Information Systems for Business Value - Essay Example

Id Coordinator: Assignment No IS For Business Value Answer 1a. Using Porter’s competitive forces and five basic competitive strategies, the companies like CPS Energy and Lloyd Constructions successfully met the challenges of time. The five basic competitive strategies: cost effectiveness; differentiation; best cost provider; focused low cost strategy; and niche market strategies are important mechanisms to compete in the volatile market. The Porter’s competitive forces are: industry rivalry; power of suppliers; power of consumers; threat of substitute; and threat from new entrants (Porter, 2008). These are key strategies that help to identify competition and motivate organizations to develop appropriate strategies to meet future challenges. For CPS Energy, industry rivalry and threat from new entrants were critical factors to redefine business model and introduce technology and use of smartphones. It had introduced Megellan program that exploited smartphone and other technology to enhance its operational efficiency. Smartphone helped the large force in the field to remain connected with the corporate offices and site offices so that problems could be easily traced and rectified at shorter time period. It saved lot of time because photos taken from smartphones were immediately sent from site to the engineers at the office who could diagnose issues and suggest remedies. The information was then sent to the field worker who was nearest to the problem site and solve the issue. Moreover, information technology significantly contributed to streamlining various operation processes like inventory, accounts etc. and helped the company to save huge financial expenses. Lloyd construction was relatively small business enterprise which hugely benefitted by using technology like smartphones and computerization of its processes. Coordinating the 100 workers, 30 trucks and more than 400 dumpsters was gigantic task that was made easy through the use of smartphone and technology. The GPS system helped in tracing its fieldworkers and equipment. The workers were trained in using technology and the pilot run helped the company to better manage its operations located at various sites. The smartphones were equipped with e-tracing software and travel data that could show real time position of people and equipment. It considerably reduced the time wastage by field staff and increased work efficiency. It saved nearly 30% fuel cost and about 15% increase in performance which helped it to compete with its rival and new entrants in tough market conditions. 1b. I strongly believe that organizational factors had major influence in adopting smartphones by the companies. The smartphones are technology based that greatly facilitate networking of not only information but also regarding the people and equipment. In the case of CPS Energy, the large company was facing problems and delays in coordinating with its field workers and warehouse. It required site visits by many people to sort out field problems. The use of smartphones helped in sending the information at site to the office or person who was able to diagnose and send appropriate people to sort out the issue. It saved time and extra travel cost and which also added value to its customer satisfaction. Most importantly, using technology helped it to maintain real time based inventory (Sawhney, Wolcott & Arroniz, 2006). It expedited supply chain and improved operational efficiency in other areas of business management. Though a small family based business, Lloyd Constructions needed to adopt new technology to compete in highly competitive business environment. Use of smartphones, having constructions based software significantly improved its performance outcome. GPS helped to trace its equipment at various sites and forced the workers to misuse their time by taking extra brakes or new routes. The organization gained tremendously through improved performance of the workers and cutting fuel cost. Lloyd also used technology to improve its office efficiency and data collected from smartphones was used directly for coordinating various processes. There was greater customer satisfaction and higher productivity due to new technology. 1c. Business benefits afforded by the use of smartphones are not different for small organizations as compared to large organizations. The main reasons are that technology, especially smartphones, provides the organizations with critical real time data and information that can be used to improve the efficiency of various operations (King, 2008). Use of digital technologies like smartphone, internet and computers etc. has facilitated communication across various inter-related business units which create a wider database of new opportunities. The technology, especially smartphone has provided organizations with the most power tool to manipulate information for strategic decision making of the businesses. The phenomenal growth of technology has made it necessary for businesses to adopt it within their business culture. The internet has made dissemination of information a very pertinent aspect of business processes that need to be exploited by organizations to gain competitive advantage. Scholars assert that information is important glue that connects business units, industries, supply chains, customer relationships, organizational structure etc. (Evans & Wurster, 2000). Information technology has greatly increased the efficiency of people and provided organizations with critical tool to network its various processes and improve performance. Consequently, it has become the most influential tool of advancing one’s business and improving data base of knowledge. Using technology within organizational processes optimizes logistics, supply chain and help maintain short cycle of products. Moreover, it decentralizes control and increases accountability of actions and thereby encourages more responsible behavior. Through its use, organizations are better equipped to understand its competitors in the market and help innovate to maintain its competitive advantage. Thus, it can be correctly stated that small and large businesses benefit equally through the use of smartphones and other technology. Answer 2 2a Video-conferencing broadly refers to people who interact through digital media like smartphones and computers having fast speed internet. The seamless shifting from one video caller to another is important aspect of video conferencing. People located in different area can interact with each other through technology. It is very useful in medical field where the surgeons and doctors can consult with experts even at the