Business Information System Analysis - M&M Supermarket - Case Study Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Business information system analysis Introduction Supermarket management in many cases sees the need to have information systems implemented in their businesses. The need for the same is driven by the different functional area in supermarkets. Supermarkets in general are large offering retails service to many customers buying different kinds of products. The supermarket in under study here is the M&M supermarket which operates in Gatwick. Just like any other supermarket business, there is stiff competition from the peers. The supermarket trades in household items, food products, electronics and other items. Work is currently semi automated with a few computer information systems in place. The same systems in place do not meet the requirement of the ever-increasing data. In order to ensure that the problems associated with diminishing returns and poor customer service, there is need for implementation of information systems that will see to it that all tasks related to business process are effectively ad efficiently carried out. Technological advances in the field of information management and processing has ensured the availability of easy and well structured systems that are easily implemented to meet the information needs of the company. Information needs within different functional areas of an organization Information needs of the company differs in nature but are related in general. There is need to have a management information system for the management of collected data be it sales or record keeping. Without proper management of the same data, it becomes hard to derive knowledge form the same and hence making of decisions in the organization becomes a problem. Emphasis therefore should be placed on the management of data. Before we can manage data, there is need to have efficient collection mechanism for the same. There is need to keep collect sales data, purchase data as well as profit and loss account data. Collection of these data need to be done in a more advanced and acceptable nature. Upper management Managers need to get an overall picture of the performance of the business based on the sales realized either monthly or even annually. Information systems provide an avenue for provision of this information to the relevant bodies in the business venture. Sales department There are different functional areas in the organization that require the need to have different functionalities of information systems implemented. The point of sales area has to have a system functionality that is able to read debit cards and process data from the same. The same should have a barcode reading system which is used to read the codes of the items one is buying. As the code is read it is determined in the database if the same is available and if it is, the item price is generated. Electronic data interchange is also an aspect of information system that is necessary to be implemented and used in the point of sales area. It allows speeding o data transfer with regard to suppliers and orders made by customers in the business. The same eliminates the need for application of paper work in the business venture and thus prove more efficient and reliable. Supplies department The supplies department is also an area in the business that requires information system for carrying out their tasks. The supplies department is charged with the responsibility of making orders from suppliers on different kinds of stock. It has therefore to have first-hand information on the level of stock of at any particular time. It is impractical to manually count all the items in the store in order to determine the stock levels; it becomes essential therefore to have information system in this area that is able to provide fast and up-to-date information concerning the same. The system should work in a way as to decrement the stock count as an item is purchased. Therefore, the information system in question should directly link to the point of sale system. The data used by the supplies department will depend on the information gotten from the point-of-sale system. Electronic data interchange system will also prove useful to this department. EDI systems allow easy data transfer from one area to another. The supplies department can be able to place order to the suppliers without engaging in paper work. In the same way, the process of ordering is made faster and efficient. No loss of information is easily realized and time wastage is reduced. Financial department The financial department is also another area which has to have vital information systems in the processing of their data as well as performing audit functions. Financial data generated from the point of sales areas as well as supplies area must all be collected and analyzed to determine the profitability of the company. The finance department must implement systems in place that ensures that proper management of data is kept. This department goes hand in hand with the human resource department. Data concerned with employees social well being as well as their remuneration has to be stored and managed well. The above stated areas are some of the common functional areas of most supermarkets. However, there is also the top management, as a functional unit which must also have information systems use. The upper management needs to have a clear view of the business performance. It is therefore essential that information systems implemented gather for the needs of this category of business stakeholders. Managers need to get reports easily from the different departments, be it finances, supplies or the sales department. Information systems should be implemented in a way as to allow easy generation of these reports by the system, without the need for physical appearance of the concerned departmental head or the need for paper work done (Robert 45). An example is a given scenario in the supermarket supplies