ISY3001 - E-Technologies' Impact on Business & Risk Management

This essay examines the transformative impact of electronic technologies on modern business operations, particularly for multinational corporations. It analyzes how e-technologies have streamlined manufacturing, revolutionized raw material sourcing, transformed capital acquisition, and revolutionized product sales and marketing. The essay also addresses the risks associated with these technologies, especially data theft, and the measures taken by technology suppliers like Google to mitigate these threats, including user authentication, security enhancements, threat warnings, user awareness programs, and collaboration with law enforcement. Ultimately, the essay concludes that while e-technologies have significantly enhanced business efficiency and global reach, ongoing vigilance and proactive security measures are crucial to address the associated risks.

Running head: E-TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS OPERATIONS
E-TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS OPERATIONS
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E-TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Introduction:
Electronic technology has changed the business operations of the modern business
organizations in several ways. Today electronic technology has touched and transformed all
spheres of business organizations like their production, sourcing of raw materials, selling of their
finished products and even capital generation. Technology has enabled business organizations
not only conduct operations and profit in the future but also acquire and maintain data which
they can use for future business generation. However, this electronic technology comes at huge
prices both for the suppliers of e-technology and the companies using the technology. The paper
would divided into two broad divisions, first the changes which e-technology has ushered into
business organizations and second, the steps which supplying companies and using companies
take to tackle e-technological threats.
Analysis:
Electronic technology refers to the technology which is driven by use of electronic
instruments to conduct various operations. The modern business organizations use electronic
technology in several forms to operate in the market. Companies use e-technology in devices as
small as a smart phone to hold conferences as well as in sophisticated manufacturing plants
weighing several tons. This use has changed the business operations in several ways (Vahlne and
Johanson 2017).
The first change which business organizations experienced due to use of technology
is streamlining of their manufacturing activities which enable them to mass produce goods
at affordable prices. The multinational today stream information regarding customer
expectations from their products using online survey and social networking sites. This

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information is then passed on to the apex management and all the departments. The apex
management then use this information in the new product development procedure of the
company. The production department can use this information to place orders for raw materials
to ensure smooth and timely production of finished goods (Bocken et al. 2014). Companies today
install plants which can be receive and process instructions given through computers. This shows
that e-technology has made the manufacturing has made the manufacturing process more
dynamic and simultaneously control them more accurately. Multinational companies can align
their manufacturing process with related activities like inventory control and sourcing of raw
materials, thus reducing wastage, which would not have been possible without e-technology
(Hair et al. 2015).
The next change which use of e-technology has brought about in the organizations is
the ways they maintain their suppliers and source raw materials from them. Today,
companies, especially the multinational companies need to acquire diverse raw materials for
their finished products to cater to their immense customer bases. For example, the companies
producing consumer goods like skin care products have to source diverse raw materials like
coconut from Asia, cocoa from Africa and olive from Europe. This means that the companies
today require to communicate with suppliers based in different to source the diverse categories of
raw materials. Electronic technology driven inventory control systems have allowed the
companies to maintain their stocks of raw materials and also place orders accurately (Yan et al.
2016). The production managers using e-procurement technology can communicate with
suppliers spread in different countries and view their raw materials, their rates and quality
against their own parameters. They can then forward the information to the other related
departments and then place orders after getting approval. One can point out that the power of

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multinational companies to hold a formidable product line containing diverse products is
empirical to their brand value and revenue generation. It is this need to hold high market position
that drives them to hold a long product line and consequently acquire raw materials from the
world to meet their production needs. Electronic technology has made it possible for companies
to communicate with suppliers from different parts of the world and view their products. It has
enabled them to gain participation and support of the related departments and then place the
orders. Thus e-technology has helped companies to ensure that they order appropriate raw
materials of high quality at economic rates. Thus, e-technology has changed the ways companies
source their raw materials and align it with their quality parameters (Picin and Carbonell 2016).
The third area which e-technology has changed is the ways companies, especially the
multinational companies source their capital. Multinational companies in order to carry on
their global business operations require immense capital base. The capital base is also required to
support the e-technology based manufacturing and sourcing of raw materials. Electronic have
changed the ways multinational companies source their capital. It must be note that the largest
companies in the world are public limited companies which have to get listed on stock exchanges
to source capital. For example, Unilever is primarily listed on London Stock Exchange and also
on New York Stock Exchange (Appendix 1). This means that the company can generate capital
from both markets. Electronic technology has revolutionized the capital sourcing of
multinational companies, thus allowing them to generate immense capital from the market
(Salem, et al., 2017). Advancement of informational technology has made it possible for both
individual investors and institutional investors view the details about the companies like share
prices and their dividend paying capacity on variety of platforms like computers, tablets and
smart phones irrespective of locations. This availability of share trading portals across diverse

