Integrated Business Analysis
You have recently been hired as an assistant to Farmlands Cooperative’s Director Strategy, Colm Hamrogue. He has given you the task of working towards a proposal for a strategic approach to new and emergent information technology use at Farmlands Cooperative. You bring with you a basic understanding regarding which new and emerging information technologies are currently discussed in the fields of Supply Chain Management, Marketing, or Management Accounting (your choice from Assignment 1). Now you have to understand how Farmlands operate and how they currently use information technology in their processes, including their supply of inputs to farmers, their provision of extension services and their use of their “Farmlands Card” data. What is their value proposition, and which parts of the processes actually add value? How does information flow within their value chain? As you are aware from the lecture, this task requires you to be on the spot and ask staff how things are done.
Task:
First of all, Colm asks you to give a short description of the company as you understand it– its history, mission, vision, legal form, position in the value chain, size, organisational structure (business unit) as well as its and financial performance. Your next step then is to map Farmlands’ processes with regards to farm supplies, extension to farmers (TFOs), and the use of the Farmlands Card (map material or service flows, as well as information and monetary flows associated to this, at an appropriate level of detail). What is Farmlands’ value proposition in each of these processes? Which departments / functions of the company are involved in the processes? Give an indication of which information technology is used in different steps of the process. Conclude with a proposal for the next steps which should follow from your process mapping exercise in order to work towards a strategic proposal to the CEO regarding technology use. Document your findings in a report to Colm Hamrogue. Your report should not exceed 1500 words, excluding the cover page and references page and potential appendices.
