AMERICAN COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Business Administration

Course: Management Information system ( OMBA-531)
Individual Assignment One

Title
“The Role of Information Technology in Small Business Success”
Questions from the Case Study on: - Sew What? Inc

Submitted to: Dr. Fikre Y. Wondimu (DBA, Eng., MCT, MCSE)

Student Name: Daniel Abebe Mekonnen

Student ID OMBA -195-21A

December, 2021
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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 Assignment -1-

O’Brien, James A. (1996), Management Information

Systems: Managing Information Technology in the
Networked Enterprise, 10th Ed., USA
Read Case 3 on page 41
1. Answer the questions
2. Send it by e-mail to me.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. How do information technologies contribute to the business success of Sew What?

Inc.? Give several examples from the case regarding the business value of infor-
mation technology that demonstrate this conclusion.

• As we have learnt from the case study, Information technologies have contrib-
uted to the business success of Sew What? Inc. through allowing customers to
reach from various locations, where both locally and globe, to view the products
and services that Sew What? Inc. offers.
• Because of using information technology and develop the company website,
Mrs. Megan Duckett abled to grow her business significantly and maximized
companies’ revenue to about $4 million, plan to achieve more with the forecast-
ing of 65% revenue maximization. Information Technology also helped her to
understand how the workflow and production managed, calculating of the ac-
curate cost for the production.
• Further, the use of information technology helps to interacting with her custom-
ers via the website. The site has allowed potential customers to review all kinds

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 of colour swatches and teaches them how to calculate accurate measure-
ments; the proper care and feeding of a variety of drapery materials; and a lot
more.
• By using Information technology Mrs. Megan won the Dell/NFIB prize which is
Small Business Excellence Award and have got other many awards mostly be-
cause of use of information technology in convenient and effective way for the
development of the business and this acknowledgment has encouraged her to
do further on her information technology usage like adding Bar code system.

2. If you were a management consultant to Sew What? Inc., what would you advise
Megan Duckett to do at this point to be even more successful in her business?
What role would information technology play in your proposals? Provide several
specific recommendations.

As a management consultant of sew what? Inc I would advise Mrs. Megan Duckett
to be even more successful in her business as follow: -
o I would start my suggestion from Developing a well-structured market-
ing team which is information technology based. Marketing forces
needs very well managed information and communication system which
is possible only through effective use of information technology. Regis-
ter all customers inquiries and store all information that allow the com-
pany to identify – customer categories, high demand inquiries, the ser-
vices providing standard and strengthen the customer-oriented busi-
ness strategy.
o Second, I will push to focus on upgrading the Information Technology
system that Mrs. Megan already mentioned on her plan and install suit-
able software which enable her to manage the business with the feature
like - Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to manage the cus-
tomers’ request, interacting with customers through dialog box, be-
cause customers’ feedback always plays a major role for business, and

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 also store & manipulating stored data, -Supply Chain Management to
manage easily the supplier and the production relationship, to know the
reordering points of raw materials and even to identify which product
has what kind of demand as well.
o It will be my suggestion also on using social media to promote the Sew
What? Inc which is really vital now a days and helps to be easily reach-
able throughout the globe. It is also here in a figure tip distance to get
all the company’s information. Social Media like (Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn …..)
o Finally, I strongly would suggest her to use information technology in
every aspect of the business from production to sales so that will keep
her in the track of success it is of course important and easy keeping all
record and control with the Information technology system. Further, In-
formation Technology enables small businesses to maximize revenues
by minimizing costs and make the whole process more systematic.

3. How could the use of information technology help a small business you know be
more successful? Provide several examples to support your answer.
• I can list Event organizers, Online Shops, beauty salons and barber shops as
a good example which can benefit a lot from the use of information technology.
Online shops are best example whose success is totally based on the way they
use manages information. For a sense by developing well-designed website,
making items eye-catch display, information about the prices, varieties and
other details on the products, can attract more customers for online shops and
easily reachable throughout the globe.
• Through using systematic record management software, Barber shop is the
one which can make a great business and things happen in time. Customers
can make an appointment via the software (for a sense booky) which enable
them make a que and avoid seating and wait for a while at the shop.
• Event Organizers can create wonderful business opportunities by using Infor-
mation technology. They can list their upcoming events, type of events and

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 services they provide, and different venues where events going to be held. This
information can easily attract their customers from the globe. Generally, such
small business can collect, store and manage their customers information and
manipulate for further business opportunities through using Information Tech-
nology system.

REAL WORLD ACTIVITIES

1. Search the Internet to help you evaluate the business performance of Sew What?
Inc. and its competitors at the present time. What conclusions can you draw from
your research about Sew What?’s prospects for the future? Report your findings
and recommendations for Sew What?’s continued business success to the class.

Market place: Sew What? Inc operates in a highly competitive market.

Sew What top 3 Competitors include: True Spec Golf- with annual revenue of $15.4M
and 68 employees,
FREEBIRD Stores - with annual revenue of 16.6M and
73 employees,
SUPPLY.com - with annual revenue of 31.6M and 139
employees
• Sew What's estimated annual revenue is currently $43.8M per year.
• estimated revenue per employee is $227,000
• Sew What has 193 Employees. (Source from www.growjo.com )
Currently Sew What? Describes as the Entertainment and Event industry’s go-to for
custom drapery products. they produce everything for theaters and stages, from massive
3-D fabric sets for rock concerts to grand front curtains in world-class auditoriums. You’ll
find Sew What? custom stage curtains and soft goods featured in schools and trade show
booths, at special events and at concerts worldwide. “If you can dream it, we can sew it!”
(From www.sewwhatinc.com).

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As Megan Duckett has promised that she’ll be able to provide better service by keeping
the customer updated through use of Information technology, she realized that
Information technology gives opportunity to expand the market, get vast market share
and reachability. Therefore, I recommend her to focus and engage the contemporary or
UpToDate Information Technology system to assure the continuity of her business
success and take competitive advantage of the market place in the industry.

2. Small businesses have been slower to integrate information technology into their
operations than larger companies. Break into small groups with your classmates
to discuss the reasons for this state of affairs, identifying several possible IT solu-
tions and their business benefits that could help small businesses become more
successful.

It is known that today’s Business world is very competitive so all organizations should be

ready to face challenges in order to survive, grow and take competitive advantage over

others. In the other hand, Information technology keeps on changing rapidly so

businesses organizations need to be updated.

Small businesses may assume that using Information Technology is very expensive or

unaffordable, difficult to manage, and even not necessary to their operation and think IT

is important for large companies than them. However, Information Technology is

important for small business as same as large companies and there are many options

from the simple using free Social Media applications to the sophisticated Information

Technology system software.

For a sense, creating a professional-looking website can be quick and easy nowadays,

and enables your small business to be in the online space. (Research from the E-

commerce Wiki indicates that more than 88% of consumers now research purchases
online before purchasing in a store). Small business can design simple website that

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describes who they are, what they do, and how to contact them will help them to become

more success in their business.

From several possible benefits of Information Technology for the success of small

business, I can describe few as follow: Using Information Technology in small business

helps to get competitive advantage over other competitors, reachability with their target

customers, display or describe about their services and product which enables them for

a real-time data access for faster, and also complete decision-making and that assure the

success of their business.

Thank you

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