Impact of Information Technology on Business Operations of Morrison (GC01666)
Executive Summary
The modern business era is changing with the dynamic nature and innovation. Information Technology is one of the issues that largely affect the quality of performance of business firms (Mohammed, 2018). The Human resource management functions, financial management functions, operational management functions, communication, and marketing functions of the business firm depends on the use of computer and other tools of IT. Therefore; the importance of IT in the retail business sector can’t be ignored at all. This assignment; will contain a literature review on IT. After that; this assignment will be selected Morrison for analyzing and discussing the merits and demerits of IT in regard to Morrison.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.
1.1 Purpose.
1.2 Background.
2.0 Literature Review.
2.1 Information technology and its role in retail
2.2 Different types of networking technology.
2.3 Ethical and social issues of using technology.
2.4 Importance of Intranet and Internet in business.
Importance of the internet in business.
Importance of Intranet in business.
3.0 Discussion and Analysis.
3.1 Role of Information Technology in Morrison.
3.1.1 Types of different Information Systems that are used in Morrison like Management Information systems, Decision Support Systems, etc.
3.2 Types of Networking Technologies that used in Morrison.
3.3 Ethics and social issues in Morrison.
3.3 The importance of Intranet and Internet in Morrison.
3.4 List and explain the different stages of the system development life cycle.
What is the system development cycle?.
How many steps are in the system development life cycle (SDLC)?.
Planning.
System Analysis and Requirements.
Design:
Development
Implementation.
Maintenance:
- Conclusions.
1.0 Introduction
Information Technology has an impact on the quality of performance of business firms. The HR management functions, financial management functions, operational management functions, communication, and marketing functions of the business firm depends on the use of computer and other tools of IT (Rodrigo, 2015). That is why; the necessity of IT in the retail business sector can’t be ignored at all. This assignment; contains a literature review on information technology. The second section of the report; selects Morrison for analyzing and discussing the merits and demerits of IT in regard to Morrison.
1.1 Purpose
According to Barnaghi (2015), Information technology includes the use of computers and the internet for collecting, storing retrieving, transmitting and manipulating data. By using computers and other tools of IT, a firm can manage its HR management functions, financial management functions, operational management functions, communication, and marketing functions. The main objective of this paper is to find out the necessity of information technology on the functions of Morrison. This assignment is prepared for identifying the literature review on information technology. After that, this assignment is prepared for analyzing and discussing the merits and demerits of IT on the basis of a retailer company “Morrison”.
1.2 Background
Morrison is the fourth largest supermarket in the UK. The headquarters of Morrison is situated in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. William Morrison was the founder of Morrison in 1899. Up to 2004, Morrison only operated its selling function only north of England. At this time; it has established a good marketing position all over the world. In the UK; it has 475 stores. The main products and services of Morrison include food and grocery products. The revenue of the Morrison in 2018 was GB£17,262 million and net income was GB£311 million. The number of staff of Morrison is 110,000 all over the world (Morrison Annual Report, 2018).
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Information technology and its role in retail
Barnes (2016) mentioned that the role of IT in the retail sector is considered as a big role. business firms always try to run the business smoothly without any breakdown of the communication between managers and employees. Information technology is a way that removes the breakdown of the communication between managers and employees. Dziri (2013) mentioned that Information technology helps to reduce time-consuming activities and helps to a better decisions rapidly. Retail business organizations can connect with the staff and customers through applying IT tools. By using information technology; retail businesses can create good communication between various departments of the organization. In addition; the retail industry can manage inventory of the products and services by using information technology. The retail industry can start an online shopping system for the customers by using various types of app systems. The human resources of the retail business firms are also managed by using information technology. Information technology helps the retail firm to manage a database of information easily and accurately (Grove, 2017). The overall performance of the retail firms is improved through using information technology.
2.2 Different types of networking technology
Computer Networks (2018) stated that there are various types of networking technologies are available. Among them; Business firms are using the following networks for running their business functions.
- Local Area Network (LAN)
- Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
- Wide Area Network (WAN)
- Wireless
LAN stands for Local area network that connects a .specific area among computers. This network is very popular and easy to use. In the case of LAN; PC and workstations are connected (Computer Networks, 2018). It is also known as an entire-building networking system. It is used to transfer data among printers, shared hard-drive etc.
MAN stands for Metropolitan Area Network that is larger than LAN. The system of MAN is the same as LAN but the range is an entire city not only a workstation. MAN is normally used by private or public limited companies to share their data, information and others from one computer to another. WAN stands for Wide Area Network that is normally used by business firms. It can be a private or public networking system (Computer Networks, 2018). The system of WAN is difficult than MAN because it covers a large area like a country. WAN is used by the Satellite system. The wireless network is a system of the network by which no wire is required for connecting two or more computers. This is called public networking system.
2.3 Ethical and social issues of using technology
The issues related to IT in regard to ethics and society have a great impact on the performance of the business and the acceptability of the consumers. By using information technology tools; most organizations are selling products and services to customers (Mohammed, 2018). Business organizations also create connections and relationships with the ultimate consumers by using information technology tools. Therefore; it is very important to maintain the social and ethical issues of IT. The business organization should avoid the unethical practices of business regarding the products information, quality and price (Dziri, 2013). The business organization should ensure social welfare by promoting environmental situation……………………………….