Information Technology of Union Group of Companies - Case Study Example

Table of Contents Introduction 2 Union Group of Companies, Dubai 2 Yasmin Village 3 Organizational Structure 4 To Remain Competitive 6 Competitive Forces Model for IT infrastructure 7 Market demand 8 Firm’s business strategy 9 Information Technology 10 Comparison with competitors 11 Towards IT infrastructure 11 Recommendations 12 Conclusions 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 Introduction In the competitive world of today, information technology is increasingly proving itself indispensable to the success of business organizations across the globe. As the competition is increasing in almost every sector through out the world with the induction of the multi national companies, the companies are gradually laying more stress on fast communication with the end users and the stakeholders. And to increase the speed of communication, information technology has been instrumental. Also to enhance the efficiency level in the day to day operations of the business, the role of information technology cannot be undermined. IT, as information technology is known as in the business framework, is also crucial for the purpose of decision making at the strategic level. Union Group of Companies, Dubai Union Group of Companies is the holding company of seven subsequent business ventures. The group has business interest in port management, repair of ships, management of logistics, real estate and tours and travels among others. The major initiative of the Union Group of Companies includes the following: Bina Real Estate Yasmin Village Mobile Locate Emirates Time Travel LTD Al Hadaf Marketing LLC Ittihad University Jog Union Engineering The group of companies was established by H. H. Shaikh. Tariq Al Qassimi in the year of 1985. The company wished to be the vibrant participant in the fields in which they participated and not just passive depositor. The Union Group of Companies, headquartered at Ras Alkhaimah of United Arab Emirates, sincerely hope to leverage out their diversified business interest which would in turn help the subsidiary companies to cross the limit of expectations. The group also expects that its companies would lead the respective industries. The declared mission of the company is to create value for its stakeholders (i.e. the investors, the executives, the employees, the customers and the suppliers). The present holding company was shaped in the year 1995 as a consequence of the process of restructuring and consolidation. The Union Group of Companies believes in constant innovation and is always open to the professionals having expertise in brainstorming and resources like finance. Among the subsidiary companies of the renowned group, Yasmin Village and the Ittihad University are the major players. Yasmin Village Yasmin Village, the major contributor of the Union Group of Companies, describes itself as the blending of rural charm with the urban sophistication. Yasmin Village is a premier housing initiative by the group. It is developed on the land of Bina Real Estate, another subsidiary company of Union Group of Companies. Also it is developed by Bina Real Estate. It is believed that the facility provided at Yasmin Village is the perfect mix of excellent architecture with modern infrastructure. The project has lush green campus and has superb leisure and recreational facilities. The company says it would have all the three components into it i.e. lake, valley and mountain. This project of the Union Group of Companies has been boomed by the recent amendment of the United Arab Emirates law of allowing housing to be owned by the foreign nationals. The developers of the project (Bina Real Estate and Union Group of Companies) vow to keep the air unpopulated and expect Yasmin Village to be the home to the nature and luxury lover elite populace across the globe. Located at 45 minutes drive from Dubai at the Rak Free Zone, this flagship project of the Union Group of Companies consists of the following: Tower Burz Community Club Terrace Apartments Lake Side Villas Independent Villas Town Houses The Apartments Organizational Structure The organizational structure of the Union Group of Companies consists of seven subsidiary companies namely Bina Real Estate, Yasmin Village, Mobile Locate Emirates, Time Travel LTD, Al Hadaf Marketing LLC, Ittihad University and Jog Union Engineering. Also the group has joint ventures with the following companies: Emirates Trading Agencies – The Union Group of Companies has a joint venture with Emirates Trading Agency and partnership with government of Ajman to manage the port of for 2006 to 2011. For the purpose, Emirates Port Service was formed. Al Bassam Tanks & Sanitary ware Trading – The joint venture with Al Bassam (Rak) has helped Union Group of Companies to penetrate in to the markets of manufacturing polyethylene tanks and road barriers. M/s Acting Group – In association with the Australian based company, Union Group of Companies has come up with the business of sales, marketing and business development of pavements. Apart from these, the Union Group of Companies has inaugarated Rak Stone & Marble to cut and polish white lime and marble generated from the local sources and to meet the customer’s needs. The group has human capital of tremendous professional expertise. The U.A.E based company has workforce strength of more than 2000. The group has several qualified and experienced managers, architects, engineers, accountants, educational consultants in its ranks. To Remain Competitive Competition is inevitable today. With the advent of technology and newer and newer methods of communication, the world has become very small today. Every concerned person is aware about the happenings at the remotest corner of the earth through one or the other means of media. As a result no company can be complacent in the way of conducting