Management Information Systems - Zappos Case

A Management Information Systems class administered a case study on Zappos and how they're technologies work.

Discussion Questions:

1. What was the business of Zappos and what were its critical success factors (CSF’s)? [list]

Business Processes

• Financial/Accounting Management

• Human Resources

• Order Fulfillment

• Website Management

• Procurement

Critical Success Factors

• Number of products available

• Timeliness of delivering products

• Convenience of ordering

• Fully functioning website

2. How did information management and information technology enable each of the critical success factors listed in Q1? [employ a table]

CSF IM or IT enabled..

Number of products available Managing information helped this process because in order to offer the plethora of shoes Zappos does, they all must be cataloged and indexed so the customer can see what is available to order and they also must be purchased from a variety of suppliers

Timeliness of delivering products The same way amazon operates their warehousing, is the way in which I assume zappos operates. They use technology to continue to streamline their process of products coming off the shelf and getting to the correct customer at the correct time

Convenience of ordering Functionality of the website and the channels the customers (doesn’t) navigate enable this process. Being able to sit down and use the internet is what brings convenience to the table

Fully functioning