Technology for Business - Essay Example

Club IT, Part Three Latoya of Phoenix Business Information Systems-XBIS/219 Dr. Sims Club IT, Part 3 Introduction Technology is a key to great business. Unifying business and technology is therefore a good decision that will take a business to unexpected levels. Information systems especially help the company to be in tune with every emerging opportunity and threats. In addition, information systems help the company in increasing its capability through far-sighted vision that tap future businesses. This enables the company to put its priorities right enabling and devise new ways of beating competition, keeping up in the industry. This paper identifies some of the problems experienced at Club IT and gives information systems suggestions that can improve the club. Organization Description and Demographic Information Club IT is a nightclub of its kind. According to Turban and Rainer “We Reuben and Lisa, offer you live music, DJ’s, dance space and refreshments that suites your lifestyle. You are our friends, and we seek to build a community that meets regularly at club IT” (Turban and Rainer, web). Reuben and Lisa co-own this club. They completed their business administration degrees in 2000 and decided to follow their business aspirations. In college, Reuben and Lisa earned a means of survival through night clubbing. Lisa would play Jazz violin while Reuben drums and this gave then a vast experience in nightclubbing. The club targets all kind of people, old and young. It has a program that runs throughout all seasons giving their clients a wide variety of choice. The monthly calendar of diverse music, ranging from hip-hop, techno, electronic, mp3s and live bands maintained in this club enables a good flow of clients. For instance, while August is a month of R&B, in September hip-hop rocks the place and in November Jazz. The interior of Club IT is designed to accommodate a good number of people in the dance floor, while the seating capacity is for 220 people. A kitchen and a bar are part of this design. Distinguished sections allow customers to make a choice according to their various needs. Thus, the club serves dancers, hungry people who dine in their restaurant, and others interested in refreshing themselves. Club IT’s Problems Problem one Club IT lacks a Transaction processing systems (TPS). At Club IT many transactions take place every day that include sale of beer, sale of a plate of buffet, payment to staff, or payment of bills such as electricity. These transactions require a system to capture them as soon as they occur. The current system is ineffective and need a replacement with an automated TPS to avoid human errors that come with it. A TPS monitor, collect, store and process data collected from all business transactions. In addition, this data is stored in an organizations database and input in a functional information systems for further analysis. Problem Two Club IT lack a good information system. Good information systems not only support the daily activities of an organization but also provide effectiveness and efficiency. Information systems help in planning and they give prior knowhow of what is expected in the near future. This is possible by interconnecting all transactions of an organization by a good enterprise resource management (ERP). An ERP integrates planning, management, and use of organization resources. This gives the management of organization timely reports to plan and make decisions. Problem Three Club IT lacks a good customer relationship management (CRM). Every service business needs a good CRM. This assist is a good one-on-one relationship between a customer and a seller. A CRM focuses on ensuring that the customer is the most important person since they are the core of the business and its success depends on them. At Club It, customers do not have a chance to give feedback of the services and food via the system that is available. This means that Reuben and Lisa do not have the information they need to retain their customers. Goals and Strategy Although the club is busy in the evenings with people dining and drinking and an outsider can mistake it to be doing well, Lisa and Reuben are not happy about the current profits. Therefore, short-term goals of Club IT is to get useful and timely numbers and increase its profits margins. The long-term goal of the organization is opening a new Club IT. A TPS will solve the problems that Lisa and Reuben are currently going through at Club IT. The first step is automation of source data either via sensors or by human hand, which will then be entered on computers. Automating source data enable online data processing that will in return enable interconnectivity of information systems and support a good CRM. From these, Lisa and Reuben will receive timely reports for example, a feedback from a customer. They will use timely reports to plan and keep up with the competition in other clubs. In addition, Club IT will enhance the company by reacting to the feedback from customers. Happy customers will boost the business and attract more customers. Professional Development The process of incorporating a new technology in an organization is not always easy. All staffs need a lot of encouragement to comply. While an outsider will do the training, Lisa and Reuben need to encourage their staff to accept the new system that will take the club to another level. The system will be incorporated in the work schedule and workers will learn the section of the technology that concerns them as they work. Staffs that use the same system will receive training together. For instance, the bartenders and waiters staff will go through the sales module together. Since they will check stock balance before a sale, they will learn how to use the stock module. The custodian of the entire system will be the assistant manager and thus he will have to learn to operate each section of the system. Assessment of Needs Club IT need to have an email address or a telephone number where customers can place their orders in advance. A selected counter book or a computer will serve the purpose of recording all orders placed and checked off when delivered. There is a need to purchase new computers that the bartenders and waits staff will use to sell. Club IT need to purchase in the near future a new system that will allow real time transactions processing. For a company to operate well and focus on its future, it needs actual figures of its past performance. Club IT do not have an accountant to provide the figures needed for strategic focusing on the future. The Budget Club IT is not currently very profitable as per the expectations of Reuben and Lisa. The table below shows last year’s performance of Club IT. Last year’s Turnover $ 40,000 Last Year’s Total costs $20,000 Profit for the period $20,000 Retained earnings $10,000 From the table above, the company made a profit of $ 20,000 last year and it has retained earnings of $ 10,000. The proposed software will cost $ 10,000, hardware $ 10,000. This cost is inclusive of the training costs but exclusive of the cost of maintaining the system. From the trainer’s point of view, Club IT will pay a yearly fee of $ 10,000 for system maintenance. On installation of the system, the company will improve its sales by 50 %, which means that the profit will go up by $ 30,000. This means that the project is viable and its adoption is the best choice. Evaluation When incorporating the new system at Cub IT, formative evaluation will give the necessary information. This is because it is a continuous process geared towards improvement of a certain development or a process. For example, a trainer asking a friend of Club IT to evaluate the system when it is in development. In addition, Summative evaluation that requires feedback from end users or receivers of the service can give effectiveness of the system. For example, asking customers to comment on the web of Club IT about the services and new improvements. Therefore, evaluations will occur during incorporation and after and the assistant manager will best do this. Inventory Currently, Club IT already has a website that advertises its products and services. Interested customers visit it to check on the menu and the band with the music of the day. They have software, which is not useful in providing timely information. Conclusion Information systems can deliver great benefits to businesses of all kind. First, with improved information systems it is possible for Club IT to push ahead of competition. This is because the system will enable it to have at least one core competency that they will use to conquer the market. Secondly, with a good system, there is good flow of information from one department or section to another. This creates a good supply chain. Thirdly, good supply chains enable management to receive timely information, which they use to make interrupted decisions that keep them on top of the market. Reference Rainer, R. & Turban, E. (2009). “Club IT.” Introduction to information systems: Supporting and transforming business (2nd Ed.). Retrieved from http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=resource&bcsId=4176&itemId=0470169001&resourceId=12379 Read More