Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery: IT POS System Implementation Report

This management report analyzes the implementation of a Point of Sale (POS) system at Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery, a major player in the US nursery industry facing losses due to operational inefficiencies. The report highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the POS system, emphasizing its role in gaining a competitive advantage through improved connectivity, efficient operations, and enhanced customer engagement. It discusses the importance of a centralized database system for data preservation and security. The report also explores the impact of the POS system on decision-making processes, making them faster and more accurate. It identifies potential risks such as security breaches and privacy concerns and recommends the use of LAN with optical fiber for effective system implementation. This analysis suggests that adopting the POS system can significantly improve Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery's profitability and sustainability.

IT FOR BUSINESS
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Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Advantages and Disadvantages of the POS system...................................................................5
POS system and competitive advantage....................................................................................7
Centralised database system.......................................................................................................9
POS system and decision making............................................................................................10
Risks in the system...................................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13
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Executive Summary
In the management report provided below, the analysis of the POS system that has been
implemented by Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery. The company is one of the biggest
dealers in the nursery industry in the business industry of US. The Colorado-based company
has identified to be facing losses and negligible profit due to inefficiency in operations. The
company is majorly based on the manual platforms and it is now important for the company
to implement new and automated systems for which POS system has been recommended to
the organisation. The management report will effectively highlight the essentials of this new
system.
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Introduction
The point of sale system is the software which helps the company to record the transactions
as soon as they take place and make sure that there are no dues involved in the same from
either of the party. This POS system is one of the most considerate and effective solutions
that help the organisation to get rid of the manual entry issue. This not only helps in saving a
lot of time but also helps the company to make sure that the transaction can be seen and
analysed from anywhere at any point in time. Not only this, the POS system also allows the
seller to identify any kind of dues left with the consumer and this helps in giving them
various options and ode of payment which further provides ease to the consumers.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of the POS system
It should be noted that in order to maximise the profits and sustain in the industry, it is
important for the company to manage its operations in such a manner so that the company is
effectively able to save its costs and time such that attention can be directed towards
expansion of the company. It has been found in the case of Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery
that the company is not only facing difficulties in the management of operations but also is
facing losses due to this, the company maintains a traditional approach of management which
is causing various issues for the organisation. One of the most prominent issues that the
company faced is the poor record of transactions due to which the company fails to manage
the accounts of its suppliers and customers (Bradford, 2015). In such cases, the company at
times might forget about the payment left with the customers. This makes it important for an
organisation to implement a new and automated system that helps the company in gaining
ease of access. The Point of sale system has found to be the solution to the issues being faced
by the company. Though promising, the system has various advantages as well as
disadvantages which have been stated below as follows:
Advantages
 That major advantage that might be enjoyed by the organisation after the
implementation of the POS system is the reach of connectivity and communication.
The system would allow Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery to communicate the
messages when the employee of the company is not able to.
 The system allows the consumers and client to see through the business activities
which helps in ensuring that the navigation is effective and efficient.
 The system also allows the company to effectively entice the consumers in the
company and promote various options and schemes such that the company is
effectively and efficiently able to communicate the unique selling points to the
consumers and helps the consumers to gain hands-on exactly what they want (Yau &
Ives, 2016).
 As all the operations of the company are conducted in an automated manner, it has
been identified that the efficiency of the business is also increased which helps the
company to make profits in a sustainable manner.
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 The accuracy of processes and reports is also one of the main advantages that is
gained by the implementation of the POS system in the management of Four Seasons
Greenhouse Nursery.
Disadvantages
 It should be noted that in order to maintain the effectiveness of the system it is
important that the regular internet connection should be maintained. This might be
costly for the company at times.
 It has also been found that the software updates in the POS system are frequent and
are also expensive. Another disadvantage of these updates is that it consume a lot of
time which might impact the efficiency of operations (Groomer & Murthy, 2018).
 It has also been identified that the systems that are based on the software platforms
are more intricate and complex than the simple web-based systems. This calls for the
implementation of expertise which might incur high costs in training of the
employees such that they might get used to these systems.
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POS system and competitive advantage
It should be noted that the POS system not only helps the company to improve their internal
operations but also helps the company to manage the competitive edge in the industry as well.
There are various advantages that have been offered by this system that can help the company
to get ahead of the competition. In the case of Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery, the
company is able to get ahead of the competition with the implementation of system in the
manner stated below:
 With the implementation of software-based technology, the company can make sure
that their software is updated in a regular manner. in order to ensure this, it is
necessary for the company to make sure that the software license of the technology is
purchased. The industry is changing and developing in a rapid manner which makes it
important for the company to make sure that the software provider does not charge
you each and every time the company update its platforms (Horn et. al., 2016). It is
important for the company to select the vendor that is ready to evolve with the
company. this selection might help the company to gain an extra added advantage.
