Introduction to Information technology Sample Assignment

INTRODUCTION TO
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This assignment has highlighted on social and ethical issues associated with the
technology in retail business, different types of network used in the organizations and use of
information technology in merchandising business. It is a process of selling products or services
to the customers through multiple retail channels of distribution like stores or e-commerce
website to earn profit like pricing and quality strategy as these are the two main factors that a
customer lay emphasis on.
Information technology in retail sector is used in different ways like to analyse and
collect data to enhance differentiation, to work efficiently and manage their work across all of
their stores and to manage their inventories so increase their sales etc. it also uses different
networking technologies which is used for connecting systems via satellite, optical cable,
wireless connection to relay various resources, data or communication worldwide. It mostly uses
building infrastructure either through internet networking, communications, voice mails etc. But
usage of these information system comes with many social and ethical issues like privacy issues,
security issues etc.
It has been found that information technology in retail sector is used in different ways
through different systems and networking technologies. There are various systems like point of
sales system or ERP system etc. that are used by retail organizations to improve their business.
These systems use many networking technologies for communication and for business. But this
has also created some social and ethical issues in business that should be addressed especially in
retail organizations.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Purpose...................................................................................................................................1
Background.............................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................1
About business, their services, competitive strategies...........................................................1
Information Technology and its role in retail business..........................................................1
Networking technology and its types.....................................................................................2
Ethics and social issues of using technology..........................................................................3
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN............................................................................................................3
Role of information technology in retail business..................................................................3
Ethics and social issues in Marks ans Spencers.....................................................................4
Networking types in Marks and Spencers..............................................................................5
FINDINGS.......................................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Purpose
This assignment will focus on different information technologies used, various types of
networking technologies, ethical and social issues faced by companies in detail. In this
assignment details about Marks and Spencer company has been explained. It is UK based retail
organization which has more than 600 stores in UK and 300+ stores all over the world.
Background
Information technology is the study, management, implementation, use or development of
information based systems especially applications, software or hardware used in businesses or by
individuals. There are many information systems that are used by retail organizations which has
changed their ways of doing business. These systems use various types of networking
technologies for doing business but use of these technologies has created some social as well as
some ethical issues in organizations that are needed to be resolved.
LITERATURE REVIEW
About business, their services, competitive strategies
Marks and Spencer is UK based retail organization which has more than 600 stores in
UK and 300+ stores all over the world with global presence in more than 50 countries. It is one
of the most famous brand in UK with many stores and online presence. Marks and Spencer sell
home products, clothings, food products etc. and operates in different countries. There are many
competitive strategies used by Marks and Spencer to compete in this market full of competition
(Shuen, 2018).
 Price: As there are many substitutes available in the market in almost similar price
Marks and Spencer mostly choose the lowest price strategies in which price of the
product is comparatively lower than their competitors to attract more customers.
 Quality: They also try to maintain the quality of the products provided to the customers,
as many customers prefer quality products as compared to cheap products with low
quality.
Information Technology and its role in retail business
Information technology in retail sector is used in different ways like to analyse and
collect data to enhance differentiation, to work efficiently and manage their work across all of
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their stores and to manage their inventories so increase their sales etc. It's role in the retail
industry is wide but mostly it is used for:
 Point of sales systems are used in many retail industry organizations which enables them
to improve their payment processes and allows customers to use contactless payment
which makes it a much easier process for both retailer and customers. This has improved
the transaction systems and led to higher sales volume.
 Use of information technology has also improved management of inventory which was a
very much time consuming and costly process before. But now with inventory
management systems companies can easily track their items, update real time changes in
stock and to order required items for inventory. It has also increased the security of
inventory items and reduced theft.
Payroll system, sales management system, transaction processing systems etc. are one of the
most famous systems that are used by companies
Networking technology and its types
Networking technology is used for connecting systems via satellite, optical cable,
wireless connection to relay various resources, data or communication worldwide. It mostly uses
building infrastructure either through internet networking, communications, voice mails etc.
There are many types of networking technologies but mostly three types of networking
technologies are being used like:
 Local Area Network: It is one of the most basic network that is used in a relatively small
area. In retail sector it is mostly used in one building, store or schools etc. Devices and
computers connected in this network are mostly categorised in two types i.e. workstations
or servers. Servers are mostly not used by individuals directly but it is run continuously to
provide service to other computers available on the network. Workstations include
display, keyboard, mouse, billing devices, scanners etc.
