Case 1: Mashaweer

The most common service they provide is buying groceries or other goods from store, paying bills,
and acting as a courier. To place an order customers call the Mashaweer hotline and within minutes,
they are at ease knowing that they have someone paying bills or picking up groceries on their behalf.
Mashaweers success relies heavily on its flexibility, as it fulfils even the most a typical client request.
Mashaweers investment in its technological infrastructure enables the company to deliver a highquality experience to each customer from the placement of an order through its delivery. The
technological infrastructure will also enable Mashaweer to scale both within Egypt and in the middle
East. Mashaweers future strategy is to provide their online supermarket that will enable people to do
their grocery shopping through Mashaweers website and get it delivered by its representatives within
30 minutes of placing the order. Mashaweer also plan to offer advertising services including recorded
messages played during call center wait times.
Company Background
Mashaweer is the first personal service company in Egypt. We are purely dedicated to save you time
and effort by running your errands for you. With Mashaweer customer can forget about long lines at
the market, paying your phone and internet bills

Mission:
To discover, develop and deliver ideas that improve the quality of life by meeting the daily personal
needs of every citizen

Vision
Mashaweers hotline on the speed dial of every phone
Q1: What Kinds of applications are described in this case? What business functions do they
support?
In this case, they started their own IT company, Innov8 (innovate), where they created a customized
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which they then connected to their customized PDAs
(Personal Digital Assistants) through a cloud computing system that was made by LinkDotNet and
Mobinil. Each rider receives tasks one at a time on the PDA, which also includes a GPS to provide
detailed directions. The GPS monitors the riders location.

A. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

ERP is integrated enterprise-wide standard information systems that automate all aspect of
an organizations business process. ERP are systems that enable a company to manage the efficient
use of its Resource. Among the most important ERP attributes are the ability to:

automated and integrated the majority of an organizations business process Share common data
and practices across the entire enterprise

Produce and asses information in real-time environment.

B. CISCO
Which supports up to 3001P phones, a reporting module and a module and a recording
system made it much easier for Mashaweer to track its received calls and work on any problem that
might face its customer service agents.
C. Mashaweers Server

The server is a centralized application that manages the following elements:

1. Orders (Placement, editing, pricing, review, tracking and reports)
2. Routes management and optimization
3. Clients (Management, reports, discounts
4. Packages tracking
5. Contracts
6. Call Center
7. Satellite offices
8. Representatives
9. Cash transactions and expenses tracking or representatives and satellite offices
10. Asset tracking and satellite offices
11. Asset tracking of vehicles, PDAs and mobile printers
12. Management reports
D.

Application

Programmers

Interface

(API)

API is a set of programming instructions and standards for accessing a web-based

software application or web tool. The API is a method of integrating Mashaweer ordering system with
third parties. This allows third parties to automate their delivery system and integrate Mashaweer into
their existing CRM/dispatching systems, opening a wide opportunity for business expansion.
D. SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)

It is a software application program for process, the gathering of data in real time from
remote locations in order to control equipment and condition. SCADA is used in power plants, as well
as in oil and gas refining, telecommunications, transportation, and water and waste control.
SCADA system presented on a big screen will be available at Mashaweer headquarters to monitor all
live orders and measure the traffic in case of rush hours, thus enabling the operation team to react and
try a preventive and corrective action.

Major Business Functions:

The business functions that the case supports: Manufacturing and production, finance and accounting
and human resources.
Functions

Purposes

Sales and marketing

Selling the organizations products and services

Manufacturing and production

Producing and delivering products and services

Managing the organizations financial assets and maintaining the
organizations financial records

Finance and accounting

Human resources

Attracting, developing and maintaining the organizations labor

force ; maintaining employee records

Q2: What are the benefits from equipping their riders with PDAs?
Personal Digital Assistant is also known as a Palmtop Computer or Personal Data Assistant. Is a
mobile device that functions as a personal information Manager. The Mashaweer PDA (Personal
Digital Assistants) through this technology Mashaweer decreases the amount of errors due to the fact
that the messenger is tied to an automated process where he receives his tasks through the PDA
handheld. And also to manages the following:

Order items progress tracking

Collection of order fees and other costs, against a printed invoice

Package handling (bar code scanning and destinations)

Messaging

Cash and expenses tracking

Synchronizing data periodically and at the beginning of each shift

 Monitor and control of employee i.e. riders

Q.3: Was it a good decision to expand the business to Cairo? What are the implications of
information Systems?

