IT for Business

The report evaluates the need of using an information system in business and the benefits of the Point of Sales (POS) system that was undertaken by the management of Four Seasons. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of POS, competitive advantage, centralized database, decision making, telecommunication option, and risks.

Running head: IT FOR BUSINESS
IT for Business
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The need of information systems is mandatory in every organization as the benefits obtained by
the use of information technology is similar in small, medium or large sized business. However,
the implementation of information system is associated with spending a considerable amount of
money which may not be possible for any small sized organization. The benefits, advantages and
the disadvantages of the use of information system are needed to be evaluated in order to assess
the need of such systems in business organizations. The report takes into consideration the case
of implementation of point of sales system in Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
1. Advantages and Disadvantages.......................................................................................3
1.1. Advantages of POS...................................................................................................3
1.2. Disadvantages...........................................................................................................5
2. Competitive Advantage...................................................................................................6
3. Centralized Database: Advantages..................................................................................6
4. Decision Making..............................................................................................................7
5. Telecommunication Option.............................................................................................7
6. Risks................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................8
References..........................................................................................................................10
Appendix............................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Technology has a very important role to play in controlling any number of business
operations of a particular organization. One of the most significant requirements of the large
organization is to integrate their business processes with an information system in order to
efficiently manage the internal business operations of the organization (Rainer et al. 2013).
However, the need of an information system is equally important in medium or small sized
information. In this report the adoption of an information system in a nursery named Four
Seasons is evaluated. The nursery was badly in need of an information system as keeping track
of the business operations by making use of registers manually was a tiresome work.
Furthermore, it was found out that the data on the manual registers were erroneous that added to
the reason of loss in the company. This is the reason, the company decided to adopt a point of
sales system. This business report will evaluate the need of using an information system in
business and the benefits of the Point of Sales (POS) system that was undertaken by the
management of Four Seasons.
1. Advantages and Disadvantages
Four Seasons was in need of an information system that would be capable of managing
the different business operations of the organization. For that, a point of sales system was
implemented in the nursery. The use of POS although impacted the organization in a positive
way; there are a few disadvantages associated with process of implementation of the POS, which
are discussed in the following sections.
1.1. Advantages of POS

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1. As an advantage, the point of sales system eliminates the possible human errors
associated with the maintenance of records of the organization (Kirchmer 2012). Therefore,
choice of point of sales system saves money for a long term as there is no chance of errors.
2. Another advantage of the new point of sale system is that, the management of
inventory becomes quite easy. The point of sales system enables inventory tracking in real time
thus there are no chances of error in the data (Arvidsson, Holmström and Lyytinen 2014). With
the help of POS, the management can easily track what is selling and therefore, it helps in easier
management of the inventory units.
3. The management of the customers’ queries and request can be done faster as the order
requests can be easily processed with the help of the POS (Caldeira et al. 2012).
4. The point of sales system helps in eliminating the issues such as data duplication,
erroneous data entry that is more common in manual record keeping. Therefore, the new point of
sales system helped in proper management of the data and the vital operations of the
organization.
5. The point of sales system records everything that passes the cash drawer of the
organization (Eason 2014). The timely recording of the each action or the operation of the
organization helps the management in taking important decisions of the organization.
6. The use of the new point of sales system has helped the company in identifying the
current gaps of the existing system, such as cost of products. An incorrect knowledge about the
profitable products resulted in considerable loss of the organization which were identified by the
new point of sales system.

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7. The new point of sales system enabled transparency in the existing operation of the
organization (Laudon and Laudon 2016). Controlling the employee and labour schedule was
possible with the help of the new POS system and this helped in setting up a realistic goal for the
staffs of the organization.
The above discussed points are the positive impacts of using a point of sales system in
business considering the case of Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery. However, there are
certain negative impacts of implementation of a new point of sales system in business. These
negative impacts are discussed in the next section.
1.2. Disadvantages
1. A considerable amount of time and money is needed to be invested in migration of the
records to the new system. This process should be error free in order to properly evaluate the
current condition of the business, its issues and needs.
2. A point of sales system is either web based or software based. In web based system,
the cost of web access is considerably huge, which is one of the significant disadvantages
associated with the use of the new point of sales system.
3. A timely installation of the updates is necessary in order to maintain a normal
operation of the new point of sales system (Jeston 2014). This is one major issue associated with
the use of the new point of sales system.
4. The implementation cost of the point of sales system was quite high considering the
current condition of the nursery. However, the increase in profit of the organization can make up
to the losses that the organization faced with the manual registers.

