IT for Business: POS System Analysis for Four Seasons Greenhouse

This report examines the implementation of a Point of Sale (POS) system for Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery, addressing the advantages and disadvantages of the new system, including improved efficiency, accurate reports, and efficient stock management, while also acknowledging in...Read More

Running Head: IT for Business
IT for Business

IT for Business 1
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Advantages and Disadvantages of new POS system....................................................................................1
Competitive advantage through POS system..............................................................................................2
Advantage of centralized database.............................................................................................................2
POS system facilitating decision making......................................................................................................3
Ways in which POS systems process business activities effectively.........................................................3
Types of questions that could be answered............................................................................................4
Information used for better business management................................................................................4
Telecommunication options available.........................................................................................................4
Type of network......................................................................................................................................5
Type of media..........................................................................................................................................5
Types of risks in POS system........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................7

IT for Business 2
Introduction
In the digitalized environment, information technology has become one of the most crucial needs
of the modern day business activities. No organization can become competitive without using the
hi-tech information technology practices. Use of such technology smoothens the business
activities, also it ensures that the organization do not face any difficulty in the initiating their
activities in the competitive environment (Adeoti, and Osotimehin 2012). The below mentioned
report provides a detailed information about the point of sale services of the organization. The
given case study of Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery, located in Colorado explained that
the company is facing difficulty in recording the information and managing effective sales as
well. Resulting to which, the organization introduces the POS system. The report provides
advantages, disadvantages, risks, competitive advantage gained by the company with the use of
this process. It also explains the ways through which the company uses POS system to facilitate
decision making and advantages of centralized database. More details about the report are
discussed below:
Advantages and Disadvantages of new POS system
POS system is one of the most significant technologies used in the business that helps them in
the process of increasing the efficiency of the organization. Some of the advantages of POS
system are discussed below:
 Improved efficiency: This process increases the efficiency of the organization by
employing technology in the business process. Earlier the organization used to record the
sales transaction manually that gave chances to error and issues in the organization. Apart
from accuracy, this process also reduced the pressure of the employees so that they can
focus on other innovative activities.
 Accurate reports: With the increase in efficiency, accuracy of the work is also
increased. The company uses automated machine to record the transactions and calculate
the profit and losses for the organization that increases the accuracy for the company
(Gomzin 2014).

IT for Business 3
 Efficient stock management: The POS system used in the company helps them in
recording the inventory details online every time stock is purchased by the company or
sold. The system automatically calculates the stock and alerts the organization in advance
if inventory margin is reduced (Pantano 2013).
Disadvantages:
 The cost of system maintenance increases with the use of this process. As with the help
regular process the company did not require technology. Thus, this process increases cost
of management
 The company attracts cyber-security issue as well, as with the use of POS system the
company stores all data online that give advantage to hackers to hack the system and gain
information about the company (Szell, Lambiotte, and Thurner 2010).
Competitive advantage through POS system
The POS system provides numerous benefits to the business in the current business environment.
This process helps the organization in increasing the competitive advantage in initiating
efficiency of the organization. With the help of this system accuracy of the company
automatically increases and they employees also use effective technology in the organization. IT
activities help the company to identify its activities in the target market. As the workload of
employees reduces thus the employees gain the advantage to focus on generating maximum
profits for the company. This process also gives advantage to the organization to complete the
sales transaction and its recording on time. The company easily maintains the record and the
customers also need not to wait for a long time while billing. With the process the company can
also introduce enterprise ERP activities in the organization effectively. The CRM process of the
organization majorly supports the POS activities in the company (Rese, Schreiber, and Baier
2014).
Advantage of centralized database
It is important for the new, innovative and developing organizations like Four Seasons
Greenhouse and Nursery to make sure that they have combined and allocated the database

IT for Business 4
system in a centralized format. Further, the company receives many advantages with the use of
centralized database system that are discussed below:
 As there is single location of attack for the process, thus the chances for the system to get
hacked reduces as it is difficult for the hackers to crack on system in which all
information is stored.
 While making an important decision, information can be easily availed from the system.
The best feature of centralized system is the company can easily gain information about
the activities without disturbing any other department (Laudon, and Laudon 2016).
 The acts of portability and data management become easier to access.
 The process is cost efficient as its data storage uses less resources and provide more
competencies.
 Changing the process and managing the data becomes an easy activity (Blust, and
Driscoll, NCR Corp 2017).
POS system facilitating decision making
Data is an aspect that plays the most important role for the organization while initiating an
important decision. The POS system easily handles large amount of real time data resulting to
which the system helps in efficient decision making process. Highly data driven approach is used
in the centralized system that helps the POS system in attaining competitive edge in target
market. This system helps the companies in acquiring information about the market and the
customers that helps them in adequately handling them and initiating sales as well. The POS
system facilitates the decision making process by providing exact and accurate data to the
company and integrating various functions so as to achieve the satisfaction level of the customers
as well. The decision of the company becomes more balanced with the introduction of this
system (Lipton, et. al., 2015).
Ways in which POS systems process business activities effectively
Information can be tracked easily by using the manual methods but the employees need to find
out which data they actually want. This process takes time, thus it is not good to use this type of
process in modern day business. Also, if the employees track the information using the manual
method then there is also chance of misinterpretation of the information that can lead the

