Impact of Information Technology on HSBC: Analysis and Discussion

This article discusses the impact of information technology on HSBC, including its positive impact on electronic banking and customer service, as well as ethical and social issues such as security, privacy, and copyright infringement.

Introduction to
Information
Technology

Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................1
Information Technology and its impact in service sector businesses.....................................1
Ethics and Social Issues of using technology.........................................................................2
Networking Technology, different types................................................................................3
The Artificial Intelligence and its importance........................................................................3
Analysis and discussion...................................................................................................................5
Impact of Information Technology in HSBC.........................................................................5
Ethics and social issues in HSBC...........................................................................................5
Types of Networking Technologies that used in HSBC........................................................6
The importance of Artificial Intelligence in HSBC...............................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
Information technology can be defined as the use of technical devices such as computers
and telecommunications in order to create and process all kinds of electronic data and
information so that a storage and exchange of it can be in a secure manner from one place to
another. It is majorly used in terms of business operations and also for personal and
entertainment use as well (Rajaraman, 2018). Organization chosen is HSBC, it is one of the
leading international investments banking company established in 1865 and headquartered in the
United Kingdom. It provides services like credit cards and NRI services along with the savings
and deposits. HSBC stands for the Hong Kong and Shanghai banking corporation limited. The
following discussion is based on the literature review with the content in general and analysis
and discussion with the content in context of HSBC. Discussion is all about the impact of
Information Technology on business, ethics and social issues of using technology, different types
of networking Technology and artificial intelligence along with its importance with proper
conclusion.
Literature Review
Information Technology and its impact in service sector businesses
According to Koch, information Technology has a great impact on service sector
businesses in various ways. Such as search is one of the impacts which means that if any
customer wants to research about the services offered by any company then they first prefer
online investigation where information Technology has a great role in the search options in the
company's website. Chatbots have another impact which means that if any problem occurs to the
customers then they can easily chat with the customer servicing of the company so that they can
easily resolve their problems without any physical approach to the company. Cloud is also one of
the impacts which mean that companies can always store their data and any other important
things on cloud computing so that they can be saved from any losses or breaches. This helps in
customer relationship management and remote networking management as well. Historical data
is also available for better decision making and future considerations within the organisation.
Augmented reality is also another impact which is used by the service sector companies in order
to keep their website in an advanced technical manner in order to be impressive in front of the
customers. This helps the organisation to get the good connection with the customers with the
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real life experience. Similarly, virtual reality also has unexpected ways to impact positively on
the service sector. Mobility is one of the impacts of information Technology on the service sector
which means that every time desktop or laptop are not needed but it can also be used with the
help of mobile which can be carried out from anywhere to any place in the world without
delaying any operations or service to the customers. Using social media applications is another
impact so that the wider reach to the customers can have for the organisation with the long-term
relationships with their online servicing to the customers such as with the help of Facebook and
WhatsApp along with Instagram and Twitter and many more. The Internet of things is also
another impact which uses the millions of sensors to connect to the internet along with the
broader people even on an international basis so that a good expansion and growth can be seen
by the company with good revenue and sales generation (Lloyd, 2020).
Ethics and Social Issues of using technology
According to Eko, there are various ethical and social issues of using information
technology in businesses. Misusing of the personal information by any other person with the
motive of wrong intention or to take any revenge or maybe to loot the money from a particular
person. The use of artificial intelligence is also an ethical issue because of face recognition and
the replacement of jobs along with the bias in artificial intelligence Technology. Another issue is
privacy and access rights along with the harmful actions and patents which are followed by the
copyrights and trade secrets and also the liability and piracy. These are ethical issues in
information technology which highly affects normal functioning of the organisation. Some of the
social issues which the information technology has created are the communication background
and defamation of character along with the identity theft and cyber bullying which is followed by
the gaming addiction and privacy that affects the health and fitness along with the education of
the people (Insana and Hapsari, 2019). Major issues which every organisation can face because
of the irresponsible behaviour regarding information technology and computing devices
management are such that the virus attacks along with the malware and spyware software which
is followed by the password cracking and phishing and all the social engineering and many more.
