Analyzing the Impact of Information Technology on HSBC Bank Operations

This report examines the impact of Information Technology (IT) on the business operations of HSBC Bank, using Allianz Insurance as a reference point. It explores the role of IT in the banking industry, emphasizing its function as a communication tool and its support for providing reliable and affordable services. The report delves into the significance of networking technologies, including LAN, WAN, and WLAN, and discusses ethical and social issues arising from technology use, such as privacy and fraud. Furthermore, it analyzes the importance of Intranet and Internet in facilitating internal communication and information sharing within the business. The report also details the various types of information systems used, like Management Information Systems (MIS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS), and outlines the stages of the system development life cycle. Overall, the report highlights how IT enhances efficiency, data management, and decision-making processes in the banking sector, while also addressing associated challenges.

Impact of Information
Technology on business
operations of HSBC bank
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Executive Summary or Abstract
Networking technology and its importance in the present era was discussed in this report and Allianz
group was taken for analysing the report effectively.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents...................................................................................................................................3
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Purpose........................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Background..................................................................................................................................4
2. Literature Review..............................................................................................................................5
2.1 Information Technology and its role in retail business in general................................................5
2.2 Networking Technology, different types in general.....................................................................5
2.3 Ethics and Social Issues of using technology in general..............................................................6
2.4 The importance of Intranet and Internet in business in general....................................................7
3. Analysis and Discussion....................................................................................................................8
3.1 Role of Information Technology in the selected business............................................................8
3.1.1 Types of different Information Systems that are used in selected business like Management
Information System, Decision Support Systems etc.......................................................................8
3.2 Types of Networking Technologies that used in the selected business........................................9
3.3 Ethics and social issues in selected business................................................................................9
3.4 The importance of Intranet and Internet in the selected business.................................................9
3.5 List and explain the different stage of system development life cycle.......................................10
4. Conclusions.....................................................................................................................................10
5.References........................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Information technology is use of any storage, networking, computers and physical
devices, procedures and infrastructure to process, secure, exchange, create as well as store all
form of electronic data. Organizations rely on IT to help them to be more effective and
productive rather than before. It helps to communicate with others for commercial purpose
within business (Devasena, 2014). The present report is based on Allianz Insurance
established in German multinational financial service provider company *. This study explain
information technology role in business, different networking technologies and social as well
as ethical issues while using technology. Furthermore it justifies, internet and intranet
importance in business, and explain all these thing in context of company as well.
1.1 Purpose
Purpose of carrying out this investigation is to analysing impact on information
technology (IT) on banks
1.2 Background
Information technology plays significant role in banking industry. It works as
communication tool with computer science which supports banks in serving best to
consumers and offering them reliable and affordable services. Over a period of time it is
notices that companies which are operating in financial sector are using advance IT
technologies which assist in services of banks significant and satisfying consumers by
offering them quick services. But development of IT system creates problems for banks. Use
of IT tools increases risk of fraud and cyber attacks also gets increased. That is the reason that
people do not use internet banking software or application frequently. Electronic clearing
services has made it easy for banks to make fund transfer in other banks quickly. By this way
consumers feel so relax as they do not have to wait for longer duration for their fund clearing.
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2. Literature Review
2.1 Information Technology and its role in retail business in general
It is considered as subset of communication and information technology, it is used in
context of entertainment technologies, enterprise operations as opposed to personal
technology. Commercial use of information technology include telephony and computer
technology. It refer to the maintenance, development and use of computer software, networks
and systems. It play vital role in retail business managing their network for distributing and
processing of essential data. It helps business to store their data effectively without any risk
of using unethically. It speed up production procedure and increase sales within company
quickly. IT support to improve consumers retention rates and provide cost saving benefits to
business in retail sector for longer period of time (Sabherwal and Jeyaraj, 2015). It play
essential role in management of complex operations of retailers, helps to manage knowledge
and control of information and data that is significant to obtain competitive advantages in
sector. Information technology store crucial data of consumers, as well as workers. With the
help of IT management can be able to communicate with their clients effectively and solve
their issues related to services or products. Its role is to provide the appropriate information
about production system, determine the demand and need of supply within market. Through
Information technology staff can feed or store information about clients include their
activities, preferences, behaviour and requirement in goods. It is quite beneficial for them to
save all these info for offering better services to people and satisfy their needs as well. In
order to meet challenges and expectation in market, it play important role in retail business.
