In order for IT to be successful in business, the organization must plan how to use information technology. There are two different methodologies used for that, including the scenario approach and competitive advantage planning, explain each methodology, and discuss the differences between them?

The scenarios planning identifies the unique set of the uncertainties for various situations which may happen in the future. Actually, scenario planning allows a firm to assess different situations and identify the possible risks which might occur in those situations.

In general, the main difference between scenario planning and the identification of competitive advantages is that risks are not determined in competitive advantages.

Competitive advantages

The identification of competitive advantages is quite different from scenario planning in the way that in this method, risks are not identified and different scenarios are not assessed. In this method, different techniques similar to SWOT analysis are performed which help in the determination of opportunities and competitive advantages for an organization (Farinha et al , 2015).

Question 2
Enhancing and optimizing customer retention and loyalty is a major business strategy. Explain why, and list two examples of companies which follow this strategy.

For every organization, customer loyalty and retention are considered critical because they ensure consistent sales and revenues. Actually, they are necessary because they help in the attraction of customers and make them purchase again and again from the same firm. In order to develop customer loyalty and retention, firms tend to promote products and use different bonuses or discounts (Marion, 2020).

Some of the popular examples of firms following this strategy include:

·         Amazon

·         Starbucks

Question 3
Companies are Management (turning to Customer Relationship CRM) to improve their customer focus. List and explain two of the major application components of a CRM system.

Following are some of the major application components for Customer Relationship Management system:

Improved ability to cross sell:

In this component, the needs and requirements of clients are identified in an accurate manner which helps in setting the course of next action for ensuring that customer expectations and requirements are met effectively (HARGRAVE, 2019).

Better client relationship:

            Another important component of CRM is better client relationships and this component mainly ensures that a firm establishes better relationships with its customers so that customer loyalty and retention are developed. This helps in the generation of revenues and sales. These are the two important components of CRM and they help a firm in developing better relationships with their customers and staying profitable in the market.

Question 4
Geographical information systems (GIS) and Data Visualization Systems (DVS) are ones of the categories of the Decision Support Systems (DSS).

When it comes to decision support systems, data visualization systems and geographical information systems are considered quite important as they help in making decisions. For instance, both of these categories reveal important information about customers for a firm while the former is utilized to visualize data, the latter reveals geographical information about customers. They can be utilized in different ways by organizations and it would not be wrong to say that without these systems, it would not be possible to make effective decisions (Ki, 2019).  

Discuss how China was able to use these systems in fighting the spreading of Coronavirus COVID-19.

            COVID-19 affects people and it is a deadly virus. In China, it spread across regions and areas, and affected numerous people. Data visualization and geographical information systems allowed experts to visualize information about patients and their respective geographical areas which enabled them to determine which areas actually needed more effective and immediate treatment and measures. In this manner, China was able to control the spread of COVID-19.

References of In order for IT to be successful in business

Farinha et al , C. (2015). Handbook of Research on Global Competitive Advantage through Innovation and Entrepreneurship. IGI Global, .

HARGRAVE, M. (2019, April 23). Customer Relationship Management - CRM. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/customer_relation_management.asp

Ki, J. (2019). GIS and Big Data Visualization. Geographic Information Systems and Science.

Marion, G. (2020). Optimizing customer retention will be a priority in 2020. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/08/optimizing-customer-retention-will-be-a-priority-in-2020/