1. Vince Rubiera Shell Analysis - CIS 621 What would be the appropriate sequence of steps to resolve low use of Shell Canadas eStore? In 2002 Shell Canada Limited (SCL) was changing their business model due to downward pressure on margins. SCL customers were changing their purchasing habits; 95% of them were choosing price over service.1 The 5 forces model would state that this pressure came from the bargaining power of customers, and competitive rivalries in the industry jockeying for their business. To battle these pressures, SCL chose an innovation strategy.2 They created the eStore to reduce transaction costs through automation. This would also be considered as more information intensity and lower transaction costs on the information intensity matrix.4 SCLs concern was eStore had been experiencing low usage since its inception. Their attempt to move to the right of the Value Equivalency Line6 would not work if users did not recognize the benefits of the site. I will use Dr. Plants eCommerce model3 to analyze SCLs next steps. Leadership: Senior management at SCL did share a technology vision, but little is mentioned about the CEOs technology position. CEO buy-in is critical for a meaningful web presence.3 SCL should also look at creating a marketing-automation-strategy group to align eStore with the corporate branding strategy. This would help to create the strategy for a needed redesign, which I will discuss below. SCL should also assign content owners to ensure accountability and avoid the confusion that occurred during and after launch. Infrastructure: By selecting the emerging technology product for eStore SCL was prepared for the future, and would not suffer the negative ROI the declining core product would have offered.7 They should consider standardizing their eBusiness applications though, since they did not share the same technologies. Organizational Learning: SCL should adopt an eBalanced scorecard. This would create a focus on customer expectations, financials, continuous improvement and internal metrics. It would also incorporate the positioning factors: branding, marketing, service and technology. Many of the customers concerns discovered after the launch of eStore would have been identified through this process. Service Leadership: Several opportunities for improvement were discovered through customer interviews. Using this feedback I would recommend: re-designing the interface to create a simpler login screen with only one log-in pane, ease password security criteria, create a redirect from the unsecure URL address to the secure URL address to avoid confusion, limit the users view to the items they have access to, and allow new customers to create accounts online. In addition to those interface changes, SCL should improve the efficiency of the site by decreasing order transaction time. They should also improve the detail and content of email notifications, so they can be easily identified by the user as eStore information. Branding: To improve branding, SCL should integrate their eBusiness log-in and services into their main website, rather than having two different sites. Marketing: Local agents should communicate and demonstrate the strategic functionality and benefits of the site,1 and it should be reinforced on the site. eStore should also market other services offered by SCL, like their consulting services. Technology: SCL had become decentralized with their eBusiness applications, and was probably residing within the Opportunistic Quadrant of the Infusion-Diffusion model. This caused integration issues and created increased complexity. They should consider an approach to move into the Backbone Quadrant, where IT becomes centralized, and has greater control of all the applications.5 1. eStore At Shell Canada Limited, 2006, Ivey School of Business 2. How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, 1979, HBR 3. eCommerce: Formulation of Strategy, 2000, R. Plant 4. eCommerce(class notes),2008, R. Plant 5. C. Schwab PowerPoints (class notes),2008, R. Plant 6. Setting Value, Not Price, 1997, McKinsey Quarterly, No 1 7. The Technology Window (Class Slides), 2008, R. Plant