Table of Content INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................3 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................4 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
INTRODUCTION The information technology refers to as the use of technologies in order to minimize the efforts of humans and to increase the efficiency of work done within the company. Information technology provides different options for easing the work like use of computers, recording and managing data in electronic form, use of different types of software and hardware and many other such type of techniques (Acquisti, Brandimarte and Loewenstein, 2015). This is the reason behind the increase in the popularity of information technology. The present study is based on Marks and Spencer group plc. It is a British multinational retailer founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in the year 1884. The main reason for making this report is to understand the role and importance of information technology in success or failure of business. Another reason is to understand the social and ethical issues of using technology. Further, it will outline some various kinds of network technologies which the company uses to improve the quality of there work and difference between them. The another reason behind working on this report is to discuss some importance of internet and intranet for the business. At last the report will highlight the stages of System development life cycle. LITERATURE REVIEW Role of IT In the words ofTaylor, Fritsch and Liederbach, (2014), use of information technology is very useful as the use of it helps the retail industryin reducing the workload and increasing the efficiency and quality of work within the company. This is because of the reason that the use of techniques minimizes the efforts of employees. For example many retail companies some inventory management techniques. These techniques help those companies. This system helps the company in recording inventory in electronic form and as and when the inventory reaches to minimum level the order is automatically placed by the inventory system. So this helps in reducing the timein calculating the inventory and when to order the inventory. Ethical and social issues In opinion ofPantano and Viassone, (2014), there are many ethical and social issues which relates with the business but also impacts the society. If the company uses too much technology then there may be possibility that there is misuse of the information and also the competitorsof thatcompany can use thisinformationin some negativeway. ButKali,
McKenney and Sagy, (2015), argued that the companies in retail sector must use techno ethics in order to develop some principles and strategies which it can use in order to provide training to employees to use the latest techniques so that they can efficiently use those techniques in minimizing their work. Types of network technologies In words ofVolk, Stengel and Schultmann, (2014), a network technology is a system which helps two or more devices which can communicate with each other with help of those network. This network helps those connected devices to exchange and share data, facts and figures and information among all the large and small information systems with one another. Galliers and Leidner, (2014), articulates that there are many types of network technology which companies of retail industry can use. The different types of networks are like Personal Area Network (PAN), Local Area Network (LAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). Importance in internet and intranet In views ofBriz - Ponce and García - Peñalvo, (2015), internet is a system which connects the system at a global level with help of TCP and IP that transmits data with help of different types of media. The use of internet is important for business because internet helps the companies in communicating with other department and also with external parties. ButGalegher, Kraut and Egido, eds., (2014), argued that use of internet connects many people with each other as compared to traditional method of communication. The use of internet is very flexible as the employees can found many things and information on the internet. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION Frequently used computing terminologies There are many terms associated with computing. Some of them are as follows-Internet- it is referred to as a network of computers which connects and allows the computers all over the world to communicate with each other.Web browser-these are the programs which helps the user to look and operate and navigate between pages on world wide web (WWW). Some examples of web browser are like Firefox, Internet explorer, Google chrome and many more related.Modem– it is a device used to transfer information and data with help of cable lines and telephones with help of internet.
