STUDENT 28030331

NUMBER
TICK MODE FT PT DL
OF STUDY √
N.R.C 585203/10/1
NUMBER
FULL Mwangala Kalaluka
NAMES OF
LECTURER

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

EXAMINATION ANSWER BOOKLET

Date: 23/05/2020_____________________________________________________________________

Programme: Bachelor in business administration __________________________________________

(E.g. Diploma in Law)

Name of course/subject: Management of information system__________________________________

(E.g. Communication Skills)

Subject Code: BBA 206__________________________________________________________________

(E.g. DL 203)

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
1. All answers must be typed in the answer booklet as no handwritten or scanned scripts will be accepted.
2. Before beginning your work, you must complete the blank spaces above and insert your Student Number in the space provided at
the top of this page.
3. Do not write your name on this cover or any part of this answer script.
4. Each answer must bear the question number attempted.
5. Type all your answers in this answer booklet using Microsoft Word on your computer and save.
6. Start each answer on a separate page.
7. Insert in the column on the right of this page, the numbers of the questions you have attempted.
8. Times New Roman, Font Size 12, 1.5 spacing
9. Save your answer booklet by the name of your course followed by student number e.g.
BRAM309_Knowledge_Management_29000001
10. Note that;
FT stands for Full Time
PT stands for Part Time
DL stands for Distance Learning

FOR OFFICIAL USE

QUESTION NUMBER MARKS OBTAINED
 ATTEMPTED

Q1

Q4

Q5

TOTAL

Question 1
The business world has long since felt the effects of globalization in terms of competitive
environment with technology being one of its largest drivers. With the rapid increase of the
number of internet users the following to take place in the industry lower trading, lower
transportation cost, lower communication costs and further adoption of information
communication technology (ICT) by organization in turn fostering globalization. In this essay
we will attempt to discuss the impact of the internet of globalization taking into account porters
five forces and competitive strategies.

Globalization is the spread of products, technology, information and jobs across national borders
and culture. The increase of internet users dictates that globalization will be sped up as
organizations are finding it not only easier to interact directly with customers but also advertise
to larger prospects not only locally but internationally as well at relatively lower costs for 24
hours a week, organization are also able to locate supplier will relatively fair price and good
quality material due a wide search radius, conduct offshoring to ensure they provide the best for
their customer and expand due to readily available information and improved method of
communication. Though globalization has its opportunities it also has its drawbacks as with
globalization causes changes the competitive environment hence organization can use Porter’s
five forces model and his competitive strategies to analyze and help safeguard the organization’s
market share. Porter’s five force model is defined by Michael E. Porter in his book competing
strategies as, ‘ a framework for understanding the competitive forces at work in an industry,
which drive the way economic value is divided among said industry’. It is encompasses five
external environmental factors which are Bargaining power of suppliers, Bargaining power of
buyers, Threats of entrants, Threats of Substitutes and Industry Rivalry.
 Threats of new Entrants
An example of how Kraft Heinz has been forced to become innovative in the way they
conduct their business due to globalization, so as to ensure that they are not “knock” out
of the race by emerging and expanding companies. To do so Kraft Heinz has adopted the
cost leadership strategy by building economies of scale such that they can lower the fixed
cost per unit and in turn reduce prices and still make profit, the lowered prices act as a
deterrent to company that try to penetrate their market. They have also spent money on
research and development so as to keep up with the current trends by using market
 research and market intelligence systems this guarantees customer satisfaction hence
customer loyalty narrowing the window of opportunities for would be competitors.
 Bargaining power of buyers
The smaller the customer base is the higher the bargaining power they possess hence the
greater the need for them to seek lower prices. Company can therefore take advantage of
globalization to try and expand their customer base so as to dilute their bargaining power.
By being innovative through creation of new products as customers a likely to demand
lower prices for already established goods.
 Bargaining power of suppliers
The fewer the suppliers in the industry the higher their bargaining power in turn charging
higher prices and reducing overall organizational profitability. Organizational can tackle
this by building efficient supply chain with multiple suppliers and by experimenting with
different materials that a less expensive but also don’t temper too much with the quality.

