Once a DMS has been created that spans across all three dealerships, financial and accounting decisions about pricing, promotion and rebates can be more effectively coordinated to a level of and accuracy not possible today. It is a common weakness in automotive retailers who represent multiple brands to be constrained by the lack of systems integration that limits their ability to create synchronized strategies (Bradford, Samuels, Wood, 2008). By having a customer system of record that spans across all dealerships that also takes into account the many variations and complexities of co-op and promotional programs, dealers are able to more cost-effectively manage selling and service programs (Zinnbauer, Eberl, 2005). Schlossmann Automotive Group needs to concentrate on how to tie together all their diverse DMS systems to create a single system of record that is based on customer activity and lifetime customer value, allowing for flexibility of integration with dealer co-op, marketing funding and sales promotions from the three auto manufacturers they represent in the Milwaukee area. Software Evaluation and Development

Schlossmann Automotive Group does not complete internal development of systems or applications, yet does rely on IT for qualifying new DMS platforms from the manufacturers they represent, in addition to network and desktop applications including Microsoft Office. The IT department is not staffed for intensive Web application development and the many steps for managing quality assurance and quality control of new applications. The integration of DMS platforms across the legacy and current Dodge, Honda and Subaru systems is beyond the scope of the Schlossmann Automotive Group IT department focus. The original mission of the department is to provide network integration support, support desktop applications and manage the finance and accounting systems. Of these three activities the finance and accounting systems are the most time-consuming and require the greatest depth of expertise.

Competitive Position in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Auto Market

Schlossmann Automotive Group competes with dealers on all three brands they represent, with Subaru Milwaukee, Sommer's Subaru, and on the Honda brand, Honda Greenfield and Milwaukee Honda Civic being the...

The Dodge brand is resented by Griffin Dodge, Ross Darrow and at the low end of the market, CarMax. All of these competitors lack a unified DMS as each has grown through acquisition and the Dodge dealer is being forced to manage through manually-based processes as this manufacturer has drastically cut back on investments in IT as a result of their financial condition. The Honda dealers however have been able to create a more competitive platform as this manufacturer has gone to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform.
Conclusion

As the auto industry has been particularly hard-hit by the recession the value of customer relationships is critical to long-term survivability. For Schlossmann Automotive Group they face a challenge comparable to many others, and that is striving to create a unified DMS that can serve to grow their company going forward. The lack of integration across the DMS systems from the manufacturers they represent today needs to be solve through a strategic effort to create a single, unified system. With this system in place the Schlossmann Automotive Group will be able to get the most out of the dealer incentives and programs each manufacturer offers, while maximizing the profitability of their selling efforts locally.

References

Bradford, M., Samuels, J., & Wood, R. (2008). Beta Auto Dealers: Integrating Disparate Data to Solve Management Problems. Issues in Accounting Education, 23(2), 309-326.

David Pollitt. (2005). E-learning delivers management skills to Ford's North American dealers. Training & Management Development Methods, 19(1-5), 639-642.

Gary Reed, Vicky Story, & Jim Saker. (2004). Information technology: changing the face of automotive retailing? International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 32(1), 19-32.

Patricia T. Warrington, Elizabeth Gangstad, Richard Feinberg, & Ko de Ruyter. (2007). Multi-Channel Retailing and Customer Satisfaction: Implications for E-CRM. International Journal of E-Business Research, 3(2), 57-69.

Markus A Zinnbauer & Markus Eberl. (2005). Measuring Customer Relationship Management Performance: A Consumer-Centric Approach. Journal of Marketing Channels, 12(3),…