IT for Business 5
organization in making wrong decisions. Thus, it should be noted that under this process the
employees need to put full efforts to attain the information that too not accurate. The manual
tracking is not as quick and accurate as information tracking in POS system (Orr, et. al., 2015).
Types of questions that could be answered
The POS system answers varied questions of the organization and resolve their queries related to
the transaction and sales process. The system firstly stores and then provides accurate
information about the target customers present in the environment, their taste and preferences,
and the products highly sold in the target market. The POS system also helps in gaining
information about the competencies of the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery and the ways
in which they can earn advantage using them (Van Horn, et. al., 2016).
Information used for better business management
Data that holds strategic importance in the business can be adequately acquired using the POS
systems. The system provides all mandatory information related to the customer, sales and
expenses done by the organization that can further help them in managing the business more
efficiently. As the system provides information about the operations of the company, thus, the
company can find the errors in their process using this system and eradicate them effectively.
The POS system highlights the areas where the company is investing more efforts that are
reducing the competitive advantage of the company. Thus, with the help of this process, the
company finds out the issues and resolves them to attain a sound management system (Smith,
and Schmidt, Hand Held Products Inc 2018).
Telecommunication options available
With the introduction of innovation in the telecommunication sector, the company receives many
options to sustain their growth in the target market. Although there are many telecommunication
options available in the market but the organization should acquire the one that completely meets
its requirements. Further, basics as well as advanced options are available for the organization
according to the type of network.

IT for Business 6
Type of network
Many network options are available with Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery Company but
with the use of LAN connection, the company can easily benefits their thinking into actions. The
company is currently at the developmental stage and aims to introduce POS systems in the
process. Thus, in order to access the available resources and make best use of it, the company
should use LAN network as it will provide higher speed data collection to them (Redmond, et.
al., 2016).
Type of media
As the company operates a single store so they can easily use wired connection. This connection
will help the company in following ways:
 Easy maintenance
 High speed connectivity
 Less chance of data breach
Further, utilizing the Ethernet connection, the company can gain advantage in the target market
by attaining high profits at low costs.
Types of risks in POS system
With the introduction of new technology in the business, all companies are prone to some serious
risks for the business just like Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery Company. Further, the
below mentioned are the risks connected with the POS system and its impact on the
organizational activities as well.
 Privacy: The POS system gather large amount of data and store it in the cloud. Thus, it is
important for the company to ensure that the system is private and will not give
information to any outsider. Privacy of the information is a challenging task when many
active hackers are present in the market. These people can gain access of the information
and use them to hamper the image of the company in the market (Baarman, et. al., 2015).
 Security: as whole information about the company is stored in the POS systems of the
organization. So, it becomes important for the organization to secure the system in such a
way that it cannot be used by some unknown person. If the security of the system is weak

IT for Business 7
then the hackers might breach the information and make use of it for their cruel
intentions.
 Confidentiality: The POS systems stores information related to the activities of the
company and its stakeholders as well. For instance, the customers make payments
electronically through POS machine. Thus, it is important for the company to maintain
confidentially in the business for the safety of clients and the company as well (Barten,
Metrologic Instruments Inc 2014).
Conclusion
Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, it should be noted that there are many
advantages as well as disadvantages of using the POS systems for the company Four Seasons
Greenhouse and Nursery. It is important for the organization to effectively look at the pros and
cons and then use the process in such a way that they gain competitive advantage in the target
market. The company should make use of wired LAN connection for the system according to the
business specifications. Apart from it, the company should also take specific mitigations for the
risks involved with the business.

IT for Business 8
References
Adeoti, O. and Osotimehin, K., 2012. Adoption of point of sale terminals in Nigeria: Assessment
of consumers’ level of satisfaction. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 3(1), pp.1-6.
Baarman, D.W., Mollema, S.A. and Stoner, W.T., Access Business Group International LLC,
2015. Point of sale inductive systems and methods. U.S. Patent 9,027,840.
Barten, H.J.M., Metrologic Instruments Inc, 2014. POS-based code symbol reading system with
integrated scale base and system housing having an improved produce weight capturing surface
design. U.S. Patent 8,789,757.
Blust, D. and Driscoll, T., NCR Corp, 2017. Automated business system and method of vending
and returning a consumer product. U.S. Patent 9,646,451.
Gomzin, S. 2014. Hacking Point of Sale: Payment Application Secrets, Threats, and Solutions,
John Wiley & Sons.
Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
Lipton, A.J., Venetianer, P.L., Haering, N., Brewer, P.C., Yin, W., Zhang, Z., Yu, L., Hu, Y.,
Myers, G.W., Chosak, A.J. and Cutting, R.A., 2015. Video analytics for retail business process
monitoring. U.S. Patent 9,158,975.
Orr, R.N., Lemley, D., Hotchkies, C.J. and Dehoux, J.L., Atx Innovation Inc, 2015. System and
method for interfacing a client device with a point of sale system. U.S. Patent 9,195,982.
Pantano, E., 2013. Ubiquitous retailing Innovative Scenario: from the fixed point of sale to the
flexible ubiquitous store. Journal of technology management & innovation, 8(2), pp.84-92.
Redmond, E., Huang, J. and Heisinger, P., Visa USA Inc, 2016. Method and system for
providing multiple services via a point-of-sale portal architecture. U.S. Patent 9,269,082.

IT for Business 9
Rese, A., Schreiber, S. and Baier, D., 2014. Technology acceptance modeling of augmented
reality at the point of sale: Can surveys be replaced by an analysis of online reviews?. Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(5), pp.869-876.
Smith, T. and Schmidt, M., Hand Held Products Inc, 2018. System for providing a continuous
communication link with a symbol reading device. U.S. Patent 9,930,142.
Szell, M., Lambiotte, R. and Thurner, S., 2010. Multirelational organization of large-scale social
networks in an online world. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(31),
pp.13636-13641.
Van Horn, E., Kearney, S.P., Giordano, P.A., Good, T., Dickinson, C., Au, K.M., Wilz Sr, D.,
Furlong, J.A., Hejl, B., Walczyk, J.A. and Coyle, L., 2016. Multifunction point of sale system.
U.S. Patent 9,412,242.