Woolworths assignment: Competitive Advantages of Innovations

Question

Assessment Task
You are required to write a 2000-word report for a novel business proposal you have developed. The business proposal must build upon your novel value proposition developed in assessment 1 for the existing business or organisation selected in assessment 1. You must use appropriate headings to structure the body of the report.

Your report must demonstrate: (Assessment criteria)
1. Logical and persuasive articulation of: business model description; value proposition development; business operations development; supply chain development; competitive advantage; financial value capture and strategic fit (this includes elements 5 to 10 in the disciplined entrepreneurship canvas by Aulet (2017, p. xviii) and elements 3 to 9 in the business model canvas by Osterwalder, Pigneur, Bernarda, and Smith (2014, pp. 8-9)). (40% marking for this portion)

2. Logical and persuasive argumentation in regard to how assumptions and uncertainties related to: customer desirability; technical feasibility; and financial viability have been addressed to date and how they will be addressed in the future as described in a phased development plan. 16%

3. Logical and persuasive argumentation for the selection of the innovation tools and techniques used to support the report findings and recommendations. These must be beyond the tools and techniques used in assessment 1. Minimum five (5) additional tools and techniques must be selected from the provided list of tools and techniques. 6%

4. Logical and persuasive application of the selected innovation tools and techniques used to support the report findings and recommendations. These must be different to the tools and techniques used in assessment 1. Minimum five (5) additional tools and techniques must be applied from the provided list of tools and techniques. 8%

5. Candid and critical self-reflection about assessment 2 tasks including: a reflection on the development of personal innovation capabilities and practices; identification of own personal strengths and weaknesses; supported with suggestions for self-improvement. 10%

6. Clear flow of thought throughout the report with: a convincing executive summary; clear and succinct purpose described in the introduction; relevant structure and content within the body of the report; and a clear and succinct conclusion. 6%

7. Critical review skills and integration of relevant academic and professional literature. A minimum of ten (10) academic and professional references must be used. 4%

8. Appropriate in-text referencing and reference list. APA reference style. 4%

9. Clarity of expression, grammar and spelling. Appropriate report format with good use of bullet points, illustrations and figures. Within ±10% of the word limit for report, excluding references and appendices: 2000 words. 6%

Answer

Introduction
Woolworths is one of the primary retailers in Australia that has developed an effective base in the other parts of the globe as well. In order to make sure that the competitive edge is maintained as discussed in the Woolworths assignment, it is necessary that the business organization continually improves its services. It is also necessary that the measures are taken to resolve the issues that may be associated with the organization. Problem Statement

There are numerous technical issues that have been identified with Woolworths (Woolworthsgroup, 2020). Due to the ongoing technical issues, there are some of the significant losses that the organization had to go through. There are innovative tools and techniques that shall be used by Woolworths to make sure that the existing issues are resolved.

Business Model Description
As per the investigation on Woolworths assignment, Woolworths is one of the major retailers in Australia. There are a number of subsidiaries and business partners that are currently associated with the organization (Santos, 2016). The technical issues that are currently present in the organization will be resolved by the key partners. The resolution of the technical issues will be done with the implementation of the Blockchain technology. There will also be numerous information systems that will be utilized so that the technical issues may be resolved. As stated in the Woolworths assignment, in order to make sure that the technical issues that are currently present in Woolworths are resolved, there will be numerous resources that will be needed (Berg et al., 2019). These will include the technical resources and numerous tools and equipment.

Business Model Canvas

The business model that Woolworths shall follow has been represented in the above section of Woolworths assignment with the aid of the business model canvas. There are a number of components that are included in this business model. The technical issues and their resolution will provide the mechanism to the organization to improve upon the customer services. It will also have positive influence on the revenues earned. The customers will be satisfied only when the transparent information sharing will be done. The use of the integrated information systems will provide the ability to the organization to maintain effective customer relations (Tennent, 2015). The use of the social media and web channels will be effective for the maintenance of the information sharing with the customers and the stakeholders. It is specified in the context of Woolworths assignment that the target markets and the customer segmentation will be done on the basis of the customer requirements and expectations. The cost structures and revenue streams will be required to be managed using the business model. The fixed cost structures will be involved in the process.

