Analyzing Primark's IT Infrastructure and its Business Impact - UOS

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BABS Foundation UOS IIT Assignment
Assignment 2
Impact of Information Technology
on business operations of a <Your
chosen business>
Student ID:<Your Student ID>
BA in Business Studies(Foundation Year)
University of Suffolk
Date of Submission:<Date of Submission>
I declare that this assignment is all my own work and that I have acknowledged all materials
used from the published or unpublished works of other people. All references have been
duly cited.
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Executive Summary or Abstract
Information technology is a boon of modern science for connectivity purpose. People can share and
receive different information and can utilize them as per their own choice. It is important to
understand that it has both good and bad side, therefore careful monitoring is required while using it.
In retail sector, IT plays an important role to promote the growth of the business and maintain an
effective communication service. The present work has been done on the IT department operations
done by Primark to boost its organizational operations.
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Table of Contents
1.Introduction........................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Purpose........................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Background..................................................................................................................................4
2. Literature Review..............................................................................................................................4
2.2 Information Technology and its role in retail business in general...............................................5
2.3 Networking Technology, different types in general.....................................................................5
2.4 Ethics and Social Issues of using technology in general...............................................................5
2.5 The importance of Intranet and Internet in business in general..................................................5
3. Analysis and Discussion.....................................................................................................................6
3.1 Role of Information Technology in the selected business...........................................................6
3.1.1 Types of different Information Systems that are used in selected business like
Management Information System, Decision Support Systems etc................................................6
3.2 Types of Networking Technologies that used in the selected business.......................................6
3.3 Ethics and social issues in selected business................................................................................6
3.3 The importance of Intranet and Internet in the selected business..............................................6
3.4 List and explain the different stage of system development life cycle........................................6
4. Conclusions........................................................................................................................................7
5.References..........................................................................................................................................8
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1.Introduction
Information technology defines the use of mobile technology, telecommunication or device
based operations through which people or organization from different parts of the world can
store, transfer, manipulate or retrieve data (Ali and Haseeb, 2019). Therefore, it is easy to
understand the importance of IT in regular life to remain connected and share information to
make life easy and comfortable. In business or particularly in retail business, the role of IT is
very high as IT helps to remain connected and to fulfill a task in a synchronized way. In this
present case, the report is discussing about the roles, types and importance of IT related
communication system, their social and ethical values and how they can be utilized for the
benefit of the company.
1.1 Purpose
In this recent of globalization and technology, the use of information technology is inevitable
to promote growth. Therefore organizations should understand its importance and give due
emphasis to implement the IT in a beneficial way (Hsu and Lin, 2016). The organizations
should understand its different aspects, uses, types and associated benefits and risks that may
result in any social, ethical or legal issue. Primark, which is a leading retailer of UK, have a
good IT department that works for its benefit along with necessary protection and safety. This
report gives an in depth knowledge about the IT practices of Primark, UK.
1.2 Background
Primark is one of the leading retailer chains of UK, which mainly deals with clothing,
accessories, footwear, home ware, confectionery and beauty products (Primark.com. 2019).
Therefore, it is easy to understand that a lot of information is handled by the officials in
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regular basis. To maintain and work in a systematic process, it is required to work with IT
system. These may deal with the database of customers, employees, suppliers etc. The
database may needs update or change which the IT department can do. Also, the web
platforms may be used to draw customer’s attention for various purposes.
2. Literature Review
Retail business depends on both the suppliers and the consumers. They get the products
directly from the suppliers or manufacturers and then act as the middle man between them
and customers. Customers buy the product from them. Therefore, to maintain a flawless
chain of systems, a good and timely inventory management along with good communication
practice is advisable which could be done using a good IT use (Babu and Manukonda, 2018).
This encompasses the use of intranet and internet within the organizational periphery. The
use of the internet also helps to maintain good communication with the outer world so that
every change of trend could be tracked down.
2.2 Information Technology and its role in retail business in general
As opined by Morimura and Sakagawa, (2018), information system can play many roles in
retail business for its benefit. They are as follows:
Inventory management software: The inventory of a company can be managed by this
application of software, through which a detailed report is generated about the present
condition of stock, so that necessary steps can be done to refill the gap. Also with the arrival
of new stock, the list can be updated. This application makes the inventory management
simpler.
