT services that corresponds to the organization’s operational activities. This makes the work to be organized and systematic, which aids in avoiding data reprisal and assists in decision making.

Process Automation and Efficiency

Some of these ERP applications in Unilever include procurement management, inventory management, and sales which undergo automated management through ITSM. For instance, when there are accidents or service calls linked to some of the activities pertaining to the ERP attributes, the ITIL processes provide effective ways of addressing such incidences in a way that does not disrupt operations while at the same time solving the problem (Liutkevičienė et al. 2022). Such automation minimizes the need for operators’ interference, cuts on errors, and improves efficiency on the whole.

Performance Monitoring and Optimization

Through the implementation of ITSM tools which are aligned to the ITIL framework, the performance and availability of ERP systems are constantly scrutinized. Such monitoring is helpful to detect any conditions that have probable effects on business before they occur, hence enabling managers to address them before they affect business. IT service management (ITSM) includes SLAs that ensure ERP services achieve the needed levels of performance and availability.

Enhanced Security and Compliance

ERP and ITSM frameworks complement each other to bolster the company’s IT security mechanisms and protocols at Unilever. Another way in which ITIL strengthens the protection of an organization from security incidents is through its comprehensive policy on incident and problem management in regard to ERP systems (Gërvalla 2021). In addition, the adherence to regulatory requirements regarding the legal and industrial compliance is well co-ordinated between ERP and ITSM in order to avail all the legal compliances for Unilever.

Conclusion

To sum up, the implementation of the SAP ERP and the ITIL-based ITSM framework at Unilever results in the strengthening of the company’s operations on a global scale. This interconnection of systems guarantees the right data to be inputted, the process to be well managed and any poor performance to be detected thus improving on customer satisfaction. ERP and ITSM integration is highly beneficial in aspects of security and compliance, which remains a key agenda to realizing Unilever’s excellence and sustainability. In this report, the necessity of efficient and synchronized solutions implemented both at an IT and business levels is described as crucial for becoming successful in operations and being able to sustain a competitive advantage.

References

Appinventiv 2023, ‘How ERP eCommerce Integration Can Help Scale Your Business to New Heights’, viewed 25 July 2024, https://appinventiv.com/blog/ecommerce-erp-integration/

Di Camillo, T 2023, ‘Optimizing operational efficiency: a comprehensive study of ERP Systems and Accenture's SAP utilization in work process enhancement (Doctoral dissertation, Politecnico di Torino)’, viewed 25 July 2024, https://webthesis.biblio.polito.it/28332/

Gërvalla, M 2021, ‘A maturity model for implementation and application of Enterprise Resource Planning systems and ERP utilization to Industry 4.0 (Doctoral dissertation, Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem)’, viewed 25 July 2024, http://phd.lib.uni-corvinus.hu/1101/

Liutkevičienė, I, Rytter, NGM & Hansen, D 2022, ‘Leveraging capabilities for digitally supported process improvement: a framework for combining Lean and ERP’, Business
Process Management Journal, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 765-783. viewed 25 July 2024, https://russellcamilleri.com/outsourcing/measuring-the-business-value-effectiveness-of-external-technical-services/

Maes, S 2022, June, ‘ITSM and ESM in the Bigger World. Separation of concerns: A Modern Approach of ITIL for the Enterprise’, In Pink Elephant, Las Vegas, 2022. viewed 25 July 2024, https://hal.science/hal-03797929/

Shaikat, MD 2020, ‘A case study on the financial outlook of Unilever in terms of stock valuation’, viewed 25 July 2024, https://dspace.bracu.ac.bd/xmlui/handle/10361/14476

Shilenge, M & Telukdarie, A 2021, ‘4IR integration of information technology best practice framework in operational technology’, Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management (JIEM), vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 457-476. viewed 25 July 2024, https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/261763