Target’s Devastating Information Security Incident

On December 19, 2013, Target Brands, Inc., one of the world’s largest retailers, announced a breach in customer data security affecting more than 40 million, and as many as 70 million, customers from 1,797 of the company’s US stores. (Ray, Elgin, Lawrence, & Matlack, 2014, and Isidore, 2014).   Information including customer names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and credit card data was compromised by the use of malware installed in Target’s security and payments system (Walace, 2013, and Isidore, 2014).  This was a devastating instance of hacking and computer crime committed against the company and its customers, and was especially damaging since it occurred during the holiday season.  It resulted in negative impacts to Target’s relationships with customers, as well as its future earnings. 

Any business conducting online transaction processing should consider information security one of its top priorities.  Keeping business information, supplier information, and customer information secure is key to running a successful business and maintaining good relationships with business partners.  According to O’Brien and Marakas in Management Information Systems, “Effective security management can minimize errors, fraud, and losses in the information systems that interconnect today’s companies and their customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders” by integrating a variety of methods and tools to protect a company’s information system resources (O’Brien and Marakas, 2010).  Target Brands, Inc. had security management tools in place, and had begun installing $1.6 million in malware detection tools just six months prior to the discovery of the data breach (Riley, Elgin, Lawrence, & Matlack, 2014).  Unfortunately, there were holes in Target’s information management system that gave hackers the ability to infiltrate security measures and steal sensitive information.

According to Riley, Elgin, Lawrence and Matlack in “Missed Alarms and 40 Million Stolen Credit Card Numbers: How Target Blew It,” the new malware system installed by Target had registered alarms of potential malware threats two weeks before the breach was discovered (2014).  These alarms, however, went untreated because an option in the software to automatically delete malware as it is detected was turned off (Ray, Elgin, Lawrence, & Matlack, 2014).  According to a quote from Edward Kiledjan, chief information security office for Bombardier Aerospace, in the article, this is not an unusual practice for businesses, as their IT security teams want the ability to make the final decision on what do to (Ray, Elgin, Lawrence, & Matlack, 2014).  In this instance, Target’s security team failed to recognize the alarms and potential threat, which caused trouble for the company and its customers.  Ultimately, however, it was the company’s decision not to let the anti-malware software do what it was designed to do and delete the incoming malware when it was uncovered that lead to devastating consequences.

Target is accused of failing to employ “reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect personal information” (Wallace, 2013), which is an ethical responsibility the company has to its customers.  The company reportedly spent $61 million responding to the breach in the first quarter of 2014, as well as saw a 46% decline in sales for the 2013 holiday season compared to the same quarter in 2012.  Since the attack, Target has taken measures to regain trust from its customers as well as ensure the company is doing what it can to prevent another catastrophic incident from happening again.  The company stated that customers would not be liable for the cost of any fraudulent charges, and it has promised to help lead the transition from magnetic strip credit cards to cards with embedded chips by spending $100 million for upgrades to cash registers and other technology that read the new cards (Ray, Elgin, Lawrence, & Matlack, 2014).  The new chip embedded cards provide heightened security to card holders compared to the magnetic strip cards used currently in the US (Biersdofer, 2014).  Target also offered a year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to all customers who shopped in its US stores, as another way to rebuild trust (Isidore, 2014).

References:

Biersdorfer, J. (2014, June 9). The Shift to Safer Chip-and-PIN Credit Cards. The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/technology/personaltech/the-shift-to-safer-chip-and-pin-credit-cards.html?_r=0

 

Isidore, C. (2014, January 11). Target: Hacking hit up to 110 million customers. CNNMoney. Retrieved July 29, 2014, from http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/10/news/companies/target-hacking/

 

Riley, M., Elgin, B., Lawrence, D., & Matlack, C. (2014, March 13). Missed Alarms and 40 Million Stolen Credit Card Numbers: How Target Blew It. Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved July 29, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/target-missed-alarms-in-epic-hack-of-credit-card-data

 

Wallace, G. (2013, December 23). Target credit card hack: What you need to know. CNNMoney. Retrieved July 29, 2014, from http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/22/news/companies/target-credit-card-hack/

