Report: Analyzing Information Technology in Tesco's Retail Business

This individual report provides a comprehensive analysis of information technology (IT) within Tesco, a leading UK grocery retailer. The report begins with an overview of IT's role in the retail business, emphasizing its importance in adapting to market changes, gathering consumer data, and enhancing the customer experience. A literature review explores the role of IT, ethical and social issues associated with its use, different networking technologies (including PAN, LAN, WAN, and MAN), and the significance of the intranet and internet. The analysis and discussion section delves into IT's specific role at Tesco, examining networking technologies used, ethical and social issues faced by the company, the importance of intranet and internet, and various stages of the system development life cycle. The report highlights how Tesco uses IT to improve both offline and online shopping experiences, employee efficiency, and inventory management. It also discusses the challenges of BYOD (bring your own device) policies and the centralization of networking technologies. Ethical considerations, such as consumer privacy, are also addressed. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the crucial role of IT in Tesco's current and future success.

Individual Report

ABSTRACT
Information technology in retail business is emerging with the development in
technology. This report is based on Information technology and the main characteristic in the
study is retail business UK. I will analyse through various source of articles and books regarding
the information technology and understanding the role of information technology in Tesco.

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................1
1. Role of information technology in retail business..............................................................1
2. Ethical and social issues of using IT..................................................................................2
3. Identify and differentiate between various types of networking technologies...................3
4. Importance of intranet and internet....................................................................................3
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................4
1. Role of IT in Tesco.............................................................................................................4
2. Types of networking technologies used in Tesco...............................................................5
3. Ethical and social issues in the selected business...............................................................5
4. Importance of intranet and internet in Tesco......................................................................6
5. Explaining various stages of the system development life cycle.......................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is a subset of application of telecommunication and information
technology. IT and its application in the modern world is important and necessary requirement
for the organisation to survive and succeed in the current competitive marketplace. Information
technology has become a fundamental need for any major. It includes an understanding of digital
devices, networking and multimedia that are an integral part of Information technology
curriculum. The purpose of this Individual report is to evaluate effectiveness of information
technology in Tesco, is a leading grocery brand in UK. The report will identify the role of
information technology in Tesco and how it is contributing to the failure or success of the
business. Along with it, report will cover ethical and social issue in the context of IT and
analysed various types of networking technologies. In addition to this, importance of intranet and
internet will be discussed with an understanding of various stages of system development.
LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Role of information technology in retail business
Information technology as defined by (Brooks and et. al., 2017) is the study, design,
development, implementation, support or manage computer-based information system, software
application. In general retail industry include all the activities including selling goods or directly
provide services to the final consumers for person. (Lloyd, 2017) mentioned that with the
increase in globalisation of retail businesses in terms of both point of supply and point of sales,
IT being significantly essential that plays essential role in the management of complex retail
operation. In today's world retail businesses are highly dependent on information and various
technologies. Following are the role of Information technology in retail business;
According to (Prasad, 2017) IT increases ability of the retail business to react to the
evolving marketplace through increased flexibility and speed. On the other hand (Rajaraman,
2018) stated that IT is an effective tool that enable retail business to gather and analyse consumer
data while increasing differentiation. In continuation of this, (Rowley and Farrow, 2018) stated
that need of IT in retailing mainly seen in providing product information, collecting and
analysing customer information and analysing operations information.
IT made the payment process easier in the retail business with contactless payments. It
enables retail business to expand the business through online services with online store and
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enhance consumer experience. Managing inventory has always been costly for the retail business
that changed through IT that offer real time information regarding inventory management,
product management.
In general (Schwalbe, 2015) reflect their point that IT changed the way in which retail
business operating. The role of IT is crucial and being necessary to achieve the goal and success
in the marketplace.
2. Ethical and social issues of using IT
(Smith and Wong eds., 2016) define ethic as the principle of right and wrong that
individual and business use to makes decision or take any action to guide their behaviours. It has
also been analysed that information technology might be used to achieve social progress, but it
can also harm social values that is required to consider by the business. (Waser and et. al., 2016)
stated a fundamental issue that business must face is trust and integrity. Along with it, there are
various issues in general such as; ethical issues includes; social media, technology/privacy,
health and safety, harassment and discrimination, confidentiality and social issues includes;
environmental protection, individual rights, privacy protection, social responsibilities, etc.
regarding IT. In developing and implementing Information technology, businesses are required
to have an understanding of potential issues that break down the ethics. These issues have thrown
up various challenges in business as well as on the brand image.
