Business Proposal: Cohesion Cafe
Content
BROADWAY CAFÉ
Business Proposal
TEAM FOUR
JESSICA BENTON, GEORGIA KATOPODIS, MADISON SCHLIEWE, RYAN THORPE AND JOE WERNER
The world of business is changing very rapidly, and companies that do not adapt to these changes, could quite possibly find themselves marginalized by stronger competition. The effective use of technology is an absolute necessity for any business that desires to stay competitive. As of now, the Broadway Cafe is falling behind its competition, for this reason, we decided to develop and implement a variety of security and telecommunication strategies. Establishing a click-and-mortar business model will give us the chance to maximize revenues, while at the same time attract new types of customers. Overall, our objective is to create a new and improved business model and image through the implementation of innovative security and telecommunication advances, thus allowing us to thrive in the world of e-business. E-Business As the business world continues to become more and more dependent on technology, it is imperative that we keep up with changes trends. At Broadway Cafe, we will introduce modern business-to-business and business-to-customer e-business models that will allow us to surpass our competition. In order for Broadway Cafe to use e-business to improve our functioning (or productivity), we must change organizational strategies. We will look at marketing/sales data, Web site metrics, customer and employee services, and intermediaries. Broadway Cafe is implementing e-business through the development of a Web site. We hired a prestigious marketing and sales team that formatted our Web site to allow our customers to become familiar with Broadway Cafe; shop for merchandise; and answer questions they may have about store hours, location, etc. We also provide links to our business partners through online ads and pop-up ads. These create revenue for both Broadway Cafe and our business partners. Customers can view our menu, write blogs about our daily drink specials, and sign up
for our rewards card. They will also be able to redeem their rewards online. This will entice customers to continuously check the website for specials and give us feedback. By creating a Web site, Broadway Cafe is expanding to a new line of customers. It provides an easy way to penetrate a new geographic territory and extends global reach. (Baltzan) This will allow us to interact with potential customers that wouldn’t normally choose Broadway Cafe . The Broadway Cafe Web site also has internal means of business that allows us to network with our suppliers. Purchasing costs and delivery lead times will decrease which will ultimately create better B2B relationships, and increase revenue. Conducting business and sharing information via Internet will give us a trendier image which will help us gain a competitive advantage which we desperately need. In order to measure the success of our Web site, it is necessary to track certain measures. We will be looking at the interactivity of each visitor. Some specific metrics we focus on are the number of page views, length of stay, dates and times visited, number of registrations filled out and abandoned, as well as number of people with shopping carts. This data will help determine the strengths and weaknesses of our Web site. We will also measure the amount of foot traffic compared to our sales volume on a monthly basis to evaluate how successful our website is. A Web site where we can communicate and interact with our customers as well as employees is key to establishing customer and employee relationships. We not only want to build a loyal customer base, but keep our staff happy as well. Being available 24/7 with customer service reps standing by to answer e-mails will help keep customers satisfied. Not surprisingly, e-business strategists are finding that customer service via the Web is one of the most challenging and yet potentially lucrative areas of e-
business (Baltztan). This was one of my grandfather’s main concerns in implementing e-business into Broadway Cafe, and therefore, one of our core competencies is to protect our customers to the best of our ability. We will go into more detail on security in Section 2. By creating a website that is easy to use and provides outstanding service, the historical Broadway Cafe will become a local hot spot once again. To enhance e-business we want to bring our buyers and sellers together to create a tighter network. Broadway Cafe has invested in the use of portals to increase traffic throughout our site and increase revenue significantly. One of our portals is strictly for employee use only. It is a secure site, accessible through the use of an employee ID, and will allow our employees to contact our top management with issues or suggestions, send e-mails among our staff, and have live chats with other employees to talk about schedules, and establish friendships within the workplace. We also provide a link to a portal customers can use as a search engine within our database and our suppliers for merchandise or other information they choose to research. Kiosks will be set up in our store to give customers access our homepage. The in-store Web site will allow customers to look through our menu, to locate nutritional facts and ingredients. They will also be able to purchase merchandise not held in the store, redeem their rewards, as well as listen to local artists. Implementing kiosks and other intermediaries will improve our business by giving us the reputation of a company that aims to please our customers with innovative conveniences. Security With identity theft and other fraudulent activity on the rise, it is imperative that companies place greater emphasis on the security and protection of their customers’ personal information. Identity thefts are expected to increase anywhere from 900% to 2,250% over the next two years, creating billions of dollars worth of losses (Baltzan 123). These losses have
devastating effects on businesses as well as their customers. The Broadway Cafe could help prevent identity theft and fraud by implementing a new and pioneering biometric payment system. A biometric payment system uses any unique or distinguishing biological trait, such as a fingerprint or voice, to identify a customer and authorize the use of that customer’s funds (TechTarget). This is the best and most effective way of managing authentication (Baltzan 122). Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco are already discovering how these biometric systems can benefit their companies, and The Broadway Cafe benefit by implementing a biometric payment system as well. Currently, banks are liable for most of the expenses associated with fraudulent situations. This is changing, however, as the responsibility is shifting away from the banks and onto the companies. As a result, protecting the identities of our customers is a growing concern for us at The Broadway Cafe. A biometric payment system would help protect The Broadway Café as well as our customers by providing enhanced protection against fraud and identity theft. Biometrics, such as fingerprints, are more secure than other means of authentication, including passwords, PIN numbers, or signatures. Signatures can easily be forged, and passwords and PIN numbers can be found out and used by others. On the other hand, fingerprints and other physical characteristics are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to forge or copy. This is why biometrics provide the most effective means of authentication. A biometric payment system would protect The Broadway Cafe from having to pay the heavy fees associated with fraud, and would also make our customers feel more secure. The use of a biometric payment system has other advantages to businesses and consumers besides enhanced protection and security. With a biometric payment system, customers would have no need to carry cash, checks, or cards. They could make their purchases
with the touch of a finger, making transactions more convenient than ever before. This method of payment also allows for faster transactions than if the customer were using cash or a credit card. Biometric service provider, BioPay, states that transaction times range from 5 to 15 seconds, which is 70% faster than traditional payment methods. In an environment such as a coffee shop, timeliness and convenience are very important. Another advantage in using a biometric payment system is lower transaction processing fees, especially as credit and debit card fees have been on the rise. These savings could be passed on to the customer, thus providing another incentive for customers to choose our cafe. A biometric payment system has advantages for both The Broadway Cafe and our customers that go beyond security. Of course, implementing such an novel technology is risky, so there are some concerns to consider. If initial enrollment for the system is too confusing or time consuming, customers may not even bother signing up for to use the program. Also, fingerprints have traditionally been linked with law enforcement. Some consumers may fear that their fingerprints could be made available to law enforcement officials or government agencies (Kasavana). The Broadway Café, however, would hold in a database a numerical representation of the fingerprint, and not the actual fingerprint. This would allow us to discard the fingerprints, thus assuaging our customers’ fears. Once our customers become comfortable with the biometric payment system, it could have advantages for The Broadway Cafe and our valued customers. Telecommunications Opportunity Internet security issues can be a major reason companies are hesitant to incorporate new Internet technologies into their business. With the vast amount of threats in cyberspace, this is not surprising; yet it is important to keep up with advances in technology. At Broadway Cafe we will enable many technology features in order to secure the Broadway Cafe’s wireless network.
“The CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey reported that 38 percent of respondents indicated security incidents originated within the enterprise.” (Baltzan, 117) Keeping this in mind the Broadway Cafe will need to count on the insiders of the company to behave ethically as they have access to the company’s information. An information security plan will lay out the information securities policies and detail the rules required to maintain information security and how we will implement these policies. This crosses over to a matter of ethics, as it is not ethical for individuals to obtain, copy or use sensitive corporate and personal information. This emphasizes that maintaining quality and trustworthy employees is extremely important. Once the people defense is set up, the technology line of defense will be set up next. There are three primary information security areas we will focus on: authentication and authorization, prevention and resistance, and detection and response. Authentication and authorization will be dealt with through passwords, but not traditional passwords with usernames, as this can be an ineffective way of securing the network. Instead a type of token or smart card will be used. When a customer places an order they will receive a receipt. Printed on the receipt will be an individual password, generated randomly through our system. This password would allow them access to our network for 24 hours. Once the 24 hours is up that password is no longer valid, and a new password would need to be issued. Moving onto protection and resistance, we would need to implement both content filtering and firewall technologies. We would use software to filter content in the aim of preventing the transmission of unauthorized information. Firewalls prevent security breaches by setting up a guard to protect the private network to analyze the information leaving and entering
the network, as well as to be able to detect computers communicating with the Internet without approval. Detection and response resources are necessary in the case that prevention and resistance strategies fail and there is a security breach, so we can mitigate the damages. This can be done through antivirus software. Ethics is as important as security when it comes to the building blocks of an organization. Privacy is one of the largest ethical issues facing organizations. (Baltzan, 105) Privacy includes having control over your own personal possessions and not to be observed without your consent. This is where a good balance is needed: between the privacy wanted by our customers, and the privacy levels we need as a company in order to survive security threats. The development of an ethical computer use policy that contains the principles to guide our customers’ behavior when using our network is necessary. This policy is one that our customers must agree to follow in order to be allowed access our wireless network. This policy and all other policies will be on the page customers are directed to after they log-in. In order for the customers to be granted access they will need to accept the policies and comply with Broadway Cafe’s terms of use. Integration In society today, the world of e-business has become increasingly important. In order to run a successful e-business, a company must be prepared with the correct tools for their ideas to succeed. Without the right security measures a business is sure to fall behind quickly and lose their customer base. This is why it is extremely important that our security policies and tactics are created with our customers’ best interests at heart as well as our own. A successful ebusiness must also be highly trained in the world of telecommunications. After all, without telecommunications, e-businesses would not be possible. For our company to succeed, we must
take the correct measures to ensure that our telecommunications are in synch with our security measures and run right alongside our e-business philosophies. Telecommunications are the basis for the new world of business, and without them our e-business proposal would surely fail. For example, our physical store site will have multiple kiosks set up for our customers to become more interactive in the way they do business with us. Our kiosks will help customers learn about nutritional facts, prices, products, and bulk order possibilities. Also, offering wireless Internet will help keep customers loyal and also offer them more than just coffee products. Keeping customers coming back is what will help our business thrive in the long run. Implementing the correct security policies and plans will make sure that our employees are working as efficiently as possible and our customers know we are working to keep them protected anytime they are on our site. Whenever customers purchase merchandise on our e-shop, they can be sure that any information that can hurt them in any way is kept confidential. Improving our telecommunications will help us stay in stride with our competition and continue to provide us with the best available technology to achieve our company goals. Here at Broadway Cafe, we understand that implementing new security and telecommunication standards will be costly in the short run, however, we believe that it is the first step in order to create a long-lasting business. The benefits of these policies will help expand our customer base, increase loyalty, and over time will result in increased revenues. Another huge benefit we believe that will occur is our new perceived image by consumers. Getting up to date with technology and security measures will help us create an environment for all types of people to connect with. Based on our proposal, we should receive this loan because we view the investment as a smart and profitable way for our company to succeed in the new world of business. It will benefit the community and our customers by appealing to a broad range of consumers. This will definitely give us a
satisfactory return on our investment giving us the ability to repay our loans in the correct time frames. Upon receiving this loan, our business will begin the process of creating a new image and the bank will get the satisfaction of us living up to our loan requirements. It is a win-win, situation for both parties involved. We believe the Broadway Cafe will produce its best outcome with continuing a one-site. Expanding our locations will take away from our core competencies. We are built on customer satisfaction, quality, and family values. If we try to expand our stores then we may be driven away from these core competencies, which can hurt our overall performance. Staying keyed on customer satisfaction, quality, and values will help our business take off while implementing our new security and telecommunication proposals. Through innovative Information Technology such as eBusinesss, Biometric Security and Telecommunications, Broadway Cafe will be able to regain its status as the ‘local hotspot’ once again. By keeping up with today’s technological advances we will be able to achieve our business goals of increasing revenue and our loyal customer base.
Business Proposal
TEAM FOUR
JESSICA BENTON, GEORGIA KATOPODIS, MADISON SCHLIEWE, RYAN THORPE AND JOE WERNER
The world of business is changing very rapidly, and companies that do not adapt to these changes, could quite possibly find themselves marginalized by stronger competition. The effective use of technology is an absolute necessity for any business that desires to stay competitive. As of now, the Broadway Cafe is falling behind its competition, for this reason, we decided to develop and implement a variety of security and telecommunication strategies. Establishing a click-and-mortar business model will give us the chance to maximize revenues, while at the same time attract new types of customers. Overall, our objective is to create a new and improved business model and image through the implementation of innovative security and telecommunication advances, thus allowing us to thrive in the world of e-business. E-Business As the business world continues to become more and more dependent on technology, it is imperative that we keep up with changes trends. At Broadway Cafe, we will introduce modern business-to-business and business-to-customer e-business models that will allow us to surpass our competition. In order for Broadway Cafe to use e-business to improve our functioning (or productivity), we must change organizational strategies. We will look at marketing/sales data, Web site metrics, customer and employee services, and intermediaries. Broadway Cafe is implementing e-business through the development of a Web site. We hired a prestigious marketing and sales team that formatted our Web site to allow our customers to become familiar with Broadway Cafe; shop for merchandise; and answer questions they may have about store hours, location, etc. We also provide links to our business partners through online ads and pop-up ads. These create revenue for both Broadway Cafe and our business partners. Customers can view our menu, write blogs about our daily drink specials, and sign up
for our rewards card. They will also be able to redeem their rewards online. This will entice customers to continuously check the website for specials and give us feedback. By creating a Web site, Broadway Cafe is expanding to a new line of customers. It provides an easy way to penetrate a new geographic territory and extends global reach. (Baltzan) This will allow us to interact with potential customers that wouldn’t normally choose Broadway Cafe . The Broadway Cafe Web site also has internal means of business that allows us to network with our suppliers. Purchasing costs and delivery lead times will decrease which will ultimately create better B2B relationships, and increase revenue. Conducting business and sharing information via Internet will give us a trendier image which will help us gain a competitive advantage which we desperately need. In order to measure the success of our Web site, it is necessary to track certain measures. We will be looking at the interactivity of each visitor. Some specific metrics we focus on are the number of page views, length of stay, dates and times visited, number of registrations filled out and abandoned, as well as number of people with shopping carts. This data will help determine the strengths and weaknesses of our Web site. We will also measure the amount of foot traffic compared to our sales volume on a monthly basis to evaluate how successful our website is. A Web site where we can communicate and interact with our customers as well as employees is key to establishing customer and employee relationships. We not only want to build a loyal customer base, but keep our staff happy as well. Being available 24/7 with customer service reps standing by to answer e-mails will help keep customers satisfied. Not surprisingly, e-business strategists are finding that customer service via the Web is one of the most challenging and yet potentially lucrative areas of e-
business (Baltztan). This was one of my grandfather’s main concerns in implementing e-business into Broadway Cafe, and therefore, one of our core competencies is to protect our customers to the best of our ability. We will go into more detail on security in Section 2. By creating a website that is easy to use and provides outstanding service, the historical Broadway Cafe will become a local hot spot once again. To enhance e-business we want to bring our buyers and sellers together to create a tighter network. Broadway Cafe has invested in the use of portals to increase traffic throughout our site and increase revenue significantly. One of our portals is strictly for employee use only. It is a secure site, accessible through the use of an employee ID, and will allow our employees to contact our top management with issues or suggestions, send e-mails among our staff, and have live chats with other employees to talk about schedules, and establish friendships within the workplace. We also provide a link to a portal customers can use as a search engine within our database and our suppliers for merchandise or other information they choose to research. Kiosks will be set up in our store to give customers access our homepage. The in-store Web site will allow customers to look through our menu, to locate nutritional facts and ingredients. They will also be able to purchase merchandise not held in the store, redeem their rewards, as well as listen to local artists. Implementing kiosks and other intermediaries will improve our business by giving us the reputation of a company that aims to please our customers with innovative conveniences. Security With identity theft and other fraudulent activity on the rise, it is imperative that companies place greater emphasis on the security and protection of their customers’ personal information. Identity thefts are expected to increase anywhere from 900% to 2,250% over the next two years, creating billions of dollars worth of losses (Baltzan 123). These losses have
devastating effects on businesses as well as their customers. The Broadway Cafe could help prevent identity theft and fraud by implementing a new and pioneering biometric payment system. A biometric payment system uses any unique or distinguishing biological trait, such as a fingerprint or voice, to identify a customer and authorize the use of that customer’s funds (TechTarget). This is the best and most effective way of managing authentication (Baltzan 122). Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco are already discovering how these biometric systems can benefit their companies, and The Broadway Cafe benefit by implementing a biometric payment system as well. Currently, banks are liable for most of the expenses associated with fraudulent situations. This is changing, however, as the responsibility is shifting away from the banks and onto the companies. As a result, protecting the identities of our customers is a growing concern for us at The Broadway Cafe. A biometric payment system would help protect The Broadway Café as well as our customers by providing enhanced protection against fraud and identity theft. Biometrics, such as fingerprints, are more secure than other means of authentication, including passwords, PIN numbers, or signatures. Signatures can easily be forged, and passwords and PIN numbers can be found out and used by others. On the other hand, fingerprints and other physical characteristics are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to forge or copy. This is why biometrics provide the most effective means of authentication. A biometric payment system would protect The Broadway Cafe from having to pay the heavy fees associated with fraud, and would also make our customers feel more secure. The use of a biometric payment system has other advantages to businesses and consumers besides enhanced protection and security. With a biometric payment system, customers would have no need to carry cash, checks, or cards. They could make their purchases
with the touch of a finger, making transactions more convenient than ever before. This method of payment also allows for faster transactions than if the customer were using cash or a credit card. Biometric service provider, BioPay, states that transaction times range from 5 to 15 seconds, which is 70% faster than traditional payment methods. In an environment such as a coffee shop, timeliness and convenience are very important. Another advantage in using a biometric payment system is lower transaction processing fees, especially as credit and debit card fees have been on the rise. These savings could be passed on to the customer, thus providing another incentive for customers to choose our cafe. A biometric payment system has advantages for both The Broadway Cafe and our customers that go beyond security. Of course, implementing such an novel technology is risky, so there are some concerns to consider. If initial enrollment for the system is too confusing or time consuming, customers may not even bother signing up for to use the program. Also, fingerprints have traditionally been linked with law enforcement. Some consumers may fear that their fingerprints could be made available to law enforcement officials or government agencies (Kasavana). The Broadway Café, however, would hold in a database a numerical representation of the fingerprint, and not the actual fingerprint. This would allow us to discard the fingerprints, thus assuaging our customers’ fears. Once our customers become comfortable with the biometric payment system, it could have advantages for The Broadway Cafe and our valued customers. Telecommunications Opportunity Internet security issues can be a major reason companies are hesitant to incorporate new Internet technologies into their business. With the vast amount of threats in cyberspace, this is not surprising; yet it is important to keep up with advances in technology. At Broadway Cafe we will enable many technology features in order to secure the Broadway Cafe’s wireless network.
“The CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey reported that 38 percent of respondents indicated security incidents originated within the enterprise.” (Baltzan, 117) Keeping this in mind the Broadway Cafe will need to count on the insiders of the company to behave ethically as they have access to the company’s information. An information security plan will lay out the information securities policies and detail the rules required to maintain information security and how we will implement these policies. This crosses over to a matter of ethics, as it is not ethical for individuals to obtain, copy or use sensitive corporate and personal information. This emphasizes that maintaining quality and trustworthy employees is extremely important. Once the people defense is set up, the technology line of defense will be set up next. There are three primary information security areas we will focus on: authentication and authorization, prevention and resistance, and detection and response. Authentication and authorization will be dealt with through passwords, but not traditional passwords with usernames, as this can be an ineffective way of securing the network. Instead a type of token or smart card will be used. When a customer places an order they will receive a receipt. Printed on the receipt will be an individual password, generated randomly through our system. This password would allow them access to our network for 24 hours. Once the 24 hours is up that password is no longer valid, and a new password would need to be issued. Moving onto protection and resistance, we would need to implement both content filtering and firewall technologies. We would use software to filter content in the aim of preventing the transmission of unauthorized information. Firewalls prevent security breaches by setting up a guard to protect the private network to analyze the information leaving and entering
the network, as well as to be able to detect computers communicating with the Internet without approval. Detection and response resources are necessary in the case that prevention and resistance strategies fail and there is a security breach, so we can mitigate the damages. This can be done through antivirus software. Ethics is as important as security when it comes to the building blocks of an organization. Privacy is one of the largest ethical issues facing organizations. (Baltzan, 105) Privacy includes having control over your own personal possessions and not to be observed without your consent. This is where a good balance is needed: between the privacy wanted by our customers, and the privacy levels we need as a company in order to survive security threats. The development of an ethical computer use policy that contains the principles to guide our customers’ behavior when using our network is necessary. This policy is one that our customers must agree to follow in order to be allowed access our wireless network. This policy and all other policies will be on the page customers are directed to after they log-in. In order for the customers to be granted access they will need to accept the policies and comply with Broadway Cafe’s terms of use. Integration In society today, the world of e-business has become increasingly important. In order to run a successful e-business, a company must be prepared with the correct tools for their ideas to succeed. Without the right security measures a business is sure to fall behind quickly and lose their customer base. This is why it is extremely important that our security policies and tactics are created with our customers’ best interests at heart as well as our own. A successful ebusiness must also be highly trained in the world of telecommunications. After all, without telecommunications, e-businesses would not be possible. For our company to succeed, we must
take the correct measures to ensure that our telecommunications are in synch with our security measures and run right alongside our e-business philosophies. Telecommunications are the basis for the new world of business, and without them our e-business proposal would surely fail. For example, our physical store site will have multiple kiosks set up for our customers to become more interactive in the way they do business with us. Our kiosks will help customers learn about nutritional facts, prices, products, and bulk order possibilities. Also, offering wireless Internet will help keep customers loyal and also offer them more than just coffee products. Keeping customers coming back is what will help our business thrive in the long run. Implementing the correct security policies and plans will make sure that our employees are working as efficiently as possible and our customers know we are working to keep them protected anytime they are on our site. Whenever customers purchase merchandise on our e-shop, they can be sure that any information that can hurt them in any way is kept confidential. Improving our telecommunications will help us stay in stride with our competition and continue to provide us with the best available technology to achieve our company goals. Here at Broadway Cafe, we understand that implementing new security and telecommunication standards will be costly in the short run, however, we believe that it is the first step in order to create a long-lasting business. The benefits of these policies will help expand our customer base, increase loyalty, and over time will result in increased revenues. Another huge benefit we believe that will occur is our new perceived image by consumers. Getting up to date with technology and security measures will help us create an environment for all types of people to connect with. Based on our proposal, we should receive this loan because we view the investment as a smart and profitable way for our company to succeed in the new world of business. It will benefit the community and our customers by appealing to a broad range of consumers. This will definitely give us a
satisfactory return on our investment giving us the ability to repay our loans in the correct time frames. Upon receiving this loan, our business will begin the process of creating a new image and the bank will get the satisfaction of us living up to our loan requirements. It is a win-win, situation for both parties involved. We believe the Broadway Cafe will produce its best outcome with continuing a one-site. Expanding our locations will take away from our core competencies. We are built on customer satisfaction, quality, and family values. If we try to expand our stores then we may be driven away from these core competencies, which can hurt our overall performance. Staying keyed on customer satisfaction, quality, and values will help our business take off while implementing our new security and telecommunication proposals. Through innovative Information Technology such as eBusinesss, Biometric Security and Telecommunications, Broadway Cafe will be able to regain its status as the ‘local hotspot’ once again. By keeping up with today’s technological advances we will be able to achieve our business goals of increasing revenue and our loyal customer base.
