The Role of Information Technology at Tesco Plc: An Analysis

This report examines the profound impact of information technology on Tesco Plc, a leading multinational retail company. It begins with an introduction to the role of IT in modern business, setting the stage for an analysis of Tesco's operations. The literature review explores the significance of IT in the retail sector, different networking technologies (PAN, LAN, MAN, WAN), and ethical and social issues associated with IT use. The analysis and discussion section delves into the role of IT within organizations, the types of information systems used (RFID, blockchain, AI), and the importance of internet and intranet in business. Furthermore, it discusses the stages of the system development life cycle. The report highlights how IT facilitates efficient data storage, improves communication, enhances customer service, and drives innovation within Tesco Plc. The report also explores the ethical considerations of data privacy, ownership, and security. It concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the critical role of IT in Tesco's success. References are provided for further research.

Introduction to Information

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Purpose...................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Background............................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE.................................................................................................................................1
2.1 Information Technology and its Role in Retail Business......................................................1
2.2 Different Types of Networking technologies........................................................................2
2.4 Ethical and Social Issues in Use of Information Technology................................................3
2.5 Importance of Internet and Intranet in Business....................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................4
3.1 Role of Information Technology in Organization.................................................................5
3.1.1 Types of Information System Used in Business Organization...........................................5
3.2 Types of Networking Technologies Used in Business Organization....................................5
3.3 Importance of Internet and Intranet in the Business..............................................................6
3.4 Stages of system Development Life Cycle............................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is one of the trending topic which have been rapidly evolved with
the within few years. This is the use of the computer systems in order to store, retrieve and
transmit the data and information over the internet.
1.1 Purpose
The main purpose of the study is to analyse the impact of the technological improvement
over the success and failures of the business. In addition the Purpose to carry out the research is
identifying the impact of the technology over the Tesco Plc. As it have made, easy
communication of the people all around the world which allows the organization to approach
large amount of customers. The document will help identifying the social and ethical issues that
are associated with the technology along with this it will investigate about different networking
technologies.
1.2 Background
Tesco Plc is the British Multinational company which deals with the variety of retail
items. This company have been greatly benefited from such developments within the world, as
the technology have turned all the manual efforts into the mechanical with the use of the
technology and internet. The study will help in developing a complete understanding about the
the use of technology which allows the Tesco Plc to store large amount of information over
network and easily access it when required. Earlier the all the work was based on the manual
efforts but due to the modernisation of the world, the use of the internet and social media have
become widely popular.
LITERATURE
2.1 Information Technology and its Role in Retail Business
Information technology plays the vital role in shaping the world with the technology that
have made it easier for the people to expand their knowledge. According to the views of Caputo
and et.al., 2018, Retailing companies have find their way to globalise the operations in the
international market. As per the views of Hills, 2018, almost all the business functions are now
performed efficiently with the use of the technology, as it have provided the business with the
MIS, TPS, Erp and many other software to manage the data and information Efficiently within
the business. Also Long, 2018, says that technology plays the important role in management of
the complex retail operations via enhancing the market knowledge which helps in obtaining the

competitive advantage in the retail sector. As suggested by Moorhouse, tom Dieck and Jung,
2018, Retail business have also collect and analyse the information from the customers via social
media comments and feedbacks in order to provide them the goods and services according to
their requirements. It allows the retail businesses to innovate and invent new goods within the
firm which helps the business in long term sustainability.
2

As per the views of Shan, 2018, technology facilitates the cloud storage which helps in
easy accessibility and protects the confidential data and information from the criminals. It speed
ups the main operations of the business and also helps them in cost saving. Caputo and et.al.,
2018, have suggested that the use of the RFID technology helps in enhancing the manufacturing
process within the business which leads to the improved efficiency and hence increased
profitability within the business. The retail businesses are employing the technology to
strengthen various business functions in order to perform the operations efficiently. Along with
this technology have advanced various different types of software which helps in tracking the
business information online and it also allows the organizations to attract large amount of
customers towards the goods and services of the particular business. Along with this, technology
provides a better way to provides the customer services in the form of online marketing services
to gain the higher sales and profitability within the retailing business.
2.2 Different Types of Networking technologies
Networking technology allows the interconnection of the different devices in order to
share the data and information with each other. Retail business uses various different types of
networking technology to connect the systems within the business. As per the opinions of Caputo
and et.al., 2018, there are multiple networking technologies such as PAN, LAN, MAN, WAN,
CAN etc. such technologies have been described below:
PAN
According to Moorhouse, tom Dieck and Jung, 2018, It can be described as the Personal
Area Network which connects the systems within a small area. It is the type of most basic
network which is connected via wireless modem which allows the accessibility of the
information around one person in a building.
CAN
Campus Area Network provides the interconnectivity of the devices within the a
university or a campus. As per the views of Shan, 2018, it allows the accessibility of the data
within a campus and it is the second most smallest network after PAN. This provides the
accessibility of the data to the multiple users at the same time. It may connects multiple devices
via wired or wireless medium and also it can be considered as the collection of PAN network.
LAN
3

