Analyzing IT Impact on Primark's Business - Foundation Year

This project explores the impact of information technology on Primark, a fast-fashion retailer, focusing on how IT influences business operations. It covers various aspects, including different types of software used, ethical and social issues related to technology adoption, networking technologies implemented, and the role of artificial intelligence within the organization. The analysis includes a review of software applications like store stock management and data warehousing, and their importance in enhancing efficiency. It also discusses the significance of AI in human resource management, data-driven decision-making, customer support transformation, supply chain optimization, security enhancement, and profit maximization. The project further touches upon the software development life cycle, outlining the steps involved in creating and deploying software solutions. Overall, the study demonstrates how Primark leverages IT to maintain a competitive edge and improve various facets of its business.

BABS Foundation Year UOS IIT Project
Introduction to Information Technology Project
Impact of Information Technology
on business operations of Primark
Student ID
BA in Business Studies
Date of Submission
I declare that this project 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used from the published or unpublished works of other people.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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Abstract
In live of humans beings the information technology plays a crucial role. It presents the
various aspects of company such as data analysis,artificial intelligence etc. By the aid of information
technology the company can attract big customer base resulting in more revenue and profitability. It
aids in taking the efficient decision resulting in satisfaction of customers. Different issues like social
and ethical are solved by company such as safety of information and info communication etc. Many
networks such as LAN.WAN and many more which helps in information storage and sharing etc.
With it the importance of artificial intelligence in organization in development of communication.
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Table of Contents
1.Introduction.....................................................................................................................4
2. Literature Review ...........................................................................................................5
2.1 Different types of Software in general....................................................................................5
2.2 Ethics and Social Issues of using technology in general...........................................................5
2.3 Networking Technology, different types in general.................................................................6
2.4 The Artificial Intelligence and its importance in general..........................................................6
2.5 Software Development Life Cycle............................................................................................6
3. Analysis and Discussion..................................................................................................7
3.1 Software and its types used in the <selected business>..........................................................7
3.2 Ethics and social issues in selected business............................................................................7
3.3 Types of Networking Technologies that used in the selected business ...................................7
3.4 The importance of Artificial Intelligence in the selected business...........................................7
4. Conclusions.....................................................................................................................8
5.References ......................................................................................................................8
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1.Introduction
Information technology is the application of technology for solving the
problems of organization and business on large scale. The IT department works
with other department for solving the problems of technology whether small
or big. The 3 main pillars of IT department responsibility are IT governance
which are policies and processes combination which ensures the effective
functioning of IT systems with company's needs, IT operations which are the
daily activities of the department and hardware and software which are the
parts of infrastructure. It is used at every where from businesses to sole
proprietorship and local operations. Mncs use it for managing the data and
innovation in the process. The company selected for this project is Primark. It is
a Irish company dealing in fast fashion retailing and headquartered at Dublin,
Ireland. It is a subsidiary of British foods and has many store in Europe and
United states. It was established in the year 1969 by Arthur Ryan on behalf of
Weston family. The project will state the various types of software's
application and with it the significance of various issues in functioning of tasks
of business in era of digitalization. It will mention the effect of artificial
intelligence in company and how does it helps in management of business.
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2. Literature Review
In the era of digitalization information technology is the most significant
tools for company for getting the competitive edge in the market place. By the
use of IT the company's productivity increases and aids in saving the money and
efforts. It helps in managing the employees and process tracking which is
important for company. It is mainly related to artificial technology and internet.
Each activity of the store is related and affiliated to information technology and
aids the company in serving the customers all across the globe. Company has
three portions such as processing of data,decision support and business
software which aids in formulating the various business skills and technology
which provides the job opportunities such as software developer and app
developer and many more. Information technology consists of
software ,hardware and data networking including design of networks and their
implementation. For mainlining and development of computer networks which
is very important for formulation of infrastructure helping in managements and
info access leading to proper use of services in all aspects of retail business.
2.1 Different types of Software
An application software is a program designed for carrying the activities other than in
relation to computer operations itself used by the users. It is a software which employs the
capabilities of computer for accomplishing the task . Users may directly interact with the
software and IT aids them for being more productive and help them in completion of tasks.
Some examples of application software are Microsoft Word,Firefox and Google chrome and
many more. It also consists of software which is developed internally and externally for
fulfilment of innovative needs of company and software is based on operating system(Kim
and Choi, 2019).
The main functions of software application are-
 Data management
 Emails
 Account management
 Project management
Importance of software application-
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 Helps the user for task completion- Software application is basically designed s for the user
and aiding in activities in industries such as business,surroundings etc. For example the
Google chrome is the well known software which helps users for searching various topics on
internet.
 Managing and data manipulation- Companies uses software application and manipulates
the employees ,clients and data. For example the ERP application.