Customer Relationship Management: Using Customer relationship management software
helps to generate different charts and graphs to understand the choices, preferences, use of
loyalty cards to understand the customers and can give the customer benefits according to
their shopping trend.
Accounting Information Systems: It is a system which collects, stores and process accounting
related data to that decision can be taken in an easy manner. It helps to calculate tax, credits,
and insurances for the company.
Sales generation: Use of different social platforms and company websites help to attract the
attention of the customers so that they choose the retailer to buy from.
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Efficient Management: Use of integrated information technology helps to maintain all the
databases and secures stability of the general regular processes which are usually time taking
in nature.
2.3 Networking Technology, different types in general
According to Bugwadia et al., (2015), the term network refers to a fine connective system
that may connect two to thousand of devices at a time, which are located at any place of the
world. Therefore, it has different categories to choose from to serve the purpose of the user.
They are:
1. Local Area Network (LAN): It is a computer network that works between
computers located in a limited area, such as school, house, office etc.
2. Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN): It is also a type of LAN which uses a
wireless radio connection so that mobile can use it.
3. Wide Area Network (WAN): This networking system is established between the
devices that are mile apart. Two or more LANs are connected to make this system.
This is connected through public network, such as telephone service system.
4. Virtual Private Network (VPN): This system extends a private network to public
network so that users transfer data across shared network.
2.4 Ethics and Social Issues of using technology in general
Information technology gives freedom to use information as per their wish. Therefore, it
brings social and ethical issues due to their probable misuses. The privacy of a person or
organization could be easily breached, personal information can be hacked and unethical
users can violate copyright laws. Whereas, using internet people can spread fake news,
escalate social issues like racism or communal riots, which are harmful for the society.
2.5 The importance of Intranet and Internet in business in general
Intranet is the use of network system to transfer secure and confidential information within an
organization. This is important as this helps in:
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1. To improve employee engagement by connecting and updating the employees about
recent development
2. To improve communication by direct interaction between the team members about a
work
3. To work in a collaborative way, so that one can continue to work from the point where
other has stopped.
4. To manage different documents within the organizational context.
Internet helps to remain in connection with the outer world in following ways:
1. It helps to remain connected with others
2. It helps to share and receive information from any area of the world
3. It helps in baking, bill payment, address mapping etc.
3. Analysis and Discussion
3.1 Role of Information Technology in the selected business
There are various roles and responsibilities of the IT department in Primark, Uk that includes
the following:
 Manage and improve the supply chain management
 Recognise the needs of the customers and try to accomplish it
 Brings huge as well as loyal customer base
 Online advertisement and sales promotion
Apart from that, there are many more roles of the IT department of Primark, UK are secure
the data of the customers from hackers, provide proper training for the newcomers, reduce the
complexity of the process and many more.
3.1.1 Types of different Information Systems that are used in selected business like
Management Information System, Decision Support Systems etc.
IT systems used by Primark, UK are:
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DSS or Decision Support System: Primark uses DSS in order to take decisions in the
critical condition. It is system software designed by the IT department of Primark in order to
reduce the time of the workers and enhance the work performance.
TPS or Transaction Process System: Primark uses TPS or Transactional Process System
during online transaction. It includes data collection, data modification and data recovery. In
case, if the customer fails to transfer money or send wrong amount, at the time the IT cell of
the Primark collect the data and send the extra amount to the bank account of the customers.
3.2 Types of Networking Technologies that used in the selected business
Network technologies used by Primark, UK includes the following:
LAN or Local Area Network: Primark uses LAN in order to secure the network connection.
The main reason behind using LAN is to share resources, data without any security issue.
There are many other reasons behind using LAN by Primark are:
 Reduce the cost
 LAN connection Enhance the network security
WAN or Wide Area Network: Primark uses WAN connection in order to avoid wired issues
and access the internet from a wide range. The main reason behind using WAN by Primark
are:
 Data communication is very fast
 It can easily share software with associated different workstations.