Inventory management software tracking orders, deliveries and sales. In store management
operations IT role is to alerts about stock out items, so that management get all the resources
on time without.
2.2 Networking Technology, different types in general
It is used in business since for so long, through this technology two or more computer
systems is attached and communicate data or information between them. Networking
technology help people to interact with other people via connected electric devices and
network of computer. There are three different types of NT:
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LAN-
Local area network connects network systems over comparatively short distance. It is
owned, managed and controlled by professional or single person in business. In simple
words, it is one of the best computer network that spans small area, confined to single room,
group of buildings etc. Local area network is connected to other LAN over distance via radio
waves & telephone lines. It helps to receive and send data about business or personal
effectively within single or multiple buildings that are more closer together. Through LAN
messages and data is easily be transferred over networked computers that saves money and a
lot of time.
WAN-
Wide area network is geographically dispersed gathering of LAN, it is quite different
from other networking technology. WAN is not owned by any one or any business but rather
exist under distributed and collective management or ownership (Pentikousis and et.al.,
2015). It tends to use technology like x.25, ATM and frame relay for connectivity over long
distance. It helps to cover wider geographical area. It does not need to used email, backup
servers, files etc.
WLAN-
Wireless local area network is the wireless distribution system for two or more
devices that used high frequency radio waves. It permit users to revolve around coverage
sphere, often at small office or home, when maintaining the good networking connection.
WLAN is reliable type of communication and helps to provide high data rate due to little area
coverage.
2.3 Ethics and Social Issues of using technology in general
Social and ethical problems arise while using technologies in all areas of people lives
as well as in business. While using technology, the privacy is one of the major concern
towards people. Individual need to make privacy and secure personal data of other person.
Ethics is the principles of wrong and right individuals, act as free moral agents, used to make
selection to guide its behaviour. Most of the people face many issues when they are using
technologies. Without their person sharing personal information through email and other
technology is unethical activity. When person send some email from home computer, people
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have right to expect that they are private, they do not need to share with others in family or
friends. Uses of technology have power to make many innocent people suffers, it can be
defined as moral concern. Computer systems and other technologies has been used for
collecting data about someone illegally. It is used in wrong ways which impact or harm
people as well as society well being. Privacy and confidentiality is major issue, protection of
personal information is essential ethical problems.
Technology has rapidly effects raising new social and ethical problems that deal with
on individual level. Fraud is another activity that include in wake of easily accessible
internet and computer (Cui and et.al., 2015). It is impossible to find out the fraud activity,
fraud person communicate while using technology gather more personal data about others
and used it negative ways that impact on privacy and security. Most of the people being fool
when they are using technology, they share many things with unknown person that is high
risk of being fool.
2.4 The importance of Intranet and Internet in business in general
Internet is private network that is used for internal interactions and communication
within business. It is very important for companies as allow people to share data securely and
effectively within workplace without wasting time for transferring information from one
place to another. It make communication so easy, where individual are able to share essential
files, documents and consumer data efficiently. Through internet, people can get any
information based on chosen topic or their personal interest quickly. It is considered as
significant business tool which increase people engagement and increase productivity rather
than before. It help to improve internal communications and provide people the best
opportunity to share knowledge one on one (Garrison, Wakefield and Kim, 2015). People can
used internet in business for spreading info about their work, also used as providing
supervision through email. Internet helps to explore the world in just one click.
