Ethical and Social Issues & IT Role: Marriott International Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Information Technology (IT) within Marriott International, a luxury hotel chain. It begins with an introduction to IT and its applications in business, followed by a literature review that explores ethical and social issues associated with IT, such as cyberbullying and identity theft, and examines different network types like LAN, MAN, and WAN. The report then discusses the role of IT in management, including data management, management information systems (MIS), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The analysis and discussion section delves into the ethical and social implications for Marriott and the types of networks used. The findings highlight the benefits of IT for Marriott, such as enabling online bookings, facilitating customer communication, and aiding in strategic planning. The report concludes by emphasizing the crucial role of IT in enhancing efficiency and facilitating operations within the hospitality sector. The report also includes a detailed comparison of LAN, MAN, and WAN networks, highlighting their characteristics and applications within Marriott.

INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................................................1
Ethical as well as social issues of IT......................................................................................1
Types of networks..................................................................................................................2
Role of Information Technology in Management..................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................4
FINDINGS.......................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
IT can be defined as the utilisation of computers for storage, retrieval, transmission and
manipulation of information in the form of business. Information technology comprises of
telecommunication, hardware, software and transmission of data in order to ensure optimum
communication. The following report is based upon Marriott International which is a luxury
hotel engaged in provision of accommodation, boarding, lodging and other facilities. This
organisation is operating within hospitality industry and having its headquarter in United States.
It consists of social as well as ethical issues associated with IT along with various types of
networks. Further, roles of IT in management of entity is included.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Ethical as well as social issues of IT
Ethical issues
Ethical issue is a scenario whereby a company or person has to undertake decision
between various choices available based upon knowledge of the wrongs and rights. In this
regard, there are ample number of ethical problems linked to IT. Some of these are briefly
explained below:-
Cyber bullying: This refers to the practice of harassment by way of electronic mode or
means. This comprises of pejorative label, hate speeches, manipulation or misuse of personal
data of victim, sexual threat or remark, posting of rumour or any other exploiting commentary
(Eason, 2014). The management of Marriott International takes into account this aspect and
maintains such systems and procedures that are against any sort of cyber bullying.
Internet privacy: Every activity, process or move undertaken by an entity can easily be
traced by hackers. Further, tracking of location of an individual who is a key person to the
company can also be done with the usage of IP Address. In this regard, the top management of
Marriott remains aware about the private and confidential information that they have uploaded
over the internet. The top management of Marriott is aware about the private and confidential
information it uploads over the internet. They have implemented a strong and effective system of
anti-virus and anti-theft such that no intruder can gain access into the system.
Social issue
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These are the issues which are found to have a significant influence upon individuals
prevailing within the society. There are various social issues that take place within the
organisational premises of Marriott International and these are explained below:-
Identity theft: Fraud is an illegal activity which gets executed owing to the fact that
computers as well as internet can be easily accessed. Here, personal detail of a person is intruded
by third parties. This is done for the purpose of manipulation or misuse. An instance of this can
be an intruder sending a mail to a person on the behalf of senior management of Marriott
whereby the person would fall into trap presuming it to be an official mail from company.
Hacking: This refers to the practice of being prone to unauthorised access into a
computer or network. Herein, the third party or intruder is found to break down the systems of
company or individual in order to access their personal detailed information and other necessary
confidential data (Kiran, Oudshoorn and Verbeek, 2015). The top management of Marriott
International has its own IT department to make sure that hacking of important and confidential
data of entity does not take place. Besides this, management also ensures that personnel
operating within the hotel do not access an unauthenticated link that can ultimately result in
unauthorised access into organisational systems.
Types of networks
Network can be referred to as the block of 2 or more devices that can be integrated to
facilitate communication. This comprises of various computer systems in whom connection is
setup with the help of physical or wireless connections. In this regard, the management of
Marriott International makes use of a number of networks to facilitate communications across
the different types of departments. Such networks or methods to carry out interaction within
organisational lines can be instant messaging, email, chat rooms etc.
There are several forms of networks such as WAN (Wide Area Network), LAN (Local
Area Network), VPN (Virtual Private Network), MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), EPN
(Enterprise Private Network), SAN (Storage Area Network), PAN (Personal Area Network) etc.
