Management Information SystemsEssay Preview: Management Information SystemsReport this essayWord Count:1,600TABLE OF CONTENTSREPORT MEMORANDUM111112APPENDICESINTRODUCTIONGlobalization has caused many changes in the way we do business and has brought with it a highly competitive and dynamic environment. Within this environment we have the retailing industry which presently, in the United Kingdom (UK) is the top service industry, employing over 3 million people in the UK workforce and Ј250 billion in sales. In this industry it is rather difficult to recognize strategic issues facing organizations and develop capabilities for long term organizational success. However, the advent of ground-breaking computer and communications technology has caused an onslaught of information technology which can be used to assist businesses in preparing strategic plans to aid in their companys growth and eventual success.
The Globalization of Enterprise is a Review of the Ugly Tectonic Forces As I discussed in Chapter 4 of my post on the topic, the American enterprise has become the center of the global economy by being a dominant means for global business. This means that more and more new innovations around the world have been created which have not only contributed to the global economic environment, but which have created a major barrier for both national and international business. The globalization of enterprise has had a profound impact on the strategic processes of international business. The key factors involved in this transformation include a rising need for a global management interface and a need to develop and maintain effective capabilities for the global corporate system so that national and international operations will not have to navigate out of the way of national, regional, and international competitors. It has also had a strong cultural and educational influence in bringing about the reformation of business cultures and a global outlook and growth strategy.
Achieving the Global Economy Without a Global Policy It is the job of leaders, businesses, and governments working on business affairs, and the working class in general, to create and manage a global economy without the need for foreign central banks, of a currency system, of a money system, and of international trade with the rest of the industrialized countries of the world. In short, such a global economy can begin at any time in the future and continue in a free and democratic way. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been providing guidance on the pathogenesis of worldwide business, and its annual report is the definitive evaluation of what is at the beginning and the most promising in the coming years. The International Board of Trade (IBT) considers the international sector as the most important and critical problem facing the international sector for the next 50 years. In this perspective, the ISO assesses the long-term economic and security potential in this sector under two global actors: the developing world and the developing capitalist nations.
Industrialization of the Business System During the period 1971-2007, in the United Kingdom, 3.1 billion British workers worked in the manufacturing and assembly sectors. During this period 6.9 percentage points of the workers in British manufacturing and 3.3 percentage points in the national industry experienced the greatest change in their work arrangements. In this way, this change in the distribution of wealth across the British industrial complex made it possible for multinationals to compete against each other in the manufacturing market. The changes that are being recorded now between the new workers’ movements were not in response to an economy of increasing social mobility but rather to a transformation of the distribution of wealth in the manufacturing, manufacturing and services sectors. Workers in the manufacturing and transport sectors found it necessary to cut corners and change their methods of living. Moreover, they sought to change their workplaces to better meet changing demand for their workforce of 5 million workers. The following are the most important developments in the economy of this sector—as reflected in my earlier post—and also in the changing working conditions and social conditions of people in the United Kingdom: the introduction of global standards for manufacturing; the change in the industrial production strategy from traditional high-level industrial processes including the shift toward electrification to low-level industrial processes; the addition of new trade and industry to the economy during the period 1971-2007 and to the long-term investment in technology and innovation; and the new technological technology such as automobiles and appliances. Industrialization of the Business System by 1971-2007 The introduction of new standards for manufacturing, including the shift to electrification, the introduction of new trade and industry, the introduction of new industrial processes, and the increased use of telecommunication technologies led to an increase in the number of
CASE STUDY ANALYSISQF is one UKs largest supermarket chains. It employs 60,000 people and its annual sales are Ј5.5billion with a total of 1,200 stores. QF is turning to information technology to help them to operate more efficiently. They have recently merged with Summerton and has joined with Amion to open small shops in their petrol stations.
QF main objective is to make all data available to management in ways that could impact their profitability. There main concern however, is if the data was available to management, what would management do with it. Finally, QF needs to build systems that go along with corporate plans as opposed to just one function, department and division at a time which was the case in the past.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND STRATEGY3.1 Analysis of QFs Organisational EnvironmentAny successful organisation has to look at the competition, and moreover, be aware how the nature of competition can guide its strategy in order to gain advantage of the current relationships. PEST (Appendix 1) analysis has been completed and it shows the factors which would have an impacted on QF and are directly or indirectly be related to their competitive advantage and ultimately their success.
In addition, in order to review QFs current and future strategies, marketing theories from various experts such as Michael Porters (1990) competitive forces (Appendix 2), SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis, and Value Chain will be applied.
The Swot Analysis is presented in Table 1 below:Table 1 – QFs SWOT analysisStrengthsQF is one of the largest supermarkets chains in the UKAbundance of DataMerger with other companiesWeaknessesUnavailability and inaccessibility of data.Legacy systems only performs for one function, one department and division at a timeData cannot be sharedSystems not built according to company plan.OpportunitiesAdditional expansion into other convenience storesEntry into On-Line grocery marketUse of internet to assist with access to data.ThreatsThe U.K data protection Act thereby putting strict limits on what detail and how long data can be kept. This will ultimately have an effect on the accuracy of the customer data that QF will use to make its operational decisions.
Changes in planning regulations can stifle developmentBy reviewing QFs current Value Chain (Table 3), which was introduced by Michael Porter (1990), we can better understand the activities through which QF can develop its competitive advantage. From this analysis we can now align QFs strategies to capture a competitive advantage.
Table 1 – Porters Value ChainSource:3.2 QFs Current Value Chain Analysis ( expounded below)Primary ActivitiesInbound Logistics – From analysis of the case it can be interpreted that