In addition to this, intranet is also essential just like internet within business. It is
restricted or local communication network, created using WWW software. Intranet is very
important in business as it enhanced project management, it allow people to track their work
performance in real time, as they can monitor progress of staff and solve their issues
effectively. Intranet helps in reshaping hiring or on boarding procedures. It is significant in
business as helps to far flug collogues to communicate or collaborate effectively to manage
remote employees.
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3. Analysis and Discussion
3.1 Role of Information Technology in the selected business
As it was discussed above, technology has become an imperative part in operation of any
industry in an effective manner. In order to do understand this more effectively, the role of
technology in insurance sector can be taken. Customers are a key aspect in any business and their
satisfaction level impacts the decisions that are taken by the managers. Similarly, in today’s era,
technology and the use of social media plays a great role in the decisions that co0nsumer take. They
can easily compare the products offered by the competitors and then choose the best and most feasible
option that is available to them. Therefore, in insurance industry as well the issuing of policy, its
management, instalment etc. has started being done on an online basis which has simplified the
process (Hall, And et.al., 2017). Since the insurance industry is basically data centric, large chunks of
data is collected at various stages in the value chain and here, technology plays an important role by
simplifying the process of data analytics so that competitive advantage can be generated by
simplifying the process of maintaining insuring policies. Further, it also helps in increasing and
achieving the operational efficiency in the entire value chain of an insurance company.
3.1.1 Types of different Information Systems that are used in selected business like Management
Information System, Decision Support Systems etc.
In the Allianz Insurance Group, there are a variety of information systems that are
implemented and utilised at different stages by the management of the company. Management
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information system is used in collecting and storing files related to different policy holders in the
business. The data is stored under clear and specified fields and areas and can be easily accessed by
the management by typing key filed name which is usually the name of the policy holder or the
unique policy number. This simplifies the working of the insurance agents and is usually take into use
by lower level management and middle level management of the company (Ravasan, and Mansouri,
2018).
The decision support system is another system that has been implemented in the Allianz
insurance group and this helps in taking appropriate decisions which simplifies the process of
decision-making. This is usually used by the top management of the company and assists them in
formulating strategic course of actions that are to be taken by the top management of the company.
This generally helps them in segregating, storing and accessing large chunks of data easily and
quickly and also sorts the relevant information for the top management when they seek it.
3.2 Types of Networking Technologies that used in the selected business
The three major types of technologies were discussed above and in the selected insurance
business of Allianz Company, two types of networking technologies are being used. Local Area
Network is used in each office premises where all the operating systems and desktops, laptops,
mobile, tablets and other similar electronic devices are connected together on a single wireless
network and is closely monitored and controlled where no external network or party can access it.
Another major networking technology that is being used is Wide Area Network and all the offices
operating in one single city are connected together through this network and this is used when files are
being transferred from one branch in a city to another branch. These are network technologies that are
being used currently at the Allianz insurance Group and since the business is expanded globally all
over the world, it is necessary to incorporate and update some latest technological developments in
the company (Epifânio, and Pestana, 2018). Big data analytics, Artificial intelligence etc. are some of
the latest technologies that have been incorporated in the company’s systems and are used for
simplifying the process of accessing data altogether.
3.3 Ethics and social issues in selected business
In insurance industry, there are certain selected professional ethics which the Allianz Group
complies with at all costs. In insurance industry, there is a variety of key parties who are involved and
these are lawyers, marketers etc. whose profession itself is to mould or manipulate truth and present it
in a favourable manner. Risk modelling is one such ethical issue that arises and the Allianz Group
deals with it in a very effective manner. They ensure that the degree upto which truth is modified is
not at greater extent and does not harm the individual. Apart from this equality in the workplace,
exercising appropriate prudence and caution are some of the additional ethics that need to be followed
by the insurance company agents and are followed.
