Management in Information Technology

This document discusses the principles of staff management, application of software management tools, and strategic planning in Dell's IT management. It explores the recruitment policy, theories of change management and staff motivation, evaluation of staff administration documentation, and the use of software tools for management planning. It also evaluates the role of IT in Dell's strategic planning and research methods for contributing to the strategic plan. Find comprehensive study material, solved assignments, essays, and more at Desklib.

MANAGEMENT IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
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Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1 Principles of staff management............................................................................................3
1.1 Policy of staff recruitment in Dell.............................................................................................3
1.2 Theories regarding change management and staff motivation..................................................4
1.3 Evaluation of Dell’s staff administration documentation..........................................................6
Task 2 Application of the different software management tools.....................................................7
2.1 Use of the tools of system management for the process of management planning...................7
2.2 Application of the software management tools for improving the process of management
planning...........................................................................................................................................7
Task 3 Strategic planning................................................................................................................8
3.1 Critical evaluation of the role of IT for Dell’s strategic planning.............................................8
3.2 Research methods for contribution to the strategic plan of Dell...............................................9
3.3 Issues related to the strategic planning of Dell........................................................................10
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Evaluation of significance of involving the developments in the technology for Dell...........12
4.2 Analysis of the impact of new technology on Dell’s management.........................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Reference list.................................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
The company DELL started its business as a startup for the unconventional personal computer
and has now evolved into a leader in the global technology. Initially, the emphasis of the
company was not based on the consumer market. However, the low margins of profit and the
high costs lead the company to change its emphasis. DELL is focused on the delivery of services
and solutions to the customers. The recruitment in the company is done by the use of both
internal and external methods of recruitment and follows the proper staff retention policies like
providing the rewards and appraisals. The basic strategy of DELL is to work in the direction of
meeting the demands of the customers. Recently, it has been observed that the company is facing
some problems due to the use of the manual process for the operations of management. The aim
of the study is to be able to grab the activities of a technology manager based on the work with
the provision of generic skills and understanding of the IT environment.
Task 1 Principles of staff management
1.1 Policy of staff recruitment in Dell
The staff recruitment policy of Dell is more or less similar to that of other rival companies
however with a slight difference depending upon the ranks and positions of the post. They keep
certain points as essential criteria for selection. The essential question that they ask is the amount
of salary that the candidate was receiving from the previous job and how much amount he or she
is willing from this company. Next question that the company put forward is whether the
particular candidate is accustomed to working in the corporate world where competition and
challenges are endless. The last question that they ask is whether the candidate asking for the job
has the required skills and techniques that the company is required. Skill is the most important
qualification that the candidate must possess because that is what a big company like Dell
requires. The competition is very high at the top level. So they need workers who are very much
skilled and are able to handle. The company organizes a group discussion and a personal
interview followed by a technical briefing of the job. Then only the candidate is selected for the
required post. Since the recruitment process is unbiased, most deserving candidates are the one
who gets recruited by the company.
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1.2 Theories regarding change management and staff motivation
It is the job of the manager to get the job done by the employees in the workplaces. For this to be
done the manager performs various functions, particularly they try to motivate the employees in
various methods. This is, however, a very tough process. The motivation of the employees is
very easy on paper but it is a very tough when it is put into practice. Any big company like Dell
as discussed here has successfully applied this theory in their companies and has gained benefit
out of this. The most important of those are Need theory, equity theory, Expectancy Theory.
Figure 1: Need theory of motivation
(Source: Makino et al. 2014, p.49)
The process of exerting efforts of a high level to meet the organizational goals and the
willingness is conditioned with the ability to satisfy the individual needs along with it is known
as Need theory of motivation. Equity theory is somewhat different than the other theories, it
states that promotion and increment that are provided to a worker directly affects another worker,
the second employee feels neglected or cheated. This type of thought process must be avoided in
the company. Expectancy theory is related to the choice and mental process self-interest and
rewards. Any rewards that are presented to the workers directly affect their performances.