All these have the solution to implement and execute in the company such as there should be the
moral use of data and resources along with the responsibility of adoption of disruptive
Technology. Creating the culture of responsibility so that the employees can safely use
computing devices without any harmful consequences. Moreover, encryption and decryption
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along with access control and authorisation and authentication procedure the importance to
execute for better safety of the technology used in the organisation. Password management and
access control are also the important solutions for the same. It is highly essential to educate the
employees about the information technology and how it should be handled and managed without
any destructive nature of the computing devices (Rainer and Prince, 2021).
Networking Technology, different types
According to Englander, network Technology is defined as the use of different data
systems in order to manage and deliver the technical resources over a computer network. There
are different types of network which different companies use as per their needs and requirements
and according to the networking structure they have within the organisation. Personal area
network is one of the networks which is wireless in nature and can compute resources but it is
limited to one person only use in the small offices or any residences. Local area network is a type
of network which is established to cover a short range area such as in a one building (Nazzaro,
2020). Wireless local area network also functions the same but it does not contain any wires for
the connection. It works with the help of Wi-Fi. Metropolitan area network covers the area more
than local area network such as two or more buildings within a city or a country. Wide area
network is larger than local area network and metropolitan area Network which covers the
largest area such as it works on an international basis more than two countries and it is wireless
in nature. Storage area network is also the network which connects the large storage devices to
other devices so that the information can be shared in a safe and easy manner. An enterprise
private network is also the network which is only established by the owner of the business and
they can only use such networks across their large businesses which are private in nature and
only owned by the business itself. A virtual private network is also the network which extends
data sharing on a private basis from one place to another by using the network across the internet
in a more comfortable and secured manner (Wong, 2021).
The Artificial Intelligence and its importance
According to Dignum, Artificial intelligence can be defined as the intelligence which is
displayed by the machines against natural intelligence which is demonstrated by humans or
animals. It is basically the simulation of human intelligence which is processed by the machines,
majorly the computer systems. The specific features contained by the artificial intelligence are
the expert systems and natural language processing along with the speech recognition and
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machine vision. Classification of artificial intelligence is done in 4 categories such as reactive
machines, limited memory, theory of mind and self awareness. In simple words, artificial
intelligence is stated as the capabilities of a computer system which controls and performs the
tasks that are usually done by human beings. This is because it highly requires human
intelligence and discernment. Computer systems consist of the program which has the ability to
think and learn because it is a field of study which makes the computer systems smart as they
work on their own without being instructed or commanded by any human being. The major
purpose of artificial intelligence is to enable machines and computers to execute the intellectual
task. For example, problem solving and decision making along with the perception and
understanding of human communication.
Importance of artificial intelligence in the service sector is such that it supports the
organizations in increasing the competitive advantage which helps in improving the efficiency in
operations in the business. Organizations can also introduce the advanced automated interactions
with customers and partners along with the workers and all the stakeholders who are involved in
the functioning of the organization. Automating processes provided by artificial intelligence
multiplies the gaining of productivity. This is because advancement in technology improves the
intelligence in working on an automatic basis which also provides the accuracy and efficiency in
the basic functioning of the organization. Artificial intelligence helps the organizations in
enhancing the customer intimacy and thereby increasing the customer demand which helps in
maintaining the long-term relationships with the customers and stability in the marketplace. This
is because artificial intelligence is directly related to the human intelligence of what exactly the
human thinks and performs and that is why automation has taken the important place in servicing
the customers in an effective manner. Artificial intelligence has enhanced the examination and
analysis of the video and audio in the real time in order to power smarter machinery and
structures. There are different applications of artificial intelligence which have provided support
to the service industry such as security and fraud detection along with data privacy and strategic
marketing. Online recommendations and security screening along with the online search and
language mining and the most important features which has majorly helped the company means
in expansion and growth of the organization on an international basis as well. Another
application which has improved the service sector in an advanced manner is the monitoring of
price changes which manages the client satisfaction. It helps in reacting to market trends in a
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positive manner by predicting the risk and mitigating the same innovatively in order to stay
competitive in the marketplace (Watrous-deVersterre, 2020).
