Assignment 4. Walgreens’ MIS Strategy. Telecommunications Strategy

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Walgreens’ MIS Strategy
Walgreens is a pharmacy store chain that provides customers with pharmacy, and health and wellness products. It was first established as a single drug store in 1901 by Charles Rudolph Walgreen (Walgreens Factsheet). Over the years, the company provided customers with innovative services that met their needs, such as putting drugs in child-resistant containers in the sixties, to developing a mobile app that enhances connectivity between clients and services providers. In 2014, the company merged with Alliance Boots, a multinational health and beauty company based in Europe, to form Walgreens Alliance Boots (Walgreens Factsheet). This merger was necessitated by Walgreens need to expand their offerings to more patients as well as the need to be more innovative. A case study by Kerridge reveals that most of the success of the retail company has been attributed to its innovation and technology adoption. For instance, it was among the first companies to introduce the Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) technology. Over the years, the company has continued to embrace technology and information systems to enhance customer satisfaction and increase profitability. This case study will explain the MIS strategy of Walgreens by focusing on its telecommunication, internet, and wireless technology strategies. Some of the changes that the company has undergone over the last three years will also be discussed.
Telecommunications Strategy
Telecommunication entails the exchange of information, whether data, voice or video transmissions, through fiber optics, telephones, television, and other mediums. Walgreens has over the years relied heavily on connectedness, especially with its clients. The company’s telecommunications strategy is based highly on partnership and collaboration with major telecom companies. For instance, in 2015, the company formed a collaboration with Qualcomm, which designs telecommunication products. This collaboration provides Walgreens with “a secure and seamless transmission of biometric data from patients’ connected medical devices (Walgreens).” Such an approach in strategy is beneficial because it has allowed Walgreens to not only connect with its clients but also to provide clients with high standard services. For example, Walgreens’ collaborative strategy with Qualcomm ensures that clients are provided with the best healthcare services because they have constant biometric communication with their service providers, regardless of the time and location. Further, patients can also be rewarded points when they choose to be more engaged and informed about their healthcare, and such information is transmitted using Qualcomm-enabled devices (Walgreens). Also, Walgreens has a mobile strategy that has facilitated patient care by not only providing telemedicine to clients but also ensuring that clients stay connected to their providers at all times. This mobile strategy connects clients with their respective pharmacists and as a result, clients can receive individualized services. Walgreens provided clients with Pharmacy Chat, a platform that allows clients to access services at any time, either through the Walgreens website or through the mobile app. This strategy has allowed Walgreen to serve not only the young generation but also the older generation. About 37% of the mobile app users are aged 55 years and above (Walgreens). The mobile strategy has tools such as Refill by Scan as well as the Pill Reminder, which ensures clients have access to drugs and are reminded to refill their prescription and more importantly, that clients are reminded to take their prescribed dosage at the right time. The mobile apps also allow Walgreens to receive data transmission from the clients and reward them for the usage of the app in managing their health.
The Internet Strategy
The internet has been a very influential tool in business today. Many firms are striving to utilize the opportunities provided by the internet, resulting in the need for an internet strategy. The internet provides an opportunity for firms to transform or complement their offline businesses (Bauer and Latzer). Walgreen’s internet strategy involves using the internet as an intermediary link between pharmacists and patients. Walgreen has an online tool referred to as “Find Your Pharmacist” which allows patients to find a perfect pharmacist matching their needs over the internet. This strategy has especially been effective in Walgreen because about 74% of individuals who use the internet, health issues and services are among the top-most searched for topics on the internet. Thus, Walgreen has been able to utilize the internet to reach more clients (Walgreens). Further, Walgreen has embraced the internet as a distributional channel. In fact, the company relies on the internet...