Information Technology and Application Software: A Study on Tesco

This report covers the concepts of information technology and various kinds of application software accessible for fundamental functioning in an accurate and easy way. Other aspects which are covered are the ethical and social issues of technology, artificial intelligence and software development life cycle.

Individual report

Abstract
In the modern age, information technology has developed in a very immense way and has
supported the whole economic system of the country with its progression in an exponential
manner. There are several rising updated technology which are innovated to bring easy and
simple life in working for both the personal and the professional use as well. The below report
covers the concepts of information technology and various kinds of application software
accessible for fundamental functioning in an accurate and easy way. Other aspects which are
covered are the ethical and social issues of technology, artificial intelligence and software
development life cycle.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................1
Different types of Application Software................................................................................1
Ethics and Social Issues of using technology.........................................................................2
Networking Technology, different types................................................................................3
The Artificial Intelligence and its importance........................................................................3
Software Development Life Cycle.........................................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................5
Application software and its types used in Tesco..................................................................5
Ethics and social issues in Tesco............................................................................................5
Types of Networking Technologies that used in Tesco.........................................................6
The importance of Artificial Intelligence in Tesco................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Information technology can be defined as the use of computers in order to create and
process the information for storing and retrieving the electronic data. It builds the
communication networks and safeguard the important information from any cyber attacks. It also
creates and administers the databases while troubleshooting the problems faced by employees
while using the computing systems. It is basically the study of computers and
telecommunications which exchanges the information from one application to another. It
manages the technical devices within organization and networks technical areas of the business
(Chege, Wang and Suntu, 2020). The organization chosen is Tesco. It is one of the leading
internation supermarket retail company established in 1919 and headquartered in United
Kingdom. The following discussion is based on the different types of application software and
ethics and social issues of using technology. Moreover, networking technology, artificial
intelligence and its importances with software development life cycle is also covered in the
below report. Application software covered are web browsers, presentation software, graphic
software, spreadsheet software, word processors, database software, multimedia software,
education software, information software and content access software. Ethical and social issues
covered are the misusing of personal information, misinformation and deep fakes, lack of
acceptance of responsibility and oversight, use of artificial intelligence, autonomous technology,
access right, harmful actions, patents, copyrights and trade secrets. Types of networking covered
are local area network, metropolitan area network and wide area network. Importance of
artificial intelligence covered are the automation and enhancement along with the analysis and
accuracy which is followed by the return on investment and better decision making. Stages of
SDLC covered are requirements gathering and analysis and then designing along with the coding
and testing and finally the deployment and the maintenance phase. The below report is finally
concluded with proper conclusion drawn on the entire report.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Different types of Application Software
According to Mtsweni, Mokwena and Moeti, (2021), there are different types of
application software. Web browsers is one of the application software. It helps in the simple
surfing via internet. It can be used to rapidly locate the information through the web.
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Presentation software is an another application software. It facilitates with the simple visualised
data presentation with the help of several tools. Information is presented in the view of slides.
Spreadsheet software is also one of the application software. Data is represented in a tabular
form which permits simple calculations via various functions and formulas. Graphic software
is also an another application software. It helps in the simple modification and alteration of data.
It formulates the room for picture illustration. Word processors is one of the application
software. It facilitates the formulation and beatification of text along with the manipulation of it.
It also supports in the effective consolidation and editing of text.
According to Shea, Dow, Chong and Ngai, (2019), Database software is an another
application software. It is popularly known as the database management software. It allows
simple organization of data and also the effortless access to the data. Multimedia software is
also one of the application software. It assist in the simple creation of audio and video which
deals with the fundamental multimedia formulation and sharing. It provides large variety of tools
to facilitate the working. Education software is also an another application software. It is
designed to focus on learning and tutorials across academic domains which aids in the simple
and effective education.
Ethics and Social Issues of using technology
According to Dehgani and Navimipour, (2019), there are various ethical and social issues
of using the technology. Such as Lack of acceptance of responsibility and oversight is also
one of the ethical issue of using technology. Handling technical information with care is the
essential responsibility which is to be accepted if it is misused or managed effectively. But the
issue is that there is a lack of sense of responsibility and oversight as well.
According to Cepeda and Arias-Pérez, (2019), Use of artificial intelligence is also an
another social issue of using technology. Although there are large benefits of using AI and its
features as it helps in automating the task with emerging technologies. But it is also having the
demerits of maintaining the privacy of the information as well. Autonomous technology is one
of the ethical issue of using technology. Automation in technology reduces the human resources
which affects the employment rate of the nation and it impacts negatively on the entire economy
of the country. Access right, harmful actions, patents, copyrights and trade secrets are an
another ethical issue of using technology. There are many cybercrimes such as identity thefts,
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ransomware, malware, password attack, viruses, phishing, DdoS attack and many more. All these
are the harmful actions performed by the hackers.
Networking Technology, different types
According to Li and Chan, (2019), there are several types of networking technologies.
