77518513_Information Systems Use in Business

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Information Systems Use in Business


Customer Inserts His/Her Name

Customer Inserts Grade Course

Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name

March 08, 2011

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1) Use systems thinking concepts to identify the key work processes within your proposed area of

work (study) (e.g. accounting OR marketing OR HRM OR engineering, etc), and then undertake

appropriate research to find relevant computer software for automating the work activities.

(Suggested length 800 words)

As a marketing professional, one of the most important tasks involves brand management. The brand

manager is responsible for launching a brand when it is being brought in for the first time. Once the brand

has been launched, the task for the brand manager is to run the daily operations of the brand and execute

the marketing strategy of the brand. To effectively manage a brand, it is very important for the brand

managers to make the right decisions using the right tools. Managing a brand is more like fire fighting.

You have a new challenge to handle everyday while making sure you don’t wander away from your long

term marketing strategy. Brand management requires systems which allow a sing platform for the cross

functional teams and stakeholders to work on a single project. A brand manager may be coordinating with

the suppliers, production staff, customers, creative agencies, accountants, researchers, sales team and

several other people. Therefore, a system has to be in place which assists the brand manager in following

the standard operating procedures.

If we take a broader view according to the system thinking concept, we see that the brand manager or the

marketing professional in general is at the center of the business activity. The business revolves around

the marketer as he or she controls the flow of information back and forth.

After conducting adequate research, I have come up with the following two software which can be helpful

in automating work activities performed by a brand manager. Taking a systems thinking perspective, the

software will attempt to take all other functions into account when automating the work undertaken by the

brand manager.

The first software is brand sales management software which allows the brand manager to monitor the

sale of its brand and the responses from the customers. This allows efficient and timely collection of data

to understand consumer or customer behavior so that the brand manager can take timely action without

losing too much. The data is automatically collected at the Point of Sales and stored at real-time at a

central location, hence saving a lot of time and human effort. This also minimizes chances of errors and

provides more accurate data. The importance of this software is that it allows real time monitoring of

stock and customer purchase trends. The brand manager can spot any changes in trends or alarming

situations within time. Looking at a broader perspective, this useful software will allow the brand

manager to improve brand loyalty, increase sales and hence post better volumes and profits.

Once the information on the customer behavior and purchasing trends has been collected and the data has

been analyzed, it is time to use it to devise a comprehensive strategy. However, since the marketing

department is not going to work in isolation, we will require ERP software which integrates all the

functions of the organization and allowing better coordination and efficient use of resources to achieve

better results. ERP software, albeit expensive, is a very effective and efficient solution for an organization

to bring the whole organization on a single platform and allow better coordination among the functions.

Using single software for the brand manager or the marketing department may increase the efficiency of

the marketing department itself, but since a substantial proportion of the marketing tasks require

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coordination with other functions, the department will not be able to extract full benefits of automation.

Hence, ERP system is the appropriate solution.

SAP is the leading ERP software in the market at the moment. It has transformed countless companies

into extremely efficient and information friendly organizations. However, until recently, the software was

only affordable to the large companies due to its high price and implementation cost. But things changed

when SAP launched ‘SAP Business One’, especially designed for the business software needs of small

and medium enterprises.

SAP Business One contains 15 core modules. The most important ones are listed below:

• Administration Module, where configuration is performed.

• Financials Module, where various accounting and financial activities are conducted.

• Sales Opportunities Module, where existing customers and potential accounts are maintained.

• Sales Module, where orders are entered, shipped and invoiced.

• Purchasing Module, where purchase orders are issued and goods received into inventory.

• Business Partners Module, where Business Partners (customers, vendors, and leads) aremaintained.

• Banking Module, where cash is received and paid out.

• Inventory Module, where Inventory is valued and managed.

• Production Module, where bill of materials are defined and manufacturing is tracked.

• MRP Module, where purchase and production planning takes place.