If business use the information technology in their operations or strategies they might
face the issues as consumer privacy is the sensitive thing in the business. Ethics generally refers
to those code of behaviour and principles that guide how business should operate and run
without affecting any moral values, normative judgements and obligations. The biggest issue
face by the business is to strike a balance between ethical, social, economical and technological
consideration. Following are some issue mentioned by (Brooks and et. al., 2017);
 Intellectual property rights issues (patent, copyright, trademarks)
 Legal issues and limitations
 Non violation of privacy and associated rights amidst data mining under information
technology.
 Cyber crime
 Confidentiality and privacy issue
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3. Identify and differentiate between various types of networking technologies
Networking technologies is utilisation of connected system such as satellite, optic cable,
wireless connection to relay different information. It allows organisation to organise, install and
support computer system for day to day operations and transfer information, files and other data.
(Lloyd, 2017) mentioned that there are so many various kinds of network technologies in
existence, it might be hard to understand difference between them. The networking system can
be characterised by the size and purpose. In general following are various types of networking
technologies;
According to the view of (Prasad, 2017) Personal area network is the smallest and basic
type of networking technology that is made up of wireless modem and organised around an
individual person within a single building. On the other hand (Rajaraman 2018) present second
type that is Local Area Network that is effective to connect a group of computers within two or
more building. The connection generally powered by Ethernet cables. (Rowley and Farrow,
2018) stated that WLAN is a subtype of LAN. Wireless Local Area Network make use of
wireless network technology such as WiFi that seem same type in terms of application of LANs.
It doesn't require devices that relies on physical cables to connect the network. In contrast to
LAN, WLAN and PAN fourth type stated by (Schwalbe, 2015) Metropolitan Area Network
that is able to cover a large area from LAN and smaller area as compared to WAN. It covers
large geographical area and able to connect two or more computers that are apart but resides in
the same or different cities. On the other hand Wide Area Network occupies wide area such as
entire country or world. WAN can contain multiple smaller networks including LAN, MAN, etc.
4. Importance of intranet and internet
According to (Smith and Wong eds., 2016) the rise of networking technologies and
information and communication technologies immensely expanded the scope of innovation,
productivity in business. Intranet and internet has thin line of difference and both are essential for
the business. (Waser and et. al., 2016) define Intranet as restricted or local communication
network, especially private network that created using world wide web software. This is guided
by various internet protocols such as; TCP, HTTP or IP. On the other hand (Prasad, 2017)
defined Internet as a global network that builds a connection and provides transmission between
different computers. This network uses both wired and wireless mode of communication.
Importance in Business
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Intranet and Internet enhance operation of the business. Specifically (Lloyd, 2017)
mentioned that intranet is important in getting message across the staff members in the business.
With the use of intranet, information in the company can accessed anytime from anywhere. It is
important to distribute or share information, project management and collaboration. It is also
beneficial in simplify internal communication within the business and streamline business
processes. In addition to this (Rajaraman 2018) mentioned that Intranet provides a secure space
for store, access and develop electronic materials. Some specific intranet enable multiple
employees to access the same files.
On the other hand (Rowley and Farrow, 2018) stated that Internet has replaced many
traditional form of business communication through digital media or website to share or
distribute information. This is important in reducing cost and improve consumer services and for
business development. For example; instant messaging, Email and social networking offers
highly accessible and high speed interaction tool that help the business by speed up the process.
Internet can be used by the businesses to sell their products and to collect the information of
potential consumers. It provides powerful marketing and communication tools that help business
to grow, accomplish objective. Internet also changes the way of marketing of the products and
services.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
1. Role of IT in Tesco
Tesco is the largest grocery and general merchandising chain business and it offers
diverse range of products and services. Tesco is always been good at keeping up with the latest
and advanced technology. The Information Technology (IT) helps in improving both offline and
online shopping experience for the customers. IT plays essential role for improving the
experience for employees as well. In order to make the stock counting easier for the employees,
Tesco has introduced RFID- enabled barcode to the F&F clothing range in the stores. This
technology allows products to be counted automatically. This information is beck-tracked to the
store- suppliers so that it can give them accurate replenishments of the stock and this further
helps in improving the shopper's in-store experience (Schwalbe, 2015).
Tesco has also introduced the mobile application for the store manager employees. They
can download it and login for keeping a real-time record about the stock levels and its
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availability. They can do this by scanning the side-shelf label or the products' barcode and then it
pulls through accurate and useful information. This role of Information Technology enables staff
and employees for being quicker and more efficient while dealing with customers requests. But,
in order to critique, this can be concluded that this Information Technology allows users for
bringing their own devices to place of work and this leads to make work integration challenging
for the companies to effectively deal it with. This creates challenges and issues for Tesco as
employees cannot be strictly monitored. The personal devices of the employees may have
various operating applications and systems installed which further may lead to operational-
related challenges and issues. This further affects the company to incur higher cost.
