TO: Sale Associates of Tech Garden
From: Yuan Yang, Head of Market Research Team
Date: October. 25th, 2012
Subject: The Geographic Information System

As a sale associate, Tech Garden has decided to offer you a great opportunity to understand consumers further by establishing an initiative geographic information system (GIS). The new system will help us to recognize the new location for stores in order to target advertising and locate our best customers.
What is Geographic Information System?
A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS helps us to view, understand and visualize data in many ways that display relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. its easy to understand and solve questions in a way by looking at those data. GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework (Esri)
What are the benefits of GIS? * Cost Saving and Increased Efficiency
GIS is widely used to optimize maintenance schedules and daily fleet movements. Typical implementations can result in a savings of 10 to 30 percent in operational expenses through reduction in fuel use and staff time, improved customer service, and more efficient scheduling (2011, Hewitt). * Better Decision Making
GIS is the go-to technology for making better decisions about location. Common examples include real estate site selection, route/corridor selection, evacuation planning, conservation, and natural resource extraction (Wenray Su & Chiajui Shang) * Improved Communication

GIS-based maps and visualizations greatly assist in understanding situations and in storytelling. They are a type of language that improves communication between different teams, departments, disciplines, professional fields, organizations, and the public (2008, Phil Paradies). * Better Recordkeeping
Many organizations have a primary responsibility of maintaining authoritative records about the status and change of geography. GIS provides a strong framework for managing these types of records with full transaction support and reporting tools (2011, Stewart Kirkpatrick). * Managing Geographically
GIS is becoming essential to understanding what is happening and what will happen in geographic space. Once we understand, we can prescribe action. This new approach to management managing geographically is transforming the way that organizations operate (2011, Ann Marie Lynch)
Concerns you may have: * How could sale associate get information from customers?
There are a lot of ways you can information from you customers, such as, questionnaires, telephone interview and face-to-face interview and so on. For more information you can get from this website below (Conducting Surveys). http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/meth_gde_e_19728.html * How could GIS benefit sale associate potentially?
It helps sale associates to understand the customer’s insight further in order to full fill their needs and also helps organization using understanding so that our position is as we want to be. Basically, once we understand customer insight by using GIS, we could be successful in meeting customer or stakeholder needs, profitable, within budget, secure or ethical (Merlin Stone & Alison Bond & Bryan Foss) * Will that be a concern when we evaluate employee’s performance?
When the company evaluates sale associates’ performance, the situation of customer information collection will be considered as an option to influence employee’s performance grade.

I am so looking forward to seeing the great improvement the company will receive after the GIS was established. I hope every sale associate could pay more attention on collecting customer information, your endeavor will be grateful. If you have more concerns about the new system, please email me with yyang06@uoguelph.ca

Yuan Yang, Tech Garden’s Head of Market Research Team
Address: 74# Cheltonwood, Guelph ON. N1E 4E3.
Phone: 519-760-5643
Website: www.techgarden.ca

Reference List and Annotated Bibliography

1. Esri, Overview, Whar is GIS. http://www.esri.com/what-is-gis/overview
This website introduces all the information I need about GIS, and many details about GIS, such as the benefits of using GIS and who should use GIS.

2. Deniel Hewitt, GIS Specialist, Fall 2011. City of Woodland Refines Water Crew Dispatch. ArcNews. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall11articles/city-of-woodland-refines-water-crew-dispatch.html
Daniel Hewitt, GIS specialist for the City of Woodland, he helped the local government solve a problem of water bill nonpayment. By using GIS, three out of four times, the bill gets paid says, and crews must revisit the residence to turn the water back on—sometimes within the same day.

3. Dr. Wenray Su & Dr. Chiajui Shang. Fall 2011. Disaster Decision Support System. ArcNews. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall11articles/disaster-decision-support-system.html

This article talks about three things include solution provides a custom time slider that allows users to view the data at any time. CEOCDSS's base layer is published by an Esri map service. The toolbar contains the table of contents, a map bookmark list, GIS tools, and a map position tool.

4. Phil Paradies (GIS manager of Michels Corporation) , Spring 2008.
Michels Corporation Improves Collaboration and Communication. ArcNews. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/spring08articles/michels-corp.html
This article talks about that GIS helps Michels to better manage the deployment, performance, and maintenance of assets. Using GIS results in cost and timesavings and better decision-making. With ArcGIS Server, the firm creates Web applications and mashups.
5. Stewart Kirkpatrick (Montana Base Map Center Chief), Summer 2011. The Big Sky State Finds Gold in Statewide Cadastral Database. ArcNews. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/summer11articles/the-big-sky-state-finds-gold-in-statewide-cadastral-database.html
The Article includes three things: Montana created the first GIS-based statewide cadastral system in the nation. The cadastral system's annual ROI is more than $9 million. The Montana cadastral data is widely available on the web.

6. Ann Marie Lynch, Fall 2011. Building Smart from the Ground Up. ArcNews. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall11articles/building-smart-from-the-ground-up.html
Three things Includes: Because of Kuwait University's GIS vision, it is receiving the floor plan designs in geodatabase format. ArcGIS for Server and ArcGIS for Windows Mobile are used to manage campus assets.GeoDesign plays a significant role in the complex world of adaptive management throughout the construction process.
7. Office of Auditor General of Canada. Conducting Surveys. Section 7: Advantages/Disadvantages of Different Approaches to Collecting Data from Individuals. Issued: 2007-11-15. http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/meth_gde_e_19728.html
This article talks about the advantage and disadvantage of different approach to collecting data from individual. It includes questionnaire, telephone interview and face to face interview, and includes the methods how to structure each interview.
8. Stone M, Woodcock N and Foss B, 2002, The Customer Management Scorecard, Kogan Page. Chapters 1,Page 1.
Consumer insight is a great term. It implies a depth of understanding of consumers. More than that, it implies sensible use of this understanding - to help consumers fulfill their needs. It also implies wisdom – organizations using understanding so that their position is as they want it to be e.g. meeting customer or stakeholder needs, profitable, within budget, secure, or ethical.