IT Strategies for Transnational Organizations and Toyota Motor Corporation

The world is growing smaller every day.  With the technological innovations of the recent past, global and multi-domestic businesses have become increasingly easier to conduct.  These business strategies depend on corporate headquarters to manage operations and provide new processes, products, and ideas.  Transnational organizations, however, are at the forefront of these businesses, conducting their operations across countries, reaching all ends of the globe, all while depending less on centralized IS operations and independent IS units for subsidiaries.  These organizations rely on “integrated and cooperative worldwide hardware, software, and Internet-based architecture for [their] IT platform” (O’Brien, 2011).  With this innovation of transnational business, comes unique challenges, and transnational organizations must develop successful IT strategies to overcome them.  There are several IT strategies that transnational organizations employ to ensure success in the marketplace, and this analysis will look at some of those strategies and the ways Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) has implemented them as a transnational organization.

Toyata is a transnational organization that operates 51 production bases in 26 different countries and regions around the world (Toyota).  Although it is headquartered in Japan, the company stresses the importance of minimizing support that comes from the corporate headquarters in order for each of the overseas locations to become self-reliant (Toyota).  

Image from Toyota-Global.com

This has lead Toyota to implement many strategies to assist in its overall IT strategy.  One strategy in place at Toyota is accessing world markets and providing mass customization in them (O’Brien, 2011).  Transnational companies have the ability to connect with people all over the world, and in doing so need to be able to communicate with them.  Communication strategies and technological infrastructures provide companies with the ability to communicate with people in local markets in their native languages, while understanding local cultures and customs (Gelsomino, 2011).  This global research and development also gives the company the ability to customize its products and services to local markets, therefore expanding its customer base (Raisinghani).  Toyota has nine R&D bases around the world, and spends a lot of time and resources researching and developing not only the technical aspects of its products, but also the laws and regulations in countries where its products will be sold in order to customize them for those markets.  It also develops ways to customize a customer’s experience, such as offering a geographic search for a local market, which then caters to the language of that region (Toyota).  

Another IT strategy of transnational organizations is global customer service (O’Brien, 2011).  Beginning in 2003, Toyota built Global Production Centers (GPC) in an effort to establish “best practices” from all of its affiliates and ensure consistent personnel training.  These centers train personnel using visual manuals, including video and animation, which reduce the length of training time and ensure that all personnel have the same level of training and can be equally valuable in assisting customers.  These centers contribute to a well-integrated IT infrastructure that connects divisions of the company from all over the world.  The relationships of these divisions help improve customer service by increasing the resources available to the consumer base. (Toyota)

From Toyota-global.com –“Flags in the GPC of all the countries from which trainees come”

Global supply chain and logistics is another IT strategy employed by transnational organizations (O’Brien, 2011).  The use of the Internet, Extranet, and other networks, makes building relationships with suppliers easier and more efficient.  It also helps to simplify the logistics of moving supplies to designated locations.  It is not uncommon for transnational organizations to enter into strategic alliances with suppliers and other business partners to save time and resources and build specialized competencies that give the organization an advantage (Raisinghani).  Because not all decision making is centralized in transnational organizations, local branches of the company have the ability to form strategic alliances that benefit the entire company.  Toyota stresses the consistency of its products, but it also aims to make its various locations self-reliant (Toyota).  Because of this freedom, those locations have the opportunity to establish beneficial relationships with suppliers.

References:

Biggest transnational companies. (2010, July 29). The Economist. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.economist.com/node/16702193

Gelsomino, J. (2011, January 3). Transnational Companies: Keys to a Successful Globalization Strategy. Yahoo Contributor Network. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://voices.yahoo.com/transnational-companies-keys-successful-globalization-7454306.html?cat=15

Globalizing and Localizing Manufacturing. (n.d.). Toyota Global Site. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.toyota-global.com/company/vision_philosophy/globalizing_and_localizing_manufacturing/

O'Brien, J., & Marakas, G. (2011). Enterprise and Global Managment of Information Technology. Management Information Systems 10e (603). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Raisinghani, M. (n.d.). Transnational Organization. Transnational Organization. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Tr-Z/Transnational-Organization.html