 Threats of substitutes
The higher the willingness of the customer to substitute the more an organization profits
are likely to suffer, for example Dropbox and Google drive are substitutes for storage.
Organization in this situation should make it difficult for to easily substitute their
products by increasing the switch cost for customers such charging high cancellation fees
for services and lengthy cancellation processes.
 Rivalry among existing competitors
How high or low a company can set the price for its product will mostly depend on the
competition, therefore when the rivalry in the industry is intense then it will drive down
the prices and decrease overall profitability (though this lowers the threat of entrants in
the industry), this can because the is insufficient product differentiation, high expense in
leaving the industry and decline in industry growth. The major food industry in a
diversified environment such as the one Kraft Heinz operates in is highly competitive
hence take its toll on the company’s profitability. By implementing differentiation
strategy by building a sustainable product differentiation, exploring the many frontiers of
advertising, increasing market size and overall improved service excellence and
transparency can ensures that lower prices are not the only incentive they have to offer
 their customers. As the organization seeks to be unique in the industry along widely
valued dimension of customers, this can be achieved by utilizing market research
systems.
By using porter five forces model to analyze external environment organization can better grasp
the impact globalization will/has have on the business and can better counter or fully benefit by
using the appropriate competitive strategy, hence securing their place in the industry.
Question 4

Value Chain Model views the firm as a series of activities that add value to products and services
from its creation to the time it reaches the objectives through the pick strategy after carrying an
external analysis. An organization responds to the structure of its industry by choosing a
competitive strategies which are cost leadership, differentiation and focus, therefore an
organization can focus on being the cost leader a car rental company would need to excel with a
low-cost strategy have extreme operational efficiency and use low-cost materials and resources
to reduce the overall price of their service. can strive to provide the lowest-cost rentals across the
industry, or it can seek to provide the lowest-cost car rentals to an industry segment. It can focus
on differentiating its services from those of the competition in the car rental industry, the
competitive advantage is gained by offering a unique or highly specialized service. The business
needs to dedicate time and resources to innovation, research, and development. A successful
differentiation strategy allows the business to set a premium price for its product or service
examples are the Car rental services differentiating on its services from the competition by
having the cleanest car or the fastest check in. Strategies determine value chains and that
determines business processes. The Porter Five Forces plays an important factor to picking the
strategy. By using the Porter Five Forces, companies can respond to the forces and choose a
strategy to beat the force.
Question 5

a) The organization first of all an organization conducts a market research through Porter’s
5 forces then came up with the appropriate competitive strategy which can either be cost
leadership, differentiation and focus, it is from this strategies that organization come up
the appropriate business process are drawn up as well as information systems to support
said business processes.
b) Once an organization has carried out an analyses of the industry they have to implement
the appropriate strategy such cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Cost leadership is
where an organization establishes itself to be the low cost producer, to do so an
organization can either simply cost leadership that offers low priced goods to all kinds of
customers or they can be focused cost leadership driven organization where products are
directed toward certain segments. For example if a clothing store caters for struggling
students it is focused cost leadership strategy driven business as it target customers by
status, then this means that the business will offer low prices focused cost leadership
strategy. They will focus on, acquiring lowest possible supplier and transportation means,
will have minimal customer service, position stores in low rental areas with relatively
small operating premises so as to make a profit without tempering with the product’s
quality this can be achieved by employing the use of information systems through market
intelligence systems to do so. While a clothing store that caters to high-end neighborhood
professional business people would most likely adopt a focused differentiation strategy
where they target a high income market segment. Hence they will focus mostly on
providing excellent, product quality, customer service and overall customer experience

c) Courtesy of Experiencing MIS

Value chain Greet Determine Try on Pay for

activity customer Need cloths cloths
Low cost Message that What are Just stock up Pick what That will be
clothing implements you looking help your you like the k150
store competitive for today self dressing
strategy room is to
your left
 Supporting None Physical none Receipt
business control and
process procedure to
prevent
pilfering.

High cost Message that Hello Mr. I think this Why don’t And your
clothing implements Tembo luxurious you try bill totals to
store competitive good of to suit would these on k4500 will
strategy visit our look while I you be
store again, smashing on check on paying with
would you you what else your credit
like too would look card today
sample our smashing as well?
latest mans on you
ware?
Supporting Customer Employing Printed
business tracking and training and receipt
process past sales information through
activity system to with
system match automated
customer purchase
and clothing