Usage of Information Technology Systems in Business Functions

This assignment evaluates the usage of information technology systems in various functions of a business organization and analyzes how IT systems contribute to achieving organizational objectives. It also discusses the ways in which IT systems process and store data for CRM, knowledge management, communication, and data management.

BUSINESS
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
SYSTEM

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Evaluate the usage if Information technology systems in various functions of a business
organisation............................................................................................................................1
P2 Analyse the manner through which IT systems contribute in attainment of organisational
objectives in business context................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Mention and evaluate various ways information technology process and store data for CRM,
knowledge management, communication and data management..........................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Analyse how IT systems are used to support value added change to improve business
performance, sustainability and operations............................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
Recommendations if IT solutions to solve organisational problems.....................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is defined as the set of processes, methodologies and tools which
are used by an organisation to collect, present and process their information in a proper manner.
It includes aspects of coding-decoding, retrieving and system setting, data communication,
system analysis etc. In general terms, IT systems denotes the creation, maintenance and use of
software, systems and networks so that processing of data and information can be carried out in
an appropriate manner (Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal, 2014). This assignment is prepared
in context with British Home Plc which is established in the year of 1950 and operates through
different subsidiaries related to travel, consultancy, property and retail. All of these subsidiaries
operates in an appropriate manner but their growth is getting limited. Thus, organisation is going
to invest in IT systems to reduce their dependence on manual work. This report is going to cover
about use of IT system in different organisational departments along with the manner in which
IT system process and store information. Also, role of IT in achieving organisational goals is
discussed. At last, role of IT in supporting value added changes is mentioned in brief.
TASK 1
P1 Evaluate the usage if Information technology systems in various functions of a business
organisation
Information technology is a broad term which includes the concepts and advancements of
technology associated with management and processing of data. In present time, most of the
business organisations are highly dependent on the information systems and internet to preform
their business operations and activities. There are different business functions which operates
their business activities together so that objectives of British Home Plc can be achieved in a
timely manner. Use of IT systems in respect with various business functions of British Home
PLC is mentioned below:
Human resource function: HR team of a business organisation has the work to hire,
select and train candidates which can perform organisational work in efficiently manner. This
function has the responsibility to recruit skilled employees which can perform complex tasks in a
simplified manner. There are different ways in which HR team of British Home Plc can use IT
system like posting about vacant job positions, analysing the resumes of applicants, taking
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aptitude and other online tests. Other than this, different ways by which HR team in concerned
organisation can use IT systems for organisational work are stated below:
 Email: With the help of e-mails which are part of information technology, HR team of a
company can inform people about the vacancies available in their organisation. Due to
this, maximum number of people can be informed by vacant job position in limited time.
 Online advertisements: Different ways to post about job vacancies are advertisement in
newspaper, magazines, TV and radio channels but these mediums are costly and time
consuming. Hence, with the Help of IT, HR team in British Home Plc can perform online
advertisements to recruit skilled and talented workforce for company.
Accounts functions: It is important for accounts team to have accurate information in
financial reports and income statements so that no confusion can take place while performing
work. Hence, IT system help the finance team to perform their work in accurate and productive
manner so that other organisational departments can also work in an appropriate way (Dennis,
Wixom and Roth, 2018). In case of British Home Plc, information technology systems like TPS
will helps the organisation in monitoring their transaction activities related to distribution,
processing and productivity of resources or material, expenses and payments etc. By this,
performing organisational work will became easy for concerned organisation.
Marketing functions: It is the responsibility of marketing manager of a company to
promote the services and products of an organisation to maximum people so that high sales can
be earned. With the help of IT systems like word processing software, appropriate content can
be prepared for promotions and advertisements so that so that attention of customers can be
grabbed in a proper manner. Other than this, social media which is substituent of IT can be used
by marketing manager of company to collect the feedbacks of customers about services of
company (Hendriks, 2013).
Administrative function: IT systems helps the management in British Home Plc to post
about their important notices with the employees of company in few minutes. Also, IT systems
helps the organisation in receiving multiple options for information sharing so that desired
outcomes can be gained. Other than this, if administrative team of a company wants to deliver an
information to their staff members, they can use IT systems to share information. Usage of It
system like Enterprise resource planning will allow administrative department in British Home
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Plc to send important notifications and information to potential and existing employees of
company in an efficient manner (Cao, Thompson and Triche, 2013).