• Service Module, where after-service products are managed.

• Human Resources Module, where employee information is maintained.

• Reports Module, where system-default and user-defined reports are generated

• E-commerce, allowing customers to buy and sell online to consumers or other businesses.

• WebCRM, Allows employees to manage customer support cases, salespeople to manage prospects, and customers to submit cases all via a web browser client.

This system allows the marketing management to track market demand, control production and stock

levels, coordinate with the accountants handling budgets and keep a check on new developments with

vendors and creative agencies. When the marketers know how much is selling in the market place, they

can plan production with the production department accordingly. If the marketers feel that the market

needs a new product or a brand repositioning, they can work with the R&D department to come up with

an innovative product and coordinate with the accountants to manage costs and budgeting.

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2) Identify and explain workings of key mobile computing devices that could be used by workers in

your proposed area of work. Also explain how the use of these devices to access the Internet would

benefit businesses and workers. (Refer to necessary literature for help)


Mobile computing devices have become a very integral part of any organization which not only help in

workflow automation, but also help in improving productivity of the employees, allowing more

flexibility, real time updating and access to data and, most importantly, reliable information for accurate

and quicker decision making.

Although a very common mobile computing device, Laptop will be the most important device required by

a marketing professional. A laptop allows the professional (Brand Manager in this case) to remain in

contact with the business partners even beyond office hours or while traveling within or outside the city.

The employees will remain available to carry out their diligent tasks even if they are not on the office

premises, hence enhancing their productivity. The access of internet will be important so they will be

provided with mobile internet connectivity. If the worker has blackberry available, the user can connect

the blackberry for mobile internet collectivity. Otherwise, EV-DO USB dongles will be provided for

better connectivity and smooth usage.

The second mobile computing device will be blackberry (or other handheld devices) which will allow

make the workers even more mobile. It will allow workers to check mails during commute and even

respond to customer queries urgently. The sales force out in the field can take orders on the handheld

devices. This will allow real time collection of customer demand and efficient order processing. The

demand planner as part of the production teams will be able to better manage the production plans in

order to make sure that the there are no shortages and delays in filling customer orders. It will also allow

more prompt communication among the workers, hence quicker decision making. The handheld devices

will use the GPRS technology to transmit data back to the central server at the head office which will

ensure quicker synchronization and real time access to data for the stakeholders who are required to takeaction.

Another innovative concept which the marketing department can use is to employ RFID to label its

goods. This will allow the marketers to track the goods and conduct better market research and analysis

on purchasing trends. RFID is different from bar codes in the sense that the bar code is the same for

identical goods and can only identify the name and type of the products. Two same products cannot be

differentiated using bar codes. However, this is possible on RFID. Also, RFID tags are an improvement

over bar codes because the tags have read and write capabilities (Bonsor). Data stored on RFID tags can

be changed, updated and locked. RFID will not only make research easier, it will also help in customer

profiling, contacting potential customers and also speeding up sales at POS systems. A system will be

recording the data collected from each store falling under the network. The data will be transmitted back to the central server through the internet which will allow collection of data at an almost real time basis.

One more effective technology which can help improve efficiency is Electronic data interchange (EDI).EDI is a technology for structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It isusually used to transfer electronic business related data or any other document from one computer another, and most importantly without human intervention. This technology allows a company toexchange data with suppliers, vendors, customers and other business partners. Since a marketing functionrequires a lot of external communication, EDI can help cut down communication time which might

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involve physical travelling to send or receive documents or business related data. For this purpose,Covalent Works, a firm providing solution, enables companies to easily do EDI transactions with their customers. Web based services are easier than buying and installing expensive EDI software. EDISolution is an online EDI solution for small & mid-size companies to be EDI compliant with therequirements of their customers(). This will require setting up terminals at the premises of the business partner if it does not have access to appropriate technology. However, this investment will eventually

benefit our organization.

