Evaluating E-commerce Success Factors in Manufacturing: A Case Study

Module Learning Outcomes

This Assignment assesses the following module Learning Outcomes (from Definitive Module Document):

1. Explain and assess the role of Information Systems within the manufacturing environment.

2. Examine the requirements of inter-connected computer systems.

3. Apply analytical tools relevant to the design and implementation of information systems.

4. Solve problems relating to integrated computer systems.

5. Critically evaluate the application of e-commerce tools within a modern manufacturing environment.

6. Evaluate an IT/IS implementation programme taking into account, resource, quality and cost issues.

Assignment Brief:

A medium-sized manufacturing enterprise is embarking on new projects in order gain competitive advantage through advances in digital technologies. The enterprise is developing new ecommerce

site that will facilitate purchase of their products online. The enterprise is looking to develop a use case diagram for the site based on its established functional requirements, and to fully understand what needs to be done in order to develop their site into a world-leading ecommerce site. In this assignment, you are required to:

1. Draw a use case diagram for the new ecommerce site based on Case Study I (Page 4 below).

2. Choose the type of ecommerce the enterprise is developing e.g. B2B, B2C, C2B, or C2C and give reasons for your choice.

3. Critically discuss the critical success factors the enterprise must pay attention to in order to develop their site into a world-leading ecommerce site. Use related work in the literature to substantiate your discussion.

Presentation:

Your report must be written in an appropriate format and must contain no more than 3000±10% words including any diagrams, calculations, figures and/or tables where appropriate. Reports shorter than the word count will not lose marks but will lead to the omission of material which can gain them. Any words over the suggested word count will not be marked. Do not use any mechanism, such as embedded jpeg images containing significant text, to circumvent the word count.

You are expected to provide a significant range of secondary sources to underpin your work. These must be cited and referenced according to the Harvard Referencing System. Include the word count in the header of your report.

Ensure that your report is well-structured and choose appropriate number and titles for the sections of the report please. There is no need to number the references section.

Your report must follow the content and guidance above and must include the specific instructions outlined below.

1. Word-process the report on A4 paper.

Assignment Brief

2. Use 1.15 line spacing.

3. Font type must be Arial (font size11).

4. Number all pages.

5. Ensure that all diagrams / tables are labelled and numbered.

6. Grammar, spelling and style, as well as clarity, contribute towards the assessment of the report.

7. Use British Spelling i.e. ‘English (UK) Language’.

8. Justify paragraphs – Align text to both left and right margins, using your word processor to add extra space between words as necessary.

Mark is allocated for referencing in this assignment, and the mark is influenced by the thoroughness and integrity of the work as evidenced by your referencing. Marks are awarded not only for correct referencing practice, but also the extent to which the arguments have been supported by cited sources.

Requirements

1. Customers, sales staff, and technical manager can login to the ecommerce system. The system will verify the login. If the login is incorrect the system will display an incorrect login error message and further operations will not be allowed until the customer login is successfully authenticated.

2. The customer can view the standard configuration and price of their chosen robotic lawn mower.

3. The customer can view the details of the configuration, perhaps with the intention of buying it as is or to build a more suitable configuration. The price for each configuration can be computed on customer’s request.

4. The customer may place an order for an intelligent lawn mower online and, to do so, the customer must fill in the online form with shipment and invoice address, and payment details (credit card or cheque).

5. To place an order, the customer must fill in the online form with shipment and invoice address and payment details either via debit of credit card or opt for flexible credit.

6. A customer that opts for flexible credit is considered a flexible-credit customer and arrangements for flexible credit must be approved by the technical manager to progress the order.

7. After the customer’s order has been entered into the system, a salesperson sends an electronic request to the warehouse with details of the configuration ordered.

8. The details of the transaction, including the order number and the customer account number, are e-mailed to the customer so that they can check the status of the order online.

9. The warehouse obtains the invoice from the salesperson and ships the product ordered to the customer.

10. The technical manager can request and receive report of transactions recorded on the system