Value Proposition Development The value proposition development will be done by improving upon the overall customer service and the quality of the products. The resolution of the technical issues will automatically lead to the resolution of the issues and improvement of the quality resulting in the enhanced value. Business Operation Development

The use of the technological measures will allow Woolworths to make sure that the business operations are effectively conducted and the overall quality of the end-results improves as well.

Supply Chain Development Woolworths include a number of supply chains that are required to be managed to ensure that the overall business continuity is maintained and is assured. The resolution of the technical issues will automatically lead to the improvements in the supply chains.

Financial Value Capture This segment illustrated in the Woolworths assignmentillustrates that the financial viability is essential for Woolworths and it is currently managed using the economic feasibility and analysis. The financial factors, such as inflation rates, taxation policies, etc. are tracked and mapped by the organization. There are automated tools that may also be used in the future. These may include the financial analytics tools.

Competitive Advantage The overall streamlining of the Woolworths processes will result in the improved customer experience. The quality of the services and products will improve and the competitive edge will be obtained. Strategic Fit

The alignment of the Woolworths business goals is done with the technical goals so that there is a fine balance that is maintained. The maintenance of the strategic fit will provide the ability to ensure that the engagement from all the stakeholders is obtained.

Uncertainties Management Woolworths has been able to determine the variations with the customer desirability in the past. The primary method mentioned in the Woolworths assignmentthat is currently used by the organization is the manual analysis of the sales records and the customer purchase patterns. This leads to the identification of the customer segments and their preferences. There are automated tools and methods that can be used by the organization in the future. The automated consumer analytics is one of the measures that the company can follow in the years to come. The Big Data and business analytics tools depicted in the Woolworths assignment can be done to determine the changes in the consumer trends and patterns (Reddy, 2016).

In regards to the case scenario of Woolworths assignment, technical feasibility depends upon the technical tools and applications that are used in the business organizations. The organization currently maps the technical requirements and tools with the business needs. There are compatibility checks that are also carried out by Woolworths to make sure that the technical feasibility is assured. Also, there are predictions that are made as per the technological trends. The similar approach will be followed in the future. This compatibility checks along with the incorporation of the outcomes from the overall feasibility analysis will be done (Joshipura & Joshipura, 2015). The similar mechanism will be followed to handle the financial risks and issues.

Addressing the Uncertainties There are numerous changes in the technological tools and techniques that keep on taking place (Ishmaev, 2017). There are several tools that the organization can use for the resolution of the technical issues and the improvement in the overall quality of service.

Selection of Innovation Tools & Techniques
Some of these innovative tools and techniques are noted in the following section of Woolworths assignment:

• IoT-based smart applications
• Big Data tools
• Business analytics using the BI tools
• AI-based chatbots
• Automated information security tools
• Cloud-based NoSQL databases
• Integrated Database management systems
• Automated customer relationship management systems

Apart from the tools and techniques that are listed above in the Woolworths assignment, there are several other tools and techniques that are available. The ones that Woolworths can use along with the techniques proposed earlier are listed below within this Woolworths assignment.

• Big Data tools
• Business analytics using the BI tools
• AI-based chatbots
• Automated information security tools
• Cloud-based NoSQL databases

Big Data and BI Tools
The Big Data tools outlined in the context of Woolworths assignment have been proposed for Woolworths as data is the basic set that is associated with the business firm. With the digitization of the records and the information transmission processes, the requirements of the data are increasing with every passing day. Woolworths carries out the in-store operations and there are a number of online activities and processes that are carried out (Dhar, 2014). The online procedures include a lot of digital information, such as the customer data, details of the products, sales data, and a lot more. The offline operations also include the generation of numerous data sets. The mismanagement of these data sets is one of the primary reasons for the technical gaps and issues. Herein Woolworths assignment, the utilization of the Big Data tools along with the application of Business Intelligence tools are proposed for the organization. These will make sure that the data operations are automated and the possibilities of the technical faults and errors are reduced (Chugh & Grandhi, 2015).

AI-based Chatbots
The customer service is one of the primary aspects that are associated with Woolworths. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is proposed for Woolworths to ensure that the gaps in the customer service are reduced. The technical glitches and issues in the same can be handled with the chatbots based on the AI technology. These chatbots will provide the automated responses to the customer queries and issues. These chatbots will also make it easier for the Woolworths employees to manage the customer queries and provide the quick responses. The load on the customer service team will also come down as most of the basic queries will be handled and resolved by the chatbots (Thakkar et al., 2018).