 With the implementation of the POS system, Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery will
also make it sure that the organisation is effectively able to manage its operations
from anywhere at any point in time. This gives an added advantage over the
companies that have not installed this system.
 It should be noted that when the company is based on the automated platforms, the
organisation generally conducts its operations is a fast manner. It this helps the
company to gain the edge over the operations that are being conducted by other
organisations. It also allows the company to well promote their visual campaigns
(Dai, 2015).
 The upfront cost is also lowered significantly with the implementation of the POS
system in the organisational structure of the company. Once the company purchases
the software, it does not have to worry about constantly purchasing the same software.
This helps the company to save a lot of costs and utilise the same in the expansion of
the company in the business arena.
 It should be noted that with the implementation of POS system in the business
structure of Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery, the company is able to provide
various options for payment to the consumers. This not only allows the business to
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say trendy in the marketplace but it also helps in enhancing the appeal for the
company in the industry.
 With the satisfaction of the consumers, the company would also be able to expand
their consumer base in the industry which might help the company to gain extra
profits and loyalty of the consumers as well in the industry with intense competition
(Dai, 2015).
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Centralised database system
It should be noted that with the implementation of the POS system in the company, the
consumer base of the company and the business of the company is also expected to expand in
a rapid manner. This makes it important for the company to make sure that there is a
centralised database system such that the important information can be kept within and at one
place. With the implementation of this system, the company is effectively able to gain various
advantages which might help Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery to enhance their competitive
edge in the industry (Scanlon, 2016). Though the system at times limits the responsiveness to
the individual users, it has been identified that the advantages of this system are far better
which have been stated below as follows:
 Enhances data preservation: The centralised system helps in improving the data
preservation of the organisation. The computers, laptops and PCs which are used I
reference to this system rarely show any kind of fault tolerance in case their hardware
fails. In order for a system to be fault tolerant, it is important that the duplicate
components should be there which increases the cost of system (Scanlon, 2016). In
the centralised database system, it is generally seen that there is a fault-tolerant setup
which helps in preserving the data in case the hardware of the company fails.
 Helps in improvement of the physical and data security: the data in the Four
Seasons Greenhouse Nursery which is stored in a local manner is a high risk of
physical security. The Laptops, notebooks etc. might get stolen and the loss of
information might hamper the system sustainability and the profits of the company.
Also, the PCs that are unattended might present an opportunity to access the data from
anyone which might be a harmful situation for the company (Ren et. al., 2012). With
the implementation of the centralised system in the organisation, it is generally seen
that the data is stored properly in a server room which is restricted to any user in the
terms of physical access.
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POS system and decision making
It should be noted that managing a business is a cumbersome task especially when it is done
in the traditional manual manner. This makes it important for the company to install and
implement other systems as well such that the processes in the organisation can be conducted
in an enhanced manner. The major impact of the same has been seen in the decision making
of the company which has enhanced effectively. With the implementation of the system, it
has been found that the decision making in Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery is not only
faster but accurate. The system allows the manager of the company to gather the data and
analyse stats on a single platform (Ingram et. al., 2015). On the basis of the same, the user is
able to effectively and efficiently make decisions such that the business is able to foster in the
industry.
Telecommunication options for the System
In order to implement the system, it is important that the user should always keep in mind the
availability of the internet 24x7. It is thus important for Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery to
implement the LAN n the workplace in order to manage the systems. In order to ensure that
the speed is effective and the company is able to gather data at the rapid pace, it is important
that the company should use optical fibre cable as it provides high transmission speed.
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Risks in the system
It shield be noted that in the implementation and operation of the POS system there are
various risks which might imply negative impacts on the business. These issues have been
stated below as follows:
 Security: It shod be noted that with the implementation of the POS system the
company would have a centralised database system. This database would have each
important detail of the company and the leak in this information might give access to
all the essential info of the business (Bishop et. al., 2015).
 Privacy: It should be noted that the retail payment systems are frequently attacked by
the hackers and the criminals that are seasonally or temporarily employees that have
been given the access to the system without any sufficient measures. The privacy
standards in such case are required to be kept high which might imply huge costs for
the company.
 Confidentiality: It is important for the company to keep the username and password
of the company confidential and no access should be given to the sources which are
not trustworthy (Dixon, 2017). The system does not have various levels and with the
single password, all the information can be accessed which gives rise to the issue of
confidentiality in the systems.
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Conclusion
Thus from the management report provided above it can be concluded that it is important for
the company t to make sure that systematic application of new tools and techniques should be
done. It is important to make sure that the negative impact of the technology is eradicated and
positive traits are effectively utilised. It has been found that the industry is growing in a rapid
manner which makes it important for the companies like Four Seasons Greenhouse Nursery
to make sure that they are updated according to the market. The implementation of POS
system not only helps the company to stay automated but also allows for the ease of
operations which can help the company to develop and gain the competitive edge in the
market.
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