INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & MEDIA

Management Information System

Assignment -2

Submitted By:

Bassam Iqram Qureshi M20191516

Eemani Mohankumar Reddy 20191060
Kartikay Yadav 20194425
Kritika Jha M20193806
Nikita Batham M20193802
Nikita Talekar M20193803
Nishi Verma M20191531
Priya Modanwal M20193812
Shivam Kumar M20192544
Sonam Kanoi 20194454

Submitted to:
Prof. Sameer Jain
Analysis of learning outcome:

Under the evaluation the pros and cons are based on the benefits they offer and also the strengths
they carry that may help the origination in overcoming the problem. In addition to this, the
disadvantages of the alternatives entails the costs that are associated with implanting the option,
and thus required to  be considered before the implementation process, in order to avoid any
mishap in future or during the implementation.

Under the Cost/benefit analysis different factors such as cots, competitive edge, market share,
financial feasibility and human resource required are considered to be the major factors of
implementation. In addition to this, the careful and deep consideration is given to the political,
economic, social and other porter 5 forces so to understand the alignment of right alternative
with maximum value and weightage in resolving the problem.

Moreover, under the particular section, the decision criteria is also developed. The particular
decision criteria incorporates all the factors that the company aims to archives. Such factors may
include sales, profitability competitive edge, market share and other. Once it is done, each
alternate is compared against each other and with the decision criteria develop, and are given
different weightage. These weightage are given based on most favorable to least favorable, and
the option with most ratings ultimately selected. Also, during the evaluation process, the
financial feasibility of the organization is also considered and the drawbacks/weaknesses of the
organization. This is important as it allows the organization in meeting the ultimate goals and
addressing the problem effectively.

The Housing.com Disrupting the House Search Process in India assessment of the operational
efficiency in the initial stage as a whole for business or any of the business sub-division is likely
performed through a percentage analysis of income statement. Individual expenses or cost items
are associating to gross sales revenue adjusted for all allowances and returns. The sales’ common
base permitting a ready comparison between key expenses from time to time against industry
databases and competitors in the market over longer stretches of time
Lastly, while doing the evaluation of Housing Com Disrupting the House Search Process in India
alternatives, it is important to quantify the options through different techniques. Though in many
cases, it is difficult to analyze the feasibility of the options especially the intangible factor,
however, quantifying the maximum option is important, in order to develop a clear image and
understanding of option that will address the problem.
Q1) Analyze the property buying process in Mumbai. Has hosuing.com disrupted the
online housing search process? Why?
 Buying Belongings (Property) normally are spliced into Commercial office, retail, and
hospitality and housing. It is a compound process here in Mumbai (Maharashtra), sellers
first of all list and search for the brokers located in that area also same process goes with
the buyer, and the guy goes on searching the broker of that area.
 One more thing if the buyer doesn’t like the belongings that is shown by the broker than
the broker grid with the next broker and try to show more and more houses for sale or
rent.
 Brokers charge on the total buying price like 2%
 Here understand simply bit by bit :

i) Buyer makes up to buy the product – when an individual property buying is a

major investment process so individual will decide to buy the property in the
preferred area.
ii) Discover home – while once decided to buy the property then there are lot of
options available in the market and it is very difficult to choose as there are many
option and it is difficult the match the need. Space needed, Area, location etc.

iii) Agent Hiring – In Mumbai it’s too difficult for an individual to search the
property that’s why buyer search for an agent called broker who shows all the
property available in the area. So agent will educate you and about the current
conditions of the market also will guide you according to the budget also the
broker will negotiate with the seller on behalf of yourself. Also will carry out all
the paper work and documentation work that will be essential for this.
iv) Financing –It is important because it is key element of the buyer that agent will
also introduce you to the preferred financing options and will keep you to up to
date.
v) Make and offer – when done with finding the home with agent then the agent
will give different key relate information and guides the process pricing, terms
and deposits and transferring
vi) Closing of the deal- once everything is identified and understood from both the
parties everything is communicated to the broker and verifies the step by step
process.
vii) Done with the process – And then the buying process is done and completed.
And the relationship with your agent doesn’t end after the sale is done agent still
will be providing the information on the property finding contractors and repair
services and will let you know everything in the future.

