Management Information Systems Analysis of Unilever PLC Business

This report provides a detailed analysis of management information systems (MIS) within Unilever PLC, a British multinational retail company. It explores various IT models such as enterprise systems (including ERP, CRM, and product lifecycle management), inter-organizational information systems, decision support systems, and inventory control systems. The report also examines the three dimensions of information systems: organization, management, and technology, highlighting their impact on Unilever's business processes, culture, and decision-making. Furthermore, it applies Porter's Five Forces model to assess the competitive landscape of Unilever, considering the threat of new entrants, substitutes, and the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers. The report concludes with recommendations for Unilever to optimize its MIS and maintain a competitive advantage, emphasizing the importance of cloud computing, information ethics, and database management systems.

Management
information
systems

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................4
4 models of information technology...........................................................................................4
3 dimensions of Information system ..........................................................................................6
Porters five forces model ...........................................................................................................7
Recommendations ......................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
The development of technology has achieved great heights in the market under which all
the businesses had demanded new and advances technology in their workplace. Management
information system refers to those system which helps the organisation to take effective decision
and develops coordination in all the departments of the organisation. There are many software
and applications are developed in the market which enables the management of the organisation
to conduct all their business activities with the help technology. There are many software which
is used by the organisation such as accounting, human resource and many more. These software
not only develops accuracy in business but also helps the employees of the organisation by
reducing their efforts. (Kozunova and Kravets, 2018) There are some systems present in the
market which helps the organisation to evaluate the performance of the employees. The
organisation which applied management information system in their organisation has to
developed unique department to manage the information system in their organisation. This
department includes programmers, system analyst, information system managers, end users and
chief information officer. Programmers refers to those person which are having specialised
knowledge of the technology and it develops software for the company and also tailored the
existing software on the basis of the organisation. There are different department are present in
the organisation such as production, human resource, selling, marketing and many more. These
departments requires coordination to achieve accuracy in the management and it can be done by
the management information system by developing effective communication channels in the
organisation. This report is based on the management information system of the Unilever plc.
This report states brief discussion related to Management information system models and 3
dimensions of information system. It also states three activities and porters five force theory.
There are different terms such as cloud computing, information ethics and database management
system are stated in this report. Unilever plc is a British multinational organisation which has
operated their business in retail industry of the United Kingdom. The management of the
company has diversified range of products such as health care products, skin care and many
more. The business of the company are spread in many countries so the importance of
management information system are increased very much. All the decision are taken from the
headquarter of the company which is located in London.

TASK
4 models of information technology
It is very important to evaluate the different models of information system son that the
effective judgement can be made that which model of management information system is
favourable for the management. It is very important for the management of Unilever that it
analyse the importance and scope of all the management systems and develops judgement that
which system is best for the company on the basis of valuable research. It is important for the
management of the Unilever to analyse the information system used by the organisation. The
brief discussion related to these models are given below:
Enterprise system
It is one of the most important information system which is used by many organisation of
the world. This system is based on the organisational operation and planning functions. One of
the most important advantage of this management system is that it helps the managers to
develops effective communication channels in the organisation. All the important and useful
information are transferred from one place to another with the helps of this system. This system
not only helps to transfer information from one place to another but also helps the employees to
interact with each other. There are different type are present in relation to this information
system and the brief discussion related to the same are given below:
Enterprise resource planning :- It refers to those system of the information which can be used
by the management of organisation in their day to day activities of the business such as
accounting, procurement, resource planning and risk management. (Kim, Deshmukh and Hastak,
2018)
Customer relationship management :- It refers to those technology which bis used by the
management of the organisation to develop effective relationship management and interaction
between the company and their costumers. It helps the management of the organisation to sort
out the quarries of the customers and becomes successful to make the them loyal towards the
organisation.
Product life cycle management :- It refers to the process of managing the product life cycle from
their inception through design manufacturing to their sale. This software helps the organisation
to develop effective product and sell them in the market.