the business they are into. The need of constant innovation is the essence of the hour. And to innovate, constant research is required. In addition to it, for a sustainable development the company should also stress on adaptability to change. The leadership and the management of the corporate houses should essentially be dynamic. The Union Group of Companies, to remain competitive, has adopted the path of diversification of business. The group has indulged into many facets of business. They are into the business of real estate, logistics, education, port management, tours and travels and other fields. The group has hired best of the available people and used the supreme technologies to be the leader. The group states its mission is to create best companies. To remain not only competitive but surpass other competitors, the group has invited investments from all over the world and promises to add value to the investors. The Yasmin Village, the initiative of the Union Group of Companies and developed by Bina Real Estate (a subsidiary of Union Group of Companies) has lodged with world class facilities with the elegant structure and rural charm. The housing complex has mountains, valleys and lakes amidst desert. Also Yasmin Village consists of Tower Burz which has a commercial centre in place. To remain competitive, Yasmin Village plans to cater to the wide range of customers. And to serve the purpose, they have wide range of products. The apartments have combinations of different number of bedrooms (one, two or three). Also it has wide range of villas namely lakeside villas, independent villas, etc. Also it boasts another product range called town houses. To meet the need of recreation, the village also contains food courts and restaurants. Yasmin Village will also attract the fitness-freaks and health conscious populace as it has sporting facilities like swimming pool, jaccuzi, spa and gymnasiums. To enjoy their leisure, the inhabitants of Yasmin Village will have the coffee shops and supermarket with in the village. Also the village would host a 50-room hotel. The Yasmin Village, rather than being a housing complex, is a sort of entire township. To remain competitive, the developers have come up with every modern facility that is required in one’s everyday life. Also, the efforts of Yasmin Village have been made easier by the amendment of the law of the land which has allowed the foreign nationals to own housings in the United Arab Emirates. Competitive Forces Model for IT infrastructure The competitive forces model of information technology includes the following six major factors: Market demand for the firm’s customer services, supplier services and the enterprise services. Firm’s business strategy Firm’s strategy, infrastructure and cost in information technology Information Technology Competitor firm’s service of information technology Competitor firm’s investment in information structure investments All these factors directly contribute to the firm’s decision of developing infrastructure and services of information technology. The detailed analysis of the firm’s can be conferred on the basis of the following three heads: Market demand The broad heading of the market demand of the firm’s services includes the service provide to all stakeholders of the company i.e. the customers, the suppliers and the enterprise as a whole. The Union Group of Companies has diversified range of products and so diversified group of customers. The group caters to the needs of real estate customers and also to the service industry like that of mobile, tours and travels as well as tours and travels. As the group of companies has wide range of customers, essence of information technology is always felt. The group, with a proper framework of information technology, can always try and integrate its customers. It can create database of the likings and preferences of the customers of all its subsidiary companies and can leverage its wide range of products and services to them. Also the group can develop their relationship with their suppliers and keep them on the edge with the help of the latest technologies. With dedicated framework in place, the Union Group of Companies can bring down their inventory level to minimum. Also, in the service based subsidiary companies, they can improve the efficiency level which will in turn increase the market demand. Yasmin Village has been trying to tap global customers. And to create market demand among the global customers, information technology has no alternative. The boom of internet has made the world a small place to live in. They can use the facilities like online marketing; online bookings to enhance customer demand as it is not always possible for a resident of a far-off place to personally visit the site just to book an apartment or a villa. With a dedicated information technology framework, Yasmin Village can reduce the cost incurred to the suppliers as information technology can make the process faster and thereby cheaper. It would significantly reduce the ideal time and so the inventory cost. Also, through proper information technology channels, Yasmin Village might expect to have suppliers in the form of global companies and not just companies of UAE. Firm’s business strategy With the extensive usage of information technology, the entire business strategy can take a different shape altogether. The business firm can hope to inculcate the most efficient strategies with the boom in information technology. IT has essentially induced adaptability, speed, innovation to the business firms. And it is also true for the Union Group of Companies. Also information technology has opened avenues for newer distribution channels which have exploded the business of many firms (Smith, H. A. Mickeen, J. D. Singh, Satyendra., n.d.). Real estate has often been known for its indiscipline and inefficiency. With dedicated