Case Study
IRCL: Balancing on a Friend's Recommendation International Retail Corporation Limited (known by its acronym IRCL) is an emerging local retailer specialising in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) such as soap, cosmetics, batteries, toys, detergents, and packaged food. IRCL started as a family owned business, established in early 2003 by Louis Kautz, a UTS graduate, who coupled his business know-how and entrepreneurial flair with capital from his uncle Ron. In return, Uncle Ron attained a 60% share in the business. Currently, the accounting software package used in IRCL is not up to date and causes many business problems. For example, it cannot support large volumes of business transactions of over 1000 orders per day. Another example is the inconsistency and inaccuracy of data between the inventory and the sales databases. The accounting software package was developed in-house and led by an accounting manager who doesn't have good technical IT skills. In a phone conversation last July, Takashi Hashimoto, Ron's friend from Japan who runs a similar business, advised Ron that "ERP is the way to prosperity, you need to get into ERP as soon as possible..." Heeding his friend's advice, Ron "ordered" Louis to invest in an ERP system for IRCL, arguing that this would help the business "grow and prosper". Last week, Jenny Zhou joined IRCL as a project manager to manage the development and implementation of the proposed ERP system. Jenny met with Louis for an hour last Friday, as he had a busy schedule. He briefly outlined to her his opinions on what he thought the features of the new system should include and the way it should function. He advised her that "Uncle Ron was severely affected by the global financial crisis, and can only allocate about $200,000 dollars to the system". Louis added that the system needed to be made operational within a two (2) month period as no more funding will be available beyond this period. After the meeting, Jenny felt rather confused. Should she go ahead with the proposed project or should she refuse to do it and risk losing her job, in what is a very tight job market? Jenny is scheduled to meet with Louis and Ron tomorrow to finalise the project arrangements. As a stellar trainee on her project team and a trustworthy friend, Jenny contacts you seeking an urgent report on the matter... Case Study Questions:
Write an integrated report addressing the following issues: 1.Explain why the current accounting software package may not be the most appropriate software package for IRCL. Justify your answer. (1 marks) 
2.How can IRCL justify investing in an ERP system? In your answer discuss four (4) reasons. (4 marks) 
3.Would you recommend that Jenny agree to proceed with the project under the current conditions? Why or why not? (3 marks) 
4.Under what conditions would you recommend that Jenny use the traditional systems development life cycle methodology to internally develop a potential ERP system at IRCL in the future? (5 marks) 
5.Louis is also contemplating using the outsourcing methodology to develop an ERP at IRCL and asks you to address this in the report: 
Would you recommend that Louis use outsourcing for such purpose? Justify your answer based on the facts in the case study. (4 marks) 
6.Structure of the report. (3 marks)