Business Information System of Equip Hire - Case Study Example

Business Information System Name Date Course Word count: 1992 Introduction Methods of operations used in a business entity determine its success. The methods of operations outline how the business carries out its transactions as well as the relationship with the customers. It also determines the rate at which the business is able to carry out its activities and hence its ability to fulfill its goals and objectives. Serving the customers is dependent on the methods of operations used in the business. Information technology concept is a crucial factor that has been adopted in the operations of the most businesses. The methods of carrying out transactions are usually simplified through the use of business information systems (Weske, 2010). This ensures that the internal business processes are enhanced leading to the efficiency of a company. However, before embracing the business information system, it is important for the key information to be obtained in relation to the operations of the company. The business information system also has some requirements which have to be fulfilled before the system is fully operational. The paper explicitly discusses the concepts of business information systems in relation to a business that hires equipment. Description of the Business The business name is Equip Hire and it operates in Australia where it has several branches. The company has about seventy eight employees with some being permanent while others are temporary. The company deals with the hire of equipment to commercial companies. The equipment being hired by the company is mainly the engineering and construction equipment. This also involves heavy machinery used in the construction industry. The company uses a software for the purposes of managing the sales and hiring operations. The company uses the HireIT system for its operations. However, this software is old and cannot perform some of the current technological practices. The use of the system is also ineffective to the company as it that utile the online sales and marketing process. On the other hand, the company also uses the manual procedures for the purposes of entering data. QuickBooks are used for the purposes of running the accounts of the company. On the other, manual receipt books are used for the purposes of receiving the deliveries. On the other hand the data collected is usually entered manually in the system. The computation of the data is also done through the use of computers and laptops. The spreadsheets are usually used by the company for the purposes of costing. The company is also facing difficulties in terms of managing the inventory as well as the accuracy of the demand for its equipment. The decision making process is usually based on the manual transactions used by the company. On the other hand, the clients cannot hire or make payments online which has a negative impact on the business. Key information required to successfully run the business The key information that is required for a business is for the purposes of adding value as well as increasing the potential of the business (Hinton, 2012). This is also considering that the business is facing challenges due to the information system that it has put in place. The business has to obtain information regarding the technological concepts as well as the methods of operations. This includes the performance of the current system being used for the purposes of carrying out various business transactions. The concepts of the internet and business information systems in use are also required by the business. Information on transactions processing system is required as one of the concepts of business information system. Since the company already has some of the hardware it also has to provide all the details concerning their operations. The sales and customer relationship manager is also an important aspect for a company in terms satisfying the needs of the customers. In order to fully address the customer issues, the company will require the automation of services, use of the modern technology as well as technical support. The automation of services will play an important role in terms of tracking and monitoring the customer requirements as well as the sales requirements. Tracking the information regarding the customers enables proper decision making process to be achieved by the managers. The inventory of the company is experiencing problems and hence affecting the operations of the company. The company will require the information of all its equipment in the yard as well as the information regarding the equipment that has bee hired out. This will determine the availability of the equipment for the next hire. On the other hand, the record of equipment that is undergoing maintenance as well as the equipment that have been damaged will be required by the company. Planning and scheduling is also an important aspect of the business. This will determine the activities that have to be carried out. The planning process will require the details of all the equipment that has been hired and those that have not been hired. The plans should also outline the details of how long the equipment will be hired out to the clients. This will also involve the scheduling preparing a timetable or a master plan concerning the period that the equipment has been hired to the clients. The accounting information is important for the company as it contains the financial details that can be used to analyze the profits and losses within the company. This will require all the details of the financial transactions of the company. The records of the expenditure of the company are also requires as they are also key information of the company. The information regarding the decision and support management system is also important during the operation of the company. The information required mainly concerns the methods and models that are required for the purposes of decision making process. The key information also involves the technological concepts that are useful in terms of decision making. The information obtained is important for the purposes of ensuring the success of the company when the business information system is put in place (Baumgrass, 2012). Business information systems In order to ensure the success of the company, various information systems must be put in place in order to ensure that the activities are carried out in an efficient manner. This requires the company to purchase some of the modern equipment that will support the business information systems. The internet connectivity will be required and hence the company has to put in place an internet infrastructure. Hardware