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Cloud computing- this is an internet based system wherein the information, resources, softwareandhardwarearesharedonthedemandofusers(Gebre,Saroyanand Bracewell, 2014). Ethical and social issues associated with technology There are many ethical and social issues associated with the use of technology which impacts the working and operation of Marks and Spencer group plc. Some of these issues relating to ethics and society are discussed in the adjoining points-Security of information-within Marks and Spencer group plc all the information and data relating to employees are generally stored at cloud computing technology which is used by management personnel of company. So the data of all the employees have a risk of getting hacked because of the reason that cloud computing has a disadvantage of data security. Because of this unsure of data security the employees lost their trust and belief with Marks and Spencer.Privacy and technology concern-Marks and Spencer uses many techniques for keeping an eye on the working of employees by checking their work like with help of checking thebrowsinghistoryoftheiremailsandwebsites.Withthisuseofinformation technology Marks and Spencer undergoes an ethical issue of entering into privacy of employee when they operate their work with help of computers and tablets at the work place.Communication break down-by using too much technology within the business by Marks and Spencer it can be responsible for communication break down. This is because of the reason that because of use of technology the employees are much addicted towards the use of social media sites rather than doing their work they prefer to surf on the internet and to operate the social media sites at their work place. Because of this there is less communication between the employees and their seniors and managers as they are busy in surfing the internet and not working. Difference between types of network The network can be defined as a system wherein two or more or multiple devices are connected with each other for communicating among themselves (Renko and Druzijanic, 2014). The network connects minimum of two devices and maximum of billion devices with each other
for communicating with each other. There are many different types of networks which the company can use to communicate with each other and with external parties as well. There are majorly two types of network used by Marks and Spencer group plc which can be differentiated as below- Local Area Network (LAN)Wide Area Network (WAN) It is a type of network which connectsdifferent computers over a small geographical area like in an office, school, building and many other such type. WANisatypeofnetworkwhereinthe network connects the computers over a large geographicalareasothattheycan communicate with each other, such as over regionalornationalboundaries,across metropolitan area. This network works at a high speed of 1000 mbps. This type of network works with a low speed of around 150 mbps. The LAN uses connectivity technology such as Token Ring, Ethernet and many such types of techniques to connect different computers with one another. Here it uses technologies like MPLS, Frame Relay, X.25 and many more different kinds of techniquesinordertoconnectdifferent computer systems. In LAN the chances of data transmission error arelessasitdealswithlessnumberof computers. In case of WAN, as this network deals with largegeographicalareasotherearemore chancesofhavingdatatransmissionerror because the data is transferred over a large area. The cost of setting up this type of network is low as it deals with less geographical area. Since the network is established in such a large geographical area so the cost of setting such network is very high. Growth of ICT and use of internet ICT or Information and Communication Technologies refers to as technique which provides access to different data and information with the help of telecommunication. This type of technology uses various mediums like wireless network, internet, phones and communication
mediums. UK is the largest market of Information Communication Technology (ICT) all over the world and is placed on 2 in ranking in list of ICT spending (United Kingdom- Information Communication Technology (ICT),2018). The ICT includes digital products and services which includes financial technology, artificial intelligence, cloud services, audio- visual, augmented and virtual reality, telecommunication and many more such related activities. Use of internet Internet is the most popular source of sharing information and gathering information from the internet. The major use of internet for Marks and Spencer group plc is as follows- Research- internet helps the company in doing research for anything. Like the company can research for knowing the needs and requirements of consumers, also the company can research for their competitors like what strategies they use and how they price their products and many other things can be researched by the help of internet. Trading- now- a- days even the company trades that is buys and sells their products and services with the help of internet. The company can now do business via internet and this is more beneficial for both the customers and for Marks and Spencer group plc. Role of IT in management The role of information technology is very crucial and important for all the types of business. The role of information technology in Marks and Spencer group plc is as follows- Manage and organize -The information technology plays an essential role in organizing and managing the work of Marks and Spencer group plc. The use of IT helps company in attaining efficiency in their operation and work. With help of IT every work is managed with help of machines so it is very easy for managers to take decision and plan all the things. Information technology provides cost effective management and organizing techniques such as management information system, decision support system and many other such type of system. The Information technology enables the company to measure the manner in which tasks accompanied by employees. Inquiry of particular problem-with the help of information technology the company can detect problem dominant in the market and in between consumers relating that whether their need and preferences are being satisfied by the products and services of company or not (Juaneda - Ayensa, Mosquera and Sierra Murillo, 2016). With advancement in IT, the company has established a system of online grievance handling wherein the consumers can share their views
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and feedback after using product or service of company and also if they have any problem regarding product or service they can share it on the website of company. With this company Marks and Spencer group plc is able to take decisions according to the changes and feedback given by consumers. Generate new product and service -Marks and Spencer group plc generates new products by the use of information technology analyses the needs and requirements of customers. The use of Information technology helps company to make proper arrangement for collecting information regarding need and preferences of consumers (Hsu, 2016). This is done in order to execute the decision made after analysing the collected information and facts and figures in line with the need prevailing among the customers. Different stages of System Development Life Cycle The System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a type of analytical tool or framework which is used in order to develop a new system and also involves all the policies and procedures which are used by the company in order to develop and alter a new or existing system with the help of this method of SDLC. This model can also be referred to as a procedure or an activity used by companies with intention of developing and creating either a hardware system or a software system or even a combination of both hardware and software in order to meet the requirements and expectation of consumers. This model follows a set of different stages which are discussed as below- Planning- it is stage where every thing is decided in advance like what steps will be taken to develop a system, how it will be done, who will do it and many such related things are discussed. This is the most crucial phase in SDLC because every objective and all the series of work is defined in this stage only. For planning the person has three choices either to develop a new system, improve the current system or leave the system. Analysis- further the next step of SDLC is to carry on an analysis of the planned objectives and the whole steps involved in developing the system. In this stage information is collected, analysed and evaluated that whether the objectives are sound and achievable or not and what are the expectation of the end user, what they need in the system and well they perform (Hill, Betts and Gardner, 2015). Systemdesign- after the thorough and in depth analysis of the gathered facts and the requirements and need of consumers then the next step is to define all the elements of the system.
