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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS:

DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION
2014

Name Melissa Farquhar
NetID mfar141
Group Number: 370
Website Link: http://infosys110semester1group370.blogspot.co.nz/
Tutorial Details
Tutor: Day: Time:
Yvonne Hong Wednesday 10am
Time Spent on
Assignment:
23 Hours Word Count: 1581

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IMPROVING AUCKLANDS TRANSPORT
INTRODUCTION
Traffic congestion is one of the most well-known problems faced by Auckland residents, and
affects everyone on a day to day basis. The key problem is that not enough Auckland
residents are using public transport, in particular the bus, to reach their destiniations,
therefore increasing the number of private cars on the road. This causes pollution, lack of
parking, traffic congestion and high petrol prices. People dont catch the bus due to a
number of reasons, including reliability issues, with buses arriving late or not at all, crowding
issues, where often there isnt room for any more people on the bus, forcing these people to
seek alternative modes of transport. To solve this, we propose a new transport application
for Auckland Transort, where not only does it provide the gps location of the bus, but also
uses the AT Hop card technology to track the available capacity of the bus, so if it is full
people can make other arrangements.
3. BUSINESS SECTION
3.1 Vision
To provide a better quality of life for Auckland Residents on a day to day basis using
technology to improve transport journeys.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Transport Applications Industry
Industry: Transport Applications Industry.
Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer power: High Buyers have many choices of different apps
depending on their needs, from real time status
updates to mapping and travel routes, such as the
AT App, and Auckland Buses. (Quddus et al, 2007)

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Supplier power: Low There are many different companies to create
the software for the app that our company can
choose from, as well as internet providers, such
as Smudge and Telecom (Balakrishnan, 1995).
Threat of new entrants: High It is easy to develop an application, with no
significant entry barriers and plenty of free
knowledge and advice for new developers
(Holzer, 2011).
Threat of substitutes: High Customers can use the internet to find out this
information, or use the text updates or signage at
bus stops to find out the information as well
(Giannopolous, 2004).
Rivalry among existing
competitors:
Low Although other apps exist within the industry,
none incorporate the capacity levels of transport
therefore our company has a competitive
advantage over the other businesses in this
industry (Bi et al, 2001)
Overall attractiveness of the industry: Not favourable due to high threat of substitutes,
high buyer power and high threat of new entrants, however this business has a competitive
advantage with the technology being used therefore can be profitable and successful in this
industry.
3.3 Customers and Thei r Needs
Our main focus for customers is the residents of Auckland City. These residents need more
information available to them that is convientent and easy to access, so planning journeys
using public tranpsort is easier (Foth, 2007). Currently, buses are late or not arriving at all,
and when they do they can be already full, creating chaos for the passenger who has to find

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alternative transport at the last minute (Auckland Transport, 2011). Also, Auckland
Transport lacks the necessary up to date information about their customers, which this app
can provide them. This app will provide information on arrival of buses, as well as their
capacity levels, so customers can make informed decisions about their journeys, and seek
alternatives if necessary. It will also relay this information through wireless technology to
Auckland Transport, so they can make better informed decisions about bus scheduling and
route options.
3.4 The Product and Service
The product is a mobile application that customers can have on their smartphone, which
makes their daily commutes easier. This is done through effectively commuting real time
data about buses whereabouts and arrival times, as well as capacity levels. The launch of
the new Hop cards makes this possible, with the number of people entering and level the
bus and swiping their cards being monitored and relayed through wireless technology to
both the customers through the app, and Auckland Transport. At the same time, GPS
systems are used to track the buses movements, as well as arrival times to destinations,
which is also transmitted to customers and Auckland Transport.
3.5 Suppliers and Partners
Our primary partner would be Auckland Transport. This is necessary because we both want
to improve the transport journey for the customers, as well as traffic congestion in Auckland
as a whole. To do this, we need access to the bus routes, schedules, and access to the Hop
card technology, as well as access to the buses themselves, and Auckland Transport needs
the information we can supply in an accessible and easy to understand way. Another
partner would be Telecom, who would provide us with the wireless technology we require
to transmit the information between customers, as well as marketing opportunites for both
parties. A supplier would be an New Zealand app developer such as Smudge, who would use
their skills and knowledge to design and create the app for us to market and sell. Another
supplier would be Google and Apple, who would promote and sell our product through the
android system to smartphone users.