 Metropolitan Area Network: this network is mostly used to connect all the building,
stores etc. in a city or a small region. It can cover an area of several miles. It connects
several local area networks to form larger network.
 Wide Area Network: This network is used to connect all the devices or computers in the
whole world. Using this network information can be shared with anyone in the world at
any time.
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Ethics and social issues of using technology
There are many social and ethical issues of using a technology but few of them are the
main such as:
 Privacy of individuals personal information is one of the biggest ethical issues that has
been identified and is done through various applications of technology (López-Navarro,
and Segarra Ciprés, 2015). Many companies today track buying habits, internet usage and
even collect personal information of their customers or clients which is completely
unethical.
 With the help of technology digital text conversations of employees of a company are
being monitors by organization continuously. On the name of security much additional
information that is not required by the company is collected and stored by the
organization which is unethical.
 Technology has created many social media platform where individuals can share their
thoughts, information etc. freely with everyone. Companies use this information for their
benefits and if any of their employees comment about their organization then they
sometime terminate them which is completely unethical practise done by companies.
 Social issue that is faced by most of the companies is tax theft there many companies
show losses in their financial system in order to save tax money.
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Role of information technology in retail business
Role of information technology in retail sector is most important as there are many
systems that are used in business at the same time like:
 Management Information System: MIS is mostly used with internal sources of
information. It is a proper use of people and technology to maintain the flow of
information within the organization (Laudon, 2015). In retail sector it is used for point of
sale data collection, inventory control, managing logistics and also to maintain the
internal communication as all of these operations affect the operations and marketing in
retail sector organizations. Inventory control systems is one of MIS system that is used
by Marks and Spencer.
 Decision Support System: DIS system is specifically designed to help management to
make decisions in various situations especially where there is uncertainty about the
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outcomes of those decisions (Tangudu and Sahu, 2019). In retail organizations it can be
used for operational decisions or to resolve managerial issues. It is mostly used for ERP
systems for inventory management, CRM, campaign management etc. Logistics systems
is one of the decision support system that is used by Marks and Spencer.
 Knowledge management system: KMS system is mostly used in retail sector of creation
and sharing of information (Kavanagh and Johnson, 2017). It is mostly used for
distribution and categorization of knowledge in business that might be contained in word
documents, power point presentations etc. In retail industry it is used for real time
managing, using and collection of customers data. In this industry KMS system is used
for improving their sales and bottom line. Marks and Spencer has their own enterprise
portal KMS system.
 Transaction processing System: TPS system is designed to process routine transactions
accurately and efficiently. It is one of the most useful system in retail industry for billing
and giving or sending invoice to the customers, to calculate monthly or weekly tax or
payroll payments, for purchasing system to calculate item requirements and at last it is
used for stock control system to process all the movements of the items stored. Order
processing system is one of the TPS system that is used by Marks and Spencer.
 Executive support system: ESS system is used by senior management to make strategic
decisions. This system gather, analyse and summarises the key external as well as
internal information that is to be used in the business. It mostly involves data modelling
and analysis tools which helps management in making strategic decisions. Marks and
Spencer has its own ESS system designed which they use for gathering information about
their business based on last year fiscal year and take decisions for future.
Ethics and social issues in Marks ans Spencers
Today social and ethical issues are present in every sector including in M&S:
 One of the most common ethical issue faced by M&S is pricing. They sometimes
increase the price of their products and then sell it in discount rate to gain profit. It is
completely unethical practice which should be avoided.
 Another unethical issue faced by them is to adopt marketing of products through social
media. Today just to make their product popular many organizations use social media as
a platform and uses persona information of their employees or clients for marketing of
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their products and services. There are many sensitive contents available on internet which
should not be shared with anyone but many companies uses these informations for their
service or product marketing which is completely unethical (Diallo and Lambey-
Checchin, 2017).
 Today quality and quantity of products are the most important things for customers but
sometime they degrade the quality of their product or decrease quantity of the product to
make more profit, increase sales and revenue of the company which is completely
unethical. They simply ignore that whether the product is unhealthy for the customers
that they are selling in different location where their stores are available.
 They also monitor their customers as well as employees and all the activities through
security cameras. In fact they ask for more than required information and use it whenever
they require it which is completely unethical. They also do not give their customers or
employees a chance to question them about the surveillance. It is completely unjustified
and the lowest level which is not accepted ethically (Elbeltagi and Agag, 2016).
 M&S have their own e-commerce websites through which they sell their products or
services but sometimes they lack in focusing on security of their websites or applications
as well as the products they sell. Today cyber crime like hacking is continuously
increasing. Through hacking many hackers buy products and pay with someone else
credit-card or does not even pay for it. It is one of the most important social issue faced
by many retail organizations.
