Introduction to Information Technology

This document provides an introduction to information technology and its role in the success or failure of a business. It discusses the ethical and social issues that pertain to running businesses, different types of networking technologies, and the importance of intranet and internet in business. The document also covers the different stages of the system development life cycle and the benefits and drawbacks of investing in information technology.

Introduction to
Information
Technology

Abstract
Information technology is considered as use of computer system which is based on the advance
technology and it is generally used for storing, manipulating, transmitting as well as retrieving
essential information or data in proper way. Tesco is conducting its business in retail industry as
well as at the worldwide level for which they adopt information technology that makes their
work easy and effective. Implementation of information technology impact respective company
for the succession of business but some time it seem as failure when management not able to
implement IT properly. there are several networking technology that management of respective
company adopt for providing quality service to customer as well as there is difference among the
internet and intranet which firm need to understand for taking decision accordingly. moreover
management also need to adopt system development cycle for implement IT at workplace but
while this they need to determine pros as well as corns of IT.

Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................4
1. Role of IT in the success or failure of a business.................................................................................4
2. Ethical and social issues that pertain to running businesses.................................................................5
3. Identify and differentiate between different types of networking technologies...................................6
4. Importance of Intranet and Internet in business...................................................................................6
5. Different stage of system development life cycle................................................................................7
6. Benefits and drawbacks of any business in general and chosen company in particular of investing in
Information Technology..........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is considered as term which is generally used in company in
order to conduct different practices such as storing, manipulating, retrieving and transmitting of
information and data in effective manner as well as it also help in attaining company’s desire
goal successfully (Chege, Wang and Suntu, 2020). For a business unit information technology
helps in several ways such as such as conducting communication, improve business performance
and many more. Organization selected for respective report is Tesco which is conducting
business operations in retail industry as well as it is introduced by Jack Cohen in year 1919. Its
head office is also located at the Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. The main aim of
developing this report is understand effectiveness of information technology in respective
company. Topics explained in report are role of IT in a business, ethical and social issues, and
different types of networking technology. In addition to this it will also include difference
between internet and intranet, stages of system development life cycle as well as it will also
include benefits and drawbacks of investing in information technology.
MAIN BODY
1. Role of IT in the success or failure of a business
Information technology is considered as technology or method that is generally adopted
by a company in order to improve their working and effectiveness. Through information
technology retail companies like Tesco able to conduct their business operations as well as
functions in proper ways which will leads to attainment of desire goal successfully as well as it
also help in conducting work with minimum wastage (Dalvi-Esfahani and et.al., 2020). In
context of Tesco they are conducting business practices in retail industry and at store information
technology are used for numbers of reasons which leads to growth of business successfully.
There are several role of information technology that helps Tesco in succession of business, from
which some are mentioned below:-
 Customer database management – In context of database management of customer
information technology plays major because it aid in gathering as well as maintaining all
essential information or data of customers in effective way. In respect of Tesco by

adopting information technology they able to gather, maintain as well as sift huge data or
information in effective way and it also help in converting information into customer
centric sector through which customer attraction practices will be done.
 Management of store – By adopting information technology a company able to manage
work ay their store IT will help in conducting work in effective as well as appropriate
manner (Koong, Liu and Liu,, 2020). In respect of respective company by adopting
information technology they able to manage store properly as well as it also help in
determining stock of store and time to refill it so that customers get products and services
which they required. It also help respective company in forecasting need as well as
requirement of products according to which stock can be make available.
2. Ethical and social issues that pertain to running businesses
In an organization employees and management go through numbers of social as well as
ethical issues that impact on their performance as well as outcome. Ethical issues are determined
as decision, situation, activities or circumstances that will leads to conflict at the workplace in
respect of the society’s principle, value or moral. If any ethical issues take place at the workplace
then legal issues will be taken on both individual as well as firm. On the other hand social issues
are considered as issues or problems that impact several individual at the society. Generally these
problems are divided into several categories such as light and depth for example pollution, health
issues, discrimination and many more. There are several ethical and social issues which are take
place at the Tesco, from which some are mentioned below:-
 Harassment and discrimination – It is one of the most common ethical and social issues
which is faced at almost every company while conducting their business operations and
functions. Respective issues directly impact on the individual mental as well as physical
health which also impact on their career (Lloyd, 2020). In the workplace it is generally
take place on the basis of colour, age, gender, physical appearance and so on. In context
of Tesco, they also faced respective issues due to which motivation level of employees
get decreased as well as it also impact on their performance. So it is essential for
management to develop proper policies, rules and regulation according situation.
 Security of client and staff data – Now a day every company tension is that how they
protect their staff, clients and stakeholders personal as well as private information so that

it can be misused in any activity. In context of Tesco, in order to avoid this situation it is
essential for the company management to develop proper system through advance
information technology which aid in protecting client, customers and staffs personal as
well as private information successfully.
3. Identify and differentiate between different types of networking technologies
Networking technology is considered as technology that is used by an organization for
connecting its systems through cable, wireless connection, communication resources, and
satellite and so on (Logan, 2020). This is mainly adopted by management in order to develop
effective infrastructure that will help in relaying data or information by several ways such as
voice call, internet, and communication and so on. Moreover there are numbers of networking
technology that will adopt by Tesco for conducting their retail activities, from which some
technologies are mentioned below:-
 Personal Area Network (PAN) – It is determined basic networking technology which is
made through the wireless modem connection among the two phones, computers, tables,
laptops and so on. In context of Tesco, management adopts this networking technology in
order to provide connectivity to employees at store in separate departments. For example
through PAN connectivity can be provided at the cash counter.
 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) – It conduct function similar to the LAN, it is
determined as technology in which wireless networking technology is used such as WIFI.
Respective type of technology didn’t require any physical cables for making connection
at the workplace. In respect of respective retail company it they can adopt this
networking technology for whole store so that employees use internet for the work in
proper manner.
These are main two networking technology which Tesco may adopt for conducting
business operations and functions in effective manner. This will also help respective company in
attaining their desire goal as well as objective in successful manner.
4. Importance of Intranet and Internet in business
In an organization both internet as well as intranet plays necessary role because through
that they can conduct their work in effective as well as appropriate manner. Intranet is considered
as private networking technology which is generally used to create connection inside the