 Information management- User will use the application for creation and management of
data. For example the Microsoft Excel which helps users in managing the data sheet(Lowe
and et, al., 2018).
Pros
 It accomplishes the needs and demand of consumers which is recognized by
customers that the use of explicit programming for fulfilment of tasks as it is planned
for reasons.
 The business organization which uses the software application restricts the
accessment and use some bench mark for monitoring the business operations.
Cons
 For achieving objectives and goals the usage of application software will cost much
to developers and impact the profits and times(Luthra and et, al., 2018).
 Application software is used frequently and has more risk of virus and malware.
2.2 Ethics and Social Issues of using technology
Information technology which is used by companies for storing,modifying and data
engagement used by the business organization in its daily operations. It is the main function in
every company whether it is health,education or hospitality. Increased use of IT has leaded in
organizations for gaining the historical data related to clients which created issues about the usage
of data and the implications on society and ethical use of data. Primark uses the leading system for
info disclosure and maintains the agreement of end use with organizations for usage of data for
maintaining the standards of ethics(Voogt, and et, al., 2018).
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2.3 Networking Technology, different types
There are many methods for networking used by business organization which are mentioned
here-
 Local area network
 Personal network area
 Wireless networking area
 Campus networking area
 Wide area network
 Storage network
 Private virtual networking
2.4 The Artificial Intelligence and its importance
 Human resource management- AI is used to indulge the individuals in the
commercial activities of the businesses. It is the automatic way which is utilized by
the various business entities in order to perform the every routine tasks of the
businesses.
 Judgements based on data- With the help of AI, the business organizations are not
required to rely upon the workforce in order to get the work done, as the knowledge
of machines will provide them with an idea in terms of the quantity and the quality
of the production. This will enhance the degree of growth and development of the
company.
 Transformation in the landscape of customer support- Number of companies use
the method of addressing the problems and issues of the customers with the help of
a software
 .Resolving issues related to supply chains- The just in time method is used by many
companies including Primark, in which the businesses need not to provide space for
the items or the products which are not required in the market or which are not on
the demand of the customers.
 Enhanced security- The method of AI used to ensure the better security
system in the companies against the risk of cyber threats. Various algorithms
are used to program the security structure of the company in order to get rid
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of viruses which hinder the security composition of the business
organizations.
 Enhancing profits- The companies are able to maximize the profits by
maintaining a healthy relation from the customers in terms of meeting the
preferences according to their demands.
2.5 Software Development Life Cycle
Before releasing any software in the market various steps are to be followed, they are-
Preparation- This particular stage defines the parameters which involves analysis of
the subsidiary costs, costs related to the workers, production costs and the time limit in which
the preparation needs to be completed(Foote and Halawi, 2018).
Necessity evaluation- This particular stage defines the requirements of the software
that what all necessary demands are need to be fulfilled by the software in order to relate the
customers with the company. It also provide information regarding the resources that are
required to build the software and also analysing the demand of the software in the market. It
also explains the methods of operating the software and how and on which platform that
particular software will going to function that is android, ios, windows, etc. and what sort of
safety and security features need to be established in the software.
Building a model- At this stage final structure of the software is being built according
to the evaluation done in the previous stage.
Development phase- After building the final model of the software, various factors
are being looked upon in order to develop the software like the codes that are veing used to
build the software are correct or not or whether it satisfies the objectives of the software for
which it has been built.
Limited rolling out- At this stage, the software is being tested by certain specific
users and after the examining the different aspects of the software, if any kind of problem
arise out of it, the company will solve it as soon as possible.
Rolling out- At this stage, the software is made available to all the customers on the
website of the company so that the customers can download the same and start using the
software.
Modifications- After making available to the world at large, if any alterations or
changes are required in the software, the company use to induct those changes in the software
so as to meet the requirements of the customers(Boranbayev and et, al., 2018).
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3. Analysis and Discussion
3.1 Software and its types used in the Primark
Primark has developed new systems and this is helping them in growing the
business. Company uses many software application for management in the
organization ,some are explained here-
 Store stock and order management system- This helps Primark executives for
reviewing the automatic generated replenishment of stock. By using this system they
can alter the quantities ordered before confirmation of stock. The solution will help
managers with info which supports the tasks.
 Central processing hub- It has various capacities but time functionality has been
migrated to different systems. It takes data from various solutions and processes
them for objectivity, management of store grading,costing and marketing
management and many more.
 Data warehouse- It was created for objectivity which includes the sales,stock,orders
data. It helps Primark to review the sales and stock and plan the collection upcoming.
It gives the historical view by which company can distinguish the goods which have
more sales. It helps managers to know which item is more popular in consumers in the
past.
 Internal communication application- It was created for communicating with the
headquarter in more formal and centralised manner(Taherdoost, 2018).
