Business Information Technology System Analysis for Marks & Spencer

This report examines the critical role of Business Information Technology Systems in modern business operations, using Marks & Spencer (M&S) as a case study. It begins by highlighting the significant impact of IT systems on improving efficiency and productivity across various business functions such as marketing, sales, finance, and human resources. The report delves into the specific IT systems used within these departments and discusses how M&S can transform manual processes like employee onboarding and order purchasing through digital solutions. It then explores how IT systems process and store data for knowledge management, emphasizing customer relationship management, data management techniques, and communication strategies. Furthermore, the report evaluates the contribution of IT systems to the improvement of business operations, sustainability, and performance at M&S, recommending IT solutions to address common business problems. The conclusion reinforces the vital role of IT in achieving organizational goals, supported by references to academic journals and books.

BUSINESS INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Mention impact of information technology system along with their contribution in resolving
business issues.............................................................................................................................1
Usage of different IT systems in varied functions of company .................................................2
Introduction of the selected organisation....................................................................................2
Define and explain the manual processes of company needed to transform..............................3
Different ways through which IT system process and store data for knowledge management. .3
Mention how your proposed system assists in customer relationship management...................3
Mention how the techniques will be suggested by you helps in data management...................4
Role of IT system in communication management ....................................................................4
Evaluate how IT systems contribute in improvement of business operation, sustainability and
performance of selected company...............................................................................................4
Recommend some IT solutions to resolve common business problems faced in a business firm
.....................................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
A business information technology system is a socio-technical and formal system which
helps a firm in performing their work in digital manner. This assignment is prepared in
accordance with Marks & Spencer which is a Britain based multinational company dealing in
food products, home items and clothing sector (Akman and Mishra, 2015). This company is
headquartered in Westminster, London and operates at global context. This report will include
about impact of IT systems and their use in different functions of company to resolve problems.
Also role of IT system in processing data, managing customer relationship, data management,
communication management, sustainability and high performance is discussed.
MAIN BODY
Mention impact of information technology system along with their contribution in resolving
business issues
IT systems impacts a business firm in a considerable manner. With the help of
information technology system, a company is able to perform their business activities in an
efficient manner due to which overall productivity increases. These systems offer rapid access to
the timely information and structured knowledge with the help of reports. These IT systems tries
to duplicate the efforts and work of humans by implementing capabilities, expertise, reasoning,
knowledge & expertise in a specific domain. By this, complex task is performed in a simplified
manner. Below is mentioned the role of IT systems in solving business issues:
 Administration of business firms is costly but an important tasks. Earlier organisations
had to pay lump-sum amount to manage their administration in efficient manner. Due to
this, managing finances were difficult. Now, IT systems such as MIS, TPS have emerged
and all paper processes like filling expenses, signing contracts etc. can be performed
digitally. Due to this, problem of finances is resolved (Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal,
2014).
 IT systems allow an individual to perform business activities from remote areas due to
the integration of smartphones and other apps with business systems. By this, employees
of company are able to work from anywhere and anytime in a feasible manner.
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Usage of different IT systems in varied functions of company
Main functions or department in a business firm is marketing, sales, production, finance
and human resource. In Today's advanced time, these functions of an organisation can not work
efficiently without using IT systems. Use of IT systems in these function of a business firm are
stated below:
 Marketing: Information system for marketing is based upon external information to a
higher degree than some other informational systems of company. Information system for
marketing helps in correlating the behaviour of buyer with different variables such as
demographic, geographic, psycho-graphic etc. in a detailed manner (Burrough and et. al,
2015).
 Sales: In case of sales, IT systems give quick access of information to the salesperson
about the perception of customers towards a product so that they can became free from
paperwork and other time consuming activities. By this, salespersons of a company get
more time to sell their offerings and their productivity to maximise sales also increases.
 Finance: For finance department in a company, IT systems plays an important role.
