Petries Electronics Week #2

Michelle Rinier

Petrie's Electronics Case

Week #3 – Course Project

Chapter 5

1. What do you think are the sources of the information Jim and his team collected? How do you think they collected all of that information?

I think Jim and his team conducted interviews with key stakeholders inside the company. He had also worked with the marketing group to put together some focus groups made up of loyal customers, so he could get some ideas about what they would value in a customer loyalty program. Jim also spent some time studying customer loyalty programs at other big retail chains and those in other industries as well, such as the airlines, known for their extensive customer loyalty programs.

3. If you were looking for alternative approaches for Petrie’s customer loyalty program, where would you look for information? Where would you start? How would you know when you were done?

If it was me, I could have found that information from several sources, including vendor brochures, sales information, industry trade publications, and company websites, as well as from current customers of such systems. Most likely I would start this research with Google, then gather information from vendors, and lastly move towards trade journals. I would also know I was done when I couldn’t come up with any new information on customer loyalty systems. This would also become apparent to me when the information repeated itself multiple times.

5. Why shouldn’t Petrie’s staff build their own unique system in-house?

From the list of requirements, it was clear that Petrie’s staff should seek outside IT consulting to build their system. Although it would have it’s advantages, it would be too expensive and time consuming. Obtaining a turnkey system and only having to modify certain aspects in order to achieve a system that’s their own is more feasible. I could see the IT staff customize the system interface, and there would be lots of work for Sanjay’s staff in integrating...