Marks and Spencer: Information Technology's Impact on Business

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the role of information technology (IT) in business, examining its impact on success and failure. It delves into the significance of IT in managing business operations, facilitating global communication, and achieving market sustainability. The report c...Read More

INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................1
Role of IT in success or failure of a business..............................................................................1
Social and ethical issues that pertain to running business...........................................................2
Identify and differentiate between different types of networking technologies..........................3
Importance of internet and intranet in business...........................................................................3
Different stages of system development lifecycle.......................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................5
Role of IT in success or failure for Marks and Spencer..............................................................5
Social and ethical issues that pertain to running business for Marks and Spencer......................5
Identify and differentiate between different types of networking technologies used by Marks
and Spencer..................................................................................................................................6
Importance of internet and intranet used in Marks and Spencer.................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REREFENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is usage of any kind of system, networking device, infrastructure
that can be used to create, store, process information securely in the form of digital or electronic
data or information. It is one of the most important things which is required to be focused upon
by organizations as it helps them in management of their business operations, functions in a
proper manner. Advancement information technology systems has also made it possible for
organizations to manage their business operations globally, communicate with the target
customers and gain sustainability within the market (Thatcher and et. al., 2018). Adopting
information technology within business has made it possible for organizations to integrate and
manage all of their organizational functions in a much better and appropriate manner. this
assignment will lay emphasis upon social and ethical issues that pertain to a business, importance
of information technology for a business, system, development lifecycle, different types of
networks, usage of internet and intranet within an organization. This assignment will focus upon
analysis of importance and implementation of IT within Marks and Spencer. It is a British
multinational retailer that was founded in 1884 whose headquarter is in London, England, UK.
They specialize in clothing, home products and food products.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Role of IT in success or failure of a business
According to the view of Dwivedi and et. al., (2019) Information technology plays a vital
role in success and failure of an organization in many different ways. It helps in providing
different kinds of opportunities to business organizations by analysing business plan and data in
a specific manner. it also helps in providing different kinds of tools, technologies and methods
that can be used by companies to resolve their complex business problems so that they can plan
their business scalability accordingly. Proper and appropriate implementation of information
technology within business helps in achieving a future vision in a proper manner. It also helps in
providing a path of innovation which further helps in enhancing their overall market share, gain
competitive advantage and enhance their overall financial stability as well. Today due to
increasing technology advancement competition within the market for the organizations is
increasing continuously because of which it is becoming difficult for organizations to gain
sustainability within the market. It is one of the main reasons because of which importance of IT
for organizations is increasing continuously. Dwivedi and et. al., (2019) further explains that, IT
1

has also made it possible for organizations to promote their products and services globally from
one place. Not only this it has further helped the organization to enhance their overall both
internal and external communication. With the help of advance IT systems, they can
communicate with all of their stakeholders whether they are investors, employees, clients,
suppliers, customers and others. It has made it much easier for companies to analyse large
amount of data and extract useful information for decision making and for future planning. This
analysis of large amount of data helps the organization in minimizing risk associated with
running a business which further helps in managing their business growth in a much more
appropriate and effective manner. effective information technology helps the business
organizations to reach their potential customers and also helps in ensuing further long- term
stability within the industry in which they operate.
Social and ethical issues that pertain to running business
As per the view of Van Buren and et. al., (2019) There are various kinds of social and
ethical issues that can impact overall business of an organization. Increasing usage and
implementation of information technology within an organization is becoming one of the main
reasons because of which business organizations are facing various kinds of ethical and social
issues in running a business. One of the main ethical issue that pertain to running a business is
environment protection. Due to technology advancement CO2 emission within environment is
increasing which is damaging the environment. Most of the organizations are engaged within
activities in which emission of CO2 is high. It is one of the main ethical issue which pertains
while running a business. It has become one of the most important things which is required to be
focused upon by business organization and should take a step further so that they can reduce
their carbon footprint in order to reduce negative impact upon environment. Another issue that
arises within an organization is individual rights. Each and every individual has a right to speak.
Today most of the employees of staff members of an organization uses social media. Today all
the organizations keep a track of their employees and thing that they post upon their social
media. If employees post anything against the organization or anything because of which brand
image is impacted then in such case strict actions are taken against employees.
Alazaba, (2016) elaborates an explains that, Information technology has provided various
kinds of benefits to both organization and employees. One of the advantages if flexibility in
working. But this advantage has created a social issue. It has become a bit difficult for employees
2

