IT for Business1 Contents Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1 Advantages and Disadvantages of new POS system....................................................................................1 Competitive advantage through POS system..............................................................................................2 Advantage of centralized database.............................................................................................................2 POS system facilitating decision making......................................................................................................3 Ways in which POS systems process business activities effectively.........................................................3 Types of questions that could be answered............................................................................................4 Information used for better business management................................................................................4 Telecommunication options available.........................................................................................................4 Type of network......................................................................................................................................5 Type of media..........................................................................................................................................5 Types of risks in POS system........................................................................................................................5 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6 References...................................................................................................................................................7
IT for Business2 Introduction In the digitalized environment, information technology has become one of the most crucial needs of the modern day business activities. No organization can become competitive without using the hi-tech information technology practices. Use of such technology smoothens the business activities, also it ensures that the organization do not face any difficulty in the initiating their activities in the competitive environment (Adeoti, and Osotimehin 2012). The below mentioned report provides a detailed information about the point of sale services of the organization. The given case study of Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery, located in Colorado explained that the company is facing difficulty in recording the information and managing effective sales as well. Resulting to which, the organization introduces the POS system. The report provides advantages, disadvantages, risks, competitive advantage gained by the company with the use of this process. It also explains the ways through which the company uses POS system to facilitate decision making and advantages of centralized database. More details about the report are discussed below: Advantages and Disadvantages of new POS system POS system is one of the most significant technologies used in the business that helps them in the process of increasing the efficiency of the organization. Some of the advantages of POS system are discussed below: Improved efficiency: This process increases the efficiency of the organization by employing technology in the business process. Earlier the organization used to record the sales transaction manually that gave chances to error and issues in the organization. Apart from accuracy, this process also reduced the pressure of the employees so that they can focus on other innovative activities. Accuratereports:Withtheincreasein efficiency,accuracyofthework isalso increased. The company uses automated machine to record the transactions and calculate the profit and losses for the organization that increases the accuracy for the company (Gomzin 2014).
IT for Business3 Efficient stock management: The POS system used in the company helps them in recording the inventory details online every time stock is purchased by the company or sold. The system automatically calculates the stock and alerts the organization in advance if inventory margin is reduced (Pantano 2013). Disadvantages: The cost of system maintenance increases with the use of this process. As with the help regular process the company did not require technology. Thus, this process increases cost of management The company attracts cyber-security issue as well, as with the use of POS system the company stores all data online that give advantage to hackers to hack the system and gain information about the company (Szell, Lambiotte, and Thurner 2010). Competitive advantage through POS system The POS system provides numerous benefits to the business in the current business environment. Thisprocesshelpstheorganizationin increasingthecompetitiveadvantageininitiating efficiencyoftheorganization.Withthehelpofthissystemaccuracyofthecompany automatically increases and they employees also use effective technology in the organization. IT activities help the company to identify its activities in the target market. As the workload of employees reduces thus the employees gain the advantage to focus on generating maximum profits for the company. This process also gives advantage to the organization to complete the sales transaction and its recording on time. The company easily maintains the record and the customers also need not to wait for a long time while billing. With the process the company can also introduce enterprise ERP activities in the organization effectively. The CRM process of the organization majorly supports the POS activities in the company (Rese, Schreiber, and Baier 2014). Advantage of centralized database Itisimportantforthenew,innovativeanddevelopingorganizationslikeFourSeasons Greenhouse and Nursery to make sure that they have combined and allocated the database
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IT for Business4 system in a centralized format. Further, the company receives many advantages with the use of centralized database system that are discussed below: As there is single location of attack for the process, thus the chances for the system to get hacked reduces as it is difficult for the hackers to crack on system in which all information is stored. While making an important decision, information can be easily availed from the system. The best feature of centralized system is the company can easily gain information about the activities without disturbing any other department (Laudon, and Laudon 2016). The acts of portability and data management become easier to access. The process is cost efficient as its data storage uses less resources and provide more competencies. Changing the process and managing the data becomes an easy activity (Blust, and Driscoll, NCR Corp 2017). POS system facilitating decision making Data is an aspect that plays the most important role for the organization while initiating an important decision. The POS system easily handles large amount of real time data resulting to which the system helps in efficient decision making process. Highly data driven approach is used in the centralized system that helps the POS system in attaining competitive edge in target market. This system helps the companies in acquiring information about the market and the customers that helps them in adequately handling them and initiating sales as well. The POS system facilitates the decision making process by providing exact and accurate data to the company and integrating various functions so as to achieve the satisfaction level of the customers as well. The decision of the company becomes more balanced with the introduction of this system (Lipton, et. al., 2015). Ways in which POS systems process business activities effectively Information can be tracked easily by using the manual methods but the employees need to find out which data they actually want. This process takes time, thus it is not good to use this type of process in modern day business. Also, if the employees track the information using the manual method then there is also chance of misinterpretation of the information that can lead the
IT for Business5 organization in making wrong decisions. Thus, it should be noted that under this process the employees need to put full efforts to attain the information that too not accurate. The manual tracking is not as quick and accurate as information tracking in POS system (Orr, et. al., 2015). Types of questions that could be answered The POS system answers varied questions of the organization and resolve their queries related to thetransactionandsalesprocess.Thesystemfirstlystoresandthenprovidesaccurate information about the target customers present in the environment, their taste and preferences, and the products highly sold in the target market. The POS system also helps in gaining information about the competencies of the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery and the ways in which they can earn advantage using them (Van Horn, et. al., 2016). Information used for better business management Data that holds strategic importance in the business can be adequately acquired using the POS systems. The system provides all mandatory information related to the customer, sales and expenses done by the organization that can further help them in managing the business more efficiently. As the system provides information about the operations of the company, thus, the company can find the errors in their process using this system and eradicate them effectively. The POS system highlights the areas where the company is investing more efforts that are reducing the competitive advantage of the company. Thus, with the help of this process, the company finds out the issues and resolves them to attain a sound management system (Smith, and Schmidt, Hand Held Products Inc 2018). Telecommunication options available With the introduction of innovation in the telecommunication sector, the company receives many options to sustain their growth in the target market. Although there are many telecommunication options available in the market but the organization should acquire the one that completely meets its requirements. Further, basics as well as advanced options are available for the organization according to the type of network.