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devices allow the investors to invest at their convenience. They are not dependent on the physical
opening of stock exchange offices unlike before the advent of electronic share trading platforms.
This allows the companies to generate immense capital from all over the world which they can
allocate towards installation of advanced technology to manage crucial business areas like
manufacturing (Kwan, Masulis and McInish 2015).
The fourth area of business which electronic technology has changed or rather
revolutionized is sell of finished products. Advanced electronic technology has enabled
multinational companies to promote their products more aggressively which has enabled them to
generate huge revenue and also have deeper long term business implications. The multinational
companies, before the development of advanced electronic technology were mostly dependent on
advertisement of their products on the conventional media like newspaper, television and radio.
There was no scope of gaining customer feedback. Today the multinational companies can
advertise their products on the television, newspapers and magazines. The advancement of
digital media like internet has provided the multinational companies global platforms to advertise
their products before a global base of customers. Electronic technology has allowed companies
to communicate with their customers on social networking websites like Facebook and gain their
feedback and suggestions (O’Hara 2015). These feedbacks can be used while bringing about
future innovation in the product and while developing new products. The companies can even
gauge the demand for different products and forecast future demand based on the number of
customers following their products (forbes.com 2018). This shows that electronic technology has
revolutionized selling process of the companies and has enabled them to sell their products all
over the world, thus generating immense revenue. This analysis also shows that modern
technology has enabled to gain feedback which they can use in future product development.

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Electronic technology has helped the companies breakaway from their brock-and-mortar stores
to sell their products. Companies can sell their products on the ecommerce portals using services
of information technology companies like Amazon. The multinational corporations are also able
to showcase their products on their official websites along with details like features and usage
which would not have been possible without IT support. Thus, they are able to receive orders
round the clock which paves way for immense generation of profits. The customers while
placing orders on the ecommerce portals put in details like name, income and age. Thus
electronic technology does not only pave way for selling of products but also allows
companies to create customer database, thus paving ways for future business generation
(Coronel and Morris 2016).
This revolution in overall business operations which electronic technology also poses
threats and risks which has necessitated the technology supplier companies like Google to
take steps to deal with them. The biggest risk which the companies and their suppliers of
technology face is the risk of data thefts. Modern digital platforms like Facebook have enable
companies to share information about their products with their customers and gain their
feedback. The data often contain sensitive information like income of the customers and their
bank details which is captured while they make online payments. The companies acquire, store,
manage and use this information while conducting business. Illegal groups have started targeting
data bases of companies to gain access to the sensitive information about their customers.
Companies like Apple and their customers are under continuous threat of losing their data due to
hacking (dailymail.co.uk 2018). The information technology companies have taken several steps
to prevent or at least minimize data theft. The first step which these companies have taken is
mandate their user companies to use login and password while entering their portals for actions

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like purchasing of products. For example, in order to place or view, Amazon mandates users to
put in valid email ids and passwords. The ecommerce websites which enable selling of products
keep branded products so that illicit producers engaged in black marketing cannot use their
platforms to earn money (O’Hara 2015).
The second step which information technology companies take to curb data hacking is to
strengthen the security of their portals from their end. They tighten parameters like directing
users to set a certain type of passwords to sign up with their portals. They encourage users to add
their original photograph and mobile numbers for verification and future investigation purpose, if
required (Raghavan, Desai and Rajkumar 2017).
The next step which IT companies take to prevent hacking is to warn the users of any
attempt to intrude into their mail. The IT companies like Google have started giving information
to their users if they detect any sort of intrusion or attempt to do so. They even track the location
and time of the data theft attempt so that holder of the account, both individual and company can
take appropriate steps in the direction, like approaching the police and lodging. These actions
have to a certain extent enabled companies to minimize hacking (Peters et al. 2017).
The fourth step which the IT companies have taken to minimize the threat of hacking is
by creating user awareness. They advise users to use passwords which are difficult to crack to
protect their accounts. They educate their users not to share their passwords with anyone or write
them down anywhere. These initiatives to a certain extent have helped in creating customer
awareness and minimize hacking (dailymail.co.uk 2018).
The fifth step is the most drastic of all the steps which IT companies use to track
data thefts and hacking activities-collaborating with the intelligence departments. One would