But out of these usually three types of networks are taken into use which are briefly explained
below:-
LAN: This sets connection between various types of network devices in order to ensure
that programs, tools and data are easily and relevantly shared amidst the personal computer as
well as workplace. Here, the connection is developed with the use of a single or batch of
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switches while taking into account the scheme of IP or TCP Protocol. Here, information sharing
is faster as there is lower quantum of computers within which connection is set. In this regard,
management of Marriott International makes use of LAN to carry out communication between
number of departmental units in the premises of entity.
MAN: This tends to connect workstation as well as computer in a larger area in contrast
to LAN. Its extension over the expanse of whole city. This serves as a means to set connection
between various LAN networks to make it a single cable or larger network (Law, Buhalis and
Cobanoglu, 2014). Here, the connection is built by making use of cables, optical fibres etc. The
manager of Marriott International makes use of MAN to foster interaction between a number of
hotels prevailing within the same location.
WAN: This network extends within a big geographical area which might be in the
confines of nation and across the globe. Here, development of connection is done with the help
of telephones, satellites and radio waves. WAN is ascertained to be immensely costly yet renders
great speed. In this regard, the manager of Marriott International makes use of this to facilitate
sharing of data as well as resources among the branches of this hotel spread across the globe.
Differences between LAN, MAN, WAN
Basis LAN MAN WAN
What it is Systems are present
close to each other
either within building
or office.
These are large
networks which
connect different
organisation
(Marchewka, 2014) .
In this two or more
LANs are connected to
cover large
geographical area.
Distance covered It covers around 2500
meters or 2 miles
It is limited to around
200 km or 100 miles.
It has unlimited range
but normally around
1000 km but for
extension of range
connectivity devices
are used.
Speed Speed is high as small In this also speed is Its speed is slow as
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number of systems are
connected. It is around
1000, 100 and 10
Mbps.
high, typically it
ranges around 100
Mbps.
large number of
systems are connected
and depends on
wireless technologies
which are being used.
Usually it is 1.5 Mbps.
Technologies used Wireless (like Zigbee,
WLAN), twisted pair,
locally installed and
fiber optic cable
(Wang and et. al,
2016).
It is based on common
carrier like fiber optic
cable, twisted pair or
they are locally
installed.
They are either locally
installed or use
common carrier like
coaxial cables, fiber,
twisted pair cables,
wireless or cellular
network.
Role of Information Technology in Management
IT plays an important role within each and every business entity. Management of
Marriott makes use of IT for the following purposes:-
Data management: IT is used by manager of the respective hotel to store large amount
of data which helps in effectively operating the chain of hotels across the globe.
Management information system: MIS is taken into use by the management of Marriott
for tracking of sales, expenses and productivity level of personnel working within the
organisational premises.
CRM: Marriott makes use of CRM to design, manage and improve their relations with
customers. With the help of CRM, they can appeal to a larger quantum of population. When
huge number of people are influenced by way of setting an effective communication with them,
this tends to give a boost to the existing levels of sales and profitability of Marriott.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Ethical and social issues related with Marriott Hotels & Resorts: An ethical issue in
context of Marriott can be privacy (Nieves, Quintana, and Osorio, 2014). If private and
confidential data is stolen and used by the intruder, then the same amenities can be rendered by
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them to people. In relation to social issue, defamation can prove to be fatal for the brand image
as well as market positioning of Marriott International.
Different networks used by Marriott Hotels & Resorts: The top management team of
Marriott International makes use of three types of networks as they maintain a large chain a
hotels all across the globe. They make use of LAN to facilitate communicate in a single branch.
With the aid of this, the respective hotel can transmit any sort of data (Pardo and Siemens, 2014).
They make use of MAN in order to establish an effective connection among different outlets
present within the same city. In addition to this, they make use of WAN in order to
communicate with outlets which are spread across various locations of the world. All of these
networks are taken into use by them for timely sharing of data as well as resources among each
other.
