Information System for Express Line Shipping L.L.C - Term Paper Example

 Name of the Company The company for which I am going to propose an Information System is ‘Express Line Shipping L.L.C.’. Description of the Selected Information System The activities for which I have developed an information system are Sales and Marketing Systems of the company. The main purpose of implementing a management information system in Express Line Shipping L.L.C. is to help managers and employees effectively process the information regarding different sales and marketing tasks. Dhillon states, “The chief principle of management information system is to make sure that the flow of correct information is facilitated to the right people or parties in an organization”. Without the implementation of an efficient IS, no company or organization can ever be successful because information is needed in every business operation in order to run the business effectively. There are a number of factors, which made me design an information system for the Sales activities of Express Line Shipping L.L.C.. Need of information management is the first factor which has driven the company to implement an information system for the sales department. Almost every company, which has an online presence, needs to manage the customers’ details and other information in the database in order to carry out the business processes effectively. Express Line Shipping L.L.C. would have been a failure without the implementation of information system because Express Line is a customer-oriented company, which needs to be efficient in managing the customer related information. Therefore, need of information management was the primary force behind implementation of information system in the company. Another factor, which played a major role in the implementation of information system in company, was management of the details of the customers’ orders. Express Line Shipping L.L.C. runs its business through its website where customers place their orders and the company provides the customers with their desired products. This is the reason why it was important for the company to keep track of the customers’ details in an efficient way. Information retrieval on demand is also an important factor behind the implementation of information system in an organization. In case of my company, information needs to be retrieved constantly for processing. Therefore, it was important for the company to implement an information system in order to facilitate the company’s employees in carrying out the business activities in an appropriate manner. Another important factor, which made the company implement information system, was need of data consistency. It is important for my company to collect the data from reliable sources and to process the collected data in a consistent manner. The users of information system do not find any difficulty in using the information if the data is processed consistently. Data consistency is extremely important for the implementation of an effective information system. A company needs to apply those procedures and techniques regarding data management that should be able to bring necessary changes to the business processes. Therefore, it was important for Express Line Shipping L.L.C. to implement information system in the company because of need to bring consistency in information management. Working of the Information System Computer is the main component of my proposed information system. All information about the companies will be stored in the computers. In case of shipping company, information about the customers’ orders such as customer name, product name, product specification, order delivery time, and payment information is stored in the computers for processing. The information includes the name of the product that is demanded by any specific customer, the specifications of the product, collected and remaining payment, order’s delivery time, and all other information regarding the customers’ orders. That information is then viewed and analyzed by the management of the organization in order to carry out the required tasks regarding product delivery to the customers. The computer systems used by the organizations automatically process the collected data into required information to be used by the concerned department. Website is also one of the most useful tools for effective management information systems. They play their part in information collection and process transactions for the company or organization for which the website is designed. The customers use websites to get the information regarding any specific product and to place online orders. The request regarding any specific product along with its desired specifications gets stored in the database of the company through the website platform. After the request comes to the company’s database, the concerned department makes use of the information collected by the management information system and processes it in order to make the requested product available for the customer. Websites play a great role in effective management information as they process the transactions for a company or organization. Management information system of Express Line Shipping L.L.C. not only collects data, rather it also processes, analyzes and disseminates the collected information or data in order to carry out various business operations of an organization. The data is presented to the concerned employees in the form of a well-documented report consisting of those activities that are needed to be executed by the management of the sales and marketing department. Activities of the Information System Abel states, “MIS deals with planning, development, management, and use of information technology tools to help people perform all task related to information processing and management”. The management information system of Express Line Shipping L.L.C. serves many purposes for the sales and marketing department. Lucey states, “The processing of data into information and communicating the resulting information to the user are the very essence of an MIS” (4). The information system of the company is a part of internal business control system that manages company’s documents, people, procedures, and information technology. “Management information systems are used by organizations to track, store, manipulate and distribute information to the appropriate people” (Dawn). Some of the core activities of the information system of the company include collection of data, assisting managers in marketing campaigns related decision-making processes, order processing, storing customers’ as well as orders’ information, and keeping track of the orders. Data serves as the input whereas information in the form of well-documented reports is the output of the system. Business Problem Solving The four steps, which will be used by the company to solve IS related business problem solving, include identification of the problem, gathering solutions to solve the problem, analyzing the possible solutions, and finalizing the best solution. In all of these steps, information system plays a very crucial role by providing correct information to the concerned employees in the form of reports. “Reports and analysis pulled from an information system can assist in the directing, planning and decision making needs of managers” (Burke). Information system stores the information, which is used in various decision-making processes by the management of the company. Managerial level I have designed the management information system for the operational level. The operations manager and the employees of the sales and marketing department will be able to use the system. They will store relevant information inn the system. After storing the information, the employees will use the information for order processing. The information will be available to the employees in the form of reports, which the managers and the employees will be able to analyze and use for the related activities. For example, when a customer places an order, the employees in the management information system store the information about the customer and the order. The information is the processed by the employees to deliver the required product to the customer. The operational manager takes responsibility of all administrative and operational matters related to the working of the information system. Type of the Information System The information system proposed for the company is an enterprise application. The application is a combination of the two types of enterprise applications, which include content management and customer relationship management. As mentioned earlier in the report, success of a company without the implementation of a management information system is impossible in the today’s world. It is because there is a lot of competition between companies these days and only those companies can get competitive advantage which keep up to date information about different issues related to the internal and external environments of the businesses. MIS provides the companies with various benefits related to the information management. Express Line Shipping L.L.C. can be benefited from the proposed management information system in terms of accuracy, timeliness, completeness, and relevance. Let us discuss those benefits in some detail. Accuracy is a key benefit of implementation of information system in a company. In Express Line Shipping L.L.C., the information management department can enable the company keep precise and accurate information on all aspects of the company’s business. The sales and marketing department of the company can make use of reports, which will be generated by the information system. Information system will also provide the company with accuracy of internal controls, which is extremely important for the proper functioning of a company. Quick data processing is also one of the benefits provided to the companies, which use information systems. Timeliness is integral for an efficient information system because it results in improving performance of a company. It is due to the implementation of information system mechanism that the information is always ready to be retrieved by different departments of the company. The data collection and processing time has become very less which has resulted in saving time of the company’s employees and customers. Completeness and relevance are also two of the key benefits of implementation of information system in the company. The users are provided with complete and most relevant information related to any specific matter. Information is presented to the concerned users in the form of reports. The information system of the Express Line Shipping L.L.C. will provide only relevant information to the concerned departments because irrelevant information leads towards the wastage of time of the users. These were some of the benefits that can be provided to the Express Line Shipping L.L.C. by implementing an efficient information system. Tools and Technologies The tools and technologies, which will be used by the information system to support collaboration and teamwork, include emails, web server, computer systems, SQL server, Microsoft Office, and Windows XP. Training of employees is very important to make them proficient in the use of information system. The company will provide 2-week training to all employees in order to develop a team of MIS experts. Porter’s Competitive Forces Porter’s five forces model can help the company develop effective business strategies using the proposed information system. The proposed information system includes the decision-making and analysis functions and performs functional support role, strategic support role, and performance monitoring role, which can be very helpful for the company in business strategies development processes. Porter’s five forces model can make the company aware of the threats of new entrants and substitutes as well as supplier and buying power, which can helps the managers of the company develop such business strategies, which can result in bringing considerable benefits as well as improvement to the ongoing business processes. The role of IS can be very important in this regard. The proposed information system can upgrade the business strategies development process of the company by providing the company with new and innovative services. Competitive Advantage The selected information system can help the company use core competencies, synergies, and network based strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the market. A company needs to use effective strategies to achieve competitive advantage. A good information system always helps a company develop effective strategies. It is because a good information system helps a company in making suitable decisions based on the documented analysis performed by the managers. The information system provides accurate reports to the managers, which help them decide which decision they should take and which alternatives they should discard. Achievement of competitive advantage is the dream of every company, which it can achieve using core competencies and synergies included in the information system of the company. Global Competition and Quality The company can develop effective business strategies in order to expand the business globally. Worldwide recognition of the company will help it attract more customers, which is the key towards achievement of competitive advantage. Moreover, quality is also very important for a company to achieve competitive advantage. Express Line Shipping L.L.C. can achieve success by integrating all aspects of quality in its business activities and processes. The company can use a number of key principles to improve the quality of its services. Three of those principles include customer focus, continuous improvement, and employee involvement. The company will focus the needs and demands of the customers while performing the business operations. The company will achieve continuous improvement by integrating quality in all phases of the product development process. Moreover, top management of the company will motivate the employees towards ensuring quality in all aspects of their job responsibilities to ensure employee involvement. “Employees should be encouraged to be pro-active in identifying and addressing quality related problems” (Murray). Information Technology Infrastructure Let us describe the IT infrastructure required to run the proposed information system. The major components of the IT infrastructure include cloud computing, data center management, server visualization, remote monitoring, and electronic records management. Cloud computing is a distinguishing feature of the proposed management information system. This feature allows employees use the applications from any computer system using the passwords to access the applications from the cloud. Internet modem, network adapter, LAN card are the major hardware components of the information system. Data will be stored in the hard disks whereas LCDs and printers will be used as the output devices. The software applications, which will be used in the information system, include SQL server, the MIS software application, and some other software applications that will be available through cloud. Database Management System Database Management System is a software program to manage the databases of a company. The database management system used in the proposed information system is relational model database. “In a relational database, information is stored in tables (often called relations) which help organize and structure data” (Martin). Companies use relational model database not only to store data but also to retrieve it when needed. Data is stored in the form of tables and each record stored in the table can have many fields. Using relational model database, concerned departments can retrieve data easily without affecting the structure of the table. In case of Express Line Shipping L.L.C., use of database systems brought many advantages to the company. Some of the most incredible advantages included reduction in data redundancy, improvement in data security, reduction in the costs of data storage and retrieval, improved data integrity, sharing of data, development of flexible conceptual design, and increased data consistency. Use of E-Business Our company is totally an internet-based business. Therefore, the role of e-business is very considerable in the proposed information system. E-Business means running an online business in order to improve productivity of the business. In today’s world, almost every business needs to have an online presence to attract customers. Website is the most popular platform for internet marketing. Our company also makes use of a website for marketing purposes. Online businesses hold a large number of customers and market opportunities as compared to conventional businesses, which increase their chances of achieving competitive advantage in the markets where they operate their businesses. For Express Line Shipping L.L.C., e-business provide many benefits, such as, reduced risks, cost effective marketing strategies, web presence for the customers, introduction in new markets, reduction in advertising costs, and improvement in customer service through 24/7 customer support. Modeling Technique A classical software engineering technique was used to develop the information system. The reason is that this technique helps in developing a management information system which is fully responsive to the resource constraints and performance objectives of the employees. some of the main components of the software engineering approach include system analysis, system design, system implementation, and system operation and support. Protection Technologies I have used antivirus applications along with a fine-grained server and an access control mechanism to protect the data and information resources. Access control mechanism has been made very effective which do not permits any kind of unauthorized access to the information system of the company. Conclusion Summing it up, management information system means to manage the information that is required to run business operations and other activities of a company. The information system that I have designed for the company will assist marketing employees in performing many key tasks, which include, decision-making, order processing, entering customers’ information, storing orders’ information, and keeping track of the records. The implementation of the proposed information system will surely make the company reach higher levels of profits and customer satisfaction. Works Cited Abel, Ogunbiyi. “Knowledge Workers in the Information Age.” Ezinearticles.com, 08 Jun. 2008. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. . Burke, Alex. “An Introduction to Management Information Systems.” Ehow.com, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Dawn, Sarah. “What is the Advantage of a Management Information System.” Ehow.com, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Dhillon, Terry. “Data Management For Your Success.” Ezinearticles.com, 16 Apr. 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Lucey, Terence. Management Information Systems. 9th ed. London: Thomson Learning, 2005. Print. Martin, Anni. “Disadvantages of a Relational Database.” Ehow.com, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Murray, Martin. “Total Quality Management (TQM).” About.com, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Read More