Why Do Businesses Use ICT - Essay Example

?Individual Assignment---Report In the modern times the companies are focusing upon the implementation of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) so that they are capable of improving the operations and processes within the organisational context. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate how ICT is significant for the business houses. The numerous issues that River Island faces have been evaluated in depth. The problem identified has also been related to online shopping trend and low customer satisfaction level observed in this sector. The paper suggests use of trained technicians and enhancement in the quality of the products in order to increase the revenue of the company and to stimulate its acquired market share. Table of Contents Abstract 2 1.0.Introduction 4 2.0.Implementation of ICT in River Island 4 3.0.Issues at River Island 5 4.0.Literature Review on ICT 6 5.0.Utilisation of ICT to Solve the Matter 7 6.0.Conclusion 9 References 10 1.0. Introduction Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is universally identified as one of the most significant tools that are utilised for the purpose of social alterations as well as national development (Ministry of Human Resource Department, n.d.). In the current day phenomenon, ICT along with the internet are altering the human activities that have been dependent upon the information. It offers the individuals as well as the communities with an opportunity to be not only consumers of the goods and services, but also acts as active generators of the information. It is by means of media convergence that it becomes easier for ICTs to develop and coordinate the capacities of other Medias (FAO, 2000). ICTs are normally related with the issues of data processing as well as information management by means of large scale information systems. It is worth noting that it is not only the information technology itself which is a significant factor for the quality of work; rather, it can be regarded as the strategy that the company adopts so as to coordinate the aspect of technology with the changing requirements of the organisation (FAO, 2000). The company that has been chosen for the study is River Island. River Island is based in London and was initiated in the year 1948. The founders of the company were Andrew Hunt and Bernard Lewis. The company has more than 60 years of experience in fashion retailing and is considered as one of the successful companies in British High Street (River Island Style Insiders, n.d.). 2.0. Implementation of ICT in River Island Information and Communication Technology facilitates in the smooth operations of the organisation and thus assists in many other ways such as stock control, keeping extra records, advancing the communication process, production as well as marketing. Through ICTs it is gradually becoming easier for the company to reduce its costs significantly (Business Studies Online, n.d.). It is to be mentioned that River Island also makes use of the ICT’s in order to improve its operation in an effective manner. River Island has worked with consultancy named Royal National Institute of Blind People Web Access Consultancy so that its new website offers high degree of accessibility ensuring that as far as possible it is reachable to all the users. It is worth mentioning that online shopping is a type of ICT used by the company for making its goods available to the consumers online. The company’s online services assist the consumers in purchasing clothes, shoes as well as accessories. Notably, River Island provides a wide on-line range of women’s as well as men’s fashion related clothing’s to the customers (River Island, 2012). The leading fashion retailer, River Island, demonstrated its plans to initiate stores that are mainly dedicated to accessories as well as shoes. It was noted that the company decided to bring certain alterations in its business’s in-store design policies and introduce numerous interactive technologies that can be utilised by the customers. It further planned to introduce iPad for the shoppers so that they can browse and order any goods online that they require from River Island collection. It also makes use of the television screen so that it can display the consumer films as well as photographic contents in order to involve the consumers. Surmounting cross-channel retail environment in the United Kingdom is generally defined with increase in the sales of retail and mobile retail. Hence, the companies operating in the retail industry are trying to find out ways so that they can make use of the technology to increase the sales of the retail stores (Sillitoe, 2011). River Island also initiated a recruitment portal, which was entirely technology-led. This portal assisted the company with quotas to monitor the quantity of applicants, booking of interviews online, assistance of Google maps for the interviewees to identify the venue where they need to report for interviews, attendee lists so that the store managers can carry out interviews, automatic creation of reference requests, quick messaging services within the recruitment team as well as controlling tools. The company also made use of the social media strategies including Facebook and Twitter acting as viral marketing tools permitting the users to blog regarding River Island’s services and thus saving the advertisement cost of the company (HR Magazine, 2011). 3.0. Issues at River Island It is to be mentioned that the company’s website has certain lacunas which make it unattractive to the customers. It has been criticised that the home page of the company is not capable of filling the whole screen and thus leaves a blank grey space in its edges. For instance, several criticisms were made on the website design of River Island (Jiang & et. al., 2009). It has been noted that the company lack pictures of models to showcase the best qualities of the clothing. There is no view-all option so that the user can have a quick browse. Consumers are only capable of viewing 3-8 pieces of clothing at once. This might pose a severe problem for the consumers wanting to compare two clothes from distinct pages (Slideshare, n.d.). The other weakness is that the price demonstrated in the website is only in ‘Pounds’. If there are options to select consumer’s currency, then they will be capable of deciding better and thus make comparison quite easily. There is lack of human touch in the website