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Figure 2: Change Management
(Source: Hamidi et al. 2016, p. 1531)
Change management focuses the activities that will make the individual changes to take place
and achieve the required organizational goals. The goals and results of the management of
change are provided by ADKAR theory. This theory states that when changes take place at an
individual level the whole organization simultaneously changes with it. The change management
theory is applied by Dell on its grassroots level and its positive outcome is prominently visible in
the top management.
1.3 Evaluation of Dell’s staff administration documentation
The company maintains the data of the employees in the form of records. Prior to the joining, the
documentation process is followed where the terms and conditions of the job are provided in the
written form and the employees are made to sign the document to express their agreement to
those rules. Albrechts (2013, p.47) mentioned that the standards of the company are clearly
mentioned in these documents along with the systems to be followed in the organization. The
policies and the procedures of the company are also defined in the documents. Having signed the
document, the employee provides the consent to abide by the norms of the company. These
documents contain the record of the activities of the employee regarding the job so that the
performance of the employee can be tracked. The records about the positive and the negative
contributions are also recorded for the determination of the rewards and the punishments to be
given to the employees. The documents need to be created at the time of the happening of the
event so that the details input are exact and accurate.
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The expected behaviors of the employees are recorded in the employee handbook. According to
Cassidy (2016, p.3), this document also contains the requirements of the workplace in order to
maintain the order at the workplace and the definition is provided about the behavior which the
employees are expected to display. Any unpleasant events in the company and the misconduct of
the employees are also recorded in the company.
The projects which are being carried out in the company are properly scheduled and the records
are maintained regarding the progress of the project on the individual basis. All the employees
are asked to furnish the records of the work they accomplish in the entire day. This record is
basically compared with the predefined goals and the performance of the employee is evaluated
on this basis. All the reports are maintained for the purpose of monitoring the performance of the
employees.
Task 2 Application of the different software management tools
2.1 Use of the tools of system management for the process of management
planning
The system management tools are used for the various procedures of the organization. The issues
faced by the company regarding the budgetary process are due to the manual operations. This
issue can be solved with the help of the tools which facilitate the automation of the budgeting.
The automation of the budgeting reduced the manual input which ultimately reduces the chances
of making mistakes. The automation tools ensure that the calculations and the analysis are
faultless and therefore dependable. This tool is able to do the allocation of the budget on the
daily basis. With the help of these tools, the management becomes very easy and the
effectiveness of the process increases to a great extent. Dell is a company of a large scale and
therefore the activities taking place within the organization is highly complex. Owing to the
complexity of the activities and a large number of employees, the management becomes a very
complicated task. Therefore the tools of system management come to the rescue. These tools are
also efficient in the communication process so that the employees can be able to discuss the
various problems and the problems can be solved accordingly. This facilitates the smooth
functioning of the organization.
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2.2 Application of the software management tools for improving the process of
management planning
The process of management planning deals with the assessment of the goals of the organization
and the creation of a detailed plan which needs to be followed for achieving the goals (Farkas,
2016, p.20). This plan also includes the long-term and the short-term strategies of the business.
The basic steps involved in the planning process involves the establishment of the goals,
identification of the resources, creation of the tasks and allocation the priority, creation of the
timeline and establishment of the methods of evaluation.
Goetsch and Davis (2014, p.53) said that the budgets need to be allocated and prepared for each
of the activities to take place in the organization. In the chosen organization, the budget prepared
with the use of manual procedures. The effectiveness of the procedure can be increased with the
help of different software that are designed for this purpose. Tidemark is one of the software
developed for the purpose of automating the budgeting system of an organization. This is used
for extensive budget planning and also enables the tracking of the results. According to (Gulati
and Posner (2016, p.479), the main features of the application are the financial planning, revenue
planning, budgeting and forecasting and the management of the supply chain management as
well. The diary management software can be used for the creation of a schedule for the multiple
clients, rooms, staff and other resources. The main feature of the tool is that it helps in the time
management and tracking as well as sharing the diaries with others.
The intranet can be used for the establishment of the connectivity within the employees to enable
the effective sharing of information within the organization (Hayes, 2014, p.10). The software
like the PowerNoodle and the Analytica are the applications which can be used for the analysis
of the business data for the presentation to the users to enable them to take better business
decisions effortlessly. These applications present the information with the help of graphs and
charts and may also imply the artificial intelligence for the purpose.