Finance function of an organisation uses information technology system to manage their
account receivable records, accounts payable records, inventory control records, payroll
records and general ledgers. These systems lies on external sources and helps a firm in
fund management.
Introduction of the selected organisation
Marks & Spencer is a UK based retailer which is founded in 1884 by Thomas Spencer
and Michael Marks. Company is headquartered in Westminster, London and operates in the
sector of food items, cloths and home products. At present, company successfully operates at
more than 1460 locations in global manner. In-house brands of organisation includes Autograph,
Per Una, Rosie, Blue Harbour, Classic, Limited Edition etc. In present times, company is
employing more than 80,000 employees (Hair Jr and et. al., 2015).
Define and explain the manual processes of company needed to transform
M&S is a renowned company which operates worldwide. There are some processes of
company which are performed manually. This results in increased cost and time to accomplish
tasks. Below are mentioned some manual processes which can be transformed by M&S into
digital aspects:
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 Employee on-boarding: For on-boarding employees, M&S has to perform endless paper
work due to which some tasks are missed out. This results in lower productivity level
along with employee dissatisfaction as they are not given proper consideration. Company
can transform its process by using IT systems so that information forms, setting of
induction sessions, arrangement of bank accounts and training session can take place
efficiently (Hitomi, 2017).
 Purchasing of orders: Due to manual processing, M&S face problem in purchasing their
orders. This is due to delayed PO approvals and Errors in PO. Company is planning to
transform it so that entire work of purchasing order can be performed digitally. This will
reduce the manual burden of maintaining copies and reports.
Different ways through which IT system process and store data for knowledge management
Information technology system is a collective term for people, processes and systems
which are designed to manipulate, store, distribute, disseminate and produce information. This
aspect bridges between computer science and business firms. Data can either be in the form of
image, characters, strings and numbers. For this they can use IT system which is operation
support system (Laudon and Laudon, 2015). To processes data in IT system, typing through
keyboard or barcode scanning can be used. By using keyboard, an employee will be required to
type all the data to record it for future knowledge management. In case of barcode scanning,
employees of M&S are needed to scan product and all information will be process automatically.
Mention how your proposed system assists in customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is defined as the technologies, techniques and tools
which are used by a company for retention, acquisition and development of customers. Manager
in M&S can use different IT systems to manage customer relationships in a proper manner.
Some of these systems are Zoho office suite and Microsoft Dynamics. By this, activities of
customers and their perception about products or services can be traced properly. This helps in
creating reports and offering only those products to customers which is needed by them. This
will helps in maintaining a strong relation with customers.
Mention how the techniques will be suggested by you helps in data management
Data management is defined as an administrative process that consists of storage,
validation, acquisition, processing along with protection of data to ensures the timeliness,
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accessibility and reliability of data via efficient means. In this context, manager of company can
use the technique named Big data in which bulk of important information can be stored and
processed in a systematic manner. This will help the concerned company in managing their data
with greater efficiency (Laurillard, 2013). Under big data, different tools which can be used by
the manager of M&S to manage data are IBM infosphere information server, SAS data
management, Powercenter informatica etc. These tools will helps the manager in M&S to
manage data in a systematic and proper way. These tools of data management will helps in
taking right decisions due to which high revenues and profits can be earned.
Role of IT system in communication management
Communication management is specified as the monitoring, implementation, planning
and revising of channels so that representatives of a business firm can interact with their
shareholders, customers and investors in a proper manner. In this context, manager of company
can use IT systems in formulating ODF strategies along with designing of external and internal
flow of communication as per latest trends. This will results in maintaining a strong interaction
with employees, customers and stakeholders of company. Improved communication will benefits
the firm in acknowledging opinion of customers and stakeholders about M&S in a proper
manner. This will helps in carrying out improvements which will results in earning of high
revenues (Marchewka, 2016).