Analysis and discussion
Impact of Information Technology in HSBC
There is a positive impact of information technology in HSBC. This is because
information technology has supported the organisation and its services in an easy and customer
friendly manner. Information Technology has opened the door of electronic banking for the
customers. This is the best positive impact of information Technology where the customers can
easily enquire about the balance of the accounts and also transactions with the help of internet
banking and SMS banking along with the mobile banking options. Customers have a facility to
request for the cheque books and read about the transaction summary. Customers can also use
the fund transfer options anytime and anywhere between 24 hours and seven days a week. HSBC
has also provided their customers to avail the service for ATM in order to withdraw the money
under the electronic banking facilities. This has also created the possibility for the online
purchase of goods and services with the help of online payment systems for the customers and
banks as well. HSBC has the ability to provide good servicing to the customers with the help of
information technology and its implementation in a secure manner. This is because information
Technology ensures the effective and efficient service delivery from the bank to the customers
with the qualitative rendering of the services. HSBC uses that technology in order to provide the
financial services on a global basis which is totally customer oriented and it works as a powerful
tool to provide the best quality services to the customers. This facilitates the customers that they
can easily know about the whole services and products offered by the company by just visiting
the website of HSBC. We can easily avail the banking financial services by simply using the
internet banking options. Information Technology has reduced the cost of service delivery by
innovating the automation process in transactions in which the customers can easily access the
channels of self servicing in their banking accounts and along with their maintenance as well
(Hendela, 2020).
Ethics and social issues in HSBC
There are some ethical and social issues which are faced by HSBC that are based on the
different uses of information Technology according to the products and services rendered by the
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organisation. This is because although Information Technology has a lot of advantages it is
adding some demerits also. Security is one of the ethical and social issues in HSBC. Nowadays
due to the advancement in technologies it is easy for hackers to access any computer system over
the internet. This is because the hackers can easily make use of the IP address to hack the
computer and gather all the important information in order to misuse it in any way. Internet
cookies are also used by the hackers to collect the data which increases the high rate of risk for
information technology users who can be a victim of internet fraud (Saeidi, Saeidi, Sofian and
Mardani, 2019). Talking about online banking, the process in which the transfer of money is
performed can be damaged by the hacker which can even lose all the money for the selfish
interest of the hackers. This is because they can gather personal information such as credit card
information through which they can easily withdraw money from the victim. Privacy issues are
another ethics and social issue in HSBC. Information technology is also responsible for the
exploitation of the freedom of privacy. Internet webcams and online stalkers along with the
social networks devices are accountable for disrupting privacy. There are some people who use
search data in order to expose the users because of their wrong intentions and some also spy on
the staff with the help of social networks. These are the privacy issues in which data plays a
major role which includes the personal information of an individual in order to run their life.
Copyright infringement is also another ethics and social issue in HSBC. Information Technology
can easily make access and share information with the large network to the unknown and known
people. Any website which offers the download for free can be saved and it can be harmful as
well. Sometimes it can harm the person in order to save users money and it majorly harms the
original creator of such works and their credibility and does not pay off their hard work (Roy,
Gruner and Pantano, 2021).
Types of Networking Technologies that used in HSBC
There are different types of networking technologies that are used in HSBC. HSBC
majorly uses three types of networking technologies in their day to day functioning of the
business as per the needs and requirements of the company. Local area network is used by the
organisation which is a very small and single site network for the company. This network
connects the different network devices which are placed at a short distance. It interconnects
different computers within the geographical areas such as in a building to 1 km (Imran, Hamid,
Aziz and Hameed, 2019). HSBC has connected all their terminals to the main computer which is
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known as the server. These networking cables are used to connect the computers which are
owned and controlled by the single person or organisation. HSBC also uses the specific
connectivity technologies which are specifically designed for the banking systems and Ethernet
along with the token ring. HSBC also uses the wide area network. It is used for the large
networking setup which is a combination of different local area network connections. They are
connected with the router just like the internet spans which covers most of the area across the
world. Such networks are built with the help of telephone lines and satellite links along with the
long range communication technologies which are majorly used by HSBC. Metropolitan area
networks are also used by HSBC. It is a data network which is designed for a particular area or a
city. It covers the area larger than the local area network which has the high performance
hardware that can share the hardware and software resources across a particular area. Cable TV
is an example of metropolitan area network which connects all the computers systems in HSBC
with the help of coaxial cables and fibre optic cables (Jakšič and Marinč, 2019).