Role of the Global Production Center (GPC). (n.d.). Toyota Global Site. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.toyota-global.com/company/vision_philosophy/globalizing_and_localizing_manufacturing/role_of_the_global_production_center.html

Select Your Region. (n.d.). TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION GLOBAL WEBSITE. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.toyota-global.com/select_region/

E-Business Systems and Competitive Advantage

To have a successful e-business, an organization needs to use efficient and effective e-business systems. E-business is using technology to improve and support business processes (What is eBusiness?). It is a term that refers to information technologies, the internet, and other networks used by organizations to support e-commerce, enterprise communications and collaboration, and Web-enabled business processes, both within a networked enterprise and with customers and business partners (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011). E-business systems are the combination of technologies, equipment, and tools that businesses use to conduct business via the Internet, intranet, or other networks to help them connect with customers, process orders, and manage information (Balle). These systems are numerous and can give a company a competitive advantage.

According to Louise Balle, the base of an e-business system is formed by a website (domain and web hosting account), email account (which commonly comes with the web hosting account), and an Internet connection, which together allow for the integration of all other e-business tools.  These tools enable users to connect to the web and publish information.  If managed effectively, this information can influence the competitive position of a company

The ways companies use e-business systems to influence competitive position.

E-business has changed many of the dynamics of how businesses are run in the United States.  There are numerous uses for e-business within any industry and very often companies are engaging themselves in more than one use.  The widespread use of e-commerce has shifted the competitive position of many companies and it continues to do so based on the ways the company uses e-business systems.  The increase in e-business has been fueled by the growing availability no matter where you are.  E-business is no longer based on appealing to the customer on their one home desktop.  Now e-business has the ability to target people via their mobile devices using digital tools, which means, for many people, one can appeal to customers on multiple streams throughout the day.  According to a study presented by RetailingToday, over 81% of shoppers research online before they make a purchase.  This alone gives businesses another chance to appeal and try to gain the business of an undecided consumer.  The graphic below from GE shows how customers are researching before they buy.

This means that companies can gain a competitive advantage over their competitors by having a superior website with the information that the consumers want.  Also, within this, the companies need to advertise on the internet and with search engines so that the customers can find their website.  This study found that 60% of consumers started off their research on a search engine.  Meaning, if a company’s site was not being promoted on the search engine then it could be further down the list of sites and may never be seen by the consumer (RetailingToday).

Business to consumer (or B2C) is only one of the types of e-business.  The other two are business to business (B2B) and business to government (B2G).  The chart below shows a breakdown of the three. 

                (Source: InnovationPEI)

However, there are other resources that point that there being many more categories in the breakdown of e-business.  In his case study, Dien Phan believes that based on the various types of trading partners, there are more categories like: consumer to business, consumer to consumer, people to people, government to citizen, citizen to government, exchange to exchange, and intra-business.

The influence on competitive advantages by using e-business systems come from three things: efficiency, marketing, and ease of access.  This increase in efficiency is because, by using e-business, the user can save money on sales expenses, marketing, buying from producers, and communication.  Within marketing, e-business systems allow for advertising at very low prices compared to the possible views one can gain from each advertisement they put out.  With ease of access, this allows the customer to find the company and then have a chance to actually look through the items available from said company.  For users that incorporate an online store, they are also allowing the customers to browse their items and buy them without the consumer having to spend money on travel and without the business having to spend as much money on salary expenses.  This ease of access can also increase the sales within a company by not only catering to current customers but by providing the needed services to new customers as well. 