IT for Business6 Type of network Many network options are available with Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery Company but with the use of LAN connection, the company can easily benefits their thinking into actions. The company is currently at the developmental stage and aims to introduce POS systems in the process. Thus, in order to access the available resources and make best use of it, the company should use LAN network as it will provide higher speed data collection to them (Redmond, et. al., 2016). Type of media As the company operates a single store so they can easily use wired connection. This connection will help the company in following ways: Easy maintenance High speed connectivity Less chance of data breach Further, utilizing the Ethernet connection, the company can gain advantage in the target market by attaining high profits at low costs. Types of risks in POS system With the introduction of new technology in the business, all companies are prone to some serious risks for the business just like Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery Company. Further, the belowmentionedaretherisksconnectedwiththePOSsystemanditsimpactonthe organizational activities as well. Privacy: The POS system gather large amount of data and store it in the cloud. Thus, it is important for the company to ensure that the system is private and will not give information to any outsider. Privacy of the information is a challenging task when many active hackers are present in the market. These people can gain access of the information and use them to hamper the image of the company in the market (Baarman, et. al., 2015). Security: as whole information about the company is stored in the POS systems of the organization. So, it becomes important for the organization to secure the system in such a way that it cannot be used by some unknown person. If the security of the system is weak
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IT for Business7 then the hackers might breach the information and make use of it for their cruel intentions. Confidentiality: The POS systems stores information related to the activities of the company and its stakeholders as well. For instance, the customers make payments electronically through POS machine. Thus, it is important for the company to maintain confidentially in the business for the safety of clients and the company as well (Barten, Metrologic Instruments Inc 2014). Conclusion Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, it should be noted that there are many advantages as well as disadvantages of using the POS systems for the company Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery. It is important for the organization to effectively look at the pros and cons and then use the process in such a way that they gain competitive advantage in the target market. The company should make use of wired LAN connection for the system according to the business specifications. Apart from it, the company should also take specific mitigations for the risks involved with the business.
IT for Business8 References Adeoti, O. and Osotimehin, K., 2012. Adoption of point of sale terminals in Nigeria: Assessment of consumers’ level of satisfaction.Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 3(1), pp.1-6. Baarman, D.W., Mollema, S.A. and Stoner, W.T., Access Business Group International LLC, 2015.Point of sale inductive systems and methods. U.S. Patent 9,027,840. Barten, H.J.M., Metrologic Instruments Inc, 2014.POS-based code symbol reading system with integrated scale base and system housing having an improved produce weight capturing surface design. U.S. Patent 8,789,757. Blust, D. and Driscoll, T., NCR Corp, 2017.Automated business system and method of vending and returning a consumer product. U.S. Patent 9,646,451. Gomzin, S. 2014.Hacking Point of Sale: Payment Application Secrets, Threats, and Solutions, John Wiley & Sons. Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016.Management information system. Pearson Education India. Lipton, A.J., Venetianer, P.L., Haering, N., Brewer, P.C., Yin, W., Zhang, Z., Yu, L., Hu, Y., Myers, G.W., Chosak, A.J. and Cutting, R.A., 2015.Video analytics for retail business process monitoring. U.S. Patent 9,158,975. Orr, R.N., Lemley, D., Hotchkies, C.J. and Dehoux, J.L., Atx Innovation Inc, 2015.System and method for interfacing a client device with a point of sale system. U.S. Patent 9,195,982. Pantano, E., 2013. Ubiquitous retailing Innovative Scenario: from the fixed point of sale to the flexible ubiquitous store.Journal of technology management & innovation, 8(2), pp.84-92. Redmond, E., Huang, J. and Heisinger, P., Visa USA Inc, 2016.Method and system for providing multiple services via a point-of-sale portal architecture. U.S. Patent 9,269,082.
IT for Business9 Rese, A., Schreiber, S. and Baier, D., 2014. Technology acceptance modeling of augmented reality at the point of sale: Can surveys be replaced by an analysis of online reviews?.Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services,21(5), pp.869-876. Smith, T. and Schmidt, M., Hand Held Products Inc, 2018.System for providing a continuous communication link with a symbol reading device. U.S. Patent 9,930,142. Szell, M., Lambiotte, R. and Thurner, S., 2010. Multirelational organization of large-scale social networks in an online world.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(31), pp.13636-13641. Van Horn, E., Kearney, S.P., Giordano, P.A., Good, T., Dickinson, C., Au, K.M., Wilz Sr, D., Furlong, J.A., Hejl, B., Walczyk, J.A. and Coyle, L., 2016.Multifunction point of sale system. U.S. Patent 9,412,242.