Inter organisational information system
It is relate to those system of the information system under which the management of the
organisation has developed shared information system between different groups of companies.
Most of the company has different subsidiaries and parent companies under which the
requirement of information transferred are very which is done by this system. This system not
only helps the organisation to established with their relative companies but also helps to
established relationship with other companies of the market. Unilever plc has many companies
presents in different parts of the world so inter organisational informational system helps them to
coordinate them.
Importance of inter organisational informational system
inter organisational informational system
 It helps to improvise the flow of data among the group of companies so that the goals of
the organisation can be achieved.
 It also helps the organisation to improve the flow of material and payments.
 It is important for the management of the organisation that they develop considerable
technologies to use this method. (Humaidi and Balakrishnan, 2018)
Decision support system
It is a well established and computerised information system which helps the organisation
to develop effective judgement, determinations and courses of action on any aspect. It is one of
the useful software because it provide direction to the management of organisation. This
management system comprises huge amount of data and provide judgement to the organisation
in their decision making and problem solving activities.
It is very important for the management of the Unilever that they develop effective measures in
their organisation so that the company can deal with different uncertainness which can be arises
in the future. It is essential for the management of the organisation to study allots of data and
information which is not possible for the employees. Decision support system study related
trends and market parameters and provide effective judgement to the organisation so that the
company can take decisions. This system also helps the management of the organisation in
relation to the solution of different management problems. It is important for the management of
the organisation that they used modern technology.
Inventory control system

It is one of the most important system under which the business organisation has
developed efficient management system in the organisation which are responsible for the
inventory. There are different types of inventory are present in the organisation which required
proper management so that they can be utilised properly in the organisation. The management of
the Unilever has multiple product range which increases the number of inventory at very high
level. These inventory of the management requires effective and efficient management so that
they becomes profitable for the organisation. (Haqaf and Koyuncu, 2018)
Importance of inventory control system
It is one of the valuable system of the organisation which is the reason for their importance and
the brief discussion related to the same are given below:
 It helps the organisation to maintain the level of inventory so that no the scarcity arises in
the production of goods.
 It is very important for the organisation to achieve the effective in their cost structure and
inventory management plays an important role in cost structure.
 The management of the Unilever has huge variety of products and inventory control
system helps them to manage these inventory.
3 dimensions of Information system
The information system is a combination of organisation, management and technology, it
is important for the managers of the organisation to analyse three dimensions organisation,
management and technology if they want to established the effective information system in the
organisation. The managers of the Unilever has analyses these dimensions and the brief
discussion related to the same are given below:
Organization
It is the important part of the management information which is required for the managers of
organisation should be analyses. There are many issues are related with this dimension of
information technology such as Organisational hierarchy, functional specialities, business
process, culture and political pressure groups. (Gupta Kannan and Sanyal, 2018)
 Management information system has impacted the culture of the organisation because it
helps to develop those culture in organisation which has superior communication
channels.

 The hierarchy of the organisation becomes effective due to the information system
because ell the information and data are transferred in different level of hierarchy without
any barriers.
 It is very important for the management of the organisation that they have used
specialised information system in their organisation so that the coordination can be
developed in these functional areas of the management.
Management
It refers to the process of planning organising and controlling the activities of the management.
The management dimension of the information involves leadership streategy and management
behaviour. The management information provides different types of tools to the management of
the organisation. These tools helps the managers of the organisation to develop coordination,
makes new products and take effective decision in relation to the management. One of the most
important advantage of information system is that it promotes team work and collaborative
efforts to the management of the organisation.
Information system helps the managers to develop effective reports from the information they
get. These information came from the different department of the organisation such as
production department, sale, marketing and others. The information collected from these
department are nor well and organised nor summarises. These are not in the condition to be send
to top level managers so the management information system summarised these information and
makes them to be valuable. (Chowdhury and Raut, 2018)
The management information system also helps to top level managers while taking strategic
decision for the organisation and makes them executed. It enables the managers of the
organisation to evaluate the external factors effectively and develops effective measures to deal
with them.
Porters five forces model
It refers to those framework which is developed by Michael Porter with an aim to
understand the concept of competitive advantage by the business organisation. This model has
described five force which impacted the organisation and management need to consider if they
want to achieve the competitive advantage of the industry. The brief discussion related to the
same are given below:
Threat of new entrant

