Management Strategic Information System

Questions: 1. Discuss the criteria to consider in specifying the structure and features of CGCs new system. 2. Identify the data that should be incorporated into CGCs new system to provide adequate planning capability. Explain why each data item it is important and the level of detail needed for the data to be useful. Answers: Introduction The citizen gas company provides the services of gas to more than 20,000 consumers that includes commercial as well as residential and industrial. The residential customers usage of the gas is highly associated with the condition of the weather. However, the commercial customers are not completely dependent on the condition of the weather. The factor of the business on the other hand governs the usage of the industrial customers. More than 10 pipeline companies supplies natural gas to the company. As per the reports, the supply of some of the contracts witnesses an equivalent monthly augmentation. However, in the case of other contracts the supply varies considerably especially during the heating season (George et al. 2016). The citizen gas company has to pay a certain amount irrespective of the amount they use. In the situation when the demand exceeds the supply the gas is withdrawn. However, when the supply exceeds the demand the gas is impelled into a storage field. As per the reports, the planning efforts of the citizen gas company are not able to control the supply during the gas year. The demand of the customer is projected in this case as a function of the total number of customers. In turn the demand of the gas by both the commercial as well as the industrial customers has been limited. As a result, Citizen Gas Company has hired a new director of corporate planning to whom the company has provided an intangible design for an information system (Westbrook 2015). Structure and Features of CGCs New System The new system of the citizens gas company is wide-ranging enough so that it can concentrate on all the areas of action. The basic structure and features of the citizens gas company involves the need for market information. The market information helps in decision-making and it provides with the marketing data that is formally gathered as well as analysed. An overall marketing information system is defined as a state of arrangement that helps in the marketing decision-making. It is very important to consider the marketing information as the strength of the financial system of the Citizens Gas Company and it makes the customers to identify their services in a better way (Piercy and Evans 2014). The main objective of the marketing information is to incorporate the market-monitoring technique with the strategic enhancement as well as the strategic accomplishment of policies and procedures. The marketing information also handles both the internal as well as the external data. It is also concerned with the prevention of the problems and solves the problem. The marketing system operates incessantly as a system. It mostly focuses on the future, as it is future oriented. It is concerned with the other parts of the marketing that includes planning, advertisement as well as the sale of the product (Bakaev and Avdeenko 2014). In order to meet the supply with the demand, the CGC has hired a director who can help in corporate planning. A conceptual design has been represented to her that is related to the information system. The basic structures and the features of the citizen gas company need to assess the design alternatives as well as prepare the requirement of design. This in turn helps to prepare an intangible system design testimony. (Source: Kelsey, 2015) Some vital elements are required in order put into practice the new system. The information needs to be superior so as to meet the requirements of the new planning. The basic features should include the fact that the demand and the supply of the natural gas should be billed in that particular time when all the business deal is carried out. This needs to be done as because during the current period, the planning effort of CGC was not able to manage the supply during the gas year (Tek 2012). In order to ensure that the service provided by the CGC is meeting the quality and the demand of the customers, it is important to analyse the size of the income classes of the customers. If the complains made the customers are reduced that will in turn help to match the demand with the supply and level of the gas will be maintained. The key element that helps to determine the demand and supply should be taken into consideration. The main objective of the Citizen's Gas Company is to have a transparent image to its customers and increase their sale (Bohi 2013). The new system will help to reduce the probability of the withdrawn of the gas during the stage when the demands surpass the supply. Since the demand exceeds the supply, the industrial customers have to suffer, as the service of the gas by CGC gets limited. As a result, the company suffered from loss as the sales of the company were diminished. As a result, at the end of the year the company witnessed unnecessary supply (Hines 2014). The reason why the demand and the supply has never been equal is mainly due to the fact that the equilibrium point has never been able to be inactive and constantly growing depending on the modification of the diverse variables that influence it. However, with the help of this plan the limitations will be mainly on the use of the storage gas meadow. The customers of CGC will now be pleased with the help of this plan, as the demand will not exceed the supply, as the supply will now meet the criteria of the customers. The company will now be able to flourish, as the new plan will now help to remove the restriction. As a result, the demand of the customer will now be based on the total fraction of the customers (Walras 2013). (Source: CALIFORNIA, 2013) The accurateness is also required in order to determine the service of the customers that is the key to the success of a company. Accuracy is created in reaction to the needs of the customers. The new system is designed in such a way that the accuracy is matched with the demand of the customers. It has never been easy for Citizens Gas Company to predict the exact amount of sale in the coming years. This is the very reason that it decided to adapt a new plan. The accuracy is needed in order to ensure that extreme efforts are not spent in being excessively precise in exact areas. The new system should also be used regularly to provide a route to the level of automation (Knapp 2014). This in turn will also help to recreate the mission and vision of the company that will in turn help to determine the criteria of the basic structures as well as features of the Citizens company gas. The new system that is planned will help the company to gain profit and that will help the company to become efficient to meet the demand as well as the supply (Ross 2013). The turnaround is also required in the sense that the company requires the turnaround