Networking types in Marks and Spencers
 Internet: Internet is one of the most important way of communication or network
through which information is shared. It can either be done by sharing information on
websites of the company and allowing instant access to the same data from anywhere in
the world. Buying products online through their e-commerce websites is a dynamic way
of communication as that information is shared with the company in real time. Marks and
Spencer have their own E-Commerce Website through which customers buy products.
 Wireless communication: In M&S wireless communication like walkie-talkie is used
which uses organization's network to communicate their message to others. With the help
of this technology any information is shared directly in real time to the receiver at any
location with the signals available for sender.
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 Cloud Computing: It is a whole new level of cloud communicating which uses
networking technology. All the M&S employees' information and product information
etc. are stored virtually through computers or devices and can be accessed by any
authorized person from anywhere. It allows real time communication and interaction in a
same way as network does and can be accessed globally. In M&S cloud computing plays
a vital role as their whole business is based on data especially e-commerce business
(Newman, 2018).
 Networking: It allows users to communicate through video or voice calling in a very
secure and safe manner. It is also used in sharing information, interaction or
communicating with their other stores. It is the backbone of the business, based on which
many communications are done. It also inks together all the stores of the organization
through their web page or portals or through their cloud based applications. It is one of
the most common technology that is used by M&S through mobile phones or Skype ids.
 Social Media: It is one of the most efficient type of networking that is used by retail
business as they need to do marketing of their products and social media provides them a
platform through which companies can do marketing of their services or products. As
social media is used by everyone and uses wide area network so can be accessed by
everyone and everywhere instantly. Marks and Spencer also has their social media
presence where they efficiently do marketing of their products. (Axelsson and Easton,
2016).
FINDINGS
It has been found that information technology in retail sector is used in different ways
through different systems and networking technologies. There are various systems like point of
sales system or ERP system etc. that are used by retail organizations to improve their business.
These systems use many networking technologies for communication and for business. But this
has also created some social and ethical issues in business that should be addressed especially in
retail organizations.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Here are few recommendations to solve ethical and social issues that occur in retail
organization:
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 They can use third party services for security of their e-commerce business, so that these
cyber crimes can be minimized or controlled.
 They can also setup IT department whose responsibilities will be to ensure that all the
social media marketing done by companies are not unethical and are done responsibly.
CONCLUSION
From the above assignment it has been summarized that there are different types of
information system available that can be used by Marks and Spencer that helps them to boost
their business and increase their sales. But uses of these systems has also created some social and
ethical issues in the organization which should be removed. There are different networking
technologies that are used by M&S which makes communication beneath them more easy and
convinient.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Axelsson, B. and Easton, G., 2016. Industrial Networks (Routledge Revivals): A New View of
Reality. Routledge.
Diallo, M.F. and Lambey-Checchin, C., 2017. Consumers’ perceptions of retail business ethics
and loyalty to the retailer: the moderating role of social discount practices. Journal of
business ethics. 141(3). pp.435-449.
Elbeltagi, I. and Agag, G., 2016. E-retailing ethics and its impact on customer satisfaction and
repurchase intention: a cultural and commitment-trust theory perspective. Internet
Research. 26(1). pp.288-310.
Kavanagh, M.J. and Johnson, R.D. eds., 2017. Human resource information systems: Basics,
applications, and future directions. Sage Publications.
Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2015. Management information systems (Vol. 8). Prentice Hall.
López-Navarro, M.Á. and Segarra Ciprés, M., 2015. Social issues in business education: A study
of students' attitudes. Journal of Education for Business. 90(6). pp.314-321.
Newman, M., 2018. Networks. Oxford university press.
Shuen, A., 2018. Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful
Web 2.0 implementations. O'Reilly Media.
Tangudu, R. and Sahu, P.K., 2019. Strain resolution enhancement in Rayleigh-OTDR based
DSS system using LWT-MPSO scheme. Optik. 176. pp.102-113.
Online
Al Lyons on Using Passive Optical Network Technology to Design Smarter Buildings. 2018.
[Online]. Available through:<https://www.hok.com/thought-leadership/al-lyons-on-
using-passive-optical-network-technology-to-design-smarter-buildings/>.
Competitive strategies in operational excellence, customer intimacy and product leadership.
2013. [Online]. Available through:<https://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/competitive-
strategies-in-operational-excellence-customer-intimacy-and-product-leadership/>.
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