Throughout the years, with the increased adoption of communication technologies (ICTs) and
information as well as improved Internet access, Too Many people started to look for properties
online or you can say on your own. After 2005, many companies had entered the online housing
portal space, but the industry in general remained as breakup as before. Some of the major
housing portals were indiaproperty.com, 99acres.com and magicbricks.com. However, the
amount of information available online to build house search effective and seemed limited.
One of these site that is Housing.com disrupted the online housing search process by getting the
huge gap in the online search process and created their own niche by using a data-driven
approach which is perfect. That sent by its own data collection teams to get detailed information
about the property to be listed there. The team collected street level information and get the exact
geographical location of the property. On Housing.com’s map for property search, users could
find the pure details in terms of nearby landmarks also by networks. After that the map-based
user interface displayed all the properties that matched the user’s search criteria. The color
coding also helped the users to get the date of property listing so that they could understand the
more current listed belongings. Also, the Picture of every room and the details of service created
an effective visit better experience for the users on Housing.com.
There Housing.com also addressed the difficulties of information availability and authenticity.
That was its more important Benefaction to the fragmented and information scanty in real estate
industry, and this helped them into creating totally disturbance when online housing search
process which is in the end cover them and cover the lots of gap and orthodox themselves in the
truly industries by Building and apprehend the exact slot.

Q.2 Housing.com’s competitive environment using Porter’s Five Forces

Model:

Housing Com Disrupting the House Search Process in India Porter five forces reflects the
competitive environment of an industry. It is a strategic tool that is used to avoid or minimize the
risk of losing the competitive edge that the organization has and to ensure the profitability of the
products in the long run. The company holds its vision closely as it allows them to orientate its
innovation in terms of choices regarding the investment and strategies. Within the industry the
businesses profitability is dependent upon the following forces:

 Competitive rivalry
 Threats of new entrants
 Threats of substitute
 Bargaining power of suppliers
 Bargaining power of customers
Following is the analysis of the industry on each of the factors mentioned in the figure above.
1. Threat of new entrants:
We have decided to rate this force as “High” because we see big threats of new entrants in this
industry. Based on our analysis, we have classified the potential competitors into four categories:
• Firms who are not in industry but can overcome entry barriers particularly cheaply: The entry
barriers in this business are low for new entrants, due to following reasons:
 Low initial investment
 Learning curve is not steep
 Resources (skilled employees) are present in abundance
 Market presents huge growth potential, seeing the increasing number of people staying
away from their homes for jobs and education
 Increasing demands of independent brokers, which makes Online Real Estate portals
attractive to house owners and tenants / buyers
These low entry barriers and attractive growth opportunity makes it attractive for the new firms
to enter this industry. These firms can include anyone from big conglomerates to the new
emerging startups.
• Firms for whom there is an obvious synergy from being in the industry:
In our analysis, we have figured out certain types of firms who’ll have obvious synergy from
being in the online real estate industry. These firms can include following:
Online Travel Firms: This type includes firms such as Makemytrip.com and Yatra.com. These
firms have lot of customers who relocate from one place to other. In the race of providing full-
fledged solutions; these firms can enter into online real estate industry so that their customers can
find a complete solution with just one login.
Online Furniture retailers: One of the most important thing that lot of people do on relocation
is to purchase new furniture and curtains that suit the look and feel of their new home. Online
furniture firms such as Pepperfry.com find an increasing number of such customers. By entering
into Online Real Estate Industry, these firms can provide their customers with the choice of
selecting furniture for their new home, and provide suggestions based on the look and feel of
new house (typically provided by the owners while registering their house on sites). This facility
will help furniture companies attract more customers and will help them enable their customers
to furnish their house before moving in.
• Firms for whom competing in the industry is the obvious extension to their corporate strategy:
We have put firms such as OLX and eBay under this category. These two are the most used
destinations for customers to sell their old items. An obvious extension is to sell real estate
properties (house, lands etc.) on these sites. Moving in this direction, OLX has already started
offering house rental and purchasing feature on its site. Although the features are currently not as
rich as those at online real estate sites such as housing.com, but it is just a matter of time before
these firms will enter in this space.