as well. It has also been found that the site takes nearly ten seconds in order to fully load one page from another page all across the website. The website also delivers vague information regarding the product delivery. For a normal delivery the company claims 3-5 days as required. However, it fails to mention the exact time that is required to deliver the goods to the final consumers which can be regarded as one of the main drawbacks of the website. The consumers might have to wait for a long time if they are not made aware regarding the exact timing of delivery for the goods and services at their desired stations. They might get irritated and may switch to the competitors who offer better delivery options than River Island (Baidu, 2012). It is a well known fact that customers might not trust a brand if they do not study about it to their satisfaction. Even if River Island is a global company, it tends to depend upon British market and a small number of European countries. Chinese consumers are not well aware of River Island at all. It is significant for the company to make optimum utilisation of the resources and thus advertise their products so that the awareness level of the customer regarding the products is higher (Baidu, 2012). However, it has been observed that the rate of customer dissatisfaction at River Island is quite high. Most of the customers have complaint that the goods sold by the company are already bought by someone else and then returned back by them. The other reasons behind the dissatisfaction have been related to late delivery of the goods and services. The company claims that it will deliver the goods within three to five days. However, at times, when the goods are not delivered at the specified date and time, it is quite likely to lead towards greater frustration rate among the consumers. Furthermore, the dissatisfaction level shall certainly rise because the company refuses refund of the money in case of late deliveries. In addition, the products are too expensive which might create a constraint regarding consumer purchasing power. People belonging to low-income group may not be capable of purchasing the goods and services of the company. The poor quality of the product can also be one of the main reasons behind dissatisfaction after having paid the company such as large amount (Baidu, 2012). It can be mentioned that in order to remain ahead of competition, River Island must consider certain measures so that the operational efficiencies can be enhanced to a greater degree. For the purpose of stimulating the operational efficiencies, the main objective of the company must be to increase the rate of customer satisfaction level through the proper utilisation of technology. By increasing the level of customer satisfaction level, the company will be capable of driving more number of customers towards them and thus more revenues can be generated in a short period. The market share can also enhance to a greater extent by improving the operational efficiencies at the organisation (Baidu, 2012). 4.0. Literature Review on ICT According to Williams & et. al. (2002), information technology can play a significant role in the reduction of the issues that the fashion retailers might confront. On the other hand, the retailers who are incapable of managing their information technology landscape may realise the fact that IT has become a problem for them instead of serving as a solution. Therefore, it is significant to possess proper synchronization of the resources of the organisation (Williams & et. al., 2002). According to Pauleen & Yoong (2010), there are numerous benefits that can be availed by the fashion retailers by making use of the Information and Communication Technology in their processes which is related to operational efficiency by means of improved management of the supply chain, inventory and store. The productivity of the organisation can be significantly improved with regards to automation. It is by means of adoption of the ICT that in the companies, consistency as well as transparency in the business processes can be obtained. Most of the companies have realised the fact that by making use of the ICT, high return on investment can be availed easily (Pauleen & Yoong, 2010). According to Bruce & Daly (2010), one of the main characteristics of the fashion retailing is that they tend to be price sensitive and tend to operate on tight margins. It has been stated by the authors that the fashion retail sector is mainly driven by cost and the need to administer the supply chain in an efficient manner so that excessive stock can be minimised and also reduced the risk in product forecasting. It is the e-commerce that allows the companies to remain competitive by enhancing the communication within the supply chain and therefore enhancing their service offerings (Bruce & Daly, 2010). According to Mcnamara (2008), it is by means of ICT that the companies are capable of developing business practices and therefore improve the effectiveness and competitiveness of the firms to a greater extent. ICT is a significant way through which companies can gain resourceful information sharing. It is widely recognised that ICT is one of the pertinent drivers helping the firms at shifting the value in the value chain thereby leading to the creation of new business models, dis-aggregation of the production chains and also by creating new opportunities in the global supply chain. It is by means of proper technology that the companies are capable of creating business performance, stimulating their efficiency and competitiveness and therefore facilitating in meeting the shorter-lead-time required. Furthermore, by means of ICT, it becomes easier for companies to possess detailed tracking record of inventories. The bottleneck arising in the operation of the company can be resolved with greater effectiveness. Customers can be offered with reliable progress reports on matters that leads to order schedules and hence the output can be escalated (Mcnamara, 2008). The most significant dimensions of communication that arises between the manufacturers along with the retailers for which the use of ICT is important are workflow coordination, exchange of information as well as synchronized planning. Both the retailers as well as the manufacturers need ICT so that they are capable of creating sales data, inventory management, production schedules as well as shipping details. The utilisation of the ICT is also