to manage their personal and professional life because most of the companies are starting to take
advantage of this flexibility and make their employees work from wherever they are and because
of which it is slowly becoming difficult for employees to manage their family life and
professional life.
Identify and differentiate between different types of networking technologies
According to the view of Adrah, Bjørnstad and Kure, (2017) Networking can be defined as
a group of two or more than two computer systems or devices together so that different kinds of
messages, information, data or files can be transferred from one system to another. There are
different kinds of networks that can be used to connect different kinds of devices at different
locations. Some of the most commonly used types of network are LAN (Local area network),
MAN (Metropolitan area network) and WAN (Wide area network). Major difference between all
the three types of networks is of distance. Local area network is a kind of network which is
majorly used for connecting personal devices together with the help of a switch or a router within
a short distance. It is mainly used to connect devices present within a building or an office. Data
transmitted within this network is done at fast rate as number of systems linked within the
network are limited. It can be used for personal use, within office buildings, school etc. As it is
used to connect devices within a shorter distance so, noise or error within this network are
limited.
Li and et. al., (2020) further explains that, MAN is another kind of network that covered
larger area as compared to LAN such as a city. It is majorly used to connect two or more than
two system or devices together that are either in the same city or in different city. As it covers a
large geographical area, it can be used as an IPS i.e. an internet service provider. This type of
network is designed for customers who need or wants high internet connectivity. As compared to
LAN it is a bit hard to design and maintain MAN. As it covers a larger geographical distance, it
is a bit difficult to maintain fault tolerance within the network as congestion in this network is
high. Whereas, WAN is used to cover larger area then MAN possibly state or country. It consists
of multiple number of small networks like LAN’s, MAN’s etc. Internet is one of the best
examples of LAN.
Importance of internet and intranet in business
According to the view of Purnomo, Suryana and Sari, (2018) Internet plays a vital role
within an organization. In fact, it has become one of the most important things which is required
3

to be focused upon by organizations. Today it has become one of the most commonly and widely
used tool that offers public access to information to the organizations by creating various
opportunities for information retrieval, marketing and sales, communications etc. Internet helps
organizations to gather information about their competitors, market trends, generate awareness
among their customers about their products and services. Organizations also uses internet for all
the other kinds of electronic activities such as marketing, promotions or for development of their
own network. Internet is also beneficial and important for organizations as it helps them to
reduce overall cost, make decision making much easier, increases productivity and most
importantly can be used to develop relationship with their customers, clients and other business
stakeholders.
As elaborated by Majumder and Roy, (2017) intranet is equally important for
organizations and it can be used as a tool by companies for scheduling, collaboration, increasing
internal productivity of the organization and its employees. Most of the companies uses intranet
as a focal point of internal communication as it helps in enhancing overall security of the data or
information stored within the organizations as with the help of intranet access to information for
external persons is restricted. All the internal employees or staff members of an organization can
only access and use intranet for distribution or sharing of information. It also helps in
streamlining business operations and enhances internal organizational communication in a much
better and appropriate manner.
Different stages of system development lifecycle
As per the view of Yu, Chu and Lu, (2018) System development lifecycle is a kind of a
framework which is used by organizations for development of information systems. This
lifecycle includes some step by step phases that helps in development of a system. it helps in
developing a high- quality information system with fulfilment of all the requirements of the
system. it further helps in development of a system within defined time period and cost of the
project. Some of the main activities that re included in this life cycle are requirements, designing,
implementation, testing, deployment, operations and maintenance. Phases that are required to be
implemented to development or modification of an information system are: planning, analysis,
designing, implementation, testing and maintenance. At first planning phase feasibility study of
the system is done in which all the requirements are defined. Not only this, threat, risk, security
constraints etc. are also identified at this stage in short it is checked whether development of this
4