2. Threat of substitutes:
The industry faces “Low” threat of substitutes. In our analysis, we have figured out substitutes
such as Hotels and service apartments, which are used at substitutes by a very small section of
customers. This small section primarily comprises of higher income segment and business
travelers who get their stay sponsored by their organization. We have considered very low threat
from these options because they do not provide permanent / long term stay options to customers.
Typically, the usage of these substitutes by customers is limited to a stay ranging from a few
days to a few months. Apart from these substitutes, we could not figure out any other substitute
for a house. Hence, we have characterized threat of substitutes as “Low” for online real estate
industry.
3. Buyers’ Power:
The industry finds an increasing of buyers / customers with increasing number of competitors
who provide similar services in it. The demand of online service of rental / purchase of
properties is increasing due to the emergence of trend where people stay away from their home
due for job and education. Also, the increasing number of nuclear families presents a huge
growth opportunity for firms in online real estate industry. This increasing number of buyer
lowers their negotiating power.
However, low entry barriers and attractive growth potential will induce more and more players to
enter into this industry. One example is OLX, which has recently expanded its portfolio in online
real estate industry. It’s just a matter of time when other firms, discussed in point 1 of this
discussion, enter into this industry. This increasing number of firms in this industry increases
buyer’s negotiating power. Due to these factors, we have characterized buyer’s power as
“Moderate” in this industry.
4. Suppliers’ power:
The suppliers in this industry are the property owners and brokers. Online real estate industry
provides them the facility to reach out to a bigger chunk of potential customers across the globe.
This lowers the supplier’s negotiating power.
However, the increasing number of players in this industry gives suppliers an option to choose
from various online portals to reach out to customers. This increases their negotiating power with
the firms. In order to get more deals for their customers, the firms have to get more and more
suppliers on their portal by designing attractive deals for suppliers. The “Chicken – egg”
phenomena will ensure more customers with more suppliers and vice versa. This increases
suppliers’ negotiating power. Hence, we have characterized this force as “Moderate”.
5. Intensity of Industry Rivalry:
The online real estate industry sees an increasing number of competitors, competing for an
increasing number of customers. We have figured out following points which helped us
determine the intensity of industry rivalry:
• Attractiveness of Industry: Online real estate industry presents an attractive growth
opportunity to players. Additionally, with an increase in awareness related to higher education,
students have to migrate from their home to other cities. An online option for finding houses for
rent / purchase makes it easy for these people to relocate. Hence, this industry is currently very
attractive for new players to enter, which increases the rivalry.
• Low fixed costs: Online real estate industry requires very less amount of initial investment.
This low investment lowers the entry barriers, enabling new and small players to easily enter the
market, which ultimately increases the industry rivalry.
• Switching costs: The switching cost for customers is negligible currently. With minimal
differentiation in the kind of product, customers find it easy to hop from one site to other in
search of best deal. The only way through which these costs can be raised is providing
differentiating service. Housing.com provides a user friendly interface, with the capabilities to
search and sort houses on the basis of price / rent, amenities, type of locality, additional facilities
and closeness to major points in city. Hence, we have concluded that switching costs are low for
customers, which increases the industry rivalry.
• Information Complexity: The players in this industry need the information about real estate
properties available in a particular region. They need to contact the home owners and provide
exciting deals to them. This information is not very complex to get and interpret. This low
complexity of information results in increased rivalry in industry.
• Product Differences: The product in this industry (an online service to help people find best
deals in real estate sector) has very low scope of differentiation. The only points of
differentiation are the additional services provided by the firm, which are easy to imitate for
competitors. Hence, the rivalry is further increased due to low product differentiation.
• Brand Identity: Brand identity is the only factor that can help firm get credibility and
differentiation. However, since most of the players in the industry are fairly new with very less
brand equity, there is currently no differentiation in this regard. This further adds to the intensity
of rivalry in the industry.
Based on our analysis on above factors, we have concluded that this industry faces “high”
intensity of rivalry.
Q3. What role does data play in Housing.com’s Strategy?
Ans. Housing.com encourages brokers or owners to list the properties and they plot the same on
an interactive map in their online portal. Customers can filter the search results based on
parameters like available rooms, lifestyle ratings, child friendliness index (CFI), and area-based
pricing etc.
The strategies that play role in Housing.com’s are:
 Choose the right data: The universe of data and modeling has changed vastly over the
past few years. The volume of information is growing rapidly, while opportunities to
expand insights by combining data are accelerating.
 Build models that predict and optimize business outcomes: More important, the most
effective approach to building a model usually starts, not with the data, but with
identifying a business opportunity and determining how the model can improve
performance.
 Transform your company’s capabilities: The new approaches either don’t align with
how companies actually arrive at decisions or fail to provide a clear blueprint for
realizing business goals.