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notice that this step is actually based on the previous steps. The IT companies like Google
mandate their users to put in their user ids and passwords. The email id of the user is connected
to the verification mobile number. Whenever hacking is detected and reported, the IT companies
collaborate with the police forces to tack the hacking groups. The IT companies like Google use
the email of the hackers to gain access to their mobile numbers. The police can then approach the
mobile service for providing the details of the users like their address, citizenships and other
family members’ names which help the police to track the hackers (bbc.com 2018).
Conclusion:
One can conclude that electronic technology has revolutionized business operations,
especially for the multinational companies. IT developments have made strategic planning of
important operations like production and inventory management more accurate. Today IT has
enabled multinational companies to control colossal manufacturing processes accurately using
software. The companies can get view, acquire and manage global supply using ecommerce
supply portals. One can also point out that these two activities would require immense
investment which point that the capital generation process of these companies have to be
expanded to meet their growing needs. IT development enables investors to invest in the shares
online which enable these companies to generate huge capital to support their operations. These
companies today enlist themselves on several stock exchanges in several countries which enable
them to multiply their capital generation. However, these advantages of IT has exposed user
companies before data theft risks. The IT companies have taken strict steps to curb this data theft
and enable their client companies benefit by IT advancements in the long run.

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References:
BBC News. 2018. Viewpoint: How to catch a hacker. [online] Available at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17302656 [Accessed 31 Mar. 2018].
Bocken, N.M., Short, S.W., Rana, P. and Evans, S., 2014. A literature and practice review to
develop sustainable business model archetypes. Journal of cleaner production, 65, pp.42-56.
Coronel, C. and Morris, S., 2016. Database systems: design, implementation, & management.
Cengage Learning.
Forbes.com. 2018. Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/03/06/20-companies-you-should-be-following-on-
social-media/#751fbfa964f2 [Accessed 31 Mar. 2018].
Hair Jr, J.F., Celsi, M., Money, A., Samouel, P. and Page, M.J., 2015. The essentials of business
research methods. Routledge.
Kwan, A., Masulis, R. and McInish, T.H., 2015. Trading rules, competition for order flow and
market fragmentation. Journal of Financial Economics, 115(2), pp.330-348.
Londonstockexchange.com. 2018. UNILEVER share price (ULVR) - London Stock Exchange.
[online] Available at:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-markets/stocks/summary/company-
summary/GB00B10RZP78GBGBXSET1.html [Accessed 31 Mar. 2018].
Mail Online. 2018. Apple to issue fix for iPhones, Macs at risk from 'Spectre' chip flaw. [online]
Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5237371/Apple-issue-fix-iPhones-Macs-
risk-Spectre-chip-flaw.html [Accessed 31 Mar. 2018].

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Nyse.com. 2018. NYSE. [online] Available at: https://www.nyse.com/quote/XNYS:UN
[Accessed 31 Mar. 2018].
O’Hara, M., 2015. High frequency market microstructure. Journal of Financial
Economics, 116(2), pp.257-270.
Peters, G., Shevchenko, P., Cohen, R. and Maurice, D., 2017. Understanding Cyber Risk and
Cyber Insurance.
Picin, A. and Carbonell, E., 2016. Neanderthal mobility and technological change in the
northeastern of the Iberian Peninsula: the patterns of chert exploitation at the Abric Romaní rock-
shelter. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 15(5), pp.581-594.
Raghavan, K., Desai, M.S. and Rajkumar, P.V., 2017. Managing Cybersecurity and e-Commerce
Risks in Small Busi-nesses.
Salem, M., Mayar, N., Saeed, M., Mostafa, A. and Tawfik, T., 2017. N & M: Dynamic Online
Website.
Vahlne, J.E. and Johanson, J., 2017. The internationalization process of the firm—a model of
knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. In International
Business (pp. 145-154). Routledge.
Yan, M.R., Chien, K.M. and Yang, T.N., 2016. Green component procurement collaboration for
improving supply chain management in the high technology industries: A case study from the
systems perspective. Sustainability, 8(2), p.105.

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Appendix:
Appendix 1: Unilever on LSE and NYSE
Figure 1. UNilever on LSE website
(Source: londonstockexchange.com 2018)

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Figure 2. NYSE svreen showing Unilever
(Source: nyse.com 2018)