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INDEX

Introduction Objectives RESEARCH METHODOLOGY History SWOT Analysis Suggestion Conclusion Bibliography

ACC (ACC Limited) is India's foremost manufacturer of cement and concrete. ACC's operations are spread throughout the country with 14 modern cement factories, 19 Ready mix concrete plants, 19 sales offices, and several zonal offices. It has a workforce of about 9000 persons and a countrywide distribution network of over 9,000 dealers. ACC's research and development facility has a unique track record of innovative research, product development and specialized consultancy services. Since its inception in 1936, the company has been a trendsetter and important benchmark for the cement industry in respect of its production, marketing and personnel management processes.

Its commitment to environment-friendliness, its high ethical standards in business dealings and its on-going efforts in community welfare programs have won it acclaim as a responsible corporate citizen. ACC has made significant contributions to the nation building process by way of quality products, services and sharing its expertise.

In the 70 years of its existence, ACC has been a pioneer in the manufacture of cement and concrete and a trendsetter in many areas of cement and concrete technology including improvements in raw material utilization, process improvement, energy conservation and development of high performance concretes. ACCs brand name is synonymous with cement and enjoys a high level of equity in the Indian market. It is the only cement company that figures in the list of Consumer Super Brands of India.

The company's various businesses are supported by a powerful, in house research and technology backup facility - the only one of its kind in the Indian cement industry. This ensures not just consistency in product quality but also continuous improvements in products, processes, and application areas.

ACC has rich experience in mining, being the largest user of limestone, and it is also one of the principal users of coal. As the largest cement producer in India, it is one of the biggest customers of the Indian Railways, and the foremost user of the road transport network services for inward and outward movement of materials and products.

ACC has also extended its services overseas to the Middle East, Africa, and South America, where it has provided technical and managerial consultancy to a variety of consumers, and also helps in the operation and maintenance of cement plants abroad.

ACC is among the first companies in India to include commitment to environmental protection as one of its corporate objectives, long before pollution control laws came into existence. The company installed pollution control equipment and high efficiency sophisticated electrostatic precipitators for cement kilns, raw mills, coal mills, power plants and coolers as far back as 1966. Every factory has state of- the art pollution control equipment and devices.

ACC demonstrates the practices of being a good corporate citizen undertaking a wide range of activities to improve the living conditions of the under-privileged classes living near its factories.

The objective of this project is to study the MIS implementation of ACC Ltd. and with the help of this domain, to get an insight into the needs of MIS in business setups on a big scale, various functions performed by the MIS, benefits derived out of such a system and the risks involved.

We intend to aim our study at analyzing the business needs of the organization, key challenges or desired functional requirements of the MIS, the IT solution that is currently implemented and the outcome of such a system.

ACC Ltd. requires MIS to map internal processes and interaction with the external environment to the technology and ensure the solution delivers real benefits to the business.

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The scope of our study is to understand the reasons behind the need of MIS in ACC. We will develop knowledge of what information is needed on a regular basis for decision making purposes and how it is sought and used by ACC with the help of MIS .We will study the MIS support to the Company as a whole with special emphasis on Inventory Management practiced in the Material Stores Department of the company. Through our interaction with the executives of ACC Limited, we got an insight about the effectiveness of the MIS in place at the organization.

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METHODOLOGY

The Primary Data was collected from SAP Implementation Head IT Infrastructure Managers in the Information System department of ACC Limited by conducting telephonic interviews and collecting documentation which gave an insight into the procedures being followed with regards to the functioning of MIS.

The Secondary Data was taken from various online sources like the website of the company www.acccement.com and various reference books on MIS.

NEED FOR MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

This is a universally accepted fact that all managerial functions are performed through decision making. For taking rational decisions, timely and reliable information is essential and is procured through a logical method of information collecting, processing and disseminating to decision makers.