Sales function: In order to achieve high success and growth in market, organisations like
British Home Plc requires regular promotion and advertisement of their offerings. Also,
identifying the changing needs of individuals and latest market trends can be acknowledged by
sales team through digital media marketing which is a part of information technology. By this,
British Hole Plc will be able to give those products to the customers which are needed by them.
By this, overall sale of organisation will enhance in a considerable manner.
Purchasing function: Production manager of company can use information processing
systems to prepare statements and reports so that it can be easily checked if all the mentioned
resources and materials are accurate or not. If entries are wrong, modification can be carried out
in a simple way as all the data will be stored on software and networks. In case of manual work,
changing information and data about required resources is time consuming and complex work. In
this context, production manager can use IT system like production information system to
perform their work more efficiently.
Role and purpose of IT system in performing business functions
By using IT systems in a proper manner, strategies and planning of competitors can be
observed so that high advantage over rivals can be attained. In context with British Home Plc,
this organisation has their own online application by which consumers of company can perform
their purchasing activities in a proper manner. Due to the presence of mobile application, sales of
concerned company has observed increments and hike. This helps the organisation in earning
high revenues without any complex procedure. In case, if concerned organisation will not use IT
systems, all the organisational work will be performed on manual basis due to which high
number of manpower will be required to perform activities. Also, carrying out modification will
be time consuming and complex work due to which overall performance of company will suffer
and reduce.
P2 Analyse the manner through which IT systems contribute in attainment of organisational
objectives in business context
In today's time, information technology plays a vital role in attainment of organisational
objectives and targets. It will help the management of British Home Plc to perform their
activities in a systematic manner (Jques, 2017). Below are mentioned some ways through which
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IT systems benefits an organisation in attaining their organisational targets and objectives
through efficient means:
Product Development: IT benefits in enhancing the ways and options through which a
service or product can reach the market. By the use of proprietary information along with
marketing intelligence system, appropriate documents or reports can be formulated which will
mention about all the requirements of customers for a specific product. With the help of IT
systems like computer aided design i.e. CAD and manufacturing aided design system, right kind
of product can be developed so that needs of customers can be satisfied properly and high
revenues can be earned.
Process improvisation: With the help of IT systems like Enterprise resources planning,
management in British Home Plc can review their sales, revenues, expenses and other costs
associated with operating metrics. By this, company will be able to identify their loopholes and
modify them as per the requirements. Also, ERP system will benefits concerned organisation in
generating special systems for finance, HR, marketing etc. so that internal processes can be
operated in a cost efficient manner. By using ERP system, British Home Plc can make their
process easier, accurate and quick so that organisational goals and objectives can be acquired in
expected manner (Laurillard, 2013).
Cost efficiency: Implementation of IT systems in an organisation is an expensive
procedure which requires large amount of money. But, if these systems are implemented in at a
workplace then it will benefits in getting numerous benefits and advantages. Other than this, IT
systems will results in errors minimisation due to which performing online processing and other
transactions in a productive manner will be possible. IT and its associated systems will help
British Home Plc in performing activities like file storing and retrieving, performing transactions
and budget formulation in an efficient manner. By this, overall accuracy of organisational work
will increase and all the work will be carried out in efficient manner.
In accordance with the above stated aspects, it can be comprehended that IT system have
high contribution in achieving efficiency and productivity at workplace. Due to this, attainment
of organisational goals and expected results is easy (Mohammed and Yusof, 2013).
Use of information technology systems to achieve high performance
In order to perform their work in a systematic manner and without facing shortage of
revenues, each organisation requires efficient financial department. Finance team in an
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organisation have the responsibility to manage funds and finance of company by formulating
budget and allocating money to different departments so that all organisational work can be
performed under estimated finances. In this context, accounting information system can be used
which can process all the financial information of company and generate advantageous budget.
Due to this, extra cost of company will be reduced.
Also, It is essential for the HR team in British Home Plc to carry out recruitment and
selection processes in a systematic and appropriate way so that only those employees can be
hired which can add high value to the business firm. In this context, IT system like Freshteam
and Cloud HR can be used so that HR activities can be performed in a productive manner. In
case of marketing team, employees can use sales and marketing information system to perform
their work in an productive way (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta, 2016). By this, overall
productivity of company will improve and attainment of organisational goals will be easy for
British Home Plc.