operation theatre. Moreover, video conferencing facilitates easy access to people and experts who can chat together to identify problems and sort of issues. Neuro Critical Care Center in Massachusetts is equipped with visual communication workstation that connects to emergency rooms of the hospitals in remote area and doctors can call on critical care neurologists in diagnosis and treatment of patients. The specialists can also share CT scans and other report for better diagnosis. It provides a common platform where doctors can share their experiences. This is relatively cheap and can be easily used in times of emergency. Telepresence is an expensive way to conduct conferences and discussions with people located at great distances. It provides ‘high tech, high definition visual and audio communication in an integrated environment’. Huge telescreens are used which connect people from different locations give the people immersive video experience. Many big corporations like MetLife, Pepsico and lawful firm DLA Piper have moved from video conferencing to telepresence. The telepresence are distinct in their large telescreens where video communication gives the sense of being in one large conference room. This saves time and money. MetLife has also developed three dedicated telepresence in Chicago, New York and New Jersey, executives are able to share their report and discuss issues with their counterparts in other location, including corporate office. 2b There are various business benefits of video conferencing and telepresence. Video conferencing is very convenient for doctors and medical experts who could need the services from experts at the time of medical emergency. Video-conferencing from computers and smartphones help the doctors to consult with experts and share important reports like CT scans and MRI etc. Neuro Critical Care Center in Massachusetts uses it extensively to communicate with doctors from remote hospitals. T Health Institute uses 1500 video conferencing equipment to create video wall that allows movable images from multiple PCs located widely across geographical areas. It helps them to network with people from different medical areas like pharmacists, doctors, hospital administration etc. and coordinate live debate or sort out conflicting issues. DLA, the large law firm has established telepresence centres because they believe that instead of travelling they can communicate through telepresence and save time and cost. The lawyers need to share information and discuss various aspects of cases which they are able to do through telepresence. The huge screen and high definition video and audio system figuratively transports the various participants in one large room where they can easily communicate. MetLife and Pepsico also use telepresence to communicate regularly. In the current downturn economy, telepresence helps to save huge amount of cost in the long run that is often incurred on travel. It also saves precious time that could be spent with family or on other important work. 2c There are various potential challenges of implementing video conferencing and telepresence in organizations in New Zealand. The video conferencing as well as telepresence necessitates sharing of critical information over cyberspace. Cloud computing has become important facilitator for sharing information as it allows organizations to use computing resources on pay-per-use or subscription basis (Spinola, 2009). But as cloud computing is operated in overseas locations, sharing of information is beyond the jurisdiction of New Zealand government. The risks involved in sharing critical information are one of key issues that influences videoconferencing and telepresence of organizations. In the medical field, the risk can impact all health agencies and stakeholders. Thus the major challenges for New Zealand are as follows: How to overcome the uncertainty regarding the performance, reliability and support from cloud management that are not located in New Zealand. Trust and credibility of cloud computing agencies How the cloud providers meet the specification and requirements of the government and the organization without violating their trust How the government can maintain control and access over the confidential information that is stored in offshore location. 2d I believe that meeting conducted through video conferencing and telepresence are similar to face to face meetings. Video conferencing and telepresence bring together people from different locations and help them to interact as if they are on the same room. In telepresence, the large screens and high definition of audio and video system ensures that people from different screens appear to form a group and gives a sense of being in one room. This is interesting because despite not being together, people are easily able to interact and communicate with high degree of success. In video conferencing, while the screens may not be big, but people can communicate and sort out problems even through hand held devices like smartphones. This is critical in times of emergencies, especially in healthcare areas. Like in face-to-face meetings, persons are able to communicate and even disagree and learn new things by sharing experiences. In education, children can learn about different countries and people when they interact through video conferencing or telepresence. Through its use, both the teaching and the learning process have become more effective and have generated a greater desire to learn among the students. Organizations having offices in widely distributed geographical areas have the advantage to share information through these techniques and enhance their performance and productivity. In healthcare, video conferencing greatly helps in seeking valuable medical advice and support from the experts during emergencies. It is especially true for doctors who are located at remote hospitals. Answer 3 3a Cloud computing broadly facilitates access to network of scalable resources which can be used on demand and configured as per the requirements of users. It is mainly of three types: SaaS or software as service where users can rent application functionality on the internet; PaaS or platform as a service where users run their own applications on cloud based platform and provider manages operating system, storage, security of data etc.; and infrastructure as a service in which users run their own applications as well as have their own operating system etc. The three categories of cloud computing have increasingly become important part of business as they help the organizations to access information and exploit them at their convenience to optimize performance outcome. Indeed, using cloud computing promotes competitive advantage and helps the business to maintain their leverage in the volatile market conditions. The tactical use of data and information adds value to the organizational competencies and gives them an edge in the market. The major advantages of cloud competing are: 1. Barnett (2004) believes that information explosion brought about by technology has redefined financial, technological and logistic format of the global business dynamics vis-à-vis the movement of money, services accompanied by content, and people and materials. By providing flexibility of use to the users, cloud computing gives them the option of accessing important data from anywhere in the world. 