company (Nazzaro, 2020). Respective types of connectivity include networking through two or
more gateway computers. On the other hand internet is considered as the global computer
network which provides communication facilities as well as through it a person also able to
search information according to requirement. In respect of Tesco, importance of intranet and
intranet is given below:-
Importance of Intranet-
 By adopting intranet employees of respective company able to provide access of data,
information, knowledge, and event information and so on to all members which help
them in working (Nematolahi and Abhari, 2020).
 This will also provide access to the staff and other related people that they get proper
information about the project or product at store in effective manner.
 By intranet staffs able to get satisfied as it help in developing high team involvement as
well as information sharing in effective manner.
Importance of Internet-
 Through internet respective company provide online payment option to the customers
which help in making cash less transaction.
 By adopting internet Tesco able to develop as well as maintain proper customer
relationship as they able to resolve quarries and issues of customers properly and
effectively.
5. Different stage of system development life cycle
 Planning: It is the primary phase of the framework advancement life cycle at which the
executives of the Tesco retail store will lead investigation and distinguish the necessity of
new equipment or programming. At this stage people, groups included are administrators,
speculators, partners, representatives or clients, and numerous others.
 Analysing: At this stage supervisor of a particular organization will lead primer
examination where they will investigate every single factor for creating a framework all
the more adequately (Schostak, 2020). Here detailed investigation exercises are an
assessment of the current framework, decide the necessity of clients, recognize
arrangement, etc.

 Designing: At this stage director of the respective retail store will employ planners who
will create an application or framework as indicated by their necessity just as need.
Alongside this, a separate stage is tedious in light of the fact that the creator needs to
grow increasingly inventive and altered framework that necessary bunches of time.
 Implementation: At this stage developers or engineers will create equipment or
programming as per the necessity of Tesco (Turvey, 2020). At that point introduce just as
test new program that it is working appropriately or not, this will help them in
demonstrating preparing to clients so they can work it viably. After all these separate
firms ready to change over old programming or equipment to a new one.
 Maintenance: It is the last phase of the framework advancement life cycle at which
separate organization engineers just as management will direct keeping up exercises by
checking the execution of framework (equipment or programming). Alongside this, at
this stage, they will likewise assess the security of the framework so as to it safeguard its
viability.
6. Benefits and drawbacks of any business in general and chosen company in particular of
investing in Information Technology.
There are several benefits and drawbacks of information technology which a company
need to consider before investing in it, from which some benefits and drawback in respect of
Tesco are mentioned below:-
Benefits
 Through IT Tesco able to conduct more effective communication at their workplace
which retain employees as well as customers for long time (Watrous-deVersterre, 2020).
 Through adopting IT respective company performance gets enhanced as well as there is
also growth in business.
Disadvantage
 For adopt IT a company need to provide training to staffs which is considered as
additional expenses.
 Information technology also leads to job insecurity among the staffs which also affect
their performance.

 This will also eliminate job security among the staffs that will directly or indirectly leads
to reduction in quality of staffs work or performance.
 After investing on information technology company need to conduct maintenance on
regular basis which is extra expenses for respective hotel (Vaishnavi and Kuechler,
2015).
CONCLUSION
Through conducting analysis of topics which are mentioned above it can be determined
that now it is essential for every company to adopt information technology at their workplace
because through it improve their working or business operations properly. In retail industry it is
essential to adopt information technology because that will help in conducting business
operations and functions in effective manner. Through IT retail companies can manage their
store as well as warehouse in proper way which lead to accomplishment of activities and supply
chain. While adopting IT companies may go through several issues which impact on their
performance so it is essential to understand those issues and develop strategies accordingly.
Along with this management must also need to understand difference between the internet as
well as intranet properly as that help in taking proper action. A company also needs to determine
best networking technology for their business such as LAN, SAN, PAN and many more. It is
also essential to determine benefits as well as drawbacks of investing in information technology
at the workplace.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chege, S.M., Wang, D. and Suntu, S.L., 2020. Impact of information technology innovation on
firm performance in Kenya. Information Technology for Development, 26(2), pp.316-
345.
Dalvi-Esfahani, M. and et.al., 2020. Students’ green information technology behavior: Beliefs
and personality traits. Journal of cleaner production, 257, p.120406.
Koong, K.S., Liu, L.C. and Liu, X., 2020. A study of the demand for information technology
professionals in selected internet job portals. Journal of Information Systems
Education, 13(1), p.4.
Lloyd, I., 2020. Information technology law. Oxford University Press.
Logan, P.Y., 2020. Crafting an undergraduate information security emphasis within information
technology. Journal of Information Systems Education, 13(3), p.3.
Nazzaro, M., 2020. IT 101-106: Introduction to Information Technology.
Nematolahi, M. and Abhari, S., 2020. Assessing the information and communication technology
infrastructures of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in order to implement the
telemedicine system in 2013. Interdisciplinary Journal of Virtual Learning in Medical
Sciences, 5(2), pp.44-51.
Schostak, J.F. ed., 2020. Breaking into the curriculum: The impact of information technology on
schooling. Routledge.
Turvey, B.E. ed., 2020. Criminal profiling: an introduction to behavioral evidence analysis.
Academic press.
Watrous-deVersterre, L., 2020. IT 101-004: Introduction to Information Technology.