The Role Of Information Technology In Business: A Case Study Of GF

Discussion

Disucss about the role of information technology in the business.

In the given scenario the company Good Food (GF) is a small organisation enterprise that is retained and run by Sherry Soto, who is a single mother of three children, living in the coastal town of Maree 200 kilometres away from the state capital city. The company prepares pre?packed healthy meals. GF operates seven days a week and the kitchen staff work from 6am to 2pm and the delivery staff from 9am to 5pm. Sherry was having a trouble in managing the business therefore in order to enhance the efficiency of the business she wanted to make the operations computerised (Laudon & Laudon, 2015). she  even bought a personal computer (PC) with essential business and productivity software and managed the business quite nicely by keeping a grip on customers’ details, meals variety and pricing information, wages, details of fruits and vegetables and other raw material, packaging material, other overheads, invoices and calculating the financial figures. But due to increase in the demand for the pre?packed meals. It was getting difficult for Sherry to run operations smoothly with the existing PC and the software. Therefore she organised for an IT consulting business in order mange her business well.

 Information system in Business

Information system is referred to as a combined set of mechanisms for gathering, storage, and handling data and for providing evidences, information, and digital knowledge about the products. Business firms rely on information systems to carry out and manage their operations, interact with their suppliers and customers, and compete in the marketplace (Schwalbe, 2015).

Information systems allowed more varied human activities, they exerted a profound impact over society. These systems accelerated the pace of day to day activities, enabled people to maintain and develop new and often more-rewarding relationships, impacted the construction and mix of businesses, changed the type of products bought, and influenced the work nature. Information and knowledge became vital economic resources.

The benefits of information system in GF

The evolution of the communication system would help the GF in the following ways:

Better communication system:

A business needs to gather and transfer information for efficient management process. The evolution of the information system helps in better communication system and makes the transfer of information to different sectors of business faster (Anderson, Wipfel & Westerfield, 2015).

Better operation management:

The GF can easily use the information system and can obtain a cost advantage over the competitors and make its product differentiated by offering better client satisfaction. A proper record of the sales data helps in analysing the performance and evaluating the amount of stock as well as the sales. With the involvement of the information system the business can innovate and provide variety of operations.

Types of Information Systems suitable for “GF”

Better decision making:

The information system can help in better decision making process and enables in delivering all the information that are needed to remodel the process of decision making. The mechanism of decision making involves choosing the right course of action from the various alternatives and carry out the appropriate task (Valacich & Schneider, 2015).  The information system would help “GF” in obtaining up to date information and storage of the data for efficient utilisation of resources.

Proper record keeping:

GF needs to records and report all the financial and non-financial activities in order to maintain a systematic evidences of the transaction as well as evaluate the revenues. The information system helps in storing the documents and revise the theories and communicate the operational data. It also helps in cost estimates and forecast the company key indicators.

  The various systems of information maintains the operations, knowledge work, and management in organizations. The information-system categories described here may be implemented with a great variety of application programs in the given company of “GF”.

Executive support systems (ESS)

This kind of system helps in making the strategic decisions in the senior management level. With the help of ESS the GF can easily summarises and analyse the key internal and external information that are used in the business.

Management information systems (MIS)

The system of management information is primarily concerned with the internal sources of information (Galliers & Leidner, 2014). The system takes data from the transaction processing systems and summarise it into a series of management reports. MIS are reports for the middle management and operational supervisors.

Decision support systems (DSS)

This information system has been designed for making the management decisions in situations where there is uncertainty about the outcomes of those decisions. The system of decision support utilizes the techniques and tools for helping and gathering the information that are relevant and analyse the various alternatives and options (Dutta, Geiger & Lanvin, 2015).

Knowledge management systems (KMS)

The knowledge management system would enable the “GF” to create and share information. It helps in creating set of new knowledge and expertise for the employees, which can then be shared by other people in the organisation to create further commercial opportunities.

Office automation systems

The office automation system in the GF would help in improving the productivity of employees who need to process information and data.