2. Types of networking technologies used in Tesco
Networking technology refers to the use of connected systems through satellite, optic
cable and wireless connections for relying on various data, resources and communications in
different parts of the world. Intranet and internet changes the way Tesco operates at domestic and
global level. Tesco is planning to centralise networking technologies across its store worldwide.
The business opens 500 international stores that replaced separate voice and data networks with a
single network from cables and wireless. Tesco used the network to boost productivity of the
business by standardising human resource, key finance and sales application across overseas
operations. Other than that Tesco operates through wide area networks under the deal with
Verizon to migrate to a single network infrastructure (Tesco signs deal with Verizon for ‘single
global network’, 2019). The partnership will build further project such as provide consumer
WiFi in the store and a global desktop, integrating all its businesses onto a single platform. The
networking technologies used by the company to interact and enhance consumer experience.
Along with it, WAN helped the company to expand their services through online platform. Tesco
use a computer based information system for planning, decision-making, controlling and
problem solving.
3. Ethical and social issues in the selected business
There are various factors that leads to affect the way how company operates and brings
policies and procedure of the company. One of the challenge and issues for the company is
created by the social factors including social trends and attitudes, preferences and choices of
customers. One of the social issue was faced by Tesco when one of the advertisement featured
Muslim family in the Christmas ad. The social media users reacted badly for the TV campaigns
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and this lead to create social issue and challenge for the company. The company led to face
social media backlashes after the launch of the TV ad video. In the ad, customers were asked
about what they enjoy eating at the festive times and Christmas. The inclusion of Muslim family
in the Christmas campaign has lead to create social issues for the company and it leads to
sparked the complaints on social media websites. In this particularly case, somehow information
technology harm ethical norm and social value of the society (Smith and Wong eds., 2016).
Similarly, there are more issues faced by Tesco such as; there are many cases recorded regarding
breaking of confidentiality and privacy of the consumer information through their online
website. Other than that Tesco has also faced integrity and trust issues from the consumers in
UK.
4. Importance of intranet and internet in Tesco
Internet provide Tesco a social platform to sell their products and services on the global
level. Internet enhances the reach of Tesco to the consumers. Tesco publishes supermarket price
comparison on the internet that help consumer to find a reason to select Tesco over competitors.
Intranet and Internet enable Tesco to implement digitalised in-store experience as well as it
enhance the online shopper's experience. Along with it, it also helps the company in identifying
the need of consumers by collecting information of the potential customers through internet.
Tesco also use various wireless technology that enable company to connect in-store staff to a
corporate connect and enhance the internal communication through memos, announcements,
staff news, etc. Internet also used by the company to market or promote their products and
services through digital media or social media platform that add value to the services and
improve the experience of consumers through their online store; www.Tesco.com. The online
services enable company to serve 24*7. The online shopping grocery is now the biggest in the
world with annual sale of £126 million. The internet and intranet provide Tesco a competitive
edge.
5. Explaining various stages of the system development life cycle
System development life cycle refers to a series of six main stages that applies to a range
of software and hardware configurations (Systems development life cycle (SDLC), 2019). It also
referred to application development life cycle. Tesco follows the development cycle to develop
any application, system or software.
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 System Planning- This is the most crucial stage where plan is developed for the
development of system. IT manager of Tesco identify strength and weakness of the
project or software. Along with it, threats, security of system also considered.
 System Analysis- In this stage, feasibility of the software analysed as per the end user or
functional requirement. Along with it, it also includes; understanding of business and
processing needs.
 System Design- Once the analysis is complete, designing process done in this stage.
Design is based on the requirement of consumer, security level, architecture and elements
of the system.
 Development and implementation- The actual development phase starts from here after
having a complete and illustrated design for the system. In this phase, the design
implement into source code through coding.
 System testing and Integration- In the testing stage, all the subsystem and component
brings together to create the whole integrated system. Testing is essential to ensure
customer satisfaction. Testing can be performed by end user of the application or system
or by the specialised personnel team. Along with it, it can also be automated and
systematic in order to ensure actual outcome are compared with the predicted and desired
outcome.
 System Maintenance- Developed system required periodic maintenance that ensure the
system will not become obsolete. Along with it, in the maintenance stage company also
can provide the latest updates for certain component to maintain the standard.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been summarised that Information technology is an integral
part of the business and plays an essential role in business growth and development. If the
business implies with effective IT and other technological services that helps the business in gain
competitive edge in the marketplace. But with implementing IT and serve the society through the
technology, business are required to identify and maintain the social and ethical norms. The term
intranet and internet both sounds similar but are different and effective to help the company to
implement information technology and to being technological advanced. Furthermore, it also has
been identified that system development life cycle is essential to consider while planning to
develop system, software or application. Tesco has analysed as the biggest technological
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advanced company in the world and have various technologies applied in the business, day to
day operations that enhance the productivity and revenue.
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