3) Assume that you have started work at your proposed place of work based on your course of

study. In the first a few months you have noticed that the information system acquisition is done in

a very ad- hoc way. As a result many systems are under used or abandoned. You are asked by your

line manager to help in finding a more organized approach to acquiring a new departmental

system. Please advise. (Refer to necessary literature for help)


It is important for the management to realize that no system is good enough without proper

implementation under expert personnel. Change management is a very important part when implementing

a new system. Simply installing the system is not enough. When a new system is being brought in, the

following steps are required:

1. System Analysis: the first task is to understand the old (manual) system in place and what are the

features of the system. The experts analyzing the system try to analyze current workflows, reports

being used, loopholes and draw backs in the current systems which need to be plugged in. This is

important because the organization should assess its need before bringing in a new system. The

analysis tries to evaluate the information needs, access requirements, necessary controls and

storage and processing requirements of the infrastructure being set up for the system.

2. System Design: Once the needs have been established, the next task is to purchase relevant

hardware equipment and the software. Usually, the software has to be customized according tothe requirements of the organization. The tweaking is done to make sure that the software suits

the requirements of the users and the reports being generated are exactly designed the way the

user wants them to be. This is the most important and time and resource consuming stage of the

whole process. It is understandable that so much time is put at this stage because the whole

system’s structure is being designed over here. A mistake here would cost dearly to the

organization,

3. System Implementation: system implementation is one of the most underestimated stages of

system development in terms of importance. No matter how great the designed system may be, it

is of no use if the system is not implemented properly. It is very important to carry out the

implementation of the system in a systematic manner. The ideal, albeit expensive, is to run the

old and new systems in parallel as the glitches are removed from the new system and until it

starts to run smoothly. It is important to test run the system for an adequate time under the

supervision of expert personnel who are in charge of the implementation process. Extreme testing

should be done to monitor the system’s performance under extreme conditions (, 2011).

4. User Training: User training is a very important part of the implementation stage. It is important

to train the users in order to extract maximum utility out of the new system. The user training is

done by identifying key users who are trained by the team of experts. These key users then go on

to train the other set of users, hence forming a hierarchy. It is also advisable to identify training

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champions who may help the users when they run into problems using the new system. User

training should be in light of their job description and should allow a seamless transition to the

new system. The users should be assured that they will be given enough time to master the new

system and their jobs are not in danger. Once they have learnt the basic skills required to operate

the system, the trainers can move on to utilizing the advanced options of the system-where the

greatest value lies (Wu, 2000).5. Change Management: change management is an extremely important soft aspect of the whole

system development process. The importance of change management is such that the whole

system development projects have failed despite following the above mentioned guidelines, only

because there was no active plan for change management (Jafari, 1006). The employees of an

organization are the driving forces who have to use the system being brought in. therefore, it is

important to make sure that they are willing to accept the change and they are comfortable using

the new system. Change management workshops and seminars should be conducted to bring the

users on board. It is also important to take feedback from the users and incorporate them in order

to make them feel a part of the process. The employees should also be assured that the

automation of the work process will not endanger their jobs in any manner. If all these steps are

taken along the whole implementation process, the chances of the failure of the new system areminimized to a large extent ().

All the above mentioned guidelines are crucial for a successful transformation towards a new system. If

the steps are taken in a planned and systematic manner, not only the implementation is expected to be

successful, but the organization starts to reap more benefits sooner (Jones, 2004).

4) Reflective Journal: Provide a detailed reflective account of how you undertook each task. Pay a

particular attention to:

What your experiences were and what you did each week?

What you observed reviewed and reflected on or about each week?

How you conceptualized, learned and concluded on key concepts each week?

How you understood, acted, solved problems, planed activities, and tested solutions each week?

Please append your weekly signed diary at the back of the assignment.