 Housing.com evaluates the popularity of the portal based on the total number of
hits and queries for each flat. They look at the number of leads generated per
listed property and not the conversion as they believe that conversion depends on
factors like expertise, knowledge and negotiation skills of the broker. Regarding
monetization Housing.com charges a fixed amount from brokers as subscription
charges and for the owners of the property as of now the listing is free. They may
start charging a minuscule amount later on.

Q4. Can Housing.com’s database approach be easily copied? Is it sustainable?

According to me, Housing.com’s database approach cannot be easily copied.Housing.com used a
data driven approach, creating its own niche. It sent its own data collection teams to get detailed
information about the property to be listed. The team collected street level information and the
exact geographical location of the property.
An important component and key differentiating aspect of housing.com strategy was its reliance
on data for improving business process. As listing requests increased coordinating the visits,
sending the data collection teams to different locations became a huge task. The company
optimized the team’s paths using an algorithm based approach for better efficiency. Its other data
driven business innovation was the Demand-supply tool, which made public the information
using regarding the demand and supply of properties of various geographical locations/areas.
This reduced the possibility of demand-supply mismatch.
Housing.com developed its own mathematical model for listing expiry based on demand, supply
and leads for every property on its list. This data-driven approach enabled housing.com to
innovate it in terms of its product offerings as well as its operational efficiencies.
Housing.com’s Data Science Lab (DSL) has generated a number of "Heat Map" algorithms and
demand flux maps based on these filters. The CFI heat map shows child friendliness in a
particular area and it measures neighborhoods on three different criteria: number of schools,
number of hospitals and parks, and proximity of these facilities to the area.

Q5. What kind of future products should housing.com offer to gain

competitive edge?
Items to offer:
Other than property pictures it can likewise go for a virtual visit through the property or can
likewise transfer the video of the property.
From the study it is watched, that clients are more area centered so advertising systems ought to
be conceived in like manner.
Keep past value-based records of the properties to empower potential purchasers investigation
the property's worth and access wherein bearing the costs are moving in.
One of the most significant strides of purchasing a property or turning into an occupant some
place is seeing the property, all around - yet this can demonstrate troublesome in case you're
moving to a removed city, or in case you're generally inaccessible during typical survey hours.
Augmented reality (VR) could without much of a stretch permit planned occupants and
homebuyers to stroll through properties before purchasing, and it will turn out to be more famous
and more normal in the following scarcely any years.
Housing.com could include legitimate administrations and make it more issue free for the clients.
All the lease arrangements to be taken consideration by the organization.