It means that all the components which comprises the system are analysed and checked. The whole structure and design of system is made and analysed and compared with requirement of consumer that is whether it satisfies those requirements or not. Implementation- the next step is to implement the system which is designed in the above stage. Within this stage the system designed is applied by the end user and it uses that system to satisfy its needs and requirements (Bower, 2018). Maintenance- this is the last step of SDLC within which time- to- time maintenance of the prepared system is checked and reviewed properly that whether there is any problem in the system or not. CONCLUSION With the study and analysis of the above report it can be summarized that information technology plays and important and crucial role in the success of the company because it minimizes the human efforts. Further it was outlined that there various forms of networks used by company like LAN, MAN and many others. Further it discussed that how much important is internet and intranet for the business. It also demonstrated some ethical and social issues related with the business and technology. At last the report discussed the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and various stages being involved in those process.
REFERENCES Books and journals Acquisti, A., Brandimarte, L. and Loewenstein, G., 2015. Privacy and human behavior in the age of information.Science.347(6221). pp.509-514. Bower,D.J.,2018.Companyandcampuspartnership:supportingtechnologytransfer. Routledge. Briz - Ponce, L. and García - Peñalvo, F.J., 2015. An empirical assessment of a technology acceptance model for apps in medical education.Journal of medical systems.39(11). p.176. Galegher,J.,Kraut,R.E.andEgido,C.eds.,2014.Intellectualteamwork:Socialand technological foundations of cooperative work. Psychology Press. Galliers, R.D. and Leidner, D.E., 2014.Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Routledge. Gebre, E., Saroyan, A. and Bracewell, R., 2014. Students' engagement in technology rich classrooms and its relationship to professors' conceptions of effective teaching.British Journal of Educational Technology.45(1). pp.83-96. Hill, R., Betts, L.R. and Gardner, S.E., 2015. Older adults’ experiences and perceptions of digital technology:(Dis)empowerment,wellbeing,andinclusion.ComputersinHuman Behavior.48.pp.415-423. Hsu, P.S., 2016. Examining current beliefs, practices and barriers about technology integration: A case study.TechTrends.60(1). pp.30-40. Juaneda - Ayensa, E., Mosquera, A. and Sierra Murillo, Y., 2016. Omnichannel customer behavior: key drivers of technology acceptance and use and their effects on purchase intention.Frontiers in psychology.7.p.1117. Kali, Y., McKenney, S. and Sagy, O., 2015. Teachers as designers of technology enhanced learning.Instructional science.43(2). pp.173-179. Pantano,E.andViassone,M.,2014.Demandpullandtechnologypushperspectivein technology-based innovations for the points of sale: The retailers evaluation.Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.21(1). pp.43-47. Renko, S. and Druzijanic, M., 2014. Perceived usefulness of innovative technology in retailing: Consumers׳andretailers׳pointofview.Journalofretailingandconsumer services.21(5). pp.836-843. Taylor, R.W., Fritsch, E.J. and Liederbach, J., 2014.Digital crime and digital terrorism. Prentice Hall Press. Volk, R., Stengel, J. and Schultmann, F., 2014. Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing buildings—Literature review and future needs.Automation in construction.38. pp.109-127. Online
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United Kingdom- Information Communication Technology (ICT). 2018. [ONLINE]. Available through:<https://www.export.gov/article?id=United-Kingdom-Infornation- Communication-Technology-ICT>