Information Systems in Organizations - KPMG Australia - Case Study Example

Information Systems in Organizations Name: Affiliation: Date: Information Systems in Organizations E-business and cloud computing E-business innovations refer to the digital transformations of businesses that ultimately results in various profound effects upon existing business practices. E-business is a profound innovation that modern businesses cannot avoid because of the lucrative benefits it brings to the organizations (Buyya, Yeo, & Venugopal, 2008, p.11). It relies heavily on technology and evolves in accordance with technological advancements because it automates and digitizes the business processes hence leading to improved efficiencies and competitiveness. Among the most competitive abilities, that e-business facilitates, involves escalated market share and eventually raising the revenue and expansion of the business. When market share increases, it raises the revenue- creating an avenue for business expansion. These steps are important for every business that seeks to expand grow (Buyya et al, 2009, p.561). Examples of the e-business platforms include business –to-business, consumer-to- business, government-to-government, and government-to- business and finally government-to- consumer (Brynjolfsson, & Hitt, 2003, p.799). Advancements of technology applicable in e-business culminate in new issues within the organization and in dealing with various business partners and customers. The business eventually requires laws and regulations that ensure that it has the right mode of operation. The act of conducting business electronically involves significant changes from the traditional approach hence leading to large-scale transformations of the existing business. In attempt to attain business efficiencies from the e-business, it is paramount that organizations should manage the e-business effectively and the associated changes that will create a conducive and effective business environment (Chaffey, 2007, p.67).In some organizations, E-business have been successful while some it has not been successful. The mode of approach and attitude is the main determiner of the case. When managers and other people in leadership fail to see e-business as a way of improving the business, they leave the platform to the business technicians, and they ultimately produce undesirable results. Being an accounting firm (KPMG Australia), it is crucial to understand and appreciate that internet is a disruptive technology. Understanding the salient e-business strategic issues plays a crucial role in spearheading the success of the firm. The Changes taking place currently in the accounting arena suggests that the new economy will employ significant different approaches from those that are in use currently. The firms must understand that organizational changes, and must reposition themselves to organizational hierarchies where it is possible to produce critical information for implementation and formulation of the e-business. With upcoming fashionable e-business models, accounting firms must sharpen the skills to ensure that reactivate political skills in attempt to adopt greater understanding of the business issues. Accounting firms (KPMG Australia) must embrace technological changes in the world of business and through that; it will be possible to take advantage of the e-business models for the improvement of the business. For instance, strategic accounting is a crucial strategy that assists accounting firms to reposition themselves in an appropriate business environment (Amit, & Zott, 2001, p.513). Accounting firms have close links with various categories of E-business models. For instance, business to consumer model is a critical platform that accounting firms must employ to ensure that the business flows effectively. The consumers are the predestined target for any business that is operation. It must produce goods and consumers will buy the products. In the same breath, upon introduction of e-business, the media focused on business to consumer model because it is the crucial model in any business. The accounting firms in these models must streamline payments and deposits to ensure that reconciliation of payments is up to date. For instance, there are customers who buy goods and services online, the accountant must ensure that payment method will provide detailed information for the purpose of accountability, efficiency, and credibility. Business to business is another platform that explains why marketplace should continue growing steadily. (Amit, & Zott, 2001, p.515) defines the business to the business model as transactions carried out over private or public networks that involve the use of the internet as a way of delivering various goods. Some of the transactions include financial transfers, auctions, online exchanges, supply chain activities and other integrated business networks. Accounting skills are crucial especially when operating the above-mentioned activities and, therefore, this e-business model depend on accounting firms heavily. Business to consumer model normally applies to any business that can sell services or products to consumers through developed platforms over the internet. For instance, (KPMG Australia has been in the business of providing accounting, taxation ,valuation and auctioning services to the customers all over the world. The e-business has created a new way through which the company can reach the consumer (clients) effectively. The management of KPMG Australia affirms that they have invested heavily on websites creating interfaces that will allow customers reach them effectively. Through the platform, customers make enquiries, place orders and pay after completion of the tasks (Buyya, Yeo, & Venugopal, 2008, p.11). This indicates that e-business has created lucrative business opportunities that will increase profit margins of accounting firms and related corporations. Moreover, KPMG Australia has launched partnership programs for growing auto dealers through established websites and cash-back programs that offer approximately twenty percent of the total revenues received for the referrals. The KPMG Australia affirmed that they would continue to look for more ways through which they will add value to the business using e-business platform and at the same time create customer satisfaction. The case of KPMG Australia is a fantastic case and if other business can adopt a similar approach, they will heavily increase the revenue through additional client turnover. For instance, developing websites and connection sites will give the business a platform to engage and reach potential customers hence increasing the market threshold by the end of the day. The platforms for the business –consumer model include social media, websites, and blogs. These platforms will increase the profit and returns of the business by the end of the day (Chaffey, 2007, p.78). Organizations can use e-business platform to work with suppliers though there are potential risks related to the approach. For example, KPMG Australia is a multinational audit company offering auditing services to people and companies. It acquires customers through website platforms and transactions facilitated through the same platform. The website is a complete unit of communication where the customer will make a deposit to the suppliers, and the KPMG Australia officials will provide excellent services and send the results to the clients. This has happened in many auditing companies such as MGI Australian association and has proved efficient in the end. However, if services offered turn out to be faulty, the customer faces loss, and compensation becomes a complex method that involves the use of legal documentation and representation. Therefore, this poses as one of the problems associated with e-business for audit firms and consumers (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2003, p.804). As posited above, business to consumer, e-business models calls for greater caution because it involves customers buying services from the manufacturers through e-platform. Some customers may be unscrupulous and may alter payments hence contributing to the failure of the business. Similarly, some untrustworthy audit firms may provide shoddy jobs to customers hence leading such customers to experience loss by the end of the day. Therefore, the two parties must exercise caution when carrying out the transactions (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2003, p.804). Business intelligence and decision-making Business intelligence refers to the process of data analysis aimed at boosting the performance of a business through helping the corporate executives and other relevant end users to help them make informed decisions. Business intelligence is a process that relies on technology for the process of analyzing data and presenting the actionable information to assist the corporate executives, and other relevant leaders to make sound and informed decisions. Business intelligence involves the application of various tools, methodologies and tools that facilitate the collection of data from the internal systems and the external sources. The data then proceeds to analysis to develop queries against data that creates reports using the dashboards (Watson & Wixom, 2007, p.97). The dashboards facilitate visualizations of the analytical results making them readily available to the decision makers of the corporate as well as operational workers. Potential benefits of using business intelligence include accelerated and improved decision-making that optimizes internal business processes. It also increases operational efficiency by driving new revenues as well as gaining competitive advantages over the other business rivals. Under normal circumstances, business systems help companies in identifying the market trends and pinpoint the problems that require an immediate address. The business intelligence can involve historical information and new data gathered from specific source systems. It enables Business Intelligence analysis to facilitate strategic and tactical processes of