The importance of Artificial Intelligence in HSBC
Importance of artificial intelligence in HSBC is such that it has reduced the operational
cost along with the risk with the help of robotic process automation and natural language
processing. It has provided risk mitigation with the help of hyper automation systems in HSBC.
Artificial intelligence has improved the customer experience with the help of different types of
chatbots provided by HSBC. Other services like resolve payment options and natural language
generation in the organisation's website. It has improved the fraud protection and regulatory
compliance in HSBC with the help of different algorithms in an advanced manner so that the
safety and security can be maintained within the computer systems of the bank. HSBC has
introduced artificial intelligence virtual assistance which helps them in maintaining regulatory
compliance so that they can be saved from any illegal or unethical issues. HSBC has enhanced
its loan and credit decisioning because of the artificial intelligence based systems as it
incorporates ethics training with the help of deep learning approaches of artificial intelligence
algorithms. Investment process in HSBC has helped in the automation so that the human
intelligence can be easily compared with the computing intelligence and performs the functions
as expected and estimates it with the technology (Long, 2018).
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Conclusion
It is concluded that in order to gain accomplishment in implementing the information
technology for the organisation then it is important to execute as planned. Information
Technology has a major role in better communication with customers and employees because
survival without information technology is impossible nowadays. Now it is possible to advertise
the services and improve the structure of the organisation so that the increment of benefits out of
the computing systems can be more efficient and effective.
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References
Books and Journals
Dignum, V., 2018. Ethics in artificial intelligence: introduction to the special issue.
Englander, I. and Wong, W., 2021. The architecture of computer hardware, systems software,
and networking: An information technology approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Hendela, A., 2020. IS 265-002: Introduction to Information Systems.
Imran, M., Hamid, S.N.B.A., Aziz, A. and Hameed, W., 2019. The contributing factors towards
e-logistic customer satisfaction: a mediating role of information Technology. Uncertain
Supply Chain Management. 7(1). pp.63-72.
Insana, D., Hapsari, A. and Eko, M., 2019. Increasing Entrepreneurial Creativity Through the
Introduction of Information Technology Utilization. In The 1st Workshop on Multimedia
Education, Learning, Assessment and its Implementation in Game and Gamification in
conjunction with COMDEV 2018. European Alliance for Innovation (EAI).
Jakšič, M. and Marinč, M., 2019. Relationship banking and information technology: The role of
artificial intelligence and FinTech. Risk Management. 21(1). pp.1-18.
Koch, C., 2018. Introduction to Information Technology. Scientific e-Resources.
Lloyd, I., 2020. Information technology law. Oxford University Press.
Long, R.J., 2018. New office information technology: Human and managerial implications.
Routledge.
Nazzaro, M., 2020. IT 101-106: Introduction to Information Technology.
Rainer, R.K. and Prince, B., 2021. Introduction to information systems. John Wiley & Sons.
Rajaraman, V., 2018. Introduction to information technology. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
Roy, S.K., Gruner, R.L. and Pantano, E., 2021. Editors’ reflections and introduction to the
special section on ‘information technology meets marketing: Value-creation along the
customer journey’. International Journal of Information Management, 56, p.102270.
Saeidi, P., Saeidi, S.P., Sofian, S. and Mardani, A., 2019. The impact of enterprise risk
management on competitive advantage by moderating role of information
technology. Computer Standards & Interfaces, 63, pp.67-82.
Watrous-deVersterre, L., 2020. IT 101-002: Introduction to Information Technology.
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