Individual Report: Impact of IT on Halifax Business Operations

This report delves into the application of information technology within the context of Halifax, a British banking brand. It begins with an introduction outlining the purpose of the study, which is to assess the role of IT in modern business, focusing on its successes, failures, and associated ethical and social issues. The literature review explores the general role of IT in retail, different networking technologies, ethical considerations, and the importance of intranets and the internet in business. The analysis and discussion section examines the role of IT specifically in Halifax, detailing the various information systems used, such as Management Information Systems and Decision Support Systems, and the types of networking technologies employed. It further addresses the ethical and social issues relevant to Halifax, along with the importance of the internet and intranet for its operations. The report concludes with a discussion of the system development life cycle and its stages, providing a comprehensive overview of IT's impact on Halifax's business functions.

PROJECT IIT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Purpose........................................................................................................................................1
Background.................................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................1
Information technology and its role in retail business................................................................1
Different types of networking technology..................................................................................1
Ethics and social issues of using technology..............................................................................2
Importance of intranet and internet in business..........................................................................2
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................2
Role of information technology in Halifax.................................................................................2
Various types of information system used in Halifax.................................................................2
Ethics and social issues in Halifax..............................................................................................4
Importance of internet and intranet in Halifax............................................................................5
List and explain the different stages of system development life cycle......................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is a term which is used in business organisations at wide range
and also related with the study of computer (Lloyd, 2017). For this, many sectors are related with
IT like banks, hospitality, e-commerce etc. It consider three categories with it while processing
its techniques, various methods of taking decision and use of statistical information.
Purpose
The aim of this study is to consider the application of information technology in modern
business. As it put emphasis on the identification of features of IT and its concerning success and
failure. It also helps in analysing the social and ethical issues which occurs while running
business functions. Moreover, this report is also going to explain different stages of system
development cycle.
Background
This report is in terms of Halifax which is a British banking brand as it operates in
trading division of Bank of Scotland. It is named after the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire and
in 1913 it had developed as the UK's largest building society and also continued to grow and
maintain their position in UK.
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Slyter K. 2019, Information technology is an application which is useful in
solving business problems at larger level. In an organisation, IT department tackle many
functions and also plays an important role in running and keeping things in smooth manner.
Information technology and its role in retail business
To manage IT, it is quite important to manage complex structure of company. In Halifax,
it is more important to manage IT department as it keep things under control and manage the
data and information in order to increase the competencies of company (Baller, Dutta and
Lanvin, 2016). It is also useful in enhancing the speed, flexibility, determining the data of
customers and so on.
Different types of networking technology
Networking is a procedure which is useful in copulative the devices and also useful in
exchanging data. It is termed as the mode of developing connection among devices and
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computers. It is classified into various categories like LAN, MAN and WAN that is useful in
interlinking the devices from distance.
Ethics and social issues of using technology
Ethical issues occurs in technology in different areas like business, finance and so on.
Moreover, in many companies their managers and employers do their most of work with the help
of technology as due to this, work becomes easy (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier, 2015). It is
also useful for HR department as it is helpful in recruiting and giving training to employees.
Importance of intranet and internet in business
Intranet is significant as it useful in enhancing the productivity of employees, save cost
and time and improves communication (Tarafdar, and et. al., 2015). Meanwhile, internet is
essential in order to conduct research in more effective manner and make communication
process quite easy and useful in getting things updated.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Role of information technology in Halifax
Information technology is helpful in storing, retrieving and manipulating data that is
useful in developing information. It is useful in providing suitable information to right person at
right time. It helps in giving the right solution to issues that are related with IT and for this,
employees of Halifax should learn that how to use provided data in an effective manner.
Various types of information system used in Halifax Management information system: It is useful in supporting the operations system of
company as useful in collecting various types of information and develop report of it to
take better decisions. Its purpose is to use appropriate information which is useful in
enhancing profitability and sustainability of business (Larson and Malone, 2015).