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3.2 Ethics and social issues in Primark
Issues of ethics-
 Information privacy of parties- The info collected by the business organizations
and to whom it is assigned is the main concerns today, the disclosure made to party
and end governance of privacy policy of platform used for raising the voice for
owning of data and its usage making it conditional for use of data for services.
 Damage caused by technology- This can be of different types like fake info ,loss of
important data and online frauds restricting the use of info. The ethical use of
information is important and business organization will have to invest heavy in
security by making upgrades for dealing with challenges.
Social issues-
 Online bullying- With the increase in the interactions which are taking place online
the cases of online bullying is also increasing, people who are attacking on other
persons with words to children and adults who may be known to attackers as the
person is sitting in the other side of the globe and escape as the identity can remain
elusive .
 Disruption of communication – It is very intuitive to think that info technology can
result in disruption of communication as the technology which aids the individuals
who connects on the other side of world but close communication among family and
friends bond is missing . Bonding with family ans trust is getting replaces by like and
comments on social platforms resulting in reduced values of society(Yoon and et, al.,
2018) .
 Defamation of character- Toady social media allows the individuals for making the
wrong claims about the characters and has tendency of lowering the position in
society. It also means that they can claim legally about the every individual for
claims
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3.3 Types of Networking Technologies that used in the Primark
There are many methods for networking used by business organization which are mentioned
here-
 Local area network- It is the most famous technology of network which is used for
coordinating the various local devices which are close to each other physically and sharing
takes place among the resources of info. It is used by Primark to link the employees.
 Personal network area- It is the most simple form of networking where 2 or more devices
are used in which info is coordinated like laptop and printer which are mostly used by
houses or small sized offices.
 Wireless networking area- It is as the same one as local network area but the devices here
used has the wireless technology.
 Campus networking area- They are used by the educational establishment for coordinating
info among the different departments and teacher to students and vice versa but the city
network area cover the whole area of the city which are owned and managed by
government of the city(Zhuravleva, Nica and Durana, 2019).
 Wide area network- It is the type of network which is commonly used for coordinating the
action among the devices which are on the other side of world . For example internet. The
main characteristic of this network is that it is nor owned by one entity but is controlled by
different companies who work in arrangement.
 Storage network- It is the type in which there is set up of large devices which have the main
function of storing data which are linked altogether for forming the single unit which can be
accessed by cloud storage.
 Private virtual networking- It is the type in which the data of user is sent by 3rd
intermediate party which is private network provider for gaining the content access,and
serves for keeping the networks visited by some else.
3.4 The importance of Artificial Intelligence in the selected business
Human resource management- AI is used to indulge the individuals in the commercial
activities of the businesses. It is the automatic way which is utilized by the various business entities
in order to perform the every routine tasks of the businesses. This could also be done by the
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machines without any difficulty. The business companies required to include the individuals among
the different business operations and for the same they need to evaluate the data and other related
details to determine the candidates that fit in the specific criteria in order to set the further
process(Karanasios, 2018).
Judgements based on data- With the help of AI, the business organizations are not required
to rely upon the workforce in order to get the work done, as the knowledge of machines will provide
them with an idea in terms of the quantity and the quality of the production. This will enhance the
degree of growth and development of the company. The human being cannot think to the that much
level or cannot perform any sort of predictions on its own. The machines featured with AI can do the
same work with ease and proficiency without creating any kind of errors in the process. It can also
measure the amount of resources which are required to accomplish the particular task.
Transformation in the landscape of customer support- Number of companies use the
method of addressing the problems and issues of the customers with the help of a software. The
software are used as a customer support system in solving the matters related to any query
regarding any product. These software are already programmed in order to sort out the problems
faced by the clients. These software do not take much time to solve the matters of the clients as they
parallelly solve the problems of more than one customer(Kanan, Obaidat and Al-Lahham,
2019).
Resolving issues related to supply chains- The just in time method is used by many
companies including Primark, in which the businesses need not to provide space for the items or the
products which are not required in the market or which are not on the demand of the customers.
This will help in maintaining the supply chain of the company. This is the modern way of performing
the business operations. The problems arise because of weak supply chain, are eliminated by the
method of AI. Further, the company adopts the method of introducing machines instead of relying
on the manual workforce which is time taking and requires a lot of resources for the manufacturing
process.
Enhanced security- The method of AI used to ensure the better security system in
the companies against the risk of cyber threats. Various algorithms are used to program the
security structure of the company in order to get rid of viruses which hinder the security
composition of the business organizations. The technique such as facial recognition,
biometric locks, voice locks, etc. are used to keep safe the documents and the data of the
companies. The AI also helps in identifying the locations of the cyber criminals. These
algorithms are also utilized in order to predict the danger regarding the cyber security which
can be obviated or minimized using the technique of AI.
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