Role of Information Technology in Marriott Hotels & Resorts: They can use
information technology to enhance their services and create a pleasant environment for their
guests. Expense management tool can be used by management of Marriott Hotels & Resorts to
obtain control over expenditure and monitor which expenses are not mandatory and useful. AI
can be used by Marriott to automate the transactions. This will provide assistance in enhancing
repetitive actions that are to be performed daily within the organisational premises (Schwalbe,
2015).
FINDINGS
IT can be referred to as the evolution, usage and maintenance of networks, systems and
software for the purpose of processing as well as distribution of data. Here, storage, processing,
transmission and manipulation of data is done. In the confines of Marriott International, IT has a
crucial role to play as great levels of efficiency can be attained and work can be made easy with
the help of this. Organisations operating within hospitality sector such as Marriott make use of
network technology to transmit data amidst a number of departmental units. With the help of IT,
the hotel management gives the option of online booking to customers whereby people can gain
knowledge about the pricing of various offerings of Marriott. Also, guests can contact the hotel
team with the help of IT at any point of time. Further, it provides assistance to the management
of company in formulation of strategies and management of various types of activities. WAN is
opted by Marriott as this hotel has its operations spread across various parts of the globe. WAN
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helps in effective addressal of their requirements but major demerit of this is its high cost as well
as complexity.
Benefits: IT is used in various business organisation that provides it numerous of benefits
in effective manner. With reference to Marriott, it has been analysed that the benefits of IT for
this company are described as below in detailed manner.
 The first and foremost benefit of IT for Marriott is that it make it easier for the company
to execute online bookings, communication with customers as well as employees in
smooth manner.
 Another benefit of IT for Marriott Hotel is that provides huge range of services to the
customers such as quick access to WIFI, customise services options and online orders of
services.
 In addition to this, IT also helps Hotels in developing certain strategies with the help of
latest technology that is available to them with support of IT. As a result, it improves
satisfaction level of customers in positive manner.
Drawbacks: Every technology has its own drawback which affects performance of
business in negative manner. Some of the core drawback of IT for Marriott are described as
below in detailed manner.
 Usage of WAN is seen as the expensive method for Marriott as it requires bandwidth for
effective transmission of data.
Along with this, another drawback is that there are probable chances that hackers might approach
data of company which will further develop issues related to security for the Marriott.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that IT is an important part of any company and is the core to effective
handling, maintenance and security within the organisational premises. Also, it has been
analysed that most of the business operations can now be effectively handled with the help of
Information Technology. Further, it is recognised that there are various types of networks used
within companies out of which the most commonly used ones are LAN, WAN and MAN.
Further, management of hotel makes use of software such as Sage 50 and SQL database to
effectively ensure storage of their private and confidential data.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Eason, K. D., 2014. Information technology and organisational change. CRC Press.
Kiran, A. H., Oudshoorn, N. and Verbeek, P. P., 2015. Beyond checklists: toward an ethical-
constructive technology assessment. Journal of responsible innovation. 2(1). pp.5-19.
Law, R., Buhalis, D. and Cobanoglu, C., 2014. Progress on information and communication
technologies in hospitality and tourism. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management. 26(5). pp.727-750.
Marchewka, J. T., 2014. Information technology project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Mehlman, M. J. and Li, T. Y., 2014. Ethical, legal, social, and policy issues in the use of
genomic technology by the US Military. Journal of Law and the Biosciences. 1(3).
pp.244-280.
Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D. and Ladkin, A., 2014. A typology of technology‐enhanced tourism
experiences. International Journal of Tourism Research. 16(4). pp.340-350.
Nieves, J., Quintana, A. and Osorio, J., 2014. Knowledge-based resources and innovation in the
hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 38. pp.65-73.
Pardo, A. and Siemens, G., 2014. Ethical and privacy principles for learning analytics. British
Journal of Educational Technology. 45(3) pp.438-450.
Sampson, J. P. and Makela, J. P., 2014. Ethical issues associated with information and
communication technology in counseling and guidance. International Journal for
Educational and Vocational Guidance. 14(1). pp.135-148.
Santoro, G., 2015. Evaluating performance in the hotel industry: An empirical analysis of
Piedmont. Journal of Investment and Management. 4(1-1). pp.17-22.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Wang, D. and et. al, 2016. Assessing hotel-related smartphone apps using online reviews.
Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. 25(3). pp.291-313.
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