department. Supposing the department wants to make an order of a particular item. It is hard to actually determine which items need to be ordered at a particular time. Currently, the supermarket bases its ordering decisions on time duration. It has been assumed that, at a certain point in time it is expected that the stock will have declined considerably therefore necessitating the need for an order to be done. This does not give a true picture of the stock level. It introduces a lot of overhead decisions that might not be in line with the demand market structure. With the information system proposed, the system is able to determine the right time when the stock is low. In this case, as a product is sold in the sales department, the same is decremented in the database. Any product sold results in the decrease in the number value of stock of the item. A point is reached whereby the product is limited in number in the store. At this point, the system generates an alert to the supplies team that a need for restocking of a particular item is there. In this case, only items that are below the stock limit are ordered. The system is to be implemented in a way that it allows setting of alerts. An event is set in a way that triggers to an alert occurs a case where a certain condition is met or reached. The supplies department is able to provide adequate information to the management concerning the products that are in high demand. In this case, proper management decisions can be made. Types of information systems There are different kinds of information systems that can be used in an organization today. As technology continues to grow, information systems constantly evolve and new areas in technology emerge. These types of information systems, however, are interdependent in their functions and can be co-implemented in order to ensure that there is adequate information management in any organization. The common types of information systems are; Transaction processing Systems (TPS) Decision Processing Systems (DSS) Expert Information Systems (EIS) Management Information Systems (MIS) Office automation System (OAS) a. Transaction processing systems (TPS) A transaction processing system is an information system designed to capture day to day transaction in a business operation. A transaction is any business task that involves day-to-day running of the organizations processes. It involves tasks such as payment, deposit or reservation. In a supermarket setup, point-of-sales is the place where most transaction processing is done. Some of the transaction activities that are done in a super market include payment of a product, triggering an action such as printing a receipt, data management practices like addition, deletion or updating among others. In general, the following are some transactions that are expected to need transaction processing system in a supermarket set up (Lucey 67). Billing systems for customer orders or purchases Monthly payroll calculation and generation system Tax returns calculation system Stock control system. It becomes important in monitoring stock in and stock out at any particular time in an organization. b.  Decision support systems A decision support system is a system that helps a user make informed decision when a need to make one arises. Transaction processing system gathers a lot of data in day to day running of the business. Business manager will need information generated from the data to make informed decisions. Some decision support systems provide presentations in form of spreadsheets, graphics and statistical analysis capabilities (Lucey, 69). Some of them come with the ability to simulate events and view the outcome. In this case a manger is able to simulate different scenarios and make informed decision based on the out come of the scenarios simulated. What-if models are used to analyze the available options and hence determine the probable cause of action in a situation where decision-making is hard or the outcome of a decision is uncertain. Decision support systems will require large amounts of data mostly stored in data warehouses or large databases. The same can be used to compare historical situations with current business situation in order to develop a reliable estimate of the future business orientation based on the alternatives available (Robert 219). c. Expert information systems Expert information systems are intelligent stems that are able to store human knowledge and use the same in logic analysis in order to arrive at a desired decision for a particular situation in a business. Expert systems are mostly used by lower level of employees in the day-to-day running of their activities. It provides the application of superior expertise in a particular task; greater than the expertise of a user utilizing it. d. Management information systems Management information system is a system by all types of users but mostly the management to generate and organize information in a fast and efficient manner so that they can make decisions out of it, solve problems, monitor tasks or track progress of a task or project. These systems are prone to generate reports every time (Lucey 101). Management information system is in most cases integrated with transaction processing systems. The data generated during transactions are important assets for management information systems. Top management understands the need to have this kind of system at their disposal. However, middle level managers need also have it at their disposal as most of the decisions come from this category of people. e. Office automation systems. These are applications that ensure easy and faster task performance in a business network. Include hardware software and other applications. These applications ensure that communication between employees is made efficient. An example of office automation is the word processor. The main purpose is to ensure faster generation of document as opposed to the traditional way of writing on paper. The