Description
Overview of Business Environment Analysis for Kelly’sSalon
Kelly’s Salon has been in business since 1995 and has seen an increase in competition from
a variety of competitors, as described in the Case Study. With the news that a Hair Cuttery
is likely to open only five miles away, Kelly, the owner of Kelly's Salon, is concerned and has
begun analyzing her situation and what could be done to remain competitive in this
changing environment. She has recognized that scheduling her employees and her
customers are causing her problems, and she thinks she should focus on that first,
as it is fundamental to her business. Kelly also believes that there must be a
technology solution that could help her run her salon, but she has no idea where to start.
You are a Systems Analyst, and Kelly has asked you to help her with determining how she
can improve her business. Kelly has requested, specifically, that you verify and provide
added support to her own analysis that has resulted in the identification of a Strategy for
Competitive Advantage and a Business Process for Improvement. This will be the basis for
defining business and systems requirements for an IT solution. This Strategy and IT
The solution will help to bring Kelly's Salon into the 21 st century and take advantage of current
technology. You will analyze her business environment using Porter’s Five Forces Analysis.
Then, you will use the results of that analysis to explain how it supports Kelly’s Strategy for
Competitive Advantage, and the business process that she selected for improvement
through the use of technology.
It is important to note that a business owner has many areas where improvements can be
made, such as staff, building facility, supplier agreements, advertising, etc. There are also
many possible solutions that could improve the business strategy and processes. Since
time and costs are involved, the owner should address basic problems first in choosing the
strategy and which processes to improve. (Consider a lemonade stand; while it would be
nice to have a chair to sit behind a table to serve the lemonade to customers, that is not
crucial; however, having lemonade and cups are crucial to the business.)
A second important concept for this class is that, among all the ways that competitive
advantage and processes can be improved, the focus is on information technology solutions.
In your role as a Systems Analyst, you will be supporting Kelly's selected strategy and
process for improvement and proposing an appropriate IT solution. This work begins with
an analysis of Kelly’s Salon using the Five Forces Model.
Purpose of this Assignment
This assignment gives you the opportunity to apply the concepts of the Porter Five Forces model to a specific
business, explain and support an identified a strategy for competitive advantage for Kelly's Salon, and analyze
the identified business process that could be improved with the use of technology. This assignment specifically
addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:
- analyze business strategy to recognize how technology solutions enable strategic outcomes
- analyze internal and external business processes to identify information systems requirements
- analyze business strategy to recognize how technology solutions enable strategic outcomes
- analyze internal and external business processes to identify information systems requirements
11/1/2015 Rev 2 ISFM-300 Case Study, Stage 1: Business Environment Analysis
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Five Forces Analysis:
You know that Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model is a useful tool for analyzing a business.
The Model is used to help understand the importance of the five competitive forces and
determine a strategy to develop and maintain a competitive advantage. The Five Forces are
described and discussed in Chapter 7 of the e-textbook. They are:
- Buyer Power
- Supplier power
- a threat of substitute products or services
- a threat of new entrants
- Rivalry among existing competitors