TASK 2
Mention and evaluate various ways information technology process and store data for CRM,
knowledge management, communication and data management
Data storage is defined as the accumulation of information with the help of technology
which is designed to keep data secure so that information when information is required can be
accessed. Basic forms of data storage are file storage, block and object. In general, it depicts the
technological aspects which can be used by an organisation to store their data either on
temporary or permanent basis. There exist different kind of storage that can be used by British
Home Plc so that they can store their information in systematic manner. Some of these storages
are mentioned below:
 Dynamic storage: In this kind of storage, information is stored until power of system is
maintained. For example, RAM. If power of computer system will shut down then stored
content will vanish away. In this kind of storage, information can be stored on
temporarily basis due to which an organisation can not completely rely on this storage
system (Rainer and et. 2013).
 Static storage: Best example of static storage is ROM where information can be stored
on permanent basis either system is in power or shut down. It include diverse options
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which like memory storage, optical storage, flash storage etc. which further include
options like DVD, CD, SSD, tapes etc. These options can store large chunk of
information in them until users delete them as per their will.
Data management: In order to manage their data in a proper manner, British Home Plc
can adopt cloud storage as it will help them in managing large amount of data in an efficient and
secured manner. Biggest advantage is that stored data can be accessed by employees of company
from any part of globe. Also, cloud storage requires one time investment after it any kind and
amount of data can be managed on it without free of cost. If data of an organisation will not be
managed then it will be difficult for employees to perform business operations. This will leads to
confusion and conflicts among workforce due to which overall productivity of company will be
reduced (Rouhani, Asgari and Mirhosseini, 2012). British Home Plc can use cloud storage to
secure, store and manage their important information. Under this storage, company can store all
the data and information from any system and any part of globe due to which data can be easily
assessed anywhere. This will help the organisation in processing any information within few
minutes.
Knowledge management: It is referred to the procedure of sharing, use, managing and
creation of information in an organisation so that utilised knowledge and information can be used
by company to achieve their organisational targets. Knowledge management can use used by
concerned organisation to create values in a strategic manner so that tactical requirements of
organisation can be accomplished. It will also allow the organisation to retrieve required
knowledge from junk of information which is stored at database. If knowledge management of
company will be poor then employees will face difficulty in performing their work due to which
achieving organisational objectives can became a complex process. Other than this, organisation
can create their own application so that employees and customers can feel comfortable while
interacting with company. By this, customers will get service in instant manner due to which
their loyalty with concerned organisation will rise. This will help the concerned organisation in
appropriate management of knowledge
Communication management: This is depicted to the systematic planning, monitoring,
revision and implementation of different channels so that interaction within and outside
organisation can be carried out in an efficient manner. If knowledge and information in an
organisation is maintained in a productive manner, it is easier for employees to communicate
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about it as important facts can be directly stated. Appropriate communication management will
benefits the British Home Plc in accomplishing their project and business activities in a timely
and appropriate manner. With the help of IT system, concerned organisation also carry out
advertisements and promotions for their offerings to millions of customers in minimum time
(Boons and et. Al, 2013). in this context, communication can be carried out through social media
like Facebook, Instagram etc. Also, company can use web conferencing, video conferencing,
voice calls etc. so that employees working in different branches can interact on regular basis and
all the organisational work can be carried out in an efficient manner (Schwalbe, 2015).
Customer relationship management: By using IT systems a strong relation can be
sustained with the customers as all the information related with their choice and perception can
be assessed through CRM system. Using this system for organisational work is very
advantageous for British Home Plc as this will help them in retaining their customers for
maximum time which assures high sales and profit. To use this system, organisation require
separate team of employee which are able to resolve the queries of customers in a timely manner.
If relationship with customers will not be good, their needs and perception will not be identified.
In this situation, it will be difficult for the company to serve them right products and services.
This can shift the preference of customers towards offerings of other organisation. By this,
revenues and sales of company will be reduced and attainment of expected results and high
profitability will be very difficult for an organisation.
TASK 3
Analyse how IT systems are used to support value added change to improve business
performance, sustainability and operations
Information system is defined as the software which can be used by an organisation to
analyse and store their data or information in a proper way. By using different IT systems,
British Home plc can convert their raw data into useful information that will help them in taking
right business decisions. These decisions will help the concerned organisation to achieve
competitive advantage to rivals. As technology is getting advanced day by day and each
company is needed to adopt IT systems to assure high efficiency of business activeness. By this a
company can achieve expected results but if business firms will not use these latest technologies
then pessimistic impact will not be attained. For example, video conferencing is still used by
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some organisations for interaction but best technique is holographic interaction. By this, business
persons will feel that they are actually interacting with each other rather than having a virtual
conversation. Also, resolving issues are more easier in case of live conversation.
In this context, it is said that British Home Plc can opt this method of communication due
to which their operation processing can be carried out smoothly. Other than this, by using cloud
computing information and knowledge of company can be stored online and can be used any
time without any complexity. In case of employees, they will fell comfortable in performing
their job roles due to which they will be able to serve customers in productive manner. By this, it
can be understood that IT systems support value added change in an organisation. If IT systems
will not be implemented in a proper manner, it can impacts the working of company in a
negative manner. For example,if employees do not have knowledge to use IT systems then they
will be unable to perform work on it. This can leads to inappropriate work due to which British
Home Plc can face loss of revenues and profits of company will be impacted negatively. In this
situation, manager of company provide training to their staff so that they can efficiently use IT
systems and increase the value of company in a positive manner (Shenkar, Luo and Chi, 2014).
TASK 4
Recommendations if IT solutions to solve organisational problems
There are different recommendations which can be given to the manager in British Home
Plc so that improvements at workplace can e carried out to solve organisational problems. These
improvements will allow the company to achieve wider revenues and profits. Some
recommendations in this context are stated below:
 Transaction processing system: Company face the issue in managing their transactions
due to which sometime company face sudden expenses and unequal cash flow. Manager
in British Home Plc is recommended to use transaction processing system to have precise
results about finance of organisation. By using this system, accounts of company will be
managed in a proper way.
 Training: As organisation deals at high scale, there are a lot of sensitive data which must
be protected by the company. In order to store their information in a secured manner,
concerned organisation is recommended to use cloud storage so that stored data can be
accessed anywhere or anytime. By giving proper training, employers of company will be
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able to take appropriate decisions so that British Home Plc can acquire their objectives in
a proper manner. Also, Cloud storage will assists them in cost benefits.
 Mobile application: As British Home Plc is a big organisation, sharing of information
within every employee on manual basis is not possible. In this context, concerned
organisation is recommended to develop their own application so that employees can be
updated about important information on regular basis and queries of customers can be
solve in a timely way. By this, overall productivity of company will be managed in
proper manner.
 Cloud technology: Other than this, concerned organisation can use cloud technology. It
is the most popular type of IT technology in which large junk of information can be
stored in systematic manner. It is remote storage version of aspects like static storage and
dynamic storage. Example in this context are Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure.
These technologies will improve the working efficiency of British Home Plc in a
considerable manner.
 Use of 5G: It is another recommendations which can be given to concerned company. By
using 5G which is next generation of internet, unlimited benefits can be gained by British
Home Plc. By this, company will be able to use more reliable and faster speed internet
connection due to which their only work performing capability will enhance
considerably.
CONCLUSION
In accordance with the above given report, it has been concluded that IT plays an
important role in increasing the success and growth of an organisation. Different departments
like marketing, finance, HR, production etc. use IT systems to perform their complex activities
within minutes. With the help of IT system, activities like processing and storing of data is
performed in systematic manner due to which retrieving data at the time of need is easy. All of
these activities increase the productivity and performance of an organisation so that high
advantage over rivals can be achieved. IT systems supports multiple value added changes due to
which business performance and sustainability can be increased.
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REFERENCES
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Cao, Q., Thompson, M. A. and Triche, J., 2013. Investigating the role of business processes and
knowledge management systems on performance: A multi-case study approach.
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Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H. and Roth, R. M., 2018. Systems analysis and design. John wiley &
sons.
Hendriks, C. J., 2013. Integrated Financial Management Information Systems: Guidelines for
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Laurillard, D., 2013. Rethinking university teaching: A conversational framework for the
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Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
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Online
Five IT Functions in an Organisation. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-functions-organization-34002.html>.
The six important business objectives of information technology. 2019. [Online]. Available
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