Caputo and et.al., 2018, says that LANS are typically used for the single sites where the
people need to share the resources among the staff but not with external business environment so
LAN is used widely to establish the Local area network. This network is entirely wireless as it
allows the interconnectivity at the wider range.
MAN
As per Shan, 2018, Metropolitan Area Network consists of computer network which
establishes the connectivity across the entire city, collage, campus or small region. This network
is larger then all the above networks as it may establishes a connection over the area of several
miles. MAN can also be used to connect various LANs together in order to establish a large
network over internet.
WAN
Wide Area Network covers the very large area as it allows the accessibility of the
information and services within the entire city or an entire world. According to the views of
Moorhouse, tom Dieck and Jung, 2018, WAN is huge networking infrastructure which connects
large number of computers and systems with each other. For Example, Internet which provides
the interconnectivity of the networks within the entire world and also allows the communication
with large number of users simultaneously. This consists of most complex infrastructure as it
consists of various LANs, and MANs together to form a large network.
2.4 Ethical and Social Issues in Use of Information Technology
In an organization where the information technology is used it is required to follow the
ethical considerations. There are different issues which are related to use of information
technology in any organization. These ethical issues are privacy, digital ownership, data
collection, data security and Access Costs (Schwalbe, 2015). The first problem in the used of
information technology is related to data privacy. Tesco is a multinational organization and for
better operation and performance company store the customer data that helps the company to
plan future strategy and further business expansion. It is duty of company to maintain the privacy
of personal information of consumer. The other ethical issues in the organization are ownership
of collected data and data collected. The data collected in the server of company is property of
Tesco so it is important for the company to prevent the misuse of this information. The social
issues of information technology is it is increasing unemployment in country which is not good
4

for society. To handle and operate information system employees need to have high knowledge
and skills. To get job in Tesco person need to be well educated and professionally skilled on IT
system.
2.5 Importance of Internet and Intranet in Business
The high functionality of internet force the organization to use it in the business. For the
retail store industry internet can important role to improve the business of organization. Various
advantages of internet and intranet force Tesco to use it for better working efficiency and higher
performance. By internet company can sign different contracts with clients and consumer and
this will improve the productivity and profit of business. Internet also can be used in training and
development of employees. There are different courses are available on internet that can improve
performance and productivity of individual employee and this is cost and time efficient for
company. Internet also can be used to perform collection of consumer and market data. Tesco
PLC also can use internet to perform online business (Dutta, Geiger and Lanvin, 2015). Physical
presence of company is high and to improve the reach to the larger audience Tesco can use
online selling of good to improve the marginal profit in retail industry. The social medial
marketing is the best way to perform marketing and promotion of company services. Intranet
improves the speed of data transfer. In the conventional way of communication the information
transfer speed is low. But by implementing intranet this can be improved in company. This is
how internet and intranet are most important in retail business.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
In the retail sector use information technology is now essential because it can improve the
performance of companies. This technology comes with higher efficiency and accuracy.
Different facilities of Information technology system provide better handling of information in
the organization. This can help the organization to improve the productivity with in short period.
For better performance and high productive speed IT is most important.
3.1 Role of Information Technology in Organization
Information technology plays important role in any business organization. In the retail
industry the consumer satisfaction is highly required and it is not possible to manage all the
consumer data in efficient way with in the organization (Lloyd, 2017). It is difficult to save data
manually in record. Information technology provide facility of high storage to organization.
Main function of the information technology is to collect information, store the information in
5