Hill et al. (2014, p.65) said that the project management software can be deployed for the
planning, organizing and managing the resource tools and develop the estimations for the
resources. The management information system can be used for maintaining the financial
information of the company. All the information is stored in the database and the programming is
done in order to enable the production of the reports based on the recorded data.
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Task 3 Strategic planning
3.1 Critical evaluation of the role of IT for Dell’s strategic planning
According to Judge et al. (2014, p.199), the information technology is considered to a significant
part of any organization. The IT strategic planning has recently been found to be highly effective
in increasing the returns on investment. The definition of the roles of the team is a very important
aspect of the planning process. The next phase in the plan creation is the discovery phase where
the information is collected and the feedback is taken from the stakeholders. This stage requires
several documents which include the software and the hardware inventories, organization charts,
policies and procedures, network topology diagrams and the operation plans regarding the
disaster recovery. The feedback can be collected with the help of surveys and interviews. The
motive of the feedback is the assessment of the performance of the IT along with the
opportunities and the challenges faced by the same.
The company uses the IT for the process of strategic planning. The information technology helps
in the effective delivery of the integrated information to the customers so that they are able to
access the information as per their requirement (Nevo et al. 2016, p.180). The requirements of
the customers are very effectively met with the help of IT. The IT also supports the innovations
to achieve an overall improvement in the business. This helps to increase the effectiveness of the
allocation of the resources for the project. The information technology is used in the strategic
planning for various purposes like providing the access to the information to all the concerned
members and improving the communications within the individuals and the groups as well. The
security of the system is maintained and the data is kept secure so that it can be recovered at the
time of disasters. According to Pawar et al. (2016, p.12), it also ensures the integrity and the
privacy of the data along with the reliability and the suitable use of the data. The use of
information technology also helps to increase the connectivity of the business and to enhance the
productivity of the business. Dell makes use of the IT in order to be able to survive in the
competitive market and to get hold of the new opportunities available to the company.
3.2 Research methods for contribution to the strategic plan of Dell
The strategic planning basically deals with the definition of the strategy, and the allocation of the
resources according to the strategy. Prior to the planning of the strategy, the company needs to
carry out a proper research for the evaluation of the factors involved. Dell has done the same.
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The process of strategic planning involves the analysis of the present situation and the definition
of the future state along with the determination of the strategies and the implementation. The
appropriate planning tools have to be used for the correct planning. The appropriateness of the
plan can be judged on the basis of the criteria like the relevance of the method, cost
effectiveness, communications and the sustainability as well. The various periodicals and the
internet can be used for the collection of the data regarding the market and the customers of the
specific market. The issues and the problems need to be clarified. According to Yim et al.
(2015, p.3), this can be done by checking the relevance of the plan with the objective of the
business. The options are considered and compared in order to choose the best one out of those.
The cost to be incurred for the adaptation and the implementation of the plan also needs to be
determined. The social, Economic and the environmental analysis also needs to be done at the
time of planning. The social assessment can be done with the help of formal surveys. However,
these surveys are expensive and time-consuming in the case of a large sample size. The
environmental assessment needs to be done based on the forecast which is done on the basis of
the statistics available. The benefit-cost analysis can be implied for the analysis of the economic
factors. Dell needs to use these methods of research for determining the strategy. The legal and
the ethical issues should also be taken into consideration.
3.3 Issues related to the strategic planning of Dell
Recently there have been some issues encountered in the strategic planning of dell. This has been
done based on the PEST analysis which is discussed as follows:
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Figure 3: Strategic Management
(Source: Roderick et al. 2015, p.23)
Political
The political aspects of the analysis include the factors like the legislations as well as the
conflicts within the organization. There may be some legislative regulations which may not be in
favor of the business environment. These need to be considered at the time of planning. The
internal conflicts may appear due to the lack of leadership. The leaders within the organization
play an essential role in the process of planning. They need to take up the responsibilities and the
initiatives related to the plan. According to Roderick et al. (2015, p.23), the leaders need to have
a clear vision of the goals and they need to create the missions and the activities need to be
performed owing to the values. The leader must be able to foresee the situations which are likely
to appear at the time of progress of the project.