No matter which position one is as a trading partner, the most effective strategy will have the strongest competitive influence from e-business systems (Porter. Harvard Business Review).   InnovationPEI gives their top ten benefits gained by investing in e-business.  They believe it can make the business more efficient, reduce costs, allow for competition with larger competitors, enables quicker distribution of information, enhances availability of customer service, helps the company reach new markets, enables the company to improve marketing strategies, can increase sales, help find better business deals, and the number one benefit being that businesses cannot afford not to.  With the low costs of having simple e-business systems and the majority of customers that rely on e-business as well as saving money on business deals, it makes for a bad outlook for companies without this amenity for themselves and their customers.  On the other side there are costs associated with implementing e-business systems (Shin, Pace University).  The following is a chart from InnovationPEI that outlines the costs of certain e-business systems:

(Source: InnovationPEI)

This simply shows that setting up e-business systems can often times cost $0 down and so it is not worth the missed opportunities by not being represented on the internet.  With introductory prices this low, the company cannot help but jump into the e-business game.  From there, the influence of e-business on their competitive advantages revolves closely around the amount they decide to spend on their e-business systems. 

Amazon.com – A Real Life Example

Amazon.com is perhaps one of the most recognizable examples of an e-business engaging strictly in e-commerce.  This company began in the 1990s as an online bookstore when creator Jeff Bezos recognized the consumer need for such a resource, and converted his garage into a warehouse to begin selling books from his home. As books began to sell, he slowly began incorporating more and more products, allowing his company to evolve with the needs and demands of consumers. Amazon has grown into one of the largest e-businesses available to consumers today.

Amazon has also helped itself to expand by offering incentives to its customers. For example, consumers are able to sign up for Amazon Prime, which charges a yearly fee for membership. With this membership, customers are eligible for free two day shipping on all orders for the entire year, along with Amazon’s digital media library, which is similar to Netflix or Hulu. Amazon is also a leader in the eBook revolution, with the Kindle being a top selection among consumers. By offering such a wide array of products, along with incentives for shopping, Amazon has secured its position as a leader in the e-commerce world.

An example of Amazon’s Business Model can be viewed below:

Amazon offers the value of price and convenience in all of its product categories, allowing it to extend itself into new markets and continuously extend its customer relationships. The company has dominated online retail with a fairly standard traditional retail business model over the internet, dominating the market with its buying power and financial resources. This supremacy will likely continue well into the future as Amazon continues to explore new product and service categories constantly. The company has developed clear expertise in e-commerce innovation. One of the most interesting things about the Amazon business model is that it is able to thrive in this new digital era by its expert execution of a more traditional business model, rather than trying to invent a totally new one from scratch.

Amazon employs all kinds of e-business systems.  One of the best e-business systems Amazon uses is its customer tracking system.  Amazon makes good use of its homepage, where it features special offers and products, as well as recommendations that are all catered to the user. This is an embedded marketing technique that uses cookies on the consumer’s hard drive to keep track of the user’s interests (Layton).  Another system Amazon uses Amazon Light, which is a “mini-Amazons,” or a satellite sites that does new things with Amazon data and sends people to the main site when they are ready to make a purchase (Layton).  Additionally, Amazon has a new project called the Mechanical Turk project, which seeks to combine community, technology, and compensation, allowing software and Web developers to post tasks they need help with.  Whoever completes this task successfully gets s small amount of money and Amazon gets a commission on each completed transaction (Layton).

There are many e-business systems used by successful businesses.  Each one can help the business gain a competitive advantage over other businesses in the industry.  Amazon.com is a great example of an e-business that is constantly revolutionizing its e-business systems to stay competitive.

 

 

References

Balle, L. (n.d.). What Are E-Business Systems?. Small Business. Retrieved June 30, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/e-business-systems-5270.html

Cosper, A. (2014). Description of How Amazon Uses EBusiness and e Commerce for B2B and B2C. Retrieved on June 29, 2014 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/description-amazon-uses-ebusiness-ecommerce-b2b-b2c-36453.html

Ecommerce-Digest.com (2012). Amazon, Inc. Retrieved on June 29, 2014 from http://www.ecommerce-digest.com/amazon-case-study.html

InnovationPEI.  “How You Can Profit from E-Business.”  Accessed on June 30, 2014 http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/IPEI_ebiz_book.pdf.