VPN or Virtual Private Network: Primark uses VPN in order to share information secretly.
VPN mask the IP information that comes from the sender side. The main reason behind
masking is to protect the data from hackers. There are many more reasons behind using VPN
are:
 Primark uses VPN connection to hide the implementation or processing details
 VPN encrypts the data and masks the IP address
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3.3 Ethics and social issues in selected business
Different social and ethical issues that are associated with the Primark are:
Ethical
Security issues: Ethical issues refers to the security related issues that the employees may
encounter (Mason, 2017). Sometimes, the management team of Primark monitor all the
activities of the employees. It is actually an unethical practice which affects the relationship
between the management team and the workers.
Social
Relationship issues: Social issues refers to the relationship with the workers and the
consumers (Shaw and Barry, 2015). Due to heavy workload the management team of the
Primark behaves badly with the customers and workers. Bad relationship with the workers
reduces the productivity level and poor relation with the customers affects the sales of
Primark.
3.3 The importance of Intranet and Internet in the selected business
Both the intranet as well as internet are essential in the case of Primark.
Intranet
The IT department of Primark uses intranet in order to share information within the
organisation. It needs less context switching to send the data. Apart from that, there are many
more functions and importance of intranet in Primark, UK are sharing data, knowledge
management, enhances the collaboration, manage content, construct a user-friendly and
transparent work culture etc.
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Internet
There are various importance of internet in Primark, UK that includes online promotion,
raising the fund, event management, communication channels, maintaining the public relation
and many more.
3.4 List and explain the different stage of system development life cycle
SDLC or the Software Development Life Cycle is a framework that describes the work
distribution and execute in each stage phase of development. Apart from that, the model also
describes the software development, testing, maintenance and replacement. The main
objective of the Software Development Life Cycle is to offer best-quality systems, strong
control in management and maintenance and enhance the productivity.
Planning: It is the first stage of SDLC, which analyze whether new system is needed or not.
In some other words, planning phase can be defined as, it is a brainstorming process when the
experts collect all the data regarding the customer’s needs and evaluate the future of the
software. In the planning stage only project team lead, members, consumers and stakeholders
are communicating with each other. Three basic tasks that are performed in this stage are:
 Describe the problem
 Make a small report regarding the development program
 Provide alternative solutions
System Analysis: In this stage, the development team compare and analyses the
functionalities of the new system. Apart from that, analysis phase also includes the following:
 Identify the reasons of malfunctioning
 Manage the data flow
 Operate the development procedures
Software Design: Designing software needs initial inputs, elements will be produced
according to the requirements of the customers (Fitzgerald and Stol, 2017). System designing
plays a major role in the development cycle. The design of the software must be unique,
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optimized as well as clear. Developed software must contain a well developed data Structure
and database. Software design phase includes:
 Screen layout diagrams
 Hierarchical diagrams
 Characteristics of the software
Programming: This phase is also known as system development phase. This is one of the
most essential phases of the SDLC. Various software coding is required in order to execute
this phase. Task allocation is also performed in the programming stage, so all the software
coders has their individual task to perform.
Software testing: After completion of the designing and programming round the whole,
program is compiled and send it to the testing department in order to check whether it works
correctly or not. Testing process is done in two different ways:
 Test as a whole, this is known as “Integration testing”.
 Test as one unit, “Unit Testing”
System implementation: In this process, the old system is converted into the new system
(Larrucea et al., 2016). Apart from that, implementation also includes:
 User training
 New system evaluation
 Documentation compilation
Maintenance: It is the final stage of SDLC. Maintenance stage includes the following:
 System repair
 Check whether any new error appeared in the software or not
 Verify whether the corrected software is fulfilling the needs of the customers or not
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4. Conclusions
From the present study, it can be concluded that the IT department plays a vital role in
Primark, UK. As it is a security-based process so proper service is required in order to satisfy
the basic needs of the consumers. Moreover, the Information Technology of the on Primark
Company has its various responsibilities towards the company. All the responsibility helps to
build the trust among customers, and duty of the company is to provide security. Moreover,
the present study also highlights the social as well as cultural difficulties, various network
technologies used by Primark.
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