Evaluate how IT systems contribute in improvement of business operation, sustainability and
performance of selected company
In present time, technology is emerging at a fast rate. In everyday life, new advancements
in technology emerges so that barriers to perform organisational and other works can be resolved
in a proper manner. There are some complex processes which can not be performed by manual
ways. If employees in M&S will perform those work in manual manner, it will be time and cost
consuming. Hence, IT systems are used as they are capable to perform those tasks within
seconds. For instance, maintaining the list of inventory stocks and handling its copy to supplier is
a time taking and effort consuming tasks. But if, these lists will be prepared on computer systems
then printing copies of it is very easy. By this, productivity of company will enhance in a
efficient manner. This will benefits the company in earning high profits and market-shares in
comparison with rivals. Another example in this context is 5G technology, due to the emergence
of 5G technology, business firms has stopped using previous technologies. This is because, new
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technology offers broad bandwidth which can support around 60,000 connections at a single
time. Due to improved communication, business operations in M&S can be improved in a
considerable manner (Mohammed and Yusof, 2013).
By implementing information technology in a company, value added change can be
attained in a proper manner. In beginning, implementing IT systems will be costly but in later
stages due to increased accessibility, security, scalability, availability and flexibility, value for
money will be achieved. This depicts that usage of IT in M&S can results in increased
performance due to which attaining goals and objectives of company became easy.
Recommend some IT solutions to resolve common business problems faced in a business firm
There are some recommendations related with information technology that can be given
to the manager of M&S. By adopting these recommendations, businesses issues can be resolved
in a proper manner. These recommendations are stated below:
 Manager in M&S is recommended to use private clouds for storage of data and
information. This will help them in securing their sensitive information and strategies
from rival firms. By this, M&S can manage their effective position in market place
(Peltier, 2016).
 Company can develop their own application in which customers can ask their queries and
share their feedbacks about the services or products of company in a proper manner. This
will help the company in carrying out modifications as per customer's demand.
CONCLUSION
From above mentioned report, it has been concluded that IT systems plays a vital role in
the smooth working of business organisations. With the help of systems like MIS, TPS etc.
complex work can be performed in a simplified manner. IT systems helps in performing business
work like order purchasing and on-boarding of employees in automatic manner. These systems
of information technology benefits a firm in attaining high performance and sustainability due to
which attainment of organisation goals became easier.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akman, I. and Mishra, A., 2015. Sector diversity in green information technology practices:
technology acceptance model perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, pp.477-
486.
Becerra-Fernandez, I. and Sabherwal, R., 2014. Knowledge management: Systems and
processes. Routledge.
Burrough, P. A.and et. al, 2015. Principles of geographical information systems. Oxford
university press.
Hair Jr, J. F. And et. al., 2015. Essentials of business research methods. Routledge.
Hitomi, K., 2017. Manufacturing systems engineering: A unified approach to manufacturing
technology, production management and industrial economics. Routledge.
Laudon, K. C. and Laudon, J. P., 2015. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital
Firm Plus MyMISLab with Pearson eText--Access Card Package. Prentice Hall Press.
Laurillard, D., 2013. Rethinking university teaching: A conversational framework for the
effective use of learning technologies. Routledge.
Marchewka, J. T., 2016. Information technology project management: Providing measurable
organizational value. John Wiley & Sons.
Mohammed, S. A. and Yusof, M. M., 2013. Towards an evaluation framework for information
quality management (IQM) practices for health information systems–evaluation criteria
for effective IQM practices. Journal of evaluation in clinical practice, 19(2), pp.379-387.
Peltier, T. R., 2016. Information Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards: guidelines for
effective information security management. Auerbach Publications.
Online
Information Technology & Its Role in the Modern Organisation. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/information-technology-its-role-modern-
organization-1800.html/>
Knowledge Management Tools. 2018. [Online]. Available through:<http://www.knowledge-
management-tools.net/knowledge-management-definition.html/>
What is Data Management?. 2019. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.ngdata.com/what-
is-data-management/>
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