Layton, J. (n.d.). How Amazon Works. . Retrieved January 30, 2014, from http://money.howstuffworks.com/amazon3.htm

Noren, E. (July 8, 2013). Analysis of the Amazon Business Model. Retrieved on June 29, 2014 from http://www.digitalbusinessmodelguru.com/2013/07/analysis-of-amazon-business-model.html

O'Brien, J., & Marakas, G. (2011). e-Business Systems. Management Informtion Systems (272). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Phan, Dien D.  “E-Business Development for Competitive Advantages: a Case Study”.  Elsevier: Information and Management.  Accessed on June 30, 2014 http://staffweb.hkbu.edu.hk/vwschow/Case-study.pdf.

Porter, Michael E.  “Strategy and the Internet.”   Harvard Business Review.  Accessed on June 30, 2014 http://hbr.org/2001/03/strategy-and-the-internet/ar/1. 

Retailing Today.  “Study: 81% Research Online Before Making Big Purchases.”  Accessed on June 30, 2014 http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/study-81-research-online-making-big-purchases. 

Shin, Namchul. “Strategies for Competitive Advantage in Electronic Commerce.”  Pace University.  Accessed on June 30, 2014 http://www.csulb.edu/web/journals/jecr/issues/20014/paper4.pdf.

What is eBusiness? (n.d.). Northern Territory Government Department of Business. Retrieved June 30, 2014, from http://www.dob.nt.gov.au/business/starting-business/ebusiness/pages/ebusiness.aspx

 

 

 

 

Business Intelligence

As with many things, the introduction of the wide use of computers in business has strongly increased the availability of business intelligence. Business intelligence, also referred to as BI, is a combination of technologies, theories, and architectures that have the ability to transform raw data into meaningful and useful information for business to utilize. More simply put, CIO.com defines it as “an umbrella term that refers to a variety of software applications used to analyze an organization’s raw data. BI as a discipline is made up of several related activities, including data mining, online analytical processing, querying and reporting” (Mulcahy; CIO.com). Business intelligence has the ability to handle an incredibly large amount of amorphous data that it is then able to utilize to develop, identify, and create new strategic business opportunities. The use of business intelligence allows a company to easily interpret large volumes of this data (Wikipedia, 2014). This can allow those employed with a company to more easily identify new opportunities and then implement an effective strategy, providing a competitive market advantage and long-term stability.

According to research from the analyst firm Gartner, between 70% and 80% of corporate business intelligence projects fail (Goodwin, 2011).  This large failure rate is due mainly to a combination of poor communication between the business and IT and the failure by the organization “to ask the right questions or to think about the real needs of the business” (Goodwin, 2011). According to Robert Miller, in Tech Decision Maker (2011), implementation issues include a lack of the following:

  

• Defined functional groups – These are very important because different business units use information for different purposes.  If these groups are not accurately divided into functional groups, the BI users will not know their roles or be invested in the successful implementation.  These functional groups must also be trained effectively (Mulcahy).  Poor training will certainly negatively affect implementation.
• Common ground – This means that all functional groups agree on the meaning of key terms, such as gross profit and gross margin.  Without such an agreement, a language barrier develops hindering successful implementation.
• Clear conceptual mapping – The whole project should be mapped out, with a clear beginning and end.  Additionally, since each functional group uses the information differently, BI objectives should be mapped out to show how each group will use the information, which will allow for better decision making.  Clearly define the ROI, outlining specific benefits the organization expects to achieve on a time line (Mulcahy).
• Organically related data –The reporting from BI depends on accurate and reliable data, therefore, BI and the data must be in sync and the data must be clean.
• Tools selection – BI components, such as data integration, analytics, and portals, should be cataloged because each affects the successful implementation.
• Technology partner – A vendor should be selected that is “both knowledgeable in the advancement of both relevant software and hardware components and equally well versed in end user requirements and objectives” to support the organization.  A lack of knowledgeable support can significantly hinder an organization in the time it takes to complete tasks.
• Evolving deliverables – There will be timelines and due dates set for the implementation.  It is important that the organization keeps to the preselected milestones to get the implementation started.    Adjustments can be made as needed.