In todays world of ever increasing complexities of carrying out business, every organization, in order to survive and grow, must have a properly planned, analyzed, designed and maintained

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MIS. This need is even more increased because organizations now have to compete not only locally but also globally.

MIS assist decision makers, by providing the required information at various stages of decision making and thus greatly help the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. On the other hand, if an MIS is poorly planned and constructed, it may provide inaccurate, irrelevant or obsolete information, which may even prove fatal for the organization.

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TYPES OF MIS AND USES

MIS CLASSIFICATION

MIS is a concept, which is a matter of degree rather than an absolute one. In management there are perhaps few other areas other than MIS which gas created so much controversy. We would make an attempt to try to look into different types of MIS as they have evolved during the course of time.

1. Transaction Processing System 2. Management Information System 3. Decision Support System 4. Executive Support System 5. Office Automation System 6. Business Expert System

Transaction Processing System: It processes transactions and produces reports. It represents the automation of fundamental, routine processing used to support business operations. It does not provide any information to the user for decision making. TPS uses data and produces data.

Management Information System: MIS in an information system that processes data and converts it into information. A management information system uses TPS for its data inputs. The

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information generated by the information system may be used for control of operations, strategic and long-range planning, short-range planning, management control and other managerial problem solving.

Decision Support System: A decision support system is an information system application that assists decision-making. DSS tends to be used in planning, analyzing alternatives and trial and error search solutions. They incorporate a variety of decision-making models and thus area capable of performing what-if analysis.

Executive Support System: An ESS is a special kind of DSS. It is specially tailored for the use of chief executives of an organization to support his decision-making. Thus ESS is a comprehensive information system that includes various types of decision support systems, but it is more specific and person oriented.

Office Automation System: Office automation refers to the application of computer and communication technology to office functions. Office automation systems are meant to improve the productivity of managers at various levels of management by providing secretarial assistance and better communication facilities.

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Business Expert System: A BES is a knowledge based information system that uses its knowledge about a specific, complex application area to act as an expert.

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ROLES OF MIS
THE PERFORMANCE MONITORING ROLE

MIS are not just statistics and data analysis. They have to be used as an MBO (Managementby Objectives) tool. They help:

to establish relevant and measurable objectives to monitor results and performances (reach ratios) to send alerts, in some cases daily, to managers at each level of the organization, on all deviations between results and pre-established objectives and budgets.

THE FUNCTIONAL SUPPORT ROLE Business processes and operations support function is the most basic. It involves collecting, recording, storing, and basic processing of data. Information systems support business processes and operations by:

recording, storing and processing sales data, purchase data, investment data, payroll data and other accounting records

recording, storing and processing inventory data, work in process data, equipment repair and maintenance data, upply chain data, and other production/operations records

recording, storing and processing personnel data, salary data, employment histories, and other human resources records

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recording, storing and processing market data, customer profiles, customer purchase histories, marketing research data, advertising data, and other marketing records

recording, storing an processing business intelligence data, competitor analysis data, industry data, corporate objectives, and other strategic management records use of all the above to implement, control, and monitor plans, strategies, tactics, new products, new business models or new business ventures.

THE DECISION SUPPORT ROLE

The business decision making support function goes one step further. It is an integral part of making decisions. It allows users to ask "What if?" questions: What if we increase the price by 5%? What if we increase price by 10%? What if we decrease price by 5%? What if we increase price by 10% now, then decrease it by 5% in three months? It also allows users to deal with contingencies: If inflation increases by 5% (instead of 2% as we are assuming), then what do we do? What do we do if we are faced with a strike or a new competitive threat?

