Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Employees using the system run the gamut from the marketing support
staff all the way up to the chief executive officer. On one occasion, the
CEO noticed red numbers on his screen. his indicated that sales were
down in the central region. Quickly calling up another screen, he located
the source of the problem in Texas. Continuing on this hunt, he tracked
the red numbers to a specific sales division and finally to a chain of stores.
Apparently, a local company had successfully introduced a new white
corn chip that was eating into Frito-Lay's market share in the location.
Frito-Lay immediately put a white-corn version of Tostitos into produc-
tion, which appeared on shelves a few months later.
A typical sales manager is required to pull together sales information
from a variety of sources. In some cases, this took weeks to assemble
and had to be obtained from telephone calls. In other cases, the data
was simply not available. With Frito-Lay's info-marketing system, this
information is immediately available by brand, by type of store, or even
by package size. The sales manager is able to obtain results from the
best or the worst of sales representatives in his or her territory as well
as pricing moves by competitors. The manager can compare the results
of sales reps' performance with the previous week or the previous year
as well as with current targets. The sales manager can even compare
products sales in different markets, such as supermarkets versus conve-
nience stores.
The significance of these systems is that they achieve positive returns on
a multitude of levels. Frito-Lay's info-marketing system has affected every
level of staff and every layer of the corporate hierarchy. What originally
started out as a mechanism to reduce the overhead of the sales rep in the
field has turned into a bonanza of information for the marketing staff back
home, has cut down on administrative overhead at the home office, has
fine-tuned the production cycle by providing timely information, and has
even provided an executive information system for the senior executives
in the company. This system is pervasive.
Value of Executive Information Systems
Executive information systems (EIS) are hands-on tools that focus, filter,
and organize information to make more effective use of that information.
The principle behind these systems is that by using information more
effectively and more strategically, a company can ultimately increase prof-
itability. The goals of any EIS should be:
Search WWH ::
Custom Search