Overall, working on this report was a pleasant experience for me. The objective of this assignment was

make use understand the role of information technology systems in the field which we will be working in

after graduating. In my case, my field and major are marketing. This report gave me a chance to

understand how brand managers work and what kind of systems can help them automate their work

processes, improve efficiency and hence drive the business forward.

Since I didn’t have much idea of how brand managers went about performing their tasks, I decided to

meet people associated with the marketing field which would be able to help me. For this purpose, I

approached my uncle who is a marketing manager at a Fortune 500 company. He was extremely patient

and helpful with my questions and explained me how did the marketers work and what kind of people do

they interact with. The first task was to understand what the brand marketers’ job description is. Once I

knew the job description, it would make it easier for me to research for software. I decided to search for

software online. The first task was to try understanding what kind of software would be required for an

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organization’s marketing function. Once I had decided on what kind of software would be required, one a

research software and another ERP software for the whole company, I conducted my research to look for

an appropriate software. I kept the organization’s requirements, structure and size into account when

selecting software.

I also learnt the advantages of incorporating new technologies into the business when I undertook the

research on mobile computing devices which can be used to the advantage of the business. I learnt that

keeping abreast with the new technologies gives you a competitive edge over your competitors if you are

able to take advantage of the technology before others. During a research, I came across innovative uses

of mobile computing devices which can be used by marketers to their advantage. For example, it was

amazing to learn about RFIDs which are the future of inventory management and customer relationship

management.

Each week, whenever I would complete my research on a specific topic for the assignment, I would try

and discuss it with a relevant expert in order to verify the news and substantiate its learning. It was

difficult to find a person qualified to give an expert opinion every time I needed one. But still, being able

to seek an opinion of an expert helps you feel more confident about whatever work you have performed.

Especially, when I had to devise the systematic procedure for the implementation of software, I had tocome up with an approach which would justify the requirements of the case and also give me an

understanding of the whole system development process.

If I talk about my overall observation of the whole set of tasks for the assignment, I would say that I

learnt that the job of a marketer involves a lot of human interaction with other stakeholders within and

outside the organization. Meeting deadlines is extremely important and it is equally important for the

marketers to have timely access to complete information. Hence, the importance of work automation is

greater and it also allows greater benefits, however, I also realized that since the job requires a lot of

interaction and coordination with other functions, it is almost impossible to increase the efficiency and

automate the marketing function without giving attention to the other relevant departments too. Therefore,

it turned out to be important to work on automating and integrating all the functions of the organization. Itnot only saves maintenance and start up costs, but it also provides lesser employees to manage the

functions.

In conclusion, I would say that it was a very rich experience to work on this report and I have taken a lot

out of this exercise. The report merged my major discipline, marketing, with one of the most crucial

function of the new century, information technology. This has given me a chance to prepare myself for

this new dimension added to the marketing profession.

BibliographyBonsor, K. (n.d.). Reinventing the bar code. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from How

RFID works: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-

gadgets/rfid1.htm

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Jafari, S., Osman, M., & Yusuff, R. (1006). ERP systems Implementation in Malaysia:

the importance of Critical Success Factors. International Journal for Engineering and

Technology , 125-131.

Jones, J., Aguirre, D., & Calderone, M. (2004, April 15). 10 Principles of Change

Management . Retrieved March 8, 2011, from Strategy + Business:http://www.strategy-business.com/article/rr00006?gko=643d0

Lewin's Freeze Phases. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2011, from Changing Minds:

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/change_management/lewin_change/lewin_chan

ge.htm

Strategy Implementation. (2011). Retrieved MArch 08, 2011, from Reference for

Business: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Sc-Str/Strategy-

Implementation.html

Web based EDI service . (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2011, from Covalent Works:

http://www.covalentworks.com/web-based-edi.asp?linkid=toolbar

Wu, J. (2000, May 11). Why provide user training? Retrieved March 8, 2011, from

Information Management: http://www.information-management.com/news/2238-

1.html

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77518513_Information Systems Use in Business

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