The Role of IT Systems in British Home Plc's Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of IT systems within British Home Plc, examining their application across various business functions such as HR, marketing, and finance, and how these systems contribute to achieving organizational objectives. The report delves into the different ways IT systems store and process data for knowledge management, customer relationship management, data management, and communication management. Furthermore, it explores how IT systems can support value-added change to improve business operations, performance, and sustainability. Finally, the report recommends practical IT system solutions for common business problems experienced in the workplace, offering valuable insights for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness within the organization. The report also highlights the importance of IT in improving customer relations and increasing the company's sales. The report emphasizes the importance of value chain analysis in improving production efficiency and enhancing the overall profitability of a company.

Issues

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Analyse the use of IT Systems Within Different Functions of the British Home Plc. How IT
Systems Contribute to the Achievement of Objectives in Context of British Home Plc............1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Analyse the Different Ways with the Help of which IT Systems Stores and Process Data for
Knowledge Management, Customer Relationship Management, Data Management and
Communications Management....................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
Explain How IT Systems could be Used to Support Value Added Change for Improving
Business Operations, Performance and Sustainability................................................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
Recommend the Ways with the help of which Practical IT Systems Solutions for
Organisational Scenarios that Cover a Range of Common Business Problems Experienced in
the Workplace.............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Information Technology refers to the term which relates to anything which is related to
computing technology, networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work
with these technologies (Kersch and Mishtal, 2016). There are many companies who have IT
Departments and thee are different tasks for the completion of which the establishment of IT
Departments is being done in an organisation. The company chosen for the completion of this
assignment is British Home Plc which is tending to make improvement in the technological
aspects of the company so the investment in the following department is made high. This will
help in improving the level of efficiency of the organisation as well as of the employees as well.
The assignment will start with making its focus on the different types of IT Systems along with
the different functions performed by them and the contribution done by them in the achievement
of organisational objectives. In addition to this, it will also cover about the different ways with
the help of which IT System processes and stores the data for the effective working of the
organisation. Further, the discussion has been made about the ways in which IT System could be
used in order to make implementation of Value Added Change in the working of an organisation.
Lastly, the discussion will be made about the solutions to the problems which are being faced by
the companies at the time of making their operations completion in an efficient and effective
manner.
TASK 1
Analyse the use of IT Systems Within Different Functions of the British Home Plc. How IT
Systems Contribute to the Achievement of Objectives in Context of British Home Plc
Use of IT system in functions of organisation
Information technology plays a crucial role in executing the operations and activities of
all the department of the organisation (Mellor, 2018). Below are the functions of organisation in
relation to the IT system that increases effectiveness of companies which are as follows:
HR department: Human resources involves various functions such as selection,
recruitment, providing training and many more. The primary role is to hire the best and talented
candidate who have the ability to perform the projects as well as tasks of the company. In
addition to this, Human Resource department helps companies in maintaining relationships with
workforce due to this employees prefer to stay in the organisation for longer time. HR maintains
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the records of employees on daily basis. Nowadays, HR uses an IT system that is ERP portal in
which it is easy for them to maintain the records of employees as this system automatically
catches the information of workforce. For instance, human resource department did not need o
make records about attendance of employees. Biometric system which is an IT system
automatically fetches this information. This system saves the time as well as cost of the
company.
Marketing department: Marketing department of a company has the responsibility to
increase the sale of its product & services by creating awareness and educating customers. It also
includes promotion, sales as well as distribution of products. In today's world, technology
impacts the overall sales and profitability of companies (Helmreich and Merritt, 2017). Digital
technology helps companies to easily cover large which in turns rises the customer base of
company. Applications such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and many more assist
companies to create awareness and attract customers at a point of time. Nowadays, organisation
develops their own online pages that id companies to know their potential customers. It is easy
for marketing department to communicate with customers and solve their issues while sitting at a
place only. This saves time of company and customers also. IT systems assist firms to give 24
hour service to customers which leads to customer satisfaction and builds positive mindset of the
people. Information technology systems aid organisations to gain competitive edge at
marketplace by providing creative and unique services to its customers which further turns to
increase in sales & revenue of the company.
Finance Department: Finance department role is to keep the books of accounting which
includes the sales, revenue, expenses and many more things. In addition to this, finance
managers have the authority to issue the fund for company activities as well as raise funds from
the market. They keep the records that is related to the money which is either the cash outflow or
inflow. In context to IT systems, it allows finance department tom maintain to accuracy of data
and maintain the record of each and every amount spent on activities of organisation
systematically (Ljubownikow and Crotty, 2017). Different software are available for companies
to do time analysis, data analysis, make balance sheets, check the accuracy of reports and so on.
