Internet Tools as Dirt Bikes - Essay Example

?Internet Tools as Dirt Bikes A good level of communication is key for the success of every company. This is communication has to be whole round in that it should involve an organization and its employees as well as an organization and its customers. This is important in increasing the external and internal knowledge available within and outside an organization. This information is very instrumental in strategizing the business operations and products. Internet tools are one powerful way of achieving a good level of communication in an organization. This paper discusses how these tools find application in various departments of an organization such as human resources, manufacturing and resources and sales and marketing departments of dirt bikes, a company that manufactures off-road motorcycles. How Dirt Bikes could benefit from intranets for sales and marketing, human resources, and manufacturing and production Callaghan (2002) defines intranets as private networks created by organisations using the web technology and the internet networking standards. They create networked applications that are able to run on several types of computers in the organisation including wireless devices that can have remote access and handheld computers. In this way, intranets can be said to provide access to data across an organisation. An intranet can be utilised by the employees of an organisation like Dirt Bikes for human resources, sales and marketing, and production and marketing. Sales and marketing Intranets can help to improve the level of communication between an organisation and its authorised distributors or clients or customers. This can be achieved by linking the computers of customers who have a web browser to the company’s network. This encourages authorised customers of a company to make orders or inquiries about the products of the company. This is because intranets enable the employees of a company to access information from any part of the organisation and hence respond immediately and accurately to the inquiries or needs of their customers (Laudon and Laudon. 2009). This is unlike following long procedures of written requests or face-to-face inquiries. With improved links and access to the company website, these buyers will be able to get timely information regarding the company’s new products, their features and costs. It also eases the process in which the company communicates about its new products to the authorised buyers or distributors. Improved sales can be attained if a company is able to provide customised services to its customers. By utilising the improved communication afforded by the intranet, the employees of Dirt Bikes will be able to respond immediately to product preferences of its various customers. For example, a customer may want an exchange of the brand of motor cycle delivered to them or those found in the distributor stalls. This makes business with the company a memorable one. Superior customer experience encourages repeated business with the company (Laudon and Laudon. 2009). Human resources Intranet increases the level of human resource management and utilisation in a company. Increased human resource management can be achieved by posting benefits information and employee manual on the intranet. This reduces the time spend by the human resource managers of the Dirt Bikes in answering employee questions. It also increases response to employee concerns. Callaghan (2002) explains that intranet facilitates teleconferencing and enables the workers of a company to work together. For example, the human resource manager is able to discuss employee or corporate issues with company employees through the intranet. Employees are also able to communicate with one another with an aim of seeking help or clarifications from each other concerning production. Due to uniformity in information received by all employees, a company is able to cultivate and foster a corporate culture among all its employees. The intranet will also increase the level to which Dirt Bikes utilises its human resources. For example, all employees will be able to attend to customers from wherever they are due to high level of connection between them and customers wherever they are within the company. Generally, this increases their level of productivity (Laudon and Laudon. 2009). Manufacturing and production Increased communication between Dirt Bikes and its customers increases their information concerning their needs and preferences. This enables the company to produce products that meet the needs and preferences of its customers. Intranet increases the production of a company. If employed by dirt bikes, it will be instrumental in increasing the efficiency of the workers in terms of time utilisation. This is because the time taken to respond to the needs of customers when using intranets is less compared to traditional methods like pagers or fixed-line telephones. This leads to improved employee productivity which translates to time saved and this can be used to increase the level of customer service (Laudon and Laudon. 2009). Other helpful tools and benefits for the Dirt Bikes and its employees, and the potential network effect Another technological tool that can benefit Dirt Bikes and its employees is extranet. According to Callaghan (2002), a company can create an extranet that will enable the authorised buyers of Dirt Bikes to have limited access to the company’s internal intranet. In this way, such suppliers, distributors or customers will be able to access the company more and more and this makes easy the process of making business deals or making orders. It increases the flexibility of arranging the company’s work. Extranets will reduce the operational costs of Dirt Bikes because it provides connectivity to coordinate the business processes within the firm. It also reduces costs by enabling the company to link electronically with its suppliers and customers. This is cheaper than paying telephone bills. According to Laudon and Laudon (2009), extranets can improve the business deals between Dirt Bikes and other relevant companies and increases the levels of its management. For instance, it will enable dirt bike to collaborate with other manufacturers of motor cycles for product design and development, the chain supply management and training efforts. These also have the potential of creating new sales channels for the company. Extranet is also important in reducing travel and time expenses that could have been incurred by sending its engineers, designers and other employees to shows, seminars, training or conferences to improve their skills. It will provide Dirt Bikes with training data because of the exchange of huge volumes of data between the company and other similar companies. This data is instrumental in improving the competency and efficiency of its employees. Cellular systems are another technological tool that can be used by Dirt Bikes to improve communication and information within and outside the company. Cellular systems comprise of Smartphones and cell phones. The 3G cellular systems are very important in the transmission and reception of digital data in addition to voice messages. This is because it integrates cellular phones into the world of internet through the provision of high-speed packet-switching transmission of data to the circuit-switching transmission of voice. In organisations, the 3G devices or systems can be very important in the transmission of corporate data. The major benefit that cellular systems will give Dirt Bikes is instant availability of information to employees as well as to the company from employees. Information communicated could be information communicated by workers while out in the field when making repairs or dealing with customers. As a result, the use of cellular systems can result to a reduction in inventory level of the company by upto 15%. (Laudon and Laudon. 2009). Communication by workers in the field help to reduce emergency part orders by up to 90%. The concept of providing wireless access to employees from the perspective of employee benefits and the effect to the organization The provision of wireless access to the employees of a company enables the company to stay more in touch with its employees through handheld gadgets and this benefits the employees of the company as well as the company itself. Some of the benefits of wireless access to employees include increased access to the management of the company. This access increases ease with which they are able to air their views and concerns to the management and the speed to which these views and concerns are responded to by the human resource manager and other relevant managers. Wireless access enables the employees of a company to access information communicated by the company at their own convenience instead of being distracted frequently by electronic mail. Wireless access enables employees to access company information that will enable them keep-up-to-date with the company’s strategic focus. In this way, wireless access can be said to fine-tune the production actions of each worker to meet the goals of the company. Wireless access for employees makes the operations of a company to be cost-effective for example, it is cheaper for employees to view information online rather than making or circulating and maintaining internal phone lists, procedure manuals and other physical documents. Wireless access can also be said to improve employee response to customer orders, needs or inquiries and this increases the organization’s customer experience. This has the potential of making them seek for services or products from the organization in future. Conclusion Technology has been of great importance in helping businesses to operate more efficiently and gain a competitive advantage despite not having strong qualities compared to or similar to those of its competitors. For example, if its main competitors are more accessible to customers due to their strategic location. This means that apart from creating superior products, a business has to develop strategies that will make its environment and customer experience superior so as to pull customers to it and encourage customer loyalty. In the modern society, technology, especially internet tools, can be one good strategy for this. It improves the level and efficiency of communication between the employees of an organization, and between an organization and its customers. This also improves their knowledge in regard to developments in the industry and enables them to respond appropriately. References Callaghan, J. (2002). Inside Intranets and Extranets: Knowledge Management and the Struggle for Power. Palgrave. Macmillan. Laundon, K. and Laundon, J. (2009). Essentials of Information Systems (8th Ed). New York. Prentice Hall. Read More