INFOSYS 110

Digital Systems

Semester One 2024

Exam Case

The candle making industry is set to eclipse US $10 billion in global sales by 2032, and so after a few months making candles for her family and friends, Ashley decided to see if she could start an online business to supplement her income.

Given the plethora of cheap candles available online through sources like Amazon, Ashley decided to start by making hand crafted candles with premium materials. Her first few batches were very much trial and error, but soon, she was making consistently beautiful candles that had a lovely smell, even wick and wax burn, and good longevity.

She started her business venture by setting up an online store using Shopify and things escalated quickly from there, with her candles quickly gaining popularity. Ashley had to quickly learn how to run the “business” side of things (including accounting and employing staff), but it was never her strength – she preferred to spend her time researching new ingredients and flavours. To help her research new flavours, her customers are prompted to fill out a questionnaire each time they buy a product, and this gives Ashley information about who is buying her products, and why they like them.

Now, two years after her website went live, Ashely is looking at moving her business out of her double garage and into an industrial warehouse. This will allow her to employ more staff, manufacture more inventory, and spend more time on researching new variants. However, she will also need to increase her revenue, and that means increasing sales.

Ashley has three strategies for increasing sales:

1. To start advertising on social media platforms,

2. To become a supplier of big box stores like Woolworths, PAK’nSAVE, and Chemist Warehouse, and

3. To enter into partnerships with influencers.

Question 1

As for any business these days, the success of Ashley’s candle business relies heavily on its Competitive Advantage, which is based on Business Intelligence.

a. Based on the exam case, describe Ashley’s competitive advantage and suggest why it can give her a competitive edge. (4 marks)

b. Suggest one example of a DSS that Ashley may use and describe one type of analysis using such DSS that may generate the business intelligence that enables Ashley’s competitive advantage. Give an example of the relevant business intelligence and describe how the analysis can generate such information. (10 marks)

c. Ashley needs to collect some data in order to use the DSS to do the analysis. Suggest two forms of data required for such purposes, and two examples of TPSs that can be used to collect such data. (6 marks)

You must answer this question using the following template. Copy and paste this template into the answer area and insert your answer.

a.

Ashley’s competitive advantage:

Why it can give Ashley a competitive edge:

b.

DSS example:

Analysis example:

Business intelligence example:

How the analysis can generate such information:

c.

Relevant data 1:

Relevant data 2:

TPS example 1:

TPS example 2:

Question 2

Now that Ashley’s candle business is into its second year, and that it has undergone major expansions (as described in the case). Ashley is considering about implementing an Enterprise System (ERP) for her operations.

a. In no more than three sentences, describe specifically one advantage for Ashley’s business if an Enterprise System is implemented. (5 marks)

b. In no more than three sentences, describe specifically one disadvantage for Ashley’s business if an Enterprise System is implemented. (5 marks)

c. In your opinion, should Ashley’s business implement an Enterprise System? Justify your answer with no more than three sentences. (5 marks)

You must answer this question using the following template. Copy and paste this template into the answer area and insert your answer.

a.

One advantage for Ashley’s business:

b.

One disadvantage for Ashley’s business:

c.

Yes/No:

Justification:

Question 3

Ashely is looking to understand who her social media advertisements should be targeted at, and she’s hoping that her past sales data can provide an insight into this. To save time and costs, she’s hoping to run different campaigns, each targeted at a different group of people.

a. What data mining technique would help Ashely understand how many campaigns she should run, and who they should be targeted at? (1 mark)

b. Explain how the data mining technique works and explain how it can help Ashley. (5 marks)

c. If the results of this data mining technique show that a significant portion of Ashley’s customers are purchasing her products as gifts, what is one action Ashley could take to increase sales revenue, and how would that action contribute to the increase in revenue? (4 marks)

You must answer this question using the following template. Copy and paste this template into the answer area and insert your answer.

a.

A helpful data mining technique:

b.

How the technique works:

How it can help Ashley:

c.

One action that Ashley could take:

How it will contribute to the increase in revenue:

Question 4

Ashley has drafted template partnership contracts to be signed by the influencers she is hoping to work with. These contracts state that the influencers will need to provide Ashley with details of all viewers who express interest in Ashley’s products, including their social media names, and any other data they collect.

a. Provide and describe one ethical and two security consideration that Ashley will need to be aware of when finalizing these contracts. Support your answers with case specific justifications. (6 marks)

b. For each of these considerations, provide an analysis of actions of the risk management responses we discussed in class (described in the context of the case. Generic descriptions will receive no marks), and provide a recommended action with reason. (18 marks)

You must answer this question using the following template. Copy and paste this template into the answer area and insert your answer.

a.

One Ethical Consideration:

Justification:

Security Consideration 1:

Justification:

Security Consideration 2:

Justification:

b.

Risk management responses for the Ethical Consideration

· Mitigate:

· Accept:

· Transfer:

· Avoid:

Recommended action:

Reason:

Risk management responses for Security Consideration 1

· Mitigate:

· Accept:

· Transfer:

· Avoid:

Recommended action:

Reason:

Risk management responses for Security Consideration 2

· Mitigate:

· Accept:

· Transfer:

· Avoid:

Recommended action:

Reason:

Question 5

One of the influencers Ashley partners with has contacted her, asking for an increase in her monthly fee. As evidence to support this request, she’s provided Ashley with this visualization to show the impact her social media page has on Ashley’s products.

Provide Ashley with two critiques of this visualisation that can help her respond to the request (8 marks). For each critique, explain which of Tufte’s principles is violated (2 mark), and provide a suggestion for how this visualization should be changed (6 marks).

You must answer this question using the following template. Copy and paste this template into the answer area and insert your answer.

Critique 1:

Violated principle:

Suggestion to change visualization:

Critique 2:

Violated principle:

Suggestion to change visualization:

Question 6

Answer the parts in this question based on the following Python code:

a. Using natural language, in one sentence, describe what this code does. (4 marks)

b. Using natural language, describe what line 11 “print(f"Roll {rolls}: You rolled a {result}")” does and provide a made up example of its output in the context of the program. (8 marks)

c. Using natural language, in one sentence, describe what the final line “play_game()” does. (3 marks)

You must answer this question using the following template. Copy and paste this template into the answer area and insert your answer.

a.

What this code does:

b.

Description of the line of code:

Example output:

c.

Description of the line of code: