Research · September 2022

CITATION
READS
1
18,754

1 author:

Prem Brahmbhatt

Navrachana University

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Use of Smartphone Application for the Selected Emergency Hotlines: A Study on Perception of Residence of Mamatid and Uniform Personnel View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Prem Brahmbhatt on 9 October 2022.
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Academic Year 2020 - 2023

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEM: THE CASE OF NETFLIX.

Student:
Prem Brahmbhatt

Course Adviser:
Meghna Desai

A Final Project Submitted

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course of

IT206 Management Information Systems

TABLE OF CONTENS

BACKGROUND OF NETFLIX...............................................................................................................3

MISSION, VISSION, OBJECTIVES, AND GOALS.............................................................................3

Mission....................................................................................................................................................3

Vision......................................................................................................................................................3

Objectives................................................................................................................................................4

Goals.......................................................................................................................................................4

INFORMATION SYSTEMS ECOSYSTEM..........................................................................................4

Database System, Data Center, and Business Intelligence......................................................................4

Telecommunication, the Internet, Intranets, and Extranets.....................................................................5

Electronic and Mobile Commerce and Enterprise Systems.....................................................................6

Information and Decision Support Systems.............................................................................................7

Knowledge Management and Specialized IS...........................................................................................8

System Acquisition and Development......................................................................................................9

SUMMARY..............................................................................................................................................10

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................12

Page | 2
BACKGROUND OF NETFLIX.

Entire Netflix Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, two American businessmen, launched Netflix, Inc. in
1997 to provide media streaming and video rentals. It also contributes to the production of original
programming. California's Los Gatos is home to the corporate headquarters.

In order to determine if anyone could 10% enhance its recommendation system, which uses an algorithm
to anticipate a person's movie tastes based on prior rental data, Netflix launched the $1 million Netflix
Prize competition in 2006. BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos, a team of seven mathematicians, computer
scientists, and engineers from the United States, Canada, Austria, and Israel, won the prize three years
later.

In 2007, Netflix started letting its customers stream some of its motion pictures and television series to
their homes directly over the Internet. The streaming service was limitless for the majority of subscription
options. Following that, Netflix formed partnerships with producers of several consumer electronics goods,
such as Blu-ray Disc players and video game consoles, to make it possible for its programs to be streamed
to those gadgets over an Internet connection. A streaming-only Netflix subscription with unlimited
viewing but no DVDs was announced in 2010. The streaming-only plan was later made available by
Netflix outside of the US in Canada in 2010, Latin America and the Caribbean in 2011, and the United
Kingdom, Ireland, and Scandinavia in 2012. By 2016, more countries might use its streaming service.

By 2016, more than 190 nations and territories could access its streaming service. In September 2011,
Netflix announced that it would separate its streaming and email-based services, with the latter being
called Qwikster. However, a month later, Netflix abandoned the planned split, citing a backlash from its
subscribers. With more than 200 million users in 2021, its streaming services emerged as its primary
source of income, but the rental business continued to turn a profit.

MISSION, VISSION, OBJECTIVES, AND GOALS

Mission

We at Netflix want to amuse everyone. We give you access to the top TV shows, documentaries, movies,
and mobile games, regardless of your preferences or where you live. With just one easy membership, we
provide our users the freedom to watch what they want, when they want, and without any ads.

Vision
The goal of Netflix is to amuse everyone. No matter your preferences or location, we provide
access to the top TV shows, documentaries, movies, and mobile games. With just one easy
subscription, we provide our members complete control over what they watch and when.

Page | 3
 Objectives

Netflix will reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2022. As part of our validated Science
Based Target, we are trying to reduce our internal emissions by 45% below 2019 levels by 2030 in order
to achieve this goal.

Goal
s
The business goal is to expand globally and acquire more clients; the corporate goal is to deliver
high-quality services in accordance with consumer needs. Enhancing consumer ease is the
company's functional goal.

Netflix, we want to entertain the world.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS ECOSYSTEM

Database System, Data Center, and Business Intelligence

In the Netflix data center, we primarily use Oracle to persist data. In parts of the movie recommendation
infrastructure, we use MySQL. Both are relational databases. In our data center, we do not currently use
key-value stores for persistent storage.

The main elements that characterize the Netflix experience for the end user are an optimised user
interface, meaningful tailored suggestions, effective streaming, and a sizable library of content. To create
this experience, a variety of business operations with various degrees of complexity must function
together.

Both Netflix's network and its data centers are no longer run by the streaming service. ISPs, on the other
hand, consent to housing OCAs in their data centers. ISPs are given free OCAs to integrate into their
networks. Additionally, Netflix places OCAs near or at internet exchange points (IXPs)

Our primary goal as a leading provider of ERP, CRM, and business intelligence consulting services to the
mid-market is to assist companies in gathering and utilizing insightful data to model business processes
that will increase productivity and profitability. It's fascinating to see that Hollywood showrunners are
becoming familiar with this idea. Our team recently heard a fascinating tale about the usage of business
intelligence software in the well-known Netflix series House of Cards.

Page | 4
Telecommunication, the Internet, Intranets, and Extranets

Since barely a year ago, it had 12 million subscribers; now it has 20 million. Over that period, the stock
has quadrupled. People streaming movies on Netflix.com account for a full fifth of all American
bandwidth demand during times of peak Internet usage.

But as more people use Netflix to watch movies at home, important stakeholders in the entertainment
business are growing increasingly uneasy. The secretive firm Netflix, which is better renowned for its
founder's laid-back outlook than for its elbows, has now found itself in the middle of a huge struggle for
the direction of television.

Because Netflix can deliver a wide selection of TV shows if it can deliver movies to your living room via
the Internet. Cable will soon be unnecessary.

On the other hand, who needs Netflix if cable companies can provide you with movies and TV directly
over high-speed Internet lines? Corporations worth billions of dollars are concerned about these issues
and vying for influence.

Netflix can't do it alone, so we use the internet to broadcast movies and TV shows from our servers to your
screens. Our material goes through a number of touch points before arriving at your screen, including our
servers, the web, and the network of your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

With a Netflix subscription, users can stream movies and TV shows on any internet-connected device
without being interrupted by ads. Additionally, you may download TV series and films to your iOS,
Android, or Windows 10 device and view them offline.

In contrast to an intranet, an extranet is a private network that is accessible to other parties such as
suppliers, critical customers, and business partners. An extranet's primary function is to enable user data
and application exchange as well as information sharing. In contrast to an intranet, an extranet is a
private network that is accessible to other parties such as suppliers, critical customers, and business
partners. An extranet's primary function is to enable user data and application exchange as well as
information sharing.

Page | 5
Electronic and Mobile Commerce and Enterprise Systems

In-app purchases, mobile banking, virtual marketplace apps like the Amazon mobile app, and
digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Wallet are a few examples of m-commerce. The
following are some examples of how m-commerce is used in particular industries: monetary services.

But aside from the billion-dollar infrastructure businesses whose values are set to suffer greatly, who
really cares about that architecture? And by that, I mean companies like EMC, Dell, HP, IBM, Cisco, and
so on (which Dell is in the process of trying to buy). These businesses may not quite be the "walking
dead," as Wired described them last week, but they are undoubtedly doomed to failure. For this reason,
Dell is attempting to acquire EMC: it has to protect its legacy company.

Everyone besides their shareholders is interested in them. due to the fact that it is now feasible to create a
billion-dollar business without ever entering a data center. Whether the data center uses HP and Dell
hardware or some low-cost commodity CPUs made to specification by the least expensive manufacturer
doesn't matter to you. To manage the tremendous inflow of bits you're about to start collecting and will
need to analyze, all you need are virtual servers you can spin up at a moment's notice, the capacity to
install containerized apps into that environment, and support for the unstructured databases you require.

Speaking at the Engineering Summit on Infrastructure was Neil Hunt, the chief product officer and vice
president of engineering for Netflix. Engineering Capital, a tiny, enterprise-focused venture capital firm,
arranged the event. Hunt discussed how Amazon Web Services, the industry and technological leader in
cloud services, has been used by Netflix for a long time. However, Hunt noted that not just Netflix is
pushing toward AWS.

Netflix is about to become entirely dependent on AWS, not just substantially dependent. After Hunt shuts
down his company's final data centre this year, Netflix will rely nearly exclusively on external cloud
infrastructures, primarily hosted by Amazon. It will continue to manage its own CDN (content delivery
network).

Be aware that this timeline is brand-new. Netflix first stated that it would close its final datacenter in 2014
and then once more this past summer, but sometimes the future moves a little more slowly than
anticipated. One feature of business infrastructure is probably never going to alter.

Page | 6
Information and Decision Support Systems

Since its debut in 2007, Netflix has held the top spot among Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming
entertainment platforms with more than 203.67 million users globally. What is Netflix's formula for
success? analytics and data.

With the aid of cutting-edge data and analytics, Netflix can:

 Personalized movie and TV show recommendations for users

 Before it approves it, forecast the level of interest in original material (or not)

 personalise marketing materials like thumbnails and trailers

 Plan production more effectively.

 Improve general technical and corporate decision-making, of course.

Furthermore, Walmart also launched an initiative for identifying harmful chemicals,

namely Chemical Intensive Product Initiative, integrated to some products. They have partnered
with The WERCS to develop a software that screens chemicals and was named GreenWERCS
Chemical Screening Tool. Current and future suppliers of Walmart must submit the added
chemical ingredients in the products, the system would then now analyze and identify the
harmful chemicals. It produces a score, red, yellow, and green, for the supplier to identify on
whether the product is free from harmful chemicals and materials, moreover, the tool provides
alternative ingredients that would be environmentally friendly (Torrie, Y., Buczek, M., Morose,
G., & Tickner, J., 2009, 29-30). This assures the products are eco-friendly and encourages the
suppliers to produce sustainable products.

A social media start-up focused on e-commerce named Kosmix, currently known as

Walmart Labs, was bought in 2011 by Walmart. Kosmix have developed a system that can

Page | 7
search

Page | 8
and analyze social media platforms, such as Facebook, twitter, etc., to obtain personal and person-
to-person-based insights (Edosio, U. Z., 2014, p. 5).

Walmart, through Walmart Labs, was able to develop Social Genome (Edosio, U. Z., 2014,
p. 5). The software was publicly referred to as Walmart Shopycat where it collects data, real-
time, from social media sites. Walmart Shopycat performs semantic analysis, capable of
analyzing phrases, words, sentences, and paragraphs with independent meanings, and is able to
understand the trends and popular products; furthermore, it can predict trends in certain location
of Walmart store (Edosio, U. Z., 2014, p. 6). Walmart as marketed it as a gift finder solution.

Walmart has implemented Retail Link, a strategic decision support system. The system
uses the satellite technologies of Walmart where many have tried to mimic but failed. It gathers
sales data from many stores and then processes into insightful reports that are distributed to
suppliers. Retail Link causes few inventories on stores; however, focuses on products that would
sell, and would replenish the stock at the right time and place (Garcia, F., n.d. p. 16).

Knowledge Management and Specialized IS

The company values the promotion of food safety to their associates to further server the
customer well. Walmart uses a combination of web-based and computer-based learning;
implemented on teaching food handling. The industry has recognized the company’s use of 3D
animated technology to teach. Preparation of chicken rotisserie was thought using the 3D
technology (Walmart, 2018, p. 151).

Walmart integrates RFID tags to their products and their systems that improves
management of inventory, such as products sold and stock replenishments. Moreover, it helps on
identifying the exact location and number of products without manually looking for the product
and counting them. Moreover, it can contain the manufacturing date, expiration date, etc.
Walmart decided to user RFID tags because it can store more data than the usual barcodes (Thi
Thu Ha, Nguyen, 2017, pp. 107-108). This contributes to the efficiency and reduction of time
needed to the management of products.

Page | 9
 Walmart has also used a knowledge management system, it incorporates knowledges,
such as discussion forums, corporate libraries, mentoring program, and professional training. The
KMS has also help Walmart cut operational cost and has allowed the growth of value for the
shareholders. It made big financial gains on annual products in Walmart stores. Furthermore,
skills of employees are enhanced through the various knowledges that can be queried in the
KMS. The human resource management of Walmart has learned to properly lead the people and
business operations in a well-planned framework or guidelines. On the other hand, the managers
have discovered to tackle issues with staffs without receiving grievances from them. Managers
have learned it from the shared knowledge. Walmart is aiming the employee retention until
retirement by providing rewards and bonuses, and performance appraisal (Knowledge
Management-A Case Study of Walmart, 2014, pp. 1-3).

Walmart Neighborhood Market, located in Levittown, New York has transformed.

Walmart has been integrating artificial intelligence to its retail experience. A unique real-world
experience in shopping of Walmart is named Intelligent Retail Lab (IRL). The store is installed
with cameras and sensors that detects product movement and current stock in aisle (Smith, M.,
2019). Various touch screen devices, Informational Stations are installed to help customers.
Moreover, it houses processors, that retailers can see through glass window, that could process at
high rate and produces 1.6 terabytes of data. Meat products’ standby time in the aisle is recorded
to ensure quality, moreover, once a movement of product going out of the shelves is detected the
sensors and cameras are triggered, notifying staffs to restock if needed.

System Acquisition and Development

Walmart partners with different organization for certain software. Walmart tapped IBM
for caching service, so that subset of data so that future request will be much faster. The
developers of Walmart needed caching solution for new features into their systems. Session
information from the server farm of Walmart are required to be stored and retrieved (Foley, J., et.
al, 2016, p. 8).

Page | 10
 To give back the people and communities Walmart implemented the software Global
Donation Management System (GDMS) of the Global Governance Digital Solutions (Walmart,
2018, p. 205).

Walmart labs has used agile development lifecycle in developing their software. The lab
had formed 130 teams to build software guided by the agile development (King, R., 2014).
Walmart is adapting this development lifecycle because of the focus of the agile approach. They
can develop software faster; there would be feature updates that are based on feedback from its
users. The team will be able to push changes with a rational reason and not making assumptions
of user needs. According to Mark Tallman (as cited in King, R., 2014), he stated that agile
approach is just one tool, it is not always applicable to development, such as building data
centers.

Expo, an in-house platform to test development and setup was developed by teams in
Walmart Labs. Walmart was able to customize the program to satisfy its needs in testing their
developments (Tang, A., 2018). The testing method they used is called A/B testing, they have
integrated it with their software development life cycle. A/B testing, according to Optimizely, is
creating variations of UI and UX of a webpage or an application, they now deploy the variations
and would be used by their customers and clients. Engagement with each variation is measured
and recorded and displayed in a dashboard.

SUMMARY

Walmart’s mission and vision, to provide consumers with quality products that are
economical and to make a lasting impression has been made successful through the use if
different information systems. Prominent technology that Walmart have used are their SCM,
where their delivery, stocking and inventory are managed well by their employees, Data Café, a
data analytics hub in their large data farm where processing petabytes of data are effective solve
problems, and IRL, that effectively monitors product stock and improvement store management.

No one could determine that a retail company would have integrated numerous systems
and technology the improves their day-to-day and future operations and decision-making. Most
Page | 11
people, even I, have thought that Walmart’s process is just order products from suppliers and
stock it in their inventory. Walmart has showed that to be on top one must determine the most
optimal ways to improve. The competition of Walmart and Amazon has led the former to build
their own data farm to be at par at Amazon’s large eCommerce.

Moreover, Walmart’s goals to be sustainable has led them to integrate information system
in monitoring their impact on the environment, such as GreenWERCS Chemical Screening Tool.
Before, companies were only concerned in their profit, however, companies today are improving
their procedures to help mitigating global warming. Even the smallest detail, watering system,
Walmart has implemented to be environmentally friendly.

Page | 12
REFERENCES

[Website]

Essays, UK. (2018). Examining Wal Marts information system. Retrieved from
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/examining-wal-marts-information-
system-management-essay.php?vref=1

Ferguson, E. (2019). Walmart’s mission statement & vision statement, generic &
intensive strategies. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/walmart-vision-mission-
statement- intensive-generic-strategies

King, R. (2014). Wal-Mart becomes agile but finds some limits. Retrieved from
https://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2014/10/22/wal-mart-becomes-agile-but-finds-some-limits/

Lunden, I. (2016). Confirmed: Walmart buys Jet.com for $3B in cash to fight Amazon. Retrieved
from https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/08/confirmed-walmart-buys-jet-com-for-3b-in-
cash/

Marr, B. (2017). Really Big Data at Walmart: real-time insights from their 40+ petabyte data
cloud. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/01/23/really-big-
data-at-walmart-real-time-insights-from-their-40-petabyte-data-cloud/#7b8b099f6c10

Optimizely (n.d.). A/B testing. Retrieved from https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-

glossary/ab-testing/

Smith, M. (2019). Walmart’s new intelligent retail lab shows a glimpse into the future of retail,
IRL. Retrieved from https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2019/04/25/walmarts-new-
intelligent-retail-lab-shows-a-glimpse-into-the-future-of-retail-irl

Walmart (2013). Walmart announces two grand prize winners of nationwide “get on the
shelf” contest. Retrieved from
https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2013/11/07/walmart- announces-two-grand-
prize-winners-of-nationwide-get-on-the-shelf-contest

[Online research]
Page | 13
Course Hero. (2017). Supply chain management (SCM) systems of Wal-Mart stores, Inc [Word
File]. Retrieved from https://www.coursehero.com/file/22285905/Supply-Chain-
Management-SCM-Systems-of-Wal-Mart-Stores-Inc/?justUnlocked=1#/doc/qa

[PDF]

Accenture (2013). A new era for retail. Retrieved from

https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/accenture/conversion-
assets/dotcom/documents/global/pdf/technology_4/accenture-a-new-era-for-retail.pdf

Edosio, U. Z. (2014). Big Data analytics and its application in e-commerce. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Uyoyo_Edosio/publication/264129339_Big_Data_A
nalytics_and_its_Application_in_E-Commerce/links/53cf8ef30cf2f7e53cf811e0/Big-
Data-Analytics-and-its-Application-in-E-Commerce.pdf

Foley, J., Frerking, R., Hollands, M., Jackson, R., Mathis, K., Wakelin, P., & Webster, M.
(2016). How Walmart became a cloud service provider with IBM CICS. Retrieved from
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg248347.pdf

Gading, D. K. (2019). Strategic management final exam assignment study of Walmart Inc. [PDF
File]. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/39737488/Strategic_Management_-
_Study_of_Walmart_Inc

Garcia, F. (n.d.). Chapter 2: gaining competitive advantage with DSS. Retrieved from
http://www.dsc.ufcg.edu.br/~garcia/cursos/SAD/Notas/Cap2DSSResources.pdf

Jacques, P., Thomas, R., Foster, D., McCann, J., & Tunno, M. (2003). Wal-Mart or World-Mart?
A Teaching Case Study. Review of Radical Political Economics. 35. 513-533.
10.1177/0486613403257808.

Kaup Mohamed (2014). Communication methods adopted by Wal Mart officials for its
successful operations. Asia Pacific Journal of Research, Vol. 1(18), 72-77. Retrieved
from https://apjor.com/downloads/011120149.pdf

Page | 14
 Kemal, Mohammed. (2019). Beneficial uses of cloud computing service and deployment models.
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335318594_Beneficial_uses_of_Cloud_Compu
ting_Service_and_Deployment_Models

Knowledge Management-A Case Study of Walmart. (2014). Retrieved from

http://darviddree.blog.binusian.org/files/2014/09/178868964-KNOWLEDGE-
MANAGEMENT-walmart-pdf.pdf

Muhammad Atif (2013). A case study Wal-Mart [PDF File]. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/7103937/A_Case_Study_of_Wal-Mart

Salsify (n.d.). How Walmart & Dr. Pepper Snapple Group met the new demands of digital
shoppers. Retrieved from https://www.salsify.com/content/case-study-walmart-dr-pepper-
snapple-digital-shopper

Thi Thu Ha, Nguyen. (2017). Wal-Mart's Successfully Integrated Supply Chain and the
Necessity of Establishing the Triple-A supply Chain in the 21st century. Journal of
Economics and Management. 29. 102-117. 10.22367/jem.2017.29.06.

Torrie, Y., Buczek, M., Morose, G., & Tickner, J. (2009). Best practices on product chemicals
management in the retail industry. Retrieved from
https://www.greenchemistryandcommerce.org/downloads/uml-rptBestPractices7-10.pdf

Walmart (2018). 2018 global responsibility report. Retrieved from

https://corporate.walmart.com/2018grr/media-library/document/2018-global-
responsibility-report/_proxyDocument?id=00000164-91a7-d2a1-ab6c-d9f7f1190000

Page | 14

View publication stats