system is feasible or not. Next stage is analysis phases where processing or business needs are
analysed in which system requirements are defined and analysed and prioritization of the
requirements is done. Next phase is system design in which designing of the application with use
interface system is done. Next phase is implementation phase in which designing of the source
code is done and integration of the system is done. At testing phase testing of whole system is
done and if any kind of bugs or errors are identified within the system then it is removed. Last
stage is maintenance stage in which on site support to the user is provided to them and if there is
requirement to bring any kind of changes within the system then it is brought at this phase.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Role of IT in success or failure for Marks and Spencer
Information technology plays an important and vital role in success or failure of marks
and Spencer. It helps M & S in maintenance of their business operations globally. Most
importantly information technology for M & S helps them in maintenance of information or data,
maintain their sales globally and also helps in marketing and promotion of their products and
services. IT has made it much easier for M & S to manage sales of their products and services
globally. Not only this, with the help of advance IT system they can easily manage and maintain
their customer’s data in a proper manner (Parise, Guinan and Kafka, 2016). With the help od
advance IT systems they can easily analyse large amount of their customers data and can identify
their wants, needs, current trend etc. which further helps them in developing future approaches in
order to enhance their overall sales and revenue. Not only this, it further helps M & S to enhance
transparency within their business operations which helps them in enhancing their relationship
within their customers and enhances trust within themselves. It has brought improvement within
entire supply chain management of M & S and has made it much more intelligent. They can
easily keep a track of their inventory level so that if goods are required to be ordered then it can
be done on timely manner and shipments can be tracked and safeguarded easily.
Social and ethical issues that pertain to running business for Marks and Spencer
There are many kinds of social and ethical issues that can impact M & S and their overall
business. Green issue is one of the most common ethical issue which is being faced by most of
the retail sector organizations which is also faced by M & S as well. Government has developed
some rules and regulations for organizations which forces then to reduce their CO2 emission
level, reduce wastage and use environment friendly sources. In order to overcome this issue, M
5

& S has taken some initiatives to reduce their CO2 level. Not only this they have focused upon
transforming each and every part of their organization in order to go green. Another issue which
is faced by organizations is related to collection of information and security (Valentine, Hanson
and Fleischman, 2019). Today like every organization on the name of security even M & S
collect all information of their customers and employees and continuously keep a track upon
their activities. M & S also analyse buying behaviour of their customers and bring changes
within their sales activities so that sales and revenue can be increased. It is a major issue because
it many times even employees and customers have no idea about what kind of data of there is
being stored and where it is being used and if in any case data theft happens within the
organization in this case not only the organization suffers but their employees and customers also
suffers.
Identify and differentiate between different types of networking technologies used by Marks and
Spencer
Marks and spencer use all the three main types of networking technologies but for
different purposes. They use LAN to connect all of their systems and devices that are be used
within their building in a proper manner. Each of their stores has their own LAN connection
which is used by them to connect all of their systems. Whereas they use WAN to connect all of
their systems centrally to a central- systems globally. So that all of their sales records and other
kinds of records can be stores in real time globally (Krasyuk, Kirillova and Kozlova, 2017). They
majorly use WAN instead of Lan because of many reasons. First of all, usage and
implementation of WAN is much cheaper as compared to LAN. With the help of WAN, they can
easily save, store and share information throughout the organization globally. Other than this,
WAN makes maintenance of their central systems much easier in which all the information
related to their employees, products, services and other business operations is stored. It further
makes it much easier for the organization to update information about their business organization
upon their central system and connect with their customers present globally.
Importance of internet and intranet used in Marks and Spencer
Internet and intranet are two most important things that are use and by Marks and
Spencer’s. Both internet and treatment help in management of their business operations in an
efficient manner and also helps in management of their data, information properly and achieve
their desired goals and objectives in a proper and effective manner. M & S uses internet so that
6