Moreover, it is quite beneficial to gain competitive edge for business, improves efficiency
of business, helps in taking correct decisions and eliminates risk factor. In Halifax, MIS
is useful in supporting the decisions in strategic manner as it helps in shaping them to get
desired result. Thus, MIS is useful in gathering and storing information and also make it
approachable for the managers of Halifax who want to determine the data by thoroughly
going through report.
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 Decision support system: It is considered as the computerised system that is helpful for
managers to take their decisions and also generate various information which is
concerned with the procedure of business like automation system, transaction and so on.
It is useful in compiling information from the past records, documents and personal
information to determine and solve problems in order to take better decisions (Sheikh,
Sood and Bates, 2015). In relation with Halifax, it is quite relevant in taking managerial
decisions, developing plans for an organisation and useful in executing changes in rapid
manner. Its purpose is to make structure for the unspecified problems to face high level
managers and also put emphasis on the characteristics that makes work easy for
employees. It focuses on the flexibility and adaptability of dynamic business environment
and focuses on the decision making approach for their manpower.
Types of network technologies used in Halifax
Networks are designed to perform different tasks and also transmit it with the help of
different specifications and execution of it at different levels. This carry number of computer
system like servers and other devices. As these networks are depends on the grounds of size,
security and demographic area. For this, there are various types of networking technologies that
are discussed as under: Local Area Network (LAN): This network is relies on the single site as it is useful in
offices, logistics and operations. It is useful when the information is shared among the
organisation as it is quite worthy for company and not for the external world. According
to LAN, it consider various types of software like employee details, handbook and
official documents and in hardware it include modems, printers and so on. LAN is linked
with the central device that is termed as Hub or Switch with the help of cable as this
system appropriately uses the access point in order to receive data. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): It is considered as the new in terms of technology
as it is the one which works for various types of networks as its networking is larger than
the local area and also covers whole of area of a city (Nordhaus, 2015). Its range is of 100
km as it is a single network which connect different devices with it like TV cable. To use
this networking technology, many cable are required to link devices from various places
and also quite difficult to protect the system to secure themselves from hackers.
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 Wide Area Network (WAN): It is a telecommunication network which is the combination
of networks. As it connect devices that are across the country but it has a drawback also
as it is considered as the slowest method of communicating information. WAN is helpful
in covering large geographical area to connect long distance companies to communicate
data more rapidly as it consider sounds, pictures etc. Here, security is considered as the
primary objective in which many people has competencies to use the information.
In relation with Halifax, LAN is best suited for them as it include less security and
financial issues and offer company to use more secured network connection to prevent data of
their customers. Moreover, LAN is useful in many ways in order to share information, resources,
software applications and so on.
Ethics and social issues in Halifax
Because of excellent services of IT, it becomes easy for the business to achieve success
such as online business Amazon, eBay and other social media sites like facebook, twitter,
instagram etc. As the personal information which is shared on internet, as criminals get misuse
them and can get access of banking information which leads to the loss of financial information. Ethical issues: Imitation and piracy becomes the biggest problem with digital products as
there are many sites that can copy the original information of company and also make it
available for competitors that can become biggest threat for company as it create issues
for company (Akman and Mishra, 2015). Moreover, personal data and information can
also get stole as it can become threat for company and can damage the ethical rules and
regulations. As in relation to Halifax, they should adopt suitable and effective security
system which is useful in protecting themselves from hackers who can stole their
information as because of this, their ethics can maintained.
 Social issues: This element can develop problems and issues for company as it is
concerned with the accessibility of company and influences the image of company. It
hugely impacts the online market and also consider the negative reviews of customers.
Moreover, there are many techno friendly individuals who can get access of system and
in relation with Halifax, it can be done because of their employees and considered as the
systematic function which is gone through by internal people. For this, company can use
strong security system which offer them better protection in relation with protecting their
data and information.