storage unit, process collected information to generate required result. In the retail sector
information system can help the company to store large data of consumer and that is required at
the time of decision making and strategy deciding. This can improve the decision of company
and this will lead to higher profitability and high performance. The other functions of
information technology are- it provides the facility of tracking which is important in the retail
business. This function improves the security and safety of goods and people in organization.
The tracking data and object tracking can be used in inventory management and also can be used
to perform research on behaviour of consumer in the retail store. This is how information
technology can help the Tesco to improve the management and operation of company and
company employees.
3.1.1 Types of Information System Used in Business Organization
The different types of information systems used in the organization to handle various
kind of data and information in the organization. In the retail store Tesco different technologies
are used that are RFID, block chain management and artificial intelligence. RFIS is used in
Tesco to perform employee management, inventory management, safety and security. Artificial
intelligence is used to perform fully automated selling. This improves the performance and
accuracy of business and money transactions. The other technologies like Automation is also
used for inventory management.
3.2 Types of Networking Technologies Used in Business Organization
There are different types of networking technologies are used in the organization to
improve the process of data and information transfer (Baller, Dutta and Lanvin, 2016). For the
internal and external communication and information transfer this networking technologies are
used. To perform communication and information inside Tesco PAN, LAN, WLAN, CAN and
EPN is used. The personal area network is used in the organization to perform information
transfer for higher authorities. In this type of networking a single computer system is connected
to internet to perform information processing. In local area network small group of employees
are connected together to operate to complete common of goals. This networking technology is
mainly used in corporate offices to perform fast data transfer. The wireless local area network is
also used in the organization to perform wireless communication. This type of networking
technology is used in the action where high mobility is required. Campus area network is used
with the premises of Tesco to perform different type of communication and data transfer. This
6

type of network is only accessible with in the area of organization and this is used by the
organization to maintain communication with employees. The Enterprise private network is high
security network that is used by the organization to transfer the confidential information. This
type of network is not accessible to outer public.
The different type of network used for external communication are VPN, POLAN, SAN,
WAN and MAN. The virtual private network is used by the organization to create a private
network for the company employees to keep the information safe from other competitors.
Passive optical area network is used by organization to perform high speed data and information
non longer physical distance. POLAN is somehow similar to WAN that is also used for long
distance communication. In the Tesco the different system are connected with system area
network. For better operation all the data of different departments is interfaced together to
perform operations in collective manner. The metropolitan area network is used by organization
to communicate with other branches of organization with in a single city. This is how different
networking technologies are used to improve the performance of business.
3.3 Importance of Internet and Intranet in the Business
In the retail industry role of internet is so important. The intranet is the networking which
is required to get access to internet. The high functionality of internet can provide benefit to the
organization in different ways. There are different departments in an organization that can use
internet to improve their performance (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier, 2015). Internet can
minimise the operation and work load of marketing by providing larger platform of social media
and digital platform. In the world larger number of people are connected through smartphones
and digital technology. This provide huge opportunity to Tesco to perform vast level marketing
on global scale. This can attract more consumer towards the services of company. Consumers
also can access the online store of organization any time this improve the number of serving
hours. This also can provide the opportunity to the company to provide online support to the
consumer and this can improve the satisfaction level of consumers. This will help the
organization to improve the productivity and performance in the marketplace. By using internet
company also can provide services in the remote area which are not accessible in physical
manner. This is how internet and intranet can help the Tesco to improve positioning in market
place.
7

3.4 Stages of system Development Life Cycle
Implementation of information system completed by following different stages. This
stages of system development are required to develop a productive system (Schnoll, 2015). in the
first stage information collection is performed in which required data is collected. In the next
stage this data is analysed by team or experts to ensures the productivity of data collected. The
model of the system is designed and implementation is performed. After implementation the
system is completed and ready for deployment. As the system get deployed in the company a
technical team test the system and check its suitability for organization. After testing the fully
developed system is used by Tesco and for better performance maintenance is performed
regularly by organization.
CONCLUSION
This report is conducing the importance of information technology in the retail sector
company. The role of information system is evaluated in report to better understand
implementation of in business. Importance of internet and intranet is also analysed in study.
8

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Baller, S., Dutta, S. and Lanvin, B., 2016. Global information technology report 2016. Geneva:
Ouranos.
Caputo, F. and et.al., 2018. Intertwining the internet of things and consumers' behaviour science:
Future promises for businesses. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 136.
pp.277-284.
Dutta, S., Geiger, T. and Lanvin, B., 2015. The global information technology report 2015.
In World Economic Forum(Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. P80-85).
Hills, J., 2018. Information technology and industrial policy. Routledge.
Lloyd, I.J., 2017. Information technology law. Oxford University Press.
Long, R.J., 2018. New office information technology: Human and managerial implications.
Routledge.
Moorhouse, N., tom Dieck, M.C. and Jung, T., 2018. Technological innovations transforming
the consumer retail experience: a review of literature. In Augmented Reality and Virtual
Reality (pp. 133-143). Springer, Cham.
Schnoll, H.J., 2015. E-Government: Information, Technology, and Transformation: Information,
Technology, and Transformation. Routledge.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Shan, Z.E.N.G., 2018. Smart Consumption Mode Research of Community Business. DEStech
Transactions on Economics, Business and Management, (eced).
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.
9