they can collect required information about market trends, about their customers, gain
information about their competitors so that they can develop their marketing and promotional
strategies about their products and services accordingly (Balaji and et. al., 2018). They also use
internet for promotion and marketing of their products and services globally. Other than this,
internet is also important for them as it helps them to maintain their own network.
Simultaneously intranet is also beneficial for them as it helps them as it helps them in
maintenance of internal communication. Marks and Spencer have their own intranet platform
which is used by their human resource department for storing and maintaining data or
information of their employees. Not only this, this platform also helps them in maintenance of
data related to their products and services, employee’s data or information which further helps
them to work upon enhancing overall productivity of their employees. This intranet platform also
helps their HR department in easily completing some of their main administrative HR work such
as pay slips of their employees, maintenance of their business conducts. M & S uses this
platform as an opportunity to manage their business operations and functions in a easier manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above assignment it has been summarized that information technology within
an organization is important as it helps an organization. There are various kinds of IT systems
that are used by organizations for management and operability of various functions of
organization. For retail sector organizations IT systems are important as it not only helps them in
management of their sales but also helps them in maintaining their overall customer base in a
proper manner. Implementation of information technology systems within an organization helps
organizations in achieving their pre- defined aims and objectives in a proper manner. But from
the above analysis and discussion it has been identified that increasing usage of IT within
organizations is also increasing types of social and ethical issues within an organization that can
impact an organization and its business in a drastic manner. it has also been concluded that there
are different kinds of networking technologies that can be used by organizations for different
purposes.
7

REREFENCES
Books and Journals
Adrah, C.M., Bjørnstad, S. and Kure, Ø., 2017, July. Fusion networking technology for IEC
61850 inter substation communication. In 2017 IEEE International Conference on
Smart Grid and Smart Cities (ICSGSC) (pp. 152-156). IEEE.
Alazaba, S.A., 2016. The Impact of Some Family Variables on the Dimension of Social
Responsibility. Sociology. 6(8). pp.527-538.
Balaji, M.S., and et. al., 2018. User acceptance of IoT applications in retail industry.
In Technology Adoption and Social Issues: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and
Applications (pp. 1331-1352). IGI Global.
Dwivedi, Y.K., and et. al., 2019. Re-examining the unified theory of acceptance and use of
technology (UTAUT): Towards a revised theoretical model. Information Systems
Frontiers. 21(3). pp.719-734.
Krasyuk, I.A., Kirillova, T.V. and Kozlova, N.A., 2017. Network technologies as innovative
solution in commodity circulation. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 35, p. 01055).
EDP Sciences.
Li, Y., and et. al., 2020. Enhancing the Internet of Things with Knowledge-Driven Software-
Defined Networking Technology: Future Perspectives. Sensors. 20(12). p.3459.
Majumder, A. and Roy, S., 2017. Implementation of enhanced forward pointer-based mobility
management scheme for handling internet and intranet traffic in wireless mesh
network. Telecommunication Systems. 66(2). pp.145-168.
Parise, S., Guinan, P.J. and Kafka, R., 2016. Solving the crisis of immediacy: How digital
technology can transform the customer experience. Business Horizons. 59(4). pp.411-
420.
Purnomo, D.S., Suryana, Y.S. and Sari, D., 2018. The effect of business partnership and
innovation management to business performance of business units of multiplay provider
In Indonesia. Academy of Strategic Management Journal. 17(2). pp.1-12.
Thatcher, J.B., and et. al., 2018. Mindfulness in information technology use: Definitions,
distinctions, and a new measure. MIS Quarterly. 42(3). pp.831-848.
Valentine, S.R., Hanson, S.K. and Fleischman, G.M., 2019. The presence of ethics codes and
employees’ internal locus of control, social aversion/malevolence, and ethical judgment
of incivility: A study of smaller organizations. Journal of Business Ethics. 160(3).
pp.657-674.
Van Buren III, H.J., and et. al., 2019. Business and human trafficking: A social connection and
political responsibility model. Business & Society, p.0007650319872509.
Yu, C.P., Chu, C.P. and Lu, P.H., 2018. Applying a Security Management Mechanism to a
System Development Lifecycle. International Journal of E-Adoption (IJEA). 10(1).
pp.1-17.
8