The threat of new entrant always be the biggest threat which is faced by the organisation
in their market. The main reason for the this threat is the new entrant came in the market with
new product and the risk of loosing market share are very high in this condition. The new entrant
has high variety of innovation and technology which can attract the customers from the market.
The management of Unilever has operates their business in retail market of United Kingdom
where the government policies are very favourable for new business. The policies of the
government has motivate new entrant to established their business.
Threat of substitute
The threat of substitute are very dangerous substitute which the management of the
organisation has to face in the market. There are many companies are present in the market
which has developed similar product to the company and then positioned in market at lower
prices. It negatively impacts on the image of product and company may face the threat of
customers failure. The management of Unilever has conduct a business of daily used product
such as soap, shampoos and many. It is easy for the other organisation to develop similar product
to the company. It is important for the company that they increased the switching cost of the
product. (Cheng and Yuen, 2018)
Bargaining power of suppliers
Suppliers refers to those person of the organisation which provides raw material for the
production of the goods. The bargaining power of the supplier are depends upon the number of
suppliers present with the company. If the company has only few suppliers of the raw material
then the bargaining power becomes high and suppliers are in strong position to dominate the
price. If the company large number suppliers them bargaining power becomes less and the
organisation has dominate the prices of the raw material. The prices of raw material has direct
relation with the cost of production. The management of the Unilever has many suppliers in their
organisation so the bargaining power of the suppliers becomes less. (Chaw, and Tang, 2018)
Bargaining power of buyers
The bargaining power of the buyer are always high in the market as it demands new and
innovative product from the company regularly. It is the duty of the managers of the organisation
to develop effective innovation strategy in their organisation so that the dynamic needs of the
customers can be fulfilled. The retail market of the United kingdom has very few companies and

companies has few sellers then their bargaining power can be low and companies are able to fix
the price at their own.
Rivalry among the competitors
There are different companies are working in the same industry which enables the cut
throat competition in the market and start price war. The price war has negatively impacted on
the profit margins of the organisation. Only the marketing and innovation has capacity to protect
the company from the competition in the market. The retail market of United Kingdom has
different big player which creates competition in the market. These players are P&G, Nestle and
many more. It is the duty of the managers to develops effective innovation strategy so that the
company are able to deal with the competition in the market.
Cloud computing
It is one of the most important well systematic technology under which the business
organisation has used the internet for the storage of their data and information. The concept of
cloud computing becomes common due to increase in the usage of internet and digitalisation.
Under this concept of computing enables the management of organisation to purchase the cloud
services from any service provider and stored their data under them. There are many advantages
of this method are present such as easy accessibility and privacy. The management of Unilever
has large number of customers under which huge amount of customer data are present with the
company.
Information ethics
Information ethics refers to use the moral codes on the creation, maintain and use of information.
This concepts enables the management of the organisation to focus on the information issues
whether the ethics are used in the company. It is the duty of the managers of the organisation
that they secure the data of their users from the malpractices. The management of the Unilever
has huge number of customer data in their database system so that it is the moral duty of the
company that that they use them securely. (Baek, Ha and Kim, 2019)
Recommendations
The management of the Unilever has successful business which is operated in all over the world
but there are also some deviations are present in the management under which the management
of the organisation need to considered. There are some recommendations are given below which

helps the organisation to improve information management system and the brief discussion
related to the same are given below:
 It is recommended to the management of the organisation that they used enterprise
management system in their work place. This system helps the organisation to develop
effective information system in the organisation so that all the information has tranfered
from one place to another without any barrier. There are different types of systems are
present in this information system such as Enterprise resource planning, Customer
relationship management and Product life cycle management. These systems helps the
management of Unilever to manage their information effectively.
 Inter organisational is an attractive management system which I personally recommend to
the management of Unilever. There are number of companies which the management of
the organisation has controlled. This management system has enables the company to
established the coordination with other companies. This management system has provide
effective and efficient communication channels due to which the management of the
Unilever has interact with the management of other companies. This system not only
helps to coordinate with subsidiaries but also enables the management of the organisation
to established relations with other companies of the market.
 It is important for the management of the organisation that they develop effective
decision making framework in the organisation. I recommend decision support system to
the management of the Unilever. This system has summarised all the data and the trends
so that the company can make the judgement on any aspect of the market. One of the
most important advantage of this system is that it helps the organisation to evaluate the
external factors effectively and then develop effective judgement for the management.
 It is very important for the management of the Unilever that they applied modern and
advanced technology in their management so that any information system can be adopted
by the company. All these management system which we were described above will only
be accessed through through technology.
 It is recommended to the management of the Unilever that they used effective cloud
storage in their management so that all the data of the users can be utilised effectively and
becomes secured. (Anjana, Amarnath and Nair, 2018)

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that the organisation is required to develop new and
advanced technology so that no the management system has an ability to acquire any information
system. This report concludes brief discussion related to Management information system
models and 3 dimensions of information system. It also concludes three activities and porters
five force theory. There are different terms such as cloud computing, information ethics and
database management system are stated in this report.

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