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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS:

DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION
2014

Name Claire Keting Wang
NetID cwan881
Group Number: 033
Website Link: http://infosys1102014fcgroup033.blogspot.co.nz/
Tutorial Details
Tutor: Day: Time:
Kayur Ramson Monday 1pm
Time Spent on
Assignment:
25 hours Word Count: 1649

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VOTENZ
INTRODUCTION
An important problem facing New Zealand today is the lack of voting participation in general
elections, with voting participation declining from 89% in 1981 to a record low of 69% in
2011. However this problem could be solved by our solution- a user-friendly mobile
appication, VoteNZ through which people can use to find out election and party information
and very importantly, to actually vote. [1]
3. BUSINESS SECTION
3.1 Vision
To offer a simple and easy way to vote while providing the ultimate aid in making informed
decisions for governmental elections.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Election Voting Industry
Industry: Election Voting Industry. (Would be Mobile Applications Industry, however
because the app is meant for elections, components affecting the following forces is
different).
Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer power: High Buyer power is low when buyers dont have many
choices of whom to buy from and high when they
have many choices. No company may sell voting
applications without Electoral Commissions
permission so the Electoral Commission (as the
target buyer) has all the power, thus buyer power
high.

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Supplier power: Low Supplier power is low when buyers have many
choices and high when they have few. Supplier
power is low again ultimately because the
Electoral Commission has all the power. They
have different choices of whom to buy from.
Threat of new entrants: Low Threat of new entrants is low as it is difficult to
get into the election voting industry. This is due
to the many entry barriers, including strict
requirements: that the information must meet
governmental standards.
Threat of substitutes: High Threat of substitutes is high where there are
many alternatives to the service or product which
is the case for the election voting industry.
Rivalry among existing
competitors:
High Competition is more fierce so rivalry among
existing competitors is high. The paper-ballot
voting system is strongly favoured at the moment
which increases the rivalry as it is hard to beat.
Overall attractiveness of the industry: Overall the election voting industry is unattrative as
buyer power is high, supplier power is low, and threat of substitutes and rivalry among
existing competitors is high, components that would make it hard for an organisation in the
industry to succeed.
3.3 Customers and Thei r Needs
Our current target group of customers is the Electoral Commission New Zealand (ECNZ). This
is because in order for our idea to be implemented, the application must be approved by
the ECNZ which because of the requirements of a voting application, would be quite
difficult. The ECNZs target group by extension for a voting application is everyone on the

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New Zealand electoral roll- that is anyone in New Zealand that is eligible to enrol. This group
is aged 18 years and above and is either a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident that is
has lived in New Zealand for at least a year having not left the country. [2] Of this group, the
ECNZ will be aiming at those who own or have access to smartphones and devices capable
of using applications. With the rate of advancement in technology the percentage of
application-fostering device-users is ever-increasing.
Our target group, the ECNZs most important needs from this industry are that the election
voting system needs to be secure, and that the application provides accurate information on
parties and their policies as well as their Members of Parliament. [3,4]
3.4 The Product and Service
Our application VoteNZ will be available on Google Play and the Apple App Store, and
provides information on all the parties running for parliament and their policies, as well as
information on each Member of Parliament. This information is from the party websites
themselves which are tightly monitored and the information provided would be as unbiased
as possible.
While ballot papers assume that voters have prior knowledge regarding party and policies,
VoteNZ will help users critically evaluate their future leaders potential performance by
understanding the vision of each Party, leading to better governance. The app would be
available in many languages to accommodate for diversity. VoteNZ satisfies the security
needs for the Electoral Commission because of the thumb-print security registration process
(there will be a one-off distribution of thumb-print scanners). As each thumbprint is unique,
it means the application is safe from people other than rightful users using the application
to vote.
3.5 Suppliers and Partners
Two suppliers for our solution are internet service providers (ISPs) Vodafone New Zealand
and Telecom. Telecom is New Zealands largest internet service provider, with Vodafone NZ
coming second. These two ISPs take up of the market in New Zealand. Telecom and
Vodafone NZ are two suppliers because internet is needed in order for our application to
operate- internet is needed to download our application onto devices, its also needed for
the communication and counting of votes. Without these suppliers our application is
unlikely to succeed. [5]