Economic
The economic factors include the factors like the economic trends and the issues related to the
taxation. Schwalbe (2015, p.36) stated that the specific factors of the industry also need to be
considered along with the needs of the customer who are the ultimate drivers for the company.
The company Dell has focused on the needs of the customer since the time of the creation of the
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firm. The company is always involved in the innovative developments in order to provide the
customers with the latest technologies. The company also needs to determine the replacements of
the existing technologies which have emerged into the market for the existing technology.
Social
The social factors include the factors like the lifestyle trends of the people, the views of media,
and the opinion and the attitudes of the consumers, the changes made in the existing laws and the
advertisements and the publicity of the products. Owing to these factors, the company needs to
redesign the advertisements depending on the views of the customers on the various media. The
image of the brand needs to maintained as per the demand of the customers (Verhulst and
Lambrechts (2015, p.200).
Technological
The technological aspects include the factors like the competition, funds of the research, the
legislation related to the technologies and the potential of innovation as well. The company is
highly inclined towards the latest innovations. The company is continuously involved in the
creation of new products and services which are used for the ease of the customers. However,
some of the products created are not found to be user-friendly and therefore these need to be
considered for better convenience of the customers.
Task 4
4.1 Evaluation of significance of involving the developments in the technology
for Dell
The technology plays an essential role in the field of business. The businesses largely depend on
the technology for various activities like research and development along with the production
and delivery of the products to the customers. The technology is used for fulfilling a number of
business needs which include the information management systems which facilitates the
handling of the information of the employees. This information includes the profile of the client
and the employees and the track records of the performances. With the help of technologies,
automation of systems can be achieved for the productions on a large scale and the packaging of
the products.
The ways of communication and marketing can also be automated for the convenience of the
business. Multiple systems can be used at once for a fast and efficient transport of the goods. The
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technology has also been a major driver of the globalization process. The proper communication
helps the companies to get a competitive advantage by analyzing the response of the people
regarding the different products and the different brands. There are several tools for data analysis
which help in automatic data analysis which saves the time and effort. The overall efficiency of
the business is increased with the help of technologies.
4.2 Analysis of the impact of new technology on Dell’s management
The developments in the information technology help a great deal to make the work easier and
reduce the cost of the business. The automation of the back office functions is also done with the
help of the new technology. The inclusion of the latest technology into the business helps the
employees to acquire the new skills. The employees need to be provided with proper training on
the new technologies to be used. The technology can also be used for maintaining the security of
the stored data. The management at the senior level can be improved with the help of using
software designed for the purpose of monitoring the performance of the employees. This will
help in the detection of the loopholes within the organization. According to Wallace et al. (2016,
p.999), the communication process is highly improved with the use of emails or apps.
Dell makes use of the intranet and the extranet for establishing the secure connections within the
workplace as well as among the different workplaces of the same organization. They make use of
the electronic methods of communication for collecting the feedback of the customers which in
turn helps in the enhancement of the productivity. The functions of the company have also
become highly convenient with the evolution of various applications which automatically
perform these activities. This also helps in the reduction of human labor as the majority of the
task is done by the machines. A Higher level of customer satisfaction can be achieved by
providing them the appropriate customer service and technical support.
Weaver et al. (2014, p.180) said that the use of social media can be considered as a revolution in
the world of business. The companies are able to advertise their products on the social media at a
negligible cost. The social media is a fantastic means of communication as a mass of people can
be approached at a single instance. The increasing fame of the social medium makes it an
effective platform for advertising of the products and evaluating the response to the product.
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Conclusion
In this particular study, the various techniques of management with respect to the Information
technology have been analyzed. All the organizations have distinct policies and procedures of
recruitment. The recruitment policies of the company have been discussed in this study.
Employee motivation is one of essential aspects related to the growth and productivity of the
organization. The changes are a vital part of the organizational culture. However, if the changes
are not managed properly, it may lead to chaotic situation. Therefore the proper strategies need
to be designed and followed for the management of the change. The manual task carried out in
the organization consumes a lot of time and energy which can hamper the working of the
organization. This problem can be solved with the help of the various technologies in the
market. The use of technologies has also been discussed in details.
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