Information storage

The information system helps in storing the data that is non term in nature.  It helps in storing and saving the data manually with registers and hard-copy formats that will cost lots of time. Searching for specific data can also be a very time-consuming process this way (Van Der Aalst, La Rosa & Santoro, 2016). A quality information system groups your important data by date and time, making the process of finding it really convenient. Every valuable bit of information is stored in a sophisticated and comprehensive database which is at your disposal 24 hours a day.

Role of Information System for Sound Management Process in “GF”

Avoiding Crisis

Using a high-quality information system, the company can analyse the stocks and evaluate the past performance in order to predict a potential crisis. Information technology can track the profits margin to have every data necessary for analysing and averting the financial crisis.

Easier decision making

The GFs decision-making process impacts the information system. It is well known that success is built on strategic plans and quality decisions made by the management of the organisation. The information system develops the strategic plans and make the best choices when it comes to the next business steps of the company (Galliers & Leidner, 2014).

Analysing and planning

The information technology plays an important role in the planning process since it lets the GF to manage all data and think of an easier way to plan the business goals. Good planning is impossible without information. The competitor analysis feature of the information technology helps in improving the organisational capabilities of the company.

 Data control

Having complete control over the company’s information is essential when it comes to the safety and stability of the information system. Therefore, the information technology has the ability to control the data of GF and provide the information that are needed for various processes instantaneously (Hitomi, 2017).

The Porters 5 forces includes the power of the suppliers, the power of the buyer, the treat for new entry, the threat for substituting and the competitive rivalry. In the given scenario in order analyse the impact of the information technology in the business of GF the following evaluation has to be made:

 The power of the supplier: The GF may find it tough to enter the industry with the help of the information system as the company is not habituated with the procedures and practices that affects the suppliers (Koru, et al., 2016). Although the automation process may help in communicating the information to the suppliers regarding the price, quantity and quality needed for the raw materials that would help in earning the revenues.

The power of the buyer:  The buyers with the help of the information system can get all the information of the company to take part in the transactions. The information system hall smoothen the process of communicating the information of GF to the outside buyers that would help in promoting the business (Avgerou & Walsham, 2017). Moreover the buyer can assess to the company’s products with the help of the automated technology and get information about the price, quality and feedbacks.

Competitive rivalry: Implementing automated technology enables the business in a rapid growth, effectiveness and competition.  The performance of the business is enhanced with the help of the information system therefore giving rise to threats for the competitors.

The threat for substitution: There is not much of a threat from the substitutes in this industry as GF has only one competitor and has adapted the computerized system of management.

The threat for new entry: The new entries may have a tough time in coping up with the GF as it uses the information technology for its business operations. The GF utilizes the information system in order to smoothen the process therefore can be a threat for the new entries.

The key requirements that are needed by GF in order to make the business a computerized one includes the following:

• Organizational requirements: the organizational requirements: The organizational requirements refers to the various specific systems and sub systems that are required for GF in order to carry out its operation automatically without involving the workforce.
• Data base keel requirements:It includes applications and the ad hoc queries that gives rise to the database requirements. The total systematically outlook for database forms a major part of the organizational information requirement and helps a lot in meeting the different requirements. It is crucial to obtain a very efficient and a detailed database that fulfils all the company criteria.
• Technical requirements: These requirements are needed for executing the strategies and the operations of the business with the help of the information system.it consist of the specification of the inputs and outputs that smoothens the application system.
• Social requirements: The social requirements that are also known as the behavioural requirements that provides specifications of the objectives and the assumptions for the business. It requirement is set considering the various social and environmental obligations of GF.