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5. There are a number of security risks associated with the implementation of the new
point of sales system (Hall 2012). The security issues mainly arise as connection to the web is
necessary in order to maintain the normal operations of the point of sales system.
The above discussed points give an idea of the negative impact that the point of sales
system can have on a particular business.
2. Competitive Advantage
One of the positive impacts of installation of a point of sales system is that the business
gets a competitive advantage in the market due to its ease of management. The different ways by
which a POS helps a business in gaining competitive advantage are as follows-
1. A POS system helps in gaining a competitive advantage by addressing the different
challenges associated with the retail markets. This is possible as the POS system helps in keeping
a track of the inventory count that helps in easier management of the sales, purchases and the
wastes of the organization.
2. The control on the employee schedule that is possible with the POS helps in the easier
management of the employees and increasing the employee productivity. This gives a
competitive advantage.
3. The ability to make accurate decision that is possible with the POS (refer to appendix)
gives Four Seasons a competitive advantage.
3. Centralized Database: Advantages
1. Data integrity is maintained in a centralized database as storage of no redundant data
is allowed in the system (Coronel and Morris 2016).

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2. The implementation and management of centralized database is quite easier and cost
effective (Osman and Knottenbelt 2012).
3. The data management in centralized data base is easier, and it has a proper disaster
recovery plan that helps in data preservation.
The above discussed points are the significant advantages of having a centralized
database. The choice of Four Seasons for choosing a centralized database is therefore
appropriate.
4. Decision Making
Enhanced decision making is a significant advantage of a new point of sales system. The
new POS has enhanced decision making in a number of ways. The point of sales system
manages the business activities more effectively (van der Meer, Kurth-Nelson and Redish 2012).
This is possible as real time data update and data tracking directly from the time of sale is
possible (Ingram et al. 2015). Furthermore, it is very difficult to track this information manually.
Human errors and entry of redundant data in the system is associated with the tracking of data
manually. A POS system is generally capable of answering all the questions associated with the
sales, purchase and the units of the inventory. All these information further helps in better
management of the business as effective decisions can be made. This is the process by which the
point of sales system helps in effective decision making.
5. Telecommunication Option
A Local Area Connection (LAN) will be best for integration of the systems associated
with a point of sales system (Wang et al. 2015). WAN or MAN is not needed in this case since

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Four Seasons is a Small nursery and LAN can suitably be the backbone of the POS system that is
implemented in Four Seasons (Zhang et al. 2012).
For setting up the LAN connection, wireless communication technology is recommended.
A wireless technology will help in easier accessibility of the information and its implementation
cost is less in comparison to wired technology as cost of wire can be skipped. However, the
security issues associated with use of wireless technology is needed to be addressed.
6. Risks
A POS system can be subjected to a number of risks that can result in the data threat and
loss of data (Von Solms and Van Niekerk 2013). The privacy, security and the confidentiality of
the data that is associated with the storage and access of data associated with the POS is to be
addressed by the ensuring that the stored data is encrypted and the enforcing access control in the
system.
The risks are needed to be identified before the adoption of the new point of sales system.
The use of different levels of authentication can limit the use of data only to authorized
members.
Conclusion
The report provides the use and benefits of the point of sales system in Four Seasons.
Since the use of information system is essential for all business organization for maintaining the
business operations, the choice of point of sales system for Four Seasons is justified. The report
discusses the benefits of having a centralized database and the process by which a business can
gain competitive advantage. However, it is recommended that proper access control and security

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of the data is maintained in order to eliminate the data security risks associated with the use of
POS system.
.

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References
Arvidsson, V., Holmström, J. and Lyytinen, K., 2014. Information systems use as strategy
practice: A multi-dimensional view of strategic information system implementation and use. The
Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 23(1), pp.45-61.
Caldeira, M., Serrano, A., Quaresma, R., Pedron, C. and Romão, M., 2012. Information and
communication technology adoption for business benefits: A case analysis of an integrated
paperless system. International Journal of Information Management, 32(2), pp.196-202.
Coronel, C. and Morris, S., 2016. Database systems: design, implementation, & management.
Cengage Learning.
Eason, K.D., 2014. Information technology and organisational change. CRC Press.
Hall, J.A., 2012. Accounting information systems. Cengage Learning.
Ingram, T.N., LaForge, R.W., Williams, M.R. and Schwepker Jr, C.H., 2015. Sales management:
Analysis and decision making. Routledge.
Jeston, J., 2014. Business process management. Routledge.
Kirchmer, M., 2012. Business process oriented implementation of standard software: how to
achieve competitive advantage efficiently and effectively. Springer Science & Business Media.
Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
Osman, R. and Knottenbelt, W.J., 2012. Database system performance evaluation models: A
survey. Performance Evaluation, 69(10), pp.471-493.

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Rainer, R.K., Cegielski, C.G., Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, I. and Sanchez-Rodriguez, C.,
2013. Introduction to information systems. John Wiley & Sons.
van der Meer, M., Kurth-Nelson, Z. and Redish, A.D., 2012. Information processing in decision-
making systems. The Neuroscientist, 18(4), pp.342-359.
Von Solms, R. and Van Niekerk, J., 2013. From information security to cyber
security. computers & security, 38, pp.97-102.
Wang, Y., Chi, N., Wang, Y., Tao, L. and Shi, J., 2015. Network architecture of a high-speed
visible light communication local area network. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 27(2),
pp.197-200.
Zhang, Y., Ansari, N., Wu, M. and Yu, H., 2012. On wide area network optimization. IEEE
Communications surveys & tutorials, 14(4), pp.1090-1113.

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Appendix

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