in order to improve their financial condition. The turnaround is required when the company faces any downswing. The turnaround will help to provide a volatile business surrounding that will help to solve the problem faced by the company and in turn make the company successful. If a company is facing any problem, there is always an increase need for turnaround (Schmuck 2013). Data That Should Be Incorporated into CGCs New System There are data that needs to incorporate into the new system of Citizens Gas Company. The planning system by the Citizens Gas Company will utilize the actual reports that will help to support the decision making process. The actual data will also project the demand for the year. The most important of them are the total number of clients or the customers of the Citizens Gas Company. The basis of the calculation of the total customers should be anticipated monthly wise. However, if the increases for customers are regular in that case the calculation will depend on the base customer count that can be used as a combination with a feature of growth. In order to give an accurate data regarding the total number of customers, it is important to divide the customers based on the various categories that are residential, industrial and commercial. Previously, it was reported that the usage of gas by diverse customer depends on the different factors such as the condition of the weather (Allison 2014). The second most vital data that should be incorporated in the new system is that of the sales estimate. The sales to the most important industrial financial records should be predicted separately based on month for the first year of the five-year plan. The upcoming years mostly makes the use of the growth rates on the yearly basis. The revenue class mostly determine the heating as well as the non-heating sales for all the customers (Soldo 2012). Thirdly, the data that can be incorporated is that of the data related to weather. The heating requirements are projected by the data of the weather. The data of the weather comes from various sources and it can be obtained from both the human reports as well as the remote sensors. The weather data plays an important role in the context of decision-making. The weather is known to support a broad range of technical fields. The planning system requires the short term prediction that will help to improve the planning system. As reported earlier the condition of the weather is known to influence the gas usage of both the residential as well as the commercial customers (Auffhammer et al. 2013). The data related to the heating factors are required to be incorporated in the new system of Citizens Gas Company. The data that are related to the heating factors helps to convert the data of the weather to the demand of the customers. Each customer should be provided with the heating factors. However, if the seasonal relationship exists only in that case the heating factors changes or else it remains the same throughout the month (Han et al. 2012). (Source: Perfins.org, 2016) The data related to the price structure of the customer should also be incorporated. The structure of the price of the various customers should be able to provide with a monthly details related to the income class level of the various customers that is the industrial, commercial as well as residential (Faruqui et al. 2014). The price structure of the customers is the largest part of the Citizens Gas Company. The price structure gives the details about the actual cost of the gas. The main reason to incorporate this data is to exemplify the current level of the charges of the consumer and it also helps to determine the level of the fixed cost that this price covers (Danese and Romano 2013). The data related to the component demand of the customer is also important as it gives the details of the monthly utilization of each commercial as well as industrial non-heating customer. It is mainly required to reflect both the cyclic fluctuations as well as the enduring trends. The non-heating segment of the commercial and the industrial customer demand can be predicted by this data (Fleischmann et al. 2015). As reported earlier that the Citizens Gas Company limits the supply of the gas to most of its customers as the supply is less as compared to demand. After restricting the supply, the company faces a severe loss as their sale gets reduced. This affects the profitability of the company (Andueza et al. 2013). The company faces a loss as it continues to lose the supply of the service to its customers. In that case the priority system needs to be established. The priority system helps to give the track whenever the supply is not able to meet the demand. As a result, the company again begin to earn profit and thus their sale also rises (Kevat and Lander 2013). The data on the storage capacity of the gas is necessary which in turn helps to determine whether the gas remains in storage that can be inhibited in order to complement pipeline supply. The data on the storage capacity is thus required to determine the storage of the gas (Mason et al. 2015). Conclusion It can be concluded that the basic structure and features of the citizens gas company involves the need for market information. In order to meet the supply with the demand, the CGC has hired a director who can help in corporate planning. The Citizens Gas Company limits the supply of the gas to most of its customers as the supply is less as compared to demand. It has also been concluded that each customer should be provided with the heating factors. In order to give an accurate data regarding the total number of customers, it is important to divide the customers based on the various categories that are residential, industrial and commercial. The non-heating segment of the commercial and the industrial customer demand can be predicted by this data. The heating requirements are projected by the data of the weather. The data of the weather comes from various sources and it can be obtained from both the human reports as well as the remote sensors. It has also been viewed that the Citizen Gas Company has hired a new director of corporate planning to whom the company has provided an intangible design for an information system. The Citizens Gas Company limits the supply of the gas to most of its customers as the supply is less as compared to demand. In that case the priority system needs to be established. References Allison, I., 2014. Techno-Economic Evaluation of Associated Gas Usage for Gas Turbine Power Generation in the Presence of Degradation Resource Decline. Andueza, F.Q., Llona, G.J.F., Odriozola, J.I.M. and de Zaitegui, F.J.E.S., Coprecitec, SL, 2013.Control system for the ignition of a gas burner. U.S. Patent 8,371,844. Auffhammer, M., Hsiang, S.M., Schlenker, W. and Sobel, A., 2013. Using weather data and climate model output in economic analyses of climate change.Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, p.ret016. Bakaev, M. and Avdeenko, T., 2014. 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