The social responsibility that are followed by the insurance company i.e. Allianz group
involve a variety of aspects such as ensuring that equal and fair treatment is given to all the policy
holders and between various intervals regular workshops are being conducted by the company where
the investors are educated about the frauds that might occur and also are educated regarding the
importance of getting insurance policy.
3.4 The importance of Intranet and Internet in the selected business
Intranet helps the current insurance industry in promoting a secured and protected internal
communication so that the data can be exchanged in a safe and protected manner. It facilitates the
exchange of data amongst the employees and can be accessed by the authorised personnel only. This
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further provides the required security to the policy holders of the company (Senft, Gallegos, and
Davis, 2016). Internet on the other hand is a worldwide connection which is not as secured as intranet
but helps in exchanging data all over the world and communicating with distant parties. It also gives
unlimited access to end number of data that the user might wish to garner.
3.5 List and explain the different stage of system development life cycle
System Development Lifecycle helps in development of an information system and is a
crucial part of project management.
Analysis: this is the first stage at which deficiencies in the existing system is identified.
Planning: the requirement of the new system is identified and defined and specific proposal solving
the deficiencies is formulated.
Design: Plans involving physical preparation i.e. hardware and software are identified and
documented for.
Development: The desired system is developed and new components are installed.
Testing: The program is tested and necessary modifications or updates are incorporated ensuring that
the system has been applied well (Okada, 2018).
Deployment: The newer and modified system is then installed at full scale in the organization.
Maintenance: Once the hardware system is installed, it is regularly monitored and evaluated regularly
and changes are incorporated regularly.
4. Conclusions
It can be concluded from the research conducted above that it the networking technologies
and its appropriate formulation is an extremely crucial issue in all types of industries. In the insurance
industry as well, various types of networking technologies are being used. The concept of system
development process was discussed and the various ethical and social issues were identified for the
insurance company in particular. Further, in this report, the importance of intranet and internet was
discussed and evaluated in this report which helped in analyzing the selected business.
5.References
Book and Journals
Cui, T and et.al., 2015. Information technology and open innovation: A strategic alignment
perspective. Information & Management. 52(3). pp.348-358.
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Devasena, C.L., 2014. Impact study of cloud computing on business
development. Operations Research and Applications: An International Journal
(ORAJ). 1(1). pp.1-7.
Garrison, G., Wakefield, R.L. and Kim, S., 2015. The effects of IT capabilities and delivery
model on cloud computing success and firm performance for cloud supported
processes and operations. International Journal of Information Management. 35(4).
pp.377-393.
Pentikousis, K and et.al., 2015. Information-centric networking: baseline scenarios. IETF.
RFC 7476.
Sabherwal, R. and Jeyaraj, A., 2015. Information Technology Impacts on Firm Performance:
Senft, S., Gallegos, F. and Davis, A., 2016. Information technology control and insurance.
Auerbach publications.
Epifânio, F. and Pestana, G., 2018, January. An Information Visualization Engine for
Situational-Awareness in Health Insurance. In International Conference on
Information Theoretic Security (pp. 294-308). Springer, Cham.
Ravasan, A.Z. and Mansouri, T., 2018. A fuzzy anp based weighted rfm model for customer
segmentation in auto insurance sector. In Intelligent Systems: Concepts,
Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1050-1067). IGI Global.
Hall, J.D. And et.al., 2017. Designing health information technology tools to prevent gaps in
public health insurance. BMJ Health & Care Informatics, 24(2), pp.196-203.
Okada, F., 2018. Business Model Changes Through Collaborative Dynamic Capabilities
Through Insurance Company Use of IT (InsurTech) in the Medical and Health
Sectors. In Collaborative Dynamic Capabilities for Service Innovation (pp. 153-162).
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
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An Extension of Kohli and Devaraj (2003). MIS quarterly. 39(4). pp.809-836.
The importance of good communication. 2018. [ONLINE] Available through:
<https://www.michaelpage.co.uk/advice/management-advice/development-and-retention/importance-
good-communication>.
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