LAN is one of the type of networking technology. It stands for Local Area Network. It basically
operates in small range of areas for example it can be same building or a campus. It has the
private ownership. There is a high speed of transmission in LAN. Moreover, it has short
propagation delay and less congestion as well. It is easy to design and maintain for a long time
but is also having the more fault tolerance in LAN. Some of the examples of the areas covered
by LAN are the college, hospitals and many more. MAN is an another type of networking
technology. It stands for Metropolitan Area Network. It basically operates in large range of areas
for example it can be the city. It has the private or can be the public ownership. There is an
average speed of transmission in MAN. Moreover, it has the moderate propagation delay and
more congestion as well. It is difficult to design and maintain for a long time but is also having
the less fault tolerance in MAN. Some of the examples of the areas covered by MAN are the
small towns or cities.
According to Jimenez-Jimenez, Martínez-Costa and Rodriguez, (2019), WAN is also an
another type of networking technology. It stands for Wide Area Network. It basically operates in
large range of areas for example it can be the country or continent. There is a low speed of
transmission in WAN. Moreover, it has the long propagation delay and more congestion as well.
It is difficult to design and maintain for a long time but is also having the less fault tolerance in
WAN.
The Artificial Intelligence and its importance
According to Ketzenberg and Metters, (2020), artificial intelligence can be defined as the
technology which mimics human intelligence. It facilitates the computer applications to learn
from human experiences through algorithmic training and iterative processing. Automation is
one of the importance of AI. It automates the tasks which are repetitive in nature which was
previously done manually helps in reducing the human cost. Enhancement is an another
importance of AI. It has the ability to introduce the products which are more effective and
smarter in nature which improves the experiences of the customers. Analysis is also one of the
importance of AI. It is capable of faster analysing of large datasets as compared to humans in a
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more efficient manner. Accuracy is also an another importance of AI. It facilitates the accurate
interpretation of the information for specially in the field of financial and hospital investments.
ROI is one of the importance of AI. Return on investment is far better than working manually on
some tasks with AI which is reliable and relevant in nature. Better decision making is an
another importance of AI. It facilities the organizations to make the strategic decisions which
improves core business activities with enhanced speed and processes.
According to Yeniyurt, Wu, Kim and Cavusgil, (2019), healthcare is one the sector
where AI is applied effectively. AI applications is used to provide suggestions and personalised
services to the patients. Retail is an another sector. AI applications is used in the stock
management and also in the store layouts. Manufacturing is also one of the sector. AI
applications is used to forecast demand and load for factories with logistic management and
better decisions making.
Software Development Life Cycle
According to Rainer and Prince, (2021), software development life cycle can be defined
as the process which facilitates with the different stages of software development. It helps in
delivering the high quality product. It covers all stages of complete life cycle from inception to
the retirement of the product. It basically leads to the software development in a systematic and
disciplined way. It is detailed plan of framework which includes the essential activities of
software development such as building and deploying along with the maintenance as well. It also
includes the planning and creating along with the testing of the software product.
According to Tallon, Queiroz, Coltman and Sharma, (2019), Requirements gathering
and analysis is the first stage of SDLC. All the relevant information is collected from the client
as per their needs and requirements in order to meet their expectations. Designing is the second
stage of SDLC. Prototyping is done in this stage where the collected information is used for the
further analysis. Coding is the third stage of SDLC. Prototyping is converted into the source
code and real development starts in this phase. Testing is the fourth stage of SDLC. Testing is
done to find out the errors or bugs so that it can be rectified before handling over it to the client.
Deployment is the fifth stage of SDLC. Once the testing is done then the product is delivered to
the clients with project sign off and all the other formalities. Maintenance is the sixth stage of
SDLC. It is done for the further updates of the software in order to avoid the security issues.
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ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Application software and its types used in Tesco
Application software used in Tesco are the titles which are developed by the Cambridge
based software distributor Formjet. The main application software used by the company is the
ability office. It is basically the software package that contains the applications features of word
processing and spreadsheet along with the photo editing applications and Panda antivirus
software. Word processing facilitates Tesco in the formulation and beatification of text along
with the manipulation of it. It also supports in the effective consolidation and editing of text.
Spreadsheet software is used in the data presentation in a tabular form which permits simple
calculations via various functions and formulas. Multimedia software assist Tesco in the simple
creation of audio and video which deals with the fundamental multimedia formulation and
sharing. It provides large variety of tools to facilitate the working. Graphic software helps Tesco
in the simple modification and alteration of data (Eller, Alford, Kallmünzer and Peters, 2020). It
formulates the room for picture illustration. Database software is popularly known as the
database management software. It allows simple organization of data within Tesco and also the
effortless access to the data in the form of oracle and SAP. These are basic application software
used by Tesco in their day to day business activities. Heavy application software is also used for
the in depth functioning within an organization. Such as development of the in house software
for specific working in the firm. Such as for the sales forecasting and to develop the sales and
marketing strategies. Also for the human resource management and in depth data analysis as
well. Anti-viruses are used to detect the viruses and to remove on an immediate basis for instant
protection to the computer systems. All these are considered as application software used by the
Tesco.
Ethics and social issues in Tesco
There are various ethical and social issues faced by Tesco. Lack of acceptance of
responsibility and oversight is the ethical issue of using technology faced by Tesco. Handling
technical information with care is the essential responsibility which is to be accepted if it is
misused or managed effectively. Tesco is lacking in this ethical activity of using technology.