architecture of information technology, Yasmin Village can expect to cope up with the challenges. Making things integrated will save all the important resources like time, energy and cost and thus would enhance profitability. The boom of information technology has also provided project management a new shape today. Online communication tools of information technology have provided enormous time to the project managers to communicate with the project team members, stakeholders and sponsors. With the help of information technology, a more perfect prototype can be developed and sponsors and customers can be impressed. Also, the consultation of the experts can be sought from anywhere in the world. All these factors would definitely shape the business strategy in a newer way (Briggs, C. and Ra, J.. 2007). Information Technology With all the above factors, it can be established how information technology can affect a business organization. As Union Group of Companies has a wide variety of business, they would be most benefitted with the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP). ERP is the software which helps to combine and integrate all data that have generated from various sources so that it could be shared among all channels of the organization and thereby can reduce redundant and repetitive data entry. With the implementation of ERP, Union Group of Companies (UGC) can truly leverage their various processes and mutually benefit from each other (Definition of ERP. n.d.). Yasmin Village can use information technologies in various ways. They can make the entire village Wi-Fi enabled which would facilitate wireless internet at every corner of the campus. This feature would be a great help for the commercial centre at the Tower Burz and also for the residents of the posh village. Also, the village management can take measures to prevent the campus from being victim to terrorism or perils like earthquake with the help of information technology. Comparison with competitors United Group of Companies should always keep track of the steps initiated by the competitors in the implementation of information technology as it can truly change the entire flow of business today. The investments incurred by the competitors should be closely followed. But most importantly, the firm itself should lay the IT infrastructure and should encourage constant research and development in the field. Towards IT infrastructure The company in order to be sustainable should inevitably spend a decent sum for information technology. The amount of sum depends upon the cash inflow and the cash outflow of the companies. The Union Group of Companies should have a proper provision for constant research, development and innovation in the field of information technology. To generate more revenues in future, the group of companies should have a progressive budget for the field of information technology. Yasmin Village has the option of laying a detailed information technology framework and charges it from the buyers. As information technology is the need of the hour, they should not find it difficult to sale it. Infact if properly marketed, the information technology architecture would be the unique selling proposition for the village. Above all, information technology is futuristic in nature and so the firm should have a proper feasibility study in order to invest upon it. Recommendations Information technology is undoubtedly the essence of the hour. The Union Group of Companies (UGC) can have enterprise resource planning (ERP) in place which would help them to integrate all the seven subsidiary companies. Also, the group should lay emphasis on constant research and development in the field of information technology and should inculcate newer and innovative methods. Yasmin Village, the flagship project of the Union Group of Companies should try and have wireless internet connectivity in the entire area of its lush green world class campus. They should also resort to means like online project management which would help them to have the ideas from the best of brains from different parts of the globe. Yasmin Village also should stress more emphasis on online advertisements and online marketing for the sale of its posh villas and apartments across the world. Information technology should also be used to secure the lives of the residents of the village and to ensure their security. Conclusions To experience and ensure sustainable development of the business, the extensive use of information technology is must. If any business organization does not have enough provision for information technology it is certain to get perished. But taking information technology in one’s side, one might expect to be the market leader. It would ensure value to the management, customers and the stakeholders of the companies. The reputed group of UAE, Union Group of Companies and its flagship project Yasmin Village also has huge opportunities with proper information technology in place. The efficiency can be enhanced, cost curtailed and time and energy can be saved. References Briggs, C. and Ra, J.. “A Review of IT Implementation Into Construction Project Communications Management”. 2007. UAA School of Engineering. 23rd May. 2009. soe.uaa.alaska.edu/espm/07A0080%20Rev1%20-%20Briggs%20%20Ra.ppt Definition of ERP. Enterprise Resource Planning. Florida State University. No Date. 23rd May. 2009. http://www.erp.fsu.edu/About-Us/Definition-of-ERP Smith, H. A. Mickeen, J. D. Singh, Satyendra.. “Developing Information Technology Strategy for Business Value”. No Date. Journal of Information Technology Management. 23rd May. 2009. http://jitm.ubalt.edu/XVIII-1/article4.pdf Bibliography “Company Profile”. No Date. Union Group of Companies. 23rd May 2009. http://www.union.ae/company_profile.htm “Welcome In Yasmin Village”. No Date. Yasmin Village. 23rd May 2009. http://www.yasminvillage.com/index.htm Read More