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Importance of internet and intranet in Halifax Intranet: It is useful for companies to as it helps in developing relation with many
people. It is considered as the best way by which workforce can easily share their
personal details as it is interlinked at the same time and also express their feelings, likes
and dislikes (Melián-González and Bulchand-Gidumal, 2016). In relation with Halifax,
their employees share data with the aim of sharing employees and it is quite important as
it helps in saving time and also enhances the productivity of company.
 Internet: It is quite effective in order to organise online marketing and advertising their
products which is useful as many companies use it in proper manner and achieve success
for it. It is useful because it promote the products by which organisations offer effective
information to their customers as it is beneficial for them to retain their customer base
(Baller, Dutta and Lanvin, 2016). In relation with Halifax, it is helpful in advertising their
services on social media as because of it company can achieve growth in competitive
market.
List and explain the different stages of system development life cycle
This cycle carry five stages that combines the system and meet the expectations of
customers. It is a component that is useful in interacting with people as it is a procedure which
covers planning, testing and deploying the information system. As this cycle cover various stages
that are discussed as under: Planning: It is considered as the important stage as it is useful in creating values for
company as it covers defining issues, objectives, goals and cost of strategies that is
required to survive in market. It also conduct study regarding the competencies of various
solutions to meet the needs of customers, consultants, suppliers and employees. Analysing: This stage include the consideration of information which describe the
gathering and collection of different facts and figures and also recommend the
improvements for plan (Galluch, Grover and Thatcher, 2015). As it include the analysis
of plans, strategies and objectives and also determine the deviations in it to take
corrective actions. Designing: It depicts the better understanding of the requirements and factors that defines
the different kinds of data. It can be done on written basis and also useful in determining
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that how it works in detailed manner. As it consider layout of plan, process and other
related documents. Implementing: It comes after the complete understanding for the system and also provide
suitable requirement and specifications. As it defines that system is ready to install for the
help of customers and ready to launch according to their requirement (Lloyd, 2017). For
this, structure and system should get familiar with it and also determine the complexities
of system.
 Maintaining: It is the final stage that determine the different barriers of system to meet
the needs. As this step include offering the current update for the particular factors and
also ensure that it meet the appropriate standards that helps in facing the current security
threats.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded that IT is a procedure that is useful for companies in order to
operate and succeed themselves within the business environment. Its applications are useful in
order to store, manipulate and retrieve data in order to improve the productivity and also save its
efforts, time and cost. By considering the above discussion, IT plays an important role for the
success and failure of company and also consider various issues to pertain the business
information. In addition to this, various types of networking technologies are discussed which is
useful in developing an effective system.
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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.
Baller, S., Dutta, S. and Lanvin, B., 2016. Global information technology report 2016. Geneva:
Ouranos.
Galluch, P.S., Grover, V. and Thatcher, J.B., 2015. Interrupting the workplace: Examining
stressors in an information technology context. Journal of the Association for
Information Systems. 16(1). p.2.
Larson, T.M. and Malone, C.G., Hewlett Packard Development Co LP, 2015. Information
technology (IT) equipment positioning system. U.S. Patent 9,182,480.
Lloyd, I.J., 2017. Information technology law. Oxford University Press.
Melián-González, S. and Bulchand-Gidumal, J., 2016. A model that connects information
technology and hotel performance. Tourism Management. 53. pp.30-37.
Nordhaus, W.D., 2015. Are we approaching an economic singularity? Information technology
and the future of economic growth (No. w21547). National Bureau of Economic
Research.
Sheikh, A., Sood, H.S. and Bates, D.W., 2015. Leveraging health information technology to
achieve the “triple aim” of healthcare reform. Journal of the American Medical
Informatics Association. 22(4). pp.849-856.
Tarafdar, M., and et. al., 2015. The dark side of information technology. MIT Sloan Management
Review. 56(2). p.61.
Xiang, Z., Magnini, V.P. and Fesenmaier, D.R., 2015. Information technology and consumer
behavior in travel and tourism: Insights from travel planning using the internet. Journal
of Retailing and Consumer Services. 22. pp.244-249.
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