What is the role of automated information security tools in the given scenario of Woolworths assignment?
Information security is one of the most significant aspects of the organization. It is necessary that the information sets associated with the business organization are properly handled and managed. The technical issues associated with the information sets and the related security & privacy attacks will be resolved using the automated information security tools. There are numerous such tools that have been developed which can be used by Woolworths. For example, anti-malware tools can be installed on all the Woolworth’s systems and networks to avoid the malware attacks (Cavusoglu et al., 2015). The encryption tools will be useful for Woolworths and these will also be used with the Blockchain technology.

Cloud-based NoSQL Databases
The technical mismanagement is also witnessed in the storage of the information. As per the findings obtained in the Woolworths assignment, the use of the cloud-based NoSQL databases shall be done in the organization. These will provide the enhanced capabilities over the traditional database management systems. There will also be improved mechanism in terms of the data storage, data operations, and retrieval of the information (Nisa, 2018).

Critical Self-Reflection
Personal innovation capabilities and practices

Personal Strengths and Weaknesses

Recommendations There are a few recommendations that are provided which can be used for the self-improvement.

• The organization shall keep a track of the latest technological developments and the associated patterns and trends.
• The enhanced focus shall be put on the data management techniques and the data analytics concepts.
• The hiring of the resources having the technical skills and abilities shall be done so that the latest tools and technologies which are implemented can be properly handled.
• There are updates and patches that shall be installed so that the technological tools and methods can be properly used by the organization.

Conclusion
Woolworths has numerous technical issues that are currently observed in the Woolworths assignment. It will be possible to resolve these technological issues and problems with the aid of the technology itself. Earlier, some of the techniques were proposed for the organization. These included the Blockchain technology along with the automated sales management system. Apart from these, there are several other latest tools and techniques that the organization can implement. These include the Big Data tools and the BI tools. The implementation of the cloud-based NoSQL databases and the information security tools shall also be done. There are numerous developments that have been done in the field of AI. The use of the AI-based chatbots shall be done in the organization and these will provide the ability to manage the existing issues.

References
Berg, C., Davidson, S., & Potts, J. (2019). Blockchain Technology as Economic Infrastructure: Revisiting the Electronic Markets Hypothesis. Woolworths assignmentFrontiers in Blockchain, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2019.00022

Cavusoglu, H., Cavusoglu, H., Son, J.-Y., & Benbasat, I. (2015). Institutional pressures in security management: Direct and indirect influences on organizational investment in information security control resources. Information & Management, 52(4), 385–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2014.12.004

Chugh, R., & Grandhi, S. (2015). Why Business Intelligence? International Journal of E-Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 4(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijeei.2013040101

Dhar, V. (2014). Why Big Data = Big Deal. Big Data, 2(2), 55–56. https://doi.org/10.1089/big.2014.1522 Ishmaev, G. (2017). Blockchain Technology as an Institution of Property. Metaphilosophy, 48(5), 666–686. https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12277

Joshipura, N. M., & Joshipura, M. H. (2015). Technical and Financial Feasibility of Information Technology Enabled Public Distribution System. Prabandhan: Indian Journal of Management, 6(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.17010/pijom/2013/v6i1/59947

Nisa, B. U. (2018). A Comparison between Relational Databases and NoSQL Databases. International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, Volume-2(Issue-3), 845–848. https://doi.org/10.31142/ijtsrd11214

Reddy, G. N. (2016). Big Data Processing Using Hadoop in Retail Domain. Woolworths assignmentInternational Journal Of Engineering And Computer Science. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijecs/v5i9.65

Santos, M. A. O. D. (2016). Global warming mitigation promotes corporate entrepreneurship within Woolworths’ supply chain. AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, 6(31). https://doi.org/10.5897/ajbm12.638

Tennent, K. D. (2015). When the shopping was good: Woolworths and the Irish main street. Business History, 56(5), 855–857. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2013.764046

Thakkar, J., Raut, P., Doshi, Y., & Parekh, K. (2018). Erasmus AI Chatbot. International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, 6(10), 498–502. https://doi.org/10.26438/ijcse/v6i10.498502

Woolworthsgroup. (2020). Woolworths assignmentOur Partners - Woolworths Group. Www.Woolworthsgroup.Com.Au. https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/community-and-responsibility/group-responsibility/partners