Employees of the company are not properly trained regarding in understanding of their
responsibility towards the technical resources. So therefore, it is significant for the firm to first
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educate their employees about how handle the important and confidential information and how
to use and monitor it. Use of artificial intelligence is the social issue of using technology faced
by Tesco. Although there are large benefits of using AI and its features as it helps in automating
the task with emerging technologies. But it is also having the demerits of maintaining the privacy
of the information as well. Currently Tesco do not have tight security system for the same but
working on it (Savastano, Bellini, D’Ascenzo and De Marco, 2019). Organization is working on
the small as well as the information security system so that they can avoid any of the cyber
crimes that can happen to the firm. This technical issue is mandatory to resolve because it can
lead to the large data breaches and losses that results in the bad reputation of the company. Using
AI can effectively help company in their functioning and operations but managing and
monitoring the same is difficult. So therefore, information management is crucial for Tesco in
order to effectively apply the features of AI within organization. These all are the ethical and
social issues faced by Tesco regarding the data management and security management within
organization.
Types of Networking Technologies that used in Tesco
There are various types of networking technologies that are available with the
organizations so that they can choose the best suitable one according to the size and range of
networks they needs for their working. For example, local area network and metropolitan area
network along with the wide area network and personal area network which is followed by the
wireless local area network and campus area network. Other networks are storage area network
and system area network along with the passive optical local area network and enterprise private
network and also the virtual private network. WAN is the type of networking technology used by
Tesco. It stands for Wide Area Network. It basically operates in large range of areas for example
it can be the country or continent. There is a low speed of transmission in WAN. Moreover, it
has the long propagation delay and more congestion as well. It is difficult to design and maintain
for a long time but is also having the less fault tolerance in WAN. It is considered as more
complex than local area network and metropolitan area network. This is because it connects the
computers all together with wide range of longer physical distances. This helps the computer
systems in a remote communication in a more effective and efficient manner. Internet is one of
the most basic illustration of WAN as it has a vast reach which are typically maintained and
owned by more than one administrators or the public as well. WAN is used by Tesco because it
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is working on an international basis so the employees and different stores can only be connected
globally due to the WAN network (Caro and Sadr, 2019).
The importance of Artificial Intelligence in Tesco
Tesco comes under the retail sector. AI applications is used in the stock management
within Tesco and also in the store layouts. AI provides automation which helps Tesco in
automating the tasks which are repetitive in nature which was previously done manually helps in
reducing the human cost. Benefit of enhancement is also gained by Tesco which has the ability
to introduce the products which are more effective and smarter in nature which improves the
experiences of the customers. AI supports in analysis within Tesco which is capable of faster
analysing of large datasets as compared to humans in a more efficient manner. Accuracy is
maintained in Tesco via AI as it facilitates the accurate interpretation of the information for
specially in the field of financial and hospital investments. Return on investment is far better than
working manually on some tasks through AI which is reliable and relevant in nature. Tesco is
facilitated with better decision making in order to make the strategic decisions which improves
core business activities with enhanced speed and processes. All such benefits are gained by
Tesco while implementing the artificial intelligence solutions within organization (Verhoef,
Broekhuizen, Bart, Bhattacharya and Haenlein, 2021).
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that information technology is an important concept to learn and study so
that its applications can be applied in the real world organizations. This is because now a days
information technology is considered as one of the most essential aspect which every business
must adopt. The reason being is that it is becoming impossible for the businesses to survive
without any updated or advanced technology. Information software is the application software
which provides past as well as existing records of the data with relevant information for decision
making process in the firm. Content access software is also the application software which helps
in accessing the content without editing. It is used in digital entertainment or digital content.
Misusing of personal information is the ethical issue where there are people who misuse the
information of other individuals either with the motive to steal money from them or to take some
personal revenge. Such information includes the personal credentials of the people.
Misinformation and deep fakes is social issue where there are information which is exchanged
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via technology. Technology spreads rumours on a wider basis and its can be misinformation and
fake news a well. This harms a person with whom the information is related with. Banking is
also the sector where AI applications is used in reviewing the financial transactions, data input
and data management as well. Life sciences is an another sector where AI applications is used to
test the medicines and discovering new therapies effectively. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse
the different types of application software. It is significant to examine the ethics and social issues
of using technology. It is crucial to determine the types of networking technology. It is vital to
assess the artificial intelligence and its importance. It is imperative to evaluate the software
development life cycle. Hence, the above information covers all such areas in order to better
understand the conception of impact of information technology on business operations.
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References
Books and Journals
Caro, F. and Sadr, R., 2019. The Internet of Things (IoT) in retail: Bridging supply and
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challenges of small and medium-sized enterprise digitalization. Journal of Business
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Jimenez-Jimenez, D., Martínez-Costa, M. and Rodriguez, C.S., 2019. The mediating role of
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Verhoef, P.C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A. and Haenlein, M., 2021. Digital
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Research, 122, pp.889-901.
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retrospective and future research directions. Industrial Marketing Management, 79, pp.46-
52.
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