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ACC was formed in 1936 when ten existing cement companies came together under one umbrella in a historic merger the countrys first notable merger at a time when the term mergers and acquisitions was not even coined. The history of ACC spans a wide canvas beginning with the lonely struggle of its pioneer F E Din Shaw and other Indian entrepreneurs like him who founded the Indian cement industry. Their efforts to face competition for survival in a small but aggressive market mingled with the stirring of a countrys nationalist pride that touched all walks of life including trade, commerce and business. The first success came in a move towards cooperation in the countrys young cement industry and culminated in the historic merger of ten companies to form a cement giant. These companies belonged to four prominent business groups Tatas, Khataus, Killick Nixon and F E Din Shaw groups. ACC was formally established on August 1, 1936. Sadly, F E Din Shaw, the man recognized as the founder of ACC, died in January 1936. Just months before his dream could be realized.

ACC stands out as the most unique and successful merger in Indian business history, in which the distinct identities of the constituent companies were melded into a new cohesive organization one that has survived and retained its position of leadership in industry. In a sense, the formation of ACC represents a quest for the synergy of good business practices, values and shared objectives. The use of the plural in ACCs full name, The Associated Cement Companies Limited, itself indicates the companys origins from a merger. Many years later, some stockbrokers in the countrys leading stock exchanges still refer to this company simply as The Merger

The ACC Board comprises of 13 persons. These include executive, non-executive, and nominee directors. This group is responsible for determining the objectives and broad policies of the Company - consistent with the primary objective of enhancing long-term shareholder value. The

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Board meets once a month. Two other small groups of directors - comprising Shareholders'/Investors' Grievance Committee and Audit Committee of the Board of Directors also meet once a month on matters pertaining to the finance and share disciplines. During the last decade, there has been a streamlining of the senior management structure that is more responsive to the needs of the Company's prime business.

A Managing Committee - comprising, in addition to the Managing Director and the two executive directors, the presidents representing multifarious disciplines: finance, production, marketing, research and consultancy, engineering and human resources meets once a week. Besides these bodies, there are senior executives and other regional managers - based at the Company's corporate office and at its marketing offices and manufacturing units -who contribute to the development and operation of the various functions. While these groups form the core management team that frames and guides corporate policy, ACC is proud of its manpower strength of about 9,000 people, who comprise experts in various disciplines assisted by a dedicated workforce of skilled persons. Quite a number of them have logged many years of service with the organization. They come from all parts of the country and belong to a variety of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Because of such a cosmopolitan make-up, ACC can rightly be said to embrace within its fold a family that forms a 'mini-India'.

A Strategic Alliance:The house of Tata was intimately associated with the heritage and history of ACC, right from its formation in 1936 up to 2000. The Tata group sold all 14.45% of its shareholdings in ACC in three stages to subsidiary companies of Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd. (GACL), who are now the largest single shareholder in ACC. This enabled ACC to enter into a strategic alliance with GACL; a

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company reputed for its brand image and cost leadership in the cement industry.

Holcim A New Partnership:A new association was forged between ACC and The Holcim group of Switzerland in 2005. In January 2005, Holcim announced its plans to enter into long term alliances with Ambuja Group by acquiring a majority stake in Ambuja Cements India Ltd. (ACIL),which at the time held 13.8% of total equity shares in ACC. Holcim simultaneously announced its bid to make an open offer to ACC shareholders, through Holdcem Cement Pvt. Ltd. and ACIL, to acquire a majority shareholding in ACC. An open offer was made by Holdcem Cement Pvt. Ltd. along with ACIL, following which the shareholding of ACIL increased to 34.69% of Equity share capital of ACC. Consequently , ACIL has filed declarations indicating their shareholding and declaring itself as a promoter of ACC.

Holcim is the world leader in cement as well as being large supplier of concrete, aggregates and certain construction related services. Holcim is also a respected name in information technology and research and development. The group has its headquarters in Switzerland with worldwide operations spread across more than 70 countries. Considering the formidable global presence of Holcim and its excellent reputation, the broad of ACC has welcomed this new associate

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Strategy Is A Pattern In A Series Of Decisions Or Actions.

- Henry Mintzberg (1994)

SWOT Analysis explores the relationship between the environmental influences and the strategic capabilities of an organization compared to its competitors. The importance of SWOT is revealed by the value of the strategies it generates. A SWOT item that generates no strategies is not important.