2. It is cost effective as it saves considerable expenses on hardware and software as users can rent space and store their data and applications that can be retrieved anytime. 3. The cloud computing can be configured for any electronic device thereby providing users with diverse means of accessing information. 4. The scalability of data is important factor that helps users to customize and align application with data easily and speedily. Drucker, (1998) emphasizes importance of knowledge management and informs that access to information is the basic precondition for success of a firm. Firms and organizations are distinct in their products and services and rely heavily on accurate and dependable data. Cloud computing successfully integrates reliable data to produce required information to give them an edge in the market. 5. Cloud computing also enables automatic update of applications to suit new devices and customize applications. It facilitates accurate and information based decision making thereby empowering the workforce to optimize performance. 3b HIGEAG and National Health IT Board of New Zealand have taken strong stance on personally identifiable health information and core operational data that must be fully domiciled in New Zealand because often the providers of cloud computing are located offshore which makes it difficult for the individuals and government to take actions against the providers if the confidential data and information is leaked or misused. HIGEAG or Health Information Governance Expert Advisory Group was evolved to develop framework for health information governance and advise NHITB or National Health IT Board (HIGEAG, 2012). So healthcare agencies, desiring of using cloud computing to network data and information for optimizing efficient delivery of goals and objectives, must seek approval from these bodies so that security of health related confidential information is not compromised at any time and by any vested interests. HIGEAG is key agency that looks after the security and storage of critical health related data and therefore its storage, collection, access and security becomes essential ingredient of maintaining privacy of the individuals (GCIO, 2012). It is also important agency that develops platforms where information can be safely shared and used for the welfare of the people. It is for these reasons that it has made mandatory that cloud computing providers must be based in the country unless specific permission is granted by these bodies to healthcare agencies for using offshore providers of cloud computing. 3c I think that concerns raised by HIGEAG also apply to organizations outside the healthcare industry. Confidentiality of information is key issue within business that need to be safeguarded. Knowledge becomes the most important part of organizational functioning which can be primarily described as the thoughts, opinion, observation that are applied in one’s daily life. Data and information are manipulated to meet the needs and requirements of the people. In organizational context, it provides the working population with skills and competencies to improve work performance. Indeed, the diversity in the area of knowledge becomes the most important aspect of business that serves as tool for not only expanding the scope of utilization of the existing resources but they also help to understand the changing dynamics of business environment and meet new challenges with high efficiency (Drucker, 1999). Moreover, though cloud computing greatly enhances networking of resources and exploiting the same for higher performance, the misuse of critical information of the organization could easily jeopardize the success and survival of the same in the highly competitive business environment. Thus, it is hugely crucial for organizations to ensure that their data and information is stored in safe environment and providers of cloud computing are accountable for the security of data and can be held legally responsible for them if the information is leaked or accessed by unauthorized persons. Thus, it is important that governance policies be well defined on the usage of cloud computing and organizations must strictly adhere to them for greater security and management of the same. At the same time, economy of scale associated with cloud computing mainly relies on sharing of dynamic pool of resources which could also threaten security of data for corporate clients. Thus, concerns shown by HIGEAG apply equally for all organizations who tend to use cloud computing. Reference Barnett, Thomas P M. (2004). The Pentagon’s New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Putnam. Drucker,P. (1999). Management Challenges for the 21th Century. NY: Harper. Drucker, P.F. (24 August, 1998). Next Information Revolution. NY: Forbes. Database, Academic Search Elite. Drucker, P. E. (1985). The Discipline of Innovation. Harvard Business Review, 63(3), 95-100. Evans, Philip & Wurster, Thomas S. (2000). Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy. NY: HBS Press. GCIO. (2013). ‘Government CIO announces the New Zealand Government Cloud Programme’. Retrieved from http://ict.govt.nz/gcio/gcio-news/government-cio-announces-new-zealand-government-cloud HIGEAG (11 Dec. 2012). Use of cloud computing for managing health information. Retrieved from: http://www.ithealthboard.health.nz/who-we-work/higeag/higeag-advice/cloud-computing King, R. (2008). ‘How Cloud Computing Is Changing the World’, Business Week [Online] Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc2008082_445669.htm Porter, Michael, E. (January, 2008). The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, 79, 86-104. Sawhney, M., Wolcott, R. C. & Arroniz, I. (2006). The 12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate. MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, 47(.3), 75-81. Spinola, Maria. (2011). An Essential Guide to Possibilities and Risks of Cloud Computing. 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