Mission and Goals of Wal-Mart and Duke Energy with Regards to IT

Mission, Goals and Information Systems Support: Wal-Mart and Duke Energy

Wal-Mart:
Mission: Purpose is “Saving People Money So They Can Live Better” (www.walmartstores.com)
Current Goals/Plans:
1. Wal-Mart Smart Network to 2700 stores (9/3/2008): “Will provide shoppers relevant and useful information via in-store TV. The first ‘shopper-intelligent network at retail’ is the result of two years and $10 million in research and development used to identify the optimal locations, applications and programming for reaching millions of consumers” (www.walmartstores.com).
· Next generation retail media network
· Supported by flexible, open enterprise platform powered by Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Allows central control of 27,000 screens in 2,700 stores.
· Smart Network is intelligent. Analyzes data at point of sale data and delivers shopper-centric communications platform
· Customized programming
· Network operations programmed by Thomson’s Premier Retail Networks (PRN), a Wal-mart partner
· Measurement by DS-IQ analytics
2. Price Leadership on top-quality brands
3. Ensure clarity of product offerings
4. Invest in growth categories
5. Improve customer experience
6. Redesigned pharmacy to be more customer friendly and increase loyalty
7. Focus on sustainability: Includes goal to have 100% renewable energy, create zero waste, reduce greenhouse gases by 20% over next 7 years
Operational Activities:
· Price leadership requires the entire supply chain to integrate strict operational methods designed to lower costs. Operationally the execution of distribution channels must drive out costs and minimize delivery times, while keeping stock available for purchase. Suppliers must integrate within the supply chain to keep their costs low and conform to Wal-mart’s needs.
· Clarity of product offerings requires marketing strategies and product placement displays be easy for customers to understand and access. Store personnel and the supporting departments need to provide tools and efforts to ensure. Wal-mart has a ’10 foot Rule’ that requires associates to meet, greet and assist any customer within 10 feet while in the store for superior customer service.
· The redesigned pharmacy requires marketing inputs but also operationally must integrate with daily operational offerings and product placements. Store management has to focus on ensuring the corporate goals are implemented.
· Distribution costs for trucks, fuel, warehouses, etc are all concern areas. Operationally the routes, fuel purchases and uses, and warehouse processes need to operate by most efficient methods.
·
Managerial Activities:
· Management throughout the company and with companies integrated in the supply chain must focus on reducing costs. Strict adherence to corporate objectives is part but also they must be proactive in their daily management activities.
· Reduction of waste is a concern area and complies with company’s efforts to become a more sustainable company
Strategic Activities:
· Developed a contest with suppliers to develop most environmentally sound packaging. HP won with their packaging for new laptop computer using entirely renewable materials.
· Research and implement information systems, potentially an open source web service to allow suppliers access and transmittal of data to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
· Implementing new payment processing methods to reduce costs, improve efficiency and inventory control
How Information Systems support the Activities:
· Use of service-oriented architecture (SOA) will allow the company to reuse existing IT assets while at same time developing and implementing new IT applications.
· Multiple wireless and mobile payment options are being developed. Wal-mart needs to implement methods that will fit it’s business model. The digital and wireless options allow capture of data and will add to the transaction processing system (TPS) already in place, including point-of-sale(POS) applications.
· To improve the customer experience, improvements in the customer relationship management (CRM) applications will focus on customer needs.
· The continued improvements to enterprise resource planning (ERP) software will help the company and suppliers reduce costs
Duke Energy:
Mission: “At Duke Energy, we make people’s lives better by providing gas and electric services in a sustainable way. This requires us to constantly look for ways to improve, to grow and to reduce our impact on the environment” (www.duke-energy.com).
Current Goals/Plans:
1. Develop a solar plan in North Carolina with over $100 million investment. “Starting in early 2009, Duke Energy wants to install electricity-generating photovoltaic solar panels at up to 850 North Carolina sites, including homes, schools, office buildings, shopping malls, warehouses and large manufacturing facilities – both on roofs and on the ground” (http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008090401.asp).
2. “The purchase of the entire electricity output (16 megawatts) from what will be one of the nation’s largest photovoltaic solar power plants, to be built in Davidson County, N.C., during the next two years” (http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008090401.asp).
3. “A partnership with General Motors and other utilities to help lay the groundwork for the large-scale launch of plug-in electric vehicles, starting in 2010” (http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008090401.asp).
4. “The acquisition of a large wind company – Vermont-based Catamount Energy – which has 283 net megawatts of wind power in operation and another 1,750 megawatts under development “(http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008090401.asp).
5. “A request for proposals from renewable energy developers to supply significant amounts of electricity to Duke Energy customers in Ohio” (http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008090401.asp).
6. “The purchase of the entire electricity output from a power plant fueled by methane gas naturally emitted from decaying garbage at a closed Durham, N.C., landfill. The facility will produce enough electricity to serve 1,600 homes” (http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008090401.asp).

Operational Activities:
· Duke Energy delivers electricity to approximately 4 million customers from multiple sources. Operationally, the focus is to provide the services with the most efficient methods. The larger focus is on managerial and strategic activities of the company.
Managerial Activities:
· Senior management strategically participates in new, innovative deliver methods and production requiring management activities to support. Managers are required to develop methods to process and deliver and have enormous need for information and data required to implement.
Strategic Activities:
· As noted above the strategic objectives include converting methane gas from landfills to electricity, investing $100 million in solar electricity infrastructure, and partnering with General Motors to design systems to support electric automobiles.
· Electrical utility companies may be viewed as stable and static but Duke Energy activities are focused on how to strategically develop new production and delivery methods for electricity that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
How Information Systems support the Activities:
· Information systems required by Duke Energy are extensive. Some components that would support the above activities are noted:
o Business intelligence (BI) to gather the large amounts of data needed by senior management to develop strategic initiatives.
o Expert systems allow knowledge to be stored and then decisions recommended based on a built in knowledge.
o Extensive management information system (MIS) is needed to compile all the data and provide information needed by managers for all the planning, organizing and controlling operations.