Yes, we think it is a good decision to expand the business to Cairo. When Mashaweer was first
introduced in Egypt, it captured 100 percent of market share for such a service, because it was the first
and only company of its nature. However, the market was not aware or used to such a service, so it
started growing slowly in Alexandria until people grasped the idea and got accustomed to the fact that
there is a company that can take your errands. In contrast, when the company started operating in
Cairo, it grew as surprisingly fast pace.

Mashaweer heavily depends on technology tools, and would benefit from the advancements and price
reductions that continuously take place. As a result, Mashaweers total costs will decrease, enabling it
to decrease its price and further improve its quality to become even more convenient for a larger
number of people.

Another factor that is expected to facilitate working conditions and reduce costs is the technological
advances that occur every day. They planned to enter Cairo with full force so that there would be a
high barrier of entry for any competitor they decided that their competitive advantage would have to
be in investing in technology. Mashaweer heavily depends on technological tools, and would benefit
from the advancements and price reductions that continuously take place. As a result, Mashaweers
total costs will decrease, enabling it to decrease its prices and further improve its quality to become
even more convenient for a large number of people.
Q.4: Do you think that Mashaweer will be able to accomplish their future strategy and sustain its
market share?
Mashaweers future strategy is as follows:

a) Mashaweer Market: Mashaweer is an online supermarket that will enable people to do their
grocery shopping through Mashaweers website and get it delivered by its representatives within 30
minutes of placing the order. This will be made possible by having access to a large number of super
markets around Cairo and Alexandria, so that representatives can pick the order from the closest outlet
and deliver it to the customer as quickly as possible. All products will be displayed on the website.
Mashaweer is hoping to reach an average of 4000 orders daily in return for a delivery charge of 5
Egyptian pounds per order.

b) Call Centre:Mashaweers call center is expected to make up an important revenue stream for the
company in the near future, as the company starts introducing marketing campaigns. In addition,
Mashaweer is planning to expand its call center to include other companies other than Mashaweer.
c) Geographical Expansion:Using the technology they have invested in building their infrastructure,
Mashaweer now has the potential to easily enter and penetrate other markets in different regions as a
very low initiation cost. They plan to expand to other regions within Egypt, in addition to expanding to
other countries within the Middle East. In October 2013 they will open their first franchise in Beirut,
Lebanon. They are also looking to expand to several countries in the Gulf.
Mashaweer will be able to accomplish their future strategy and sustain its market share because of
their infrastructures as follow:

Mashaweer infrastructures
Q5: Do you think in near future, the competition between Mashaweer and Wassaly will be
aggressive? Why?
The competition between Mashaweer and Wassaly will be not aggressive. As Mashaweer is the only
company of its kind in Egypt that operates on this business scale. However, there is a company called
Wassaly that was established in Cairo after Mashaweers success in Alexandria. This company
operates on a much smaller scale. Their indirect competitors include other courier services (e.g DHL,
UPS, TNT and FedEx). However, they have positioned themselves as the flexible courier in contrast to
the couriers available in the market today; they offer same day delivery rather than next day delivery.
Mashaweer has several other advantages that make it very hard for others to compete:

Database of thousands of loyal clients

Self-investment is manageable

Highly qualified and carefully selected riders due to the high salaries compared to the delivery
sector in the Egypt.

Various revenue streams.

Being the owner of the IT Company Innov8 fosters technology integration in Mashaweer.