Check out this video from Gartner analysts on poor communication between the business and IT and the importance of tools selection:

http://bcove.me/8xyfs0js

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Cultural issues can also hinder successful implementation.  People can be resistant to change and learning new things.  They don’t want to learn new things or change the way they do something unless the current way doesn’t work anymore or is extremely time consuming.  Also, if users do not see the benefits of implementing BI and think the challenges of learning it and getting comfortable with it outweigh the benefits, then successful implementation is not likely.  End users must be behind the initiative and support it, or it is not going to work.  (Rabie, 2010)

Even though the implementation and use of BI has become more widespread and more accessible, it is still something that can cost a pretty penny to implement into the everyday use in a business.  With BI, there is a large range of options, though.  Boris Evelson, in his blog, tried to come to a conclusion on how much a single BI report can cost a company.  His analysis shows the complexity and range of putting a cost on business intelligence.  His range was from $1,840 for a single report carried out by a single FTE, all the way up past $15,000 if looked at from a top down fully loaded analysis of creating one BI report (Evelson; Forrester)   The rule of thumb for business intelligence, as mentioned by James Standen, is that cost of effort and service is five times the software costs (Standen; Datamartist).  The Computer World report prepared this chart, showing the difference in how small companies are choosing to fund their BI centers versus larger companies:  

This shows that companies are realizing how important it is to invest into BI and are finding their own ways to fit the bill to make it work. 

            The benefits for investing in business intelligence are wide ranging, but seem to be very similar within the different sizes of businesses.  Within the same ComputerWorld report, they took a look at how the two different sized companies felt they would benefit by investing into BI.

 

To simply list the ways companies believe they would benefit from BI does not simply do it justice.  Being a visual person myself, I like to present examples for how things would work in real life.  The following is a chart used in a case study by Borut Hočevar and Jurij Jaklič titled “Assessing Benefits of Business Intelligence Systems – A Case Study”.  The chart they used was originally used by Caver & Ritacco 2006.  

The flow chart shows a detailed example of how one would use BI to investigate a simple problem by digging deep to find the original source.   While this is just one small example of how BI is used in business, it does show how it looks much deeper than one usually looks and it is a way to increase sales and business efficiency.   

References:

Goodwin, B. (2011, January 10). Poor communication to blame for business intelligence failure, says Gartner. ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved June 25, 2014, from http://www.computerweekly.com/news/1280094776/Poor-communication-to-blame-for-business-intelligence-failure-says-Gartner

Miller, R. (2011, September 13). Successful BI deployments have these elements. TechRepublic. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-decision-maker/successful-bi-deployments-have-these-elements/?tag=content%3Bsiu-container

Mulcahy, R. (n.d.). Business Intelligence Definition and Solutions. CIO. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.cio.com/article/40296/Business_Intelligence_Definition_and_Solutions?page=4&taxonomyId=3002

Rabie, G. (2010, August 9). 10 Reasons Why BI Projects Worry IT Managers. Yellowfin. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from https://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews-10-Reasons-Why-BI-Projects-Worry-IT-Managers-74171

Evelson, Boris.  “Bottom Up and Top Down Approaches to Estimating Costs for a Single BI Report.”

Forrester.com.  Accessed on June 21, 2014

http://blogs.forrester.com/business_process/2010/01/bottom-up-and-top-down-approaches-to

estimating-cost-for-a-single-bi-report.html

Standen, James.  “Estimating the Cost of Business Intelligence.”  Datamartist.  Accessed on June 22,

2014 http://www.datamartist.com/estimating-the-cost-of-business-intelligence

Mulcahy, Ryan.  “Business Intelligence Definition and Solutions.”  CIO.com.  Accessed on June 22,

2014 http://www.cio.com/article/40296/Business_Intelligence_Definition_and_Solutions

Computer World. “How Companies are Implementing Business Intelligence Competency Centers

(BICCs).”  Accessed on June 22, 2014 http://www.computerworld.com/pdfs/SAS_Intel_BICC.pdf

Hočevar, Borut & Jurij Jaklič.  “Assessing Benefits of Business Intelligence Systems – A Case

Study.” Accessed on June 22, 2014 https://www.efst.hr/management/Vol15No1-20 /5-Hocevar_Jaklic nfinal.pdf