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3.6 Strategy: Focused Low Cost
The transport application industry is a narrow market, targeting only Auckland residents.
This will be low cost due to the competitive nature of the applications industry. Customers
do not want to have to pay for their applications, and if they do they must not cost much,
no matter how helpful they can be.
The overall strategy is therefore focused low cost.
3.7 Value Chain Activity: Market and Sell the Product
The most important value chain activity for this business is marketing and selling the
product. In order to overcome the exisiting competition in this industry, we must make
customers aware of our application, our competitive advantage and how it will benefit
them. We need to communicate to every stakeholder that our product can make their lives
easier on a day to day basis, and is a step towards easing traffic congestion in Auckland.
3.8 Business Processes
3.8.1. ADVERTISING PROCESS A key process required in the value chain activity Market and
Sell the product is the advertising process. In order to fulfil our vision and best help all
residents of Auckland city improve their daily journeys we need to make our product highly
visible and well-known. This will also help us overcome the competition already existing in
the applications industry, as more customers will be aware of our competitive advantage,
the capacity monitoring system.

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3.8.2. APPLI CATI ON PURCHASI NG PROCESS Another key process required in the Market and
Sell value chain activity is the sales process. Without an effective and efficient sales process,
we will not be able to collect payment from customers, or provide them with our services,
therefore making in crucial in the operation of our business, and fulfilling our goal of helping
Auckland Residents with their traffic issues.

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3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. ADVERTISING PROCESS
Designing advertisements
Creating advertising budgets
3.9.2. APPLI CATI ON PURCHASING PROCESS
Receiving payments
Sending customer confirmation notices
3.10 Systems

3.10. 1. BUDGETING SYSTEM - a budgeting system supports the advertising process by
calculating the most efficient way to communicate to customers of a given target audience,
when a special media has been chosen. By creating advertising budgets, this system will
both save us money as well as aid us in reaching the Auckland citizens we want to help.
3.10. 2. PAYMENT PROCESSING SYSTEM an essential for our business is an effective and
efficient payment processing system, so customers can send payments and we can receive
them as fast as possible, making the process easier for our customers and ourselves. This
also means customers can download our app faster, therefore starting to improve their
transport journeys sooner.
3.10. 3. CUSTOMER CONFI RMATION SYSTEM automatically sends customers a confirmation
of their purchase, to speed up the transaction process therefore enhancing customer
satisfaction. This means we can process our customers faster, so they can start using our
product faster, improving their daily commutes.

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3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain
Activity
Processes Functionalities Specific Information
System(s)
Broad Information
System(s)

Market and
Sell the
Product
1. Advertising
process
1. Creating advertising budgets.

2. Designing advertisments.
Budgeting System

Advertisement designing
system
Decision Support System

Decision Support System
2. Application
purchasing
Process
1. Receiving customer payments.

2. Sending customer confirmation notices
Payment Processing system

Customer Confirmation
system
Transaction Processing
System
Transaction Processing
System

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CONCLUSION
Our product, a new transport application for Auckland customers, can help our customers in
their every day lives by making their public tranpsort journeys eaiser and more efficient,
therefore following our vision of making peoples lives easier through the use of technology
in transport. Industry analysis shows that the transport application industry is not
favourable, however with a competitive advantage there is potential for our business to be
successful in this industry. In order for it to be a success we need a number of suppliers and
partners, including Telecom, Auckland Transport, Smudge and Google for example. Our
vision makes our business strategy focused low-cost, and we have a narrow market of
Auckland customers, as well as needing our application to be low in price in order to be
popular with our customers. Information systems and IT will play a key role in this product,
such as in our sales process and advertising process as previously discussed.

REFERENCES

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