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Strengths
It is having a good image and brand loyalty among consumers. Service is good. Dhalai karne ke liye people ask for ACC. Perceived to be of very superior quality, with high price cement when compared to others. Selling form the very first day the shop came in to being & sells easily. They have same price prevailing for wholesale at dealers/stockiest retailers end.

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Weakness
The competitors are doing much promotional activity rather than ACC Limited thats why it facing more problems in selling of product in the market. Lack of awareness program for consumers

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Opportunity: Rapid growth is taking place in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. People are opting for more stable structures and intensive use of cement is taking place, even government is spending heavily on infrastructure projects. Thus, this is the right time to fully tap these markets. As Indian core industry is also growing at rate of nearly 10% per annum, it is having a good future.

Foreign direct investment in infrastructure sector going to increase in coming years, which will increase the demand of cement.

Roads are undergoing through the transformation process through which the traditional method of road building will be replaced by modern concrete roads.

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Threats
Large number of players in cement industry makes it more competitive for ACC to carefully price its product and at the same time satisfy its dealers and customers. Players such as Jaypee Cement, Prism Cement, and other local brand are eating up considerable market share. Due to Indias exponential growth many new international cement companies are expected to come in Indian market in coming years which will bring a tide of change and can start price war. And some south Indian companies are also coming in Bihar and selling at very less price as compared to ACC. The emergence of small players in this market may increase the competition and start the malpractices, and heavy discounts to retailers. They can also influence many retailers by giving better profit margin, and other benefits.

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A very exhaustive study has been made, keeping in the essence of the objective of the project. With the efforts put on the project a detailed analysis was conducted and result were derived, based on the results and market response few suggestions are discussed below A high Price creates problems for builders as they cannot always use such high price cement. So, in my opinion company has to think over the price. The reach to the rural market need to be strengthened. Transportation to rural areas need to be strengthened, a significant amount of business is lost because of this At time it has been seen that the delivery commitments and the side of the company is not prompt, this creates a bad name and again business is lost. Company has to maintain its supply chain, so that they can fulfill the demand. On interviewing builders the most important thing they said was about the price flexibility, they want that the company should give the price flexibility to the dealers/retailers to play in the market. (As the dealer/retailer may give some discount and gift items to them). Companys representative should approach the site managers or the builders to encourage them to use their product on the regular basis. And if it is possible offer them some special discount or gift items for the bulk buyers. Company need to spend little more on the product promotion because JO DIKHTA HAI WAHI BIKTA HAI.

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To attain the objective of the project, detailed information was collected from the market of Patna. The market research has revealed many facts and figures about the cement scenario in the market prevailing.

In the market, ACC cement is well known brand of cement. This is the result of the good quality of the ACC which covers the whole satisfied market customers of ACC, as they do not face any problem after using it.

There are five major players in the market but the major competition is between the three brands of cement.

The market survey undertaken shows that effective marketing efforts play a vital role in creating the goodwill for the brand. The distribution channel of cement industry must be well designed and made effective; this ensures timely availability of cement to customers.

Good marketing creates good image i.e. brand building. Even through after Holcim leader in world cement industry take over the ACC cement, but still it has not shown any decline in its status. ACC still cherishes thegood will created by them before merge to Holcim cement in the market.

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Lack of cooperation from the builders/site managers regarding giving interview. It was found in some cases that builders/site managers showed inclination towards certain brands which gave them more margins when compared to others.

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It was experienced during the survey that it was difficult to convince or make the builders/site managers understand the importance of the project.

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As the builders/site managers thought that it was unwise for them to give their details of business as they feared competitors would take advantage.

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Books:1. Research Methodology: C.K. Kothari 2. Marketing Management: Philip Kotler

Websites:www.acclimited.com www.ibef.org/industry/cement.aspx www.askwiki.com www.acchelp.com www.askacc.com

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