main objective of office information/automation systems is to increase work productivity amongst employees (Lucey 64). In the supermarket set-up, most of these types of information systems discussed are necessary. Clerks will need transaction processing systems to carry out their work. Office automation tools also become handy to them in production of manual reports or in communication with each other. The middle level management will require the management information system, and decision support systems. Since this level of management make decision regularly, these systems become handy to them in such situations. The upper management will also require the same type of information systems at their disposal. Office automation systems will cut through all the levels of management as well as all departments. These systems are essential in increasing the productivity of the employees by making work easier and much faster. Tools for solving a specific problem The major tools that become handy in solving many information related problems have to be a combination of hardware and software applications. Take the case of receipt-generation in the sales department at the organization, without proper software application and hardware systems then the same will not be realized. Computational power of the computer hardware coupled with the logic generated by software applications is necessary in this case. Printers will be needed for printing of the receipts once a sale is made. These printers should directly be linked to a transaction processing application information system in the computer. When a sale is made, data is entered in to the system and automatically a receipt is printed once a trigger is made by the user. A networked environment is therefore vital for the realization of this. It is to be noted that the same data generated by the transaction processing system need to be used by other information system applications in different departments. The finance department will need the same whereas the supplies department will also find some value in it. A networked environment therefore is essential in the realization of the transfer of data from one point to another. Current information processing methods for a given problem The supermarket supplies department uses the manual process of ordering and stock keeping. A paper order is prepared and delivered manually to the suppliers once a determination is made that a certain item needs restocking. This process is coupled with many problems. The first problem has to do with order preparation. Since the store enjoys supplies from different suppliers, it becomes hard to prepare orders for all of the items needed. The time taken is huge and this leads to a lot of resource wastage. A lot of manpower is also employed in the task and thus profit maximization is not realized. Another problem associated with the current system is the problem of stock levels determination. It is hard for the supplies department to determine the stocks that need replenishing. Manual count is sometimes done in case where proper paper record is not well kept. This gives room for a lot of errors and problems to the department. Since man is to error it is possible that at some point the staff forget to order a particular item. An alternative method can be provided by implementation of information systems, in this area. Integrated information systems allow upkeep of up-to-date data for any item sold or bought. The transaction processing system provides for these kinds of data which can then be analyzed by use of management or decision support systems in order to determine an item to order. These information systems can also be set or have an event created such that once a stock level is reached a trigger triggers a restocking alert to the supplies staff (Robert 77). Decision support systems are used to generate graphical information that will prove useful in the decision-making by the department. The implementations of systems that allow online ordering also make it easier for the department to order items. No wastage of time will be incurred in sending bulky orders to the supplier. With the click of a button, the supplier will be able to receive the order. It ensures promptness. Evaluation of information systems used. The information systems used in the organization are not technologically relevant. It contributes to time wastage, resource wastage and general inefficiencies. Many errors occur frequently and in the case decision making is poorly done. Information management systems will prove effective in the management of the business processes. The fact that it allows tracking of projects coupled with the ability to generate up-to-date reports makes it suitable for the management. Graphical reports and ability to simulate scenarios in decision support systems gives an insight into the alternative available for any decision made. It is therefore in order to say that current information systems in place do not meet the business requirements. However, with introduction of integrated information systems, the problems currently faced will be eliminated. Conclusion Information systems are useful to any business venture. In general, it introduces many advantages. It facilitates planning while reducing work overload. It also encourages decentralization and brings about work coordination which is very important in any business venture. The greatest advantage of all that information systems introduce involves the ability to process, store, retrieve, evaluates and disseminate the information to the target users in a fast, secure and reliable manner. It is therefore recommended that all business tasks be computerized and information systems applied in the process so that mission and objective statements are easily realized. Works cited Lucey, Terence. Management Information Systems. New York. NY: Cengage Learning.2004. Print. Robert, Nickerson. Business and Information Systems. New York. NY: Prenctice Hall. 2001. Print. Read More