is also required for the purposes of running the business information system software. It is thus important for the company to ensure that it purchases the computers that have the ability to support the business information system. The versions of the windows may also require updating for the purposes of supporting the business information system. Experts will also be required for the purposes of training the employees on how to use the software to streamline the business processes. This is because the use of some of the software requires some level of expertise (Chaffey, 2010). The software can then be purchased from different vendors for the purposes of meeting the demands of the company. The type of software is usually dependant on the activities that the company intends to perform. This means that the requirements have to be described in details so as to ensure that the software performs the required duty. Recommended Business Information Systems The transaction processing system is required by the company for the purposes of ensuring that all the transactions are carried out automatically and hence eliminating the manual processes. This information system ensures that different tasks required by the company are performed automatically without the manual intervention (Laudon, 2012). The real time processing of transactions will also be achieved by the company and hence improving the accuracy of the data. The transaction processing system will also enable multiple users to carry out transactions at the same time and hence improving the speed of operations. This will increase the integrity of the data and also improve the performance of the company in terms of handling the data. It is also evident from the case study that the company has problems in terms of decision making. The use of decision support system is important in terms of decision making process. This software is a business information system that supports the decision making process of a business. This is considering the complexity that may be involved during the decision making process. On the other hand, this business information system can be used for the purposes of planning and scheduling of activities which is also an important requirement for the success of the business. The compilation of different business information is usually done and hence the ability to support the decision making process. The decision support system also gathers information from different departments of the company and hence facilitating the decision making process. The data collected is usually accurate and hence promoting accurate decisions that support the improvement of the business processes (Melville, 2010). The sales and customer relations management is an important concept for the business. This is because it determines the ability of the company to attract and retain the customers. The use of the social media is important technological concept that can be used for the purposes of managing the customer relations as well as the sales of the company (Guo, 2010). The social media can be used for the purposes of obtaining feedback from the customers as well as answering the issues raised by the customers. The advertisement of the products and services of the company can also be done through the use of the social media. The inventory problems of the company can also be solved through the use of the inventory management software. This software is an important business information system that has the ability of tracking the orders as well as fully managing the inventory (Cegielski, 2010). This will ensure that the company is able to respond easily to the orders without involving the third party. On the other hand, the use of this system will ensure that the process of responding to the demands of the customers is enhanced. The accounting information system is also important in terms of managing the accounting aspects of the business. This will play an important role in terms of improving the accuracy of the accounting data. The accounting information system ensures that the process of financial reporting as well as decision making is enhanced. The accuracy of the accounting process is enhanced and thus ensuring that the business is able to counter losses in advance through proper decision making process. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the success of an organization is dependant on the management practices bring put in place. The business is also supposed to understand its requirements for success before putting in place measures to implements it. It is also evident that the use of business information system is important in terms of improving the performance of the company. This is because the business information system automates the operations and hence simplifying the task to be performed. The accuracy of the operations is also enhanced through the use of the business information systems. Various business information systems are also available for the purposes of enhancing the performance of the business. The systems are beneficial for Equip hire as it solves most of the operations problems being faced by the company. The combination of the information systems is also important for the purposes of addressing every area of operation of the company. The accounting information system, inventory management software, decision support and management system, transaction processing system as well as the social media are some of the important aspects of the new technology that are required for the success of the company. However, it is also evident that the business information system has its own requirements before it becomes operational. The use of the business information system is thus beneficial for the operations of a company. List of References Chaffey, D, 2010, Business information management: Improving performance using information systems, UK: Pearson Education. Baumgrass, A. (2012). An approach for consistent delegation in process-aware information systems. In Business Information Systems (pp. 60-71). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Hinton, M. (2012). Introducing information management. Routledge. Weske, M. (2012). Business process management: concepts, languages, architectures. Springer. Laudon, K. (2012). Management information systems: managing the digital firm (Vol. 12). Pearson. Melville, N. (2010). Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability. MIS Quarterly, 34(1), 1-21. Cegielski, C. (2010). Introduction to information systems: Enabling and transforming business. Wiley. com. Guo, J. (2010). Business information query expansion through semantic network. Enterprise Information Systems, 4(1), 1-22. Read More