apparent in case of workflow coordination that tends to make use of synergies amid various participants of the supply chain. With the use of the electronic appliances, it becomes easier for the companies to progress their performance in each stage of the supply chain. The fashion retailers can also make use of the ICT so that they can improve the process of communication among the numerous players in the industry. The diagram below helps to explain information flow that needs to be improved with adoption of ICT by suppliers (Mcnamara, 2008). Source: (Mcnamara, 2008) 5.0. Utilisation of ICT to Solve the Matter It has been identified that the main issues confronting River Island is poor design of the website. The quality of the information cannot be judged easily because of the technology. Even though, River Island has utilised ICT in its operations, the company has been criticised at times as a consequence to which, the rate of dissatisfaction level among the consumers also seems to be higher. At the outset, it can be recommended that the company should take serious measures to resolve the issues related to poor design of the website. By employing engineers and technicians the company’s websites can be improved to a greater degree. Alongside, it is significant for the company to focus upon the registering of accurate data regarding the product on the website because even a well designed and attractive website may fail to capture the attention of the customers if the data entered into the website is not correct. For instance, most of the customer’s complaint that in the Website of River Island, it claims the goods and services purchased by the customers will be dispatched within three to five days. However, it fails to state the accurate timing of delivery. Improvements related to this matter should be made by the company in order to enhance the rate of customer satisfaction. The website must be interactive enough so that the web consumers are capable of gaining adequate knowledge regarding the product prior to their purchase. The websites that are complex to navigate and do not offer adequate ways of retrieving the information related to the product, it might restrain the flexibility that consumers possess in monitoring product information needed to be displayed (Jiang & et. al., 2010). Furthermore, it is quite vital for the company to enhance the quality of goods and services. In this regards, the employees of the company can be educated regarding the improvement of the quality of the goods by making use of ICTs in the day to day operations. With the implementation of transformational model, the issues related to River Island can be improved significantly. It is crucial to comprehend the key components which need to be aligned with the objectives of the business so as to attain competencies and sustainability as well. By paying due attention towards the key variables as stated by the transformational model, major alterations and improvements can be brought in the operations of the business in terms of high rate of customer satisfaction level, improvement in the quality of the goods, increment in the level of profitability and overall efficiency as well as customer service (McCubbrey, 2011). The figure below helps to comprehend the transformation model that can be used at River Island in order to improve the operational as well as process efficiencies in the company. Source: (McCubbrey, 2011) At the onset, it is significant for River Island to identify the inputs that will be needed for the company to bring significant improvement in the website and to increase the customer satisfaction level regarding a particular product. Training rendered to the employees always has a significant role to play when company is confronted with such issues. Thus, in order to improve the website design, trained technicians shall be employed by River Island. The main role of the trained staffs will be to communicate with the customers in a proper manner. After the inputs have been taken into account, it becomes significant for the company to identify the main reasons behind the existence of any organisational operations. The objective of business needs to be identified for the success of the company. The main objective of the company is to come out of the operational issues taking place in the company such as poor website design, poor quality of the product, high delivery timing and so on (McCubbrey, 2011). It is during the transformation stage when River Island needs to take certain actions to improve the website of the company. The inputs employed by the company will operate to bring alterations in the online shopping experience of the customers. It is in this context that the management should essentially monitor the work attitudes as well as the culture of the organisation while initiating such changes. The various variables such as goals and strategies, work culture and system requirements need to be aligned in an adequate manner with the goals of the organisation so that changes in the operation and processes can be brought in an appropriate manner. Feedback needs to be taken from the customers on a regular basis so that the improvements wanted by the customer in the website can be identified. After processing the inputs the company is capable of deriving the final output. Hence, River Island will attain the objective of good website design and high customer satisfaction rate due to enhancement in the processes. However, it needs to continuously monitor the progress to identify if any improvement in this regards needs to be made or not. If the company has not attained the objective then in such circumstances, it will have to repeat the cycle and attain the inputs to enhance the processes (McCubbrey, 2011). 6.0. Conclusion ICTs have a significant role to play in any company. In the recent times, it has been observed that as a fashion retailer, River Island also make use of ICT to improve its operational efficiencies. However, the company must focus upon proper management of ICTs on a regular basis. By closely monitoring the utilisation of ICTs, operational efficiencies can be improved at River Island and thus high profitability can also be attained in the long term performance. This shall in turn assist the company to be capable enough of remaining competitive in the market place. References Business Studies Online, No Date. Why Do Business Use ICT. Unit 3. 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