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Two partners for our solution are Google and Apple, as our customers would be using their
digital application distribution platforms. Those with Apple devices (and therefore using the
iOS mobile operating system) would be using the Apple App Store, while those with Android
would be using the Google Play Store. [6]
3.6 Strategy: Focused High Cost
The Porters Generic Strategy that our organisation follows is Focused High Cost. The
competitive scope is a Narrow/Niche Market (Focused Market) as it is aimed at a small
market (just the Electoral Commission in New Zealand) eliminating the Cost Leadership and
Differentiation strategies. The cost strategy is High Cost as it would be sold for a high
economic price.
The overall strategy is therefore Focused High Cost.
3.7 Value Chain Activity: Technology Development (R&D)
The most important value chain activity for this business is Technology Development (R&D).
Technology Development (Research and Development) is a Support Value Activity. Because
our strategy is Focused High Cost, this makes it crucial to have our application be totally up
to date technologically to be the elite product in order for us to succeed. Technology
Development supports the Focused High Cost Strategy in this way, and for this to happen,
well done research is required to sufficiently develop the application. R&D helps fulfil the
business vision as technology development makes it easier to use the application. It also
adds value by increasing efficiency which effectively decreases costs.
3.8 Business Processes
3.8.1. DATA ACQUI SI TI ON PROCESS A relevant key business process is the Information
Acquiring Process which falls within the Make the Product Value Chain Activity. This is the
process whereby information on each party is gathered for the app then formatted so it can
be used on the app. [7]


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Start
Request
information from
political parties for
application
Organise
information, format
for mobile app
Sufficient
information ?
End
Find holes, where
more is needed
Request
information where
needed
No
Yes
Data Processing System
Operations Management

3.8.2. APPLI CATI ON TESTI NG PROCESS Another relevant key business process that falls
within the Make the Product Value Chain Activity is the Application Testing Process to
make sure the app works without glitches.


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Start
Run mobile application
Test all of application
software
All of app works well?
End
Locate glitch in application
software
Fix said glitch in application
software
No
Yes
Application Management System
Research & Development


3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. INFORMATI ON ACQUIRING PROCESS
Get policy information from each political party.
Organise information and format to suitable standard for app
3.9.2. APPLI CATI ON TESTI NG PROCESS
Locates glitches in application software
Fixes glitches to make sure mobile application runs smoothly

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3.10 Systems

3.10. 1. DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM The Data Processing System incorporates the
functionalities of the Information Acquiring Process to support the vision of the organisation
by providing important information in an easy-to-understand way. The information is most
accurate to each political party as the information is sourced from the party themselves but
formatted in the app to make sure it is easily accessible.
3.10. 2. APPLICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The Application Management System supports
the vision of the organisation by increasing the efficiency of the application which adds
value. This is done in the Application Testing Process through the identification of any
glitches in the application software which leads to the fixing of these glitches so that the
application can run smoothly.
3.10. 3. APPLICATION MAI NTENANCE SYSTEM The Application Maintenance System extends
from the Application Management System: after the information is organised on the
application, it must be regularly maintained in that the information must stay up to date and
accurate, as well as always being as un-biased as possible. (The ultimate aid means
maximum reliability)

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3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain
Activity
Processes Functionalities Specific Information
System(s)
Broad Information
System(s)

Make the
Product
1. Information
acquiring process
1. Get policy information from parties

2. Organise information, formatted for app.
Data processing system

Data processing system
Enterprise Resource
Planning System
Enterprise Resource
Planning System
2. Application
testing process
1. Locates glitches in application
software
2. Fixes glitches to make sure mobile
application runs smoothly
Application managament
system
Application maintenance
system
Operational Support
System
Operational Support
System

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CONCLUSION
VoteNZ is the ultimate solution to the low voting participation rate dilemma. It encourages
people to vote by informing them about each party and its policies as well as providing a
much more convenient way to vote. Information Systems and Information Technology are
extremely valuable in an organisation as we see by the functionalities of different processes
and how they support the vision of the organisation.
REFERENCES
1. Electoral Commission New Zealand. (2013, July 15). Voter Participation Strategy. Retrieved from
Elections: http://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/plain-
page/attachments/electoral_commission_2014_participation_strategy.pdf
2. Electoral Commission New Zealand. (2014, May 8). Who Can and Can't Enrol? Retrieved from
Elections: http://www.elections.org.nz/voters/enrol-check-or-update-now/who-can-and-cant-enrol
3. Lombardi, E. (n.d.). electronic vote and Democracy. Retrieved from http://www.electronic-vote.org/
4. IEEE Security & Privacy. (2014, February). Hack-a-Vote: Security Issues with Electronic Voting Systems.
Retrieved from E-Voting: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~dwallach/pub/hackavote2004.pdf
5. Internet in New Zealand. (2014, May 8). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_New_Zealand#ISP_lists
6. Baig, E. C. (2012). New Google Play combines apps, music and books.(MONEY). USA today, 02B.
7. Cao, Q. (2013). Investigating the role of business processes and knowledge management systems on
performance: A multi-case study approach. International journal of production research, 5565 -5575.