The stakeholders of GF can be collaborated and communicated with the help of the information system with the help of the following:

• A system analyst: The systems analyst is identifies the needs of the business and keeps on innovating and redesigning the computer-based system to fulfil those the organizational requirements. In GF the system analyst will help in finding out and improving the existing mechanism of information system for making the communication system with and within the stakeholders smooth and sound.
• Programmer:  The Management also consist of a programmer who applies the various standardized procedures and policies in the business processes. The policies such as applying AASB 136 and other standards in the business process.
• Computer engineer:Computer engineers designs the various the computing devices that are to be regularly used by GF. The computer engineers includes the software and the hardware engineer who work on a variety of systems and devices.
• Data base administrator:The business of GF must include the database administrator who handles and takes care the databases that are included in the business of GF. The administrator as the name suggests maintains and creates the databases that are used as part of applications or the data warehouse.
• ERP management:If GF uses the ERP information software there should be an individual who would manage the various technological systems. The ERP system is completely up to date, work to implement any changes to the ERP that are needed, and consult with various user departments on needed reports or data extracts. The ERP also smoothens the collaboration and communication process with the stakeholders of an organisation.
• Outsourcing:In order to smoothen the process of communicating and collaborating the stakeholders. If the business of GF appoints various outsiders it take part in the information system in the business, it would make the mechanism more smooth and efficient.

The intranets and extranets in GF

 The intranet uses: The Intranets will help the information management of GF in fulfilling the digital communications needs (Eason, 2014). It gives a protected space for storing, accessing and developing the electronic materials. The use of intranets helps in replacing the older business solutions and enables in producing more profit and increases the efficiency of the business by speeding up workflows and reduction of errors(Taylor, Fritsch and Liederbach, 2014). The intranet applications includes the various network folders with the help of which multiple employees can access the similar files and take part in the business process.

 The Extranet Uses: The Extranets joins the multiple intranets together, and facilitates the cooperation between different organisation on joint projects, initiatives and sharing of information. They also allow companies to connect with customers in a more controlled setting than the Internet. Extranets also allow multiple companies to access network services provided by another company, such as a data-processing application developed and maintained by one company that other companies utilize on their own intranets.

 The use of internet in GF

The Internet serves businesses by creating networking opportunities for the communication procedures, marketing and sales strategy.  The business of GF can use the Internet to sell their products to distant customers and also communicate with the stakeholders they can use the Internet to gather information and interact with customers, clients, government and other members of the industry, building awareness of their market.

The management challenges faced by GF for implementing computerized information system

Security issues: Implementation of information technology in GF gives rise of theft and hacking issues. The private data and the information can be easily be obtained and can be disclosed and distributed outside the boundaries of the company.

Implementation expenses: In order to integrate the information system in the GF Company, it requires a good amount of capital investment for acquisition of the equipment and meeting the installation costs (Laudon, & Laudon, 2016). The various soft wares and hardware that are needed requires a flow of huge amount of cash.

Unemployment and lack of job security: implementation of the information system makes the operational process easier and saves money. Therefore if GF implements the same in the business the existing labours will be at risk as their job can be easily be done with the help of automates technology.

 The ethical issues of the information system in GF

The Information systems in the company of GF can make the operational processes more smooth and fast. However, the improper use of information technology can give rise to various issues for the employees and organization.

• The criminals can get the access to information through credit card and can lead to financial loss to the owners. The criminals may use the organizational information systems inappropriately for their own benefit and can lead to lawsuits and loss of business (Avgerou & Walsham, 2017).
• Then comes the issue of cyber-crime that refers to the utilization of the information technology to mislead the owner and extract money. Cyber-crimes can lead to huge financial losses for the business.
• The following issue is the loss of the data if the software gets damaged. If proper backup is not given the can be huge loss for the comoany.The GF should maintain a data centre in order to prevent the loss that can have a huge impact in the business.

Conclusion

The concept of Information system is a combined set of appliances for gathering, storing and handling data of the company and for providing evidences, information, and digital knowledge about the products. The Good food shall now rely on information systems to carry out and manage their operations, co-operate with their customers and suppliers, and compete in the market.

The mechanism of Information systems allows more varied human activities, they exerted a profound influence over society. These systems quickened the pace of daily activities, enabled people to develop and maintain new and often more-rewarding relationships, affected the structure and mix of organizations, changed the type of products bought, and influenced the nature of work. Knowledge and information became vital economic resources.

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