For instance, Financial Dashboard software which is an IT system assist companies to analyse
the data and manage the data.
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Information systems assist companies to attain its goals with in specified time period. It
saves the cost or time of the company which further leads to increase in revenue. An effective IT
system allows workforce to manage and understand the task that is assigned to them. In addition
to this, the employees are clear about their roles and takes interest in working. This increases
their productivity which aid firms to fulfil the goals & objectives on time. In context to British
home Plc, the company uses innovative and creative technologies that helps them in gaining
attraction of people which automatically raises their sales level (Milbourne and Cushman, 2015).
The managers of company develops its own webpage in order to know reviews of customers and
improves its strategies. British home Plc payroll management system as it is easy for HR
manager to maintain the record of employees salary, incentives , attendance, leaves and so on.
Information technology helps the employees of British home to connect with the customers
globally or worldwide which helps company to effectively perform its operations anywhere in
the world. This will increase their customer base as well as sales also.
TASK 2
Analyse the Different Ways with the Help of which IT Systems Stores and Process Data for
Knowledge Management, Customer Relationship Management, Data Management and
Communications Management
IT system for knowledge management: Knowledge management system is a type of IT
system which performs functions of storing of knowledge and retrieving it to improve,
understand, collaborate and then perform the function of process alignment. This system of
knowledge management is very necessary for all organisations so that they are able to use their
their knowledge base to increase their base of customers (Borzaga, Gui and Povinelli, 2018).
IT system and Customer relationship management: Customer relationship
management is a very popular approach nowadays which is used by many companies in which
all Companies are making attempts that they are able to use a approach to manage their overall
relations with their customers both present and potential. This is a data analysis tool which helps
in analysing history of customers and with the help of IT systems nowadays this is helping
companies in maintaining of data which can be used in future for forming various strategies and
then using to build a strong customer base.
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IT system and Data management: A data management system is a software in IT
systems which is designed, manipulated, derived and managed data in a database, A DBMS is a
tool which is used to manage data then format and file names, a record structure and use it in
manipulation of overall data in companies. This is a very effective tool which is used for
managing and simplifying a huge data which is consisting of large number of customers.
IT system and communication management: Communication management is a process
which is concerned with a systematic planning, implementation of those plans, monitoring and
then final revision of all such channels of communication in a organisation. With the generation
of technology related to IT systems it has become very easy for all companies that they are using
this technology to make effective communication with their customers (Lavenex, 2016).
TASK 3
Explain How IT Systems could be Used to Support Value Added Change for Improving
Business Operations, Performance and Sustainability
Value added chain refers to a vertically linked activities which add values to the activities
performed by each and every department so that positive result will be attained. Generally it
depends upon the nature of the product, value will be added to the chain so that goals and
objectives will be attained (Steenbergen and Visser, 2016). For organisations who produce goods
and services, with the help of effective use of value chain system along with IT technologies,
management team will be able to support in various manners. A value chain can help a company
to discern areas of its business that are inefficient, then implement strategies that will optimize its
procedures for maximum efficiency and profitability. The main purpose of a value chain analysis
is to evaluate all the detail procedures which is included in order to produce high quality
products and services. With the help of IT, it has been said that value chain analysis perform
more effectively and develop positive results if used properly. Main purpose behind adopting this
analysis is to enhance the overall production efficiency so that management team will be able to
maximise the overall profitability of the company at the competitive marketplace.
For instance, if an organisation adopt value added change within the organisation, there
overall operation, sustainability as well as performance will be enhanced which as a result
provide them various benefits at the competitive marketplace. In addition to this, it is also very
essential for the management team to examine this method on a regular basis so any kind of
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default will be analysed within given time frame and positive measures will be gained.
Therefore, it is very essential for the management team to evaluate all these measures effectively
so that positive result will be gained by the company and maintain their sustainability,
performance and position at the marketplace.
In order to innovate its operations for providing better services to customers it is essential
for British Home Plc to make use of Information technology in order to enhance its level of
performance. The integration of IT within the business operations support not only in performing
business operations effectively but also contributed toward creating value among its
stakeholders. This is so because the use of information technology will ensure that each and
every operations can be performing while considering all the information available in electronic
form (Bradbury and Middlemiss, 2015). By making use of online platform it become easier for
British Home Plc to determine the actual demand of people in term of services it offers. Despite
of this it also provide a platform where information can be exchanges which is crucial to perform
operations in effective manner. In addition to this it also provide a medium or platform through
which British Home Plc can communicate with the people and be able to resolving the issues
which they are facing in term of services. So that appropriate assistance can be provided to them
on timely manner which not only help in reducing the chances of dissatisfaction but also support
in forming up better relationship with them which contribute toward forming up of positive value
among customers (Petch, 2019).
This in turn also support in improving the performance of British Home Plc, as by
keeping the customers happy and satisfied with regular interaction it become easier to keep them
connected with the brand as per service delight. This further support the business in keeping
ahead within the competition as satisfied customers are more loyal and supportive toward the
operations or actions performed by a company which in turn support British Home Plc to achieve
competitive advantage at marketplace. Apart from that information technology can also be used
by British Home Plc in order to provide its services to the customers at online platform which
ensure quick and faster delivery of services to the people who required it at a particular time
period. This not only help in satisfying the expectation of customers but also be able to satisfy
the market demand which support it in achieving sustainability at marketplace. Despite of all
this, technological integration in term of operation performance support a business in reducing
the chances of error as it get performed with the help of electronic medium which ensures proper
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evaluation of data available along with the chances of error so that operations can be performed
in more effective manner while considering the effective decision and strategic formation (Dow
and et. al., 2016).
TASK 4
Recommend the Ways with the help of which Practical IT Systems Solutions for Organisational
Scenarios that Cover a Range of Common Business Problems Experienced in the
Workplace
British Home Plc in try to invest in technology. Company faced different issues such as
new technology, cloud, big data analytics, virtualisation, shadow IT and many other. These are
major issues that directly impact on business success and growth of an enterprise. These issues
and proper recommendation about how to solve challenges facing IT professionals will be
determined as below:
New technology: Technology advances speedily as well as shows up in media on entire
sides. This means managers, users at entire levels, and even challengers pressure staff to develop
new technology. It is a major challenger which is faced by company at workplace (Olowu,
2015).
Recommendation: In order to address this challenge company must provide training to
their employees who have lack of knowledge about how to impalement technology. Along with
this, company must also make the most of any new technology, an business manager requires a
solid knowing of the enterprise and the issues its users as well as markets face (Shollo and
Galliers, 2016).
Shadow IT: It is another main challenge which is faced by British Home Plc while they
invest in technology. IT have a poor picture inside organizations continuously. Whether it be
dictatorial actions, software challenges, slow response times. Different departments of IT are
facing users' preference of leaving to intra-department super users for support. Easily available
cloud software as well as services, British Home Plc see users or groups bypassing the IT
department altogether. Along with this, they analysis and purchase Software as a Service
packages to meet their requirements. Mainly other departments of company such as sales,
accounting, marketing ,etc. are considering independent set up with outside IT service providers.
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Recommendation: When business managers and end users are less satisfied with the
service and assist they receive from information technology, they being to observed for another
options. One of the best solution of this issue is to provide training to the less satisfied
department and communicate each information about the business in proper manner (Mold,
2016).
Cloud: It is another challenge which is faced by organisation while they try to invest in
technology. As this issue has direct and negative impact over business growth and success of
company. With the advancements in such type of technology i.e. cloud computing and to future-
proof the network, an organisation is preparing a potential cloud move is mutual sense. For
instance, what go on when enterprise management determine to implement an internal cloud
answer? Maybe that is a measure toward oncoming applications as well as data off-site.
Recommendation: One of the best recommendation of solution of such type of issue
faced by company as to prepare their all staff members in dealing this issue in effective manner.
This comes down to hardware and software architecture. In this new or unique application
should be make applying an open architecture, as it lets then to tun on any kind of platform. The
additional advantages is that any kind of move to a cloud-based answer can be accomplished
without new applications (Reinecke and Donaghey, 2015).
Communication: It is another biggest issue which will be going to faced by British Home
Plc while invest in technology. This issue has negative and direct impact on business
development and growth of business.
Recommendation: In order to overcome this issue British Home Plc must implement flat
communication and give rights to their all workers about to make decision regrading the
business. As it will support an organisation to implement technology and attract large number of
customers easily.
CONCLUSION
From the above assignment it has been concluded that there are different IT Systems and
along with this the functions performed by them are also important. With the help of this it is
possible to make sure about the effective running of the organisation that will help in achieving
the organisational goals and objectives in an effective manner and also in efficient manner as
well. The conclusion has been drawn about the different ways to store and manage data of the
organisation which is also important as the information of the customers and employees must be
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kept safe and secure so that it could not impact negatively on the working of their organisation.
Further, the conclusion has been drawn about the ways with which IT supports their
organisations to make changes in the improvement in business operations which provides the
company with competitive advantage and this aspect is important to consider so as to get
continuous improvement. Lastly, the consideration is related to practical solutions which are
important for the companies to find out, but with the help of knowing the area of deviation it will
be possible that the same issue may not be repeated again. So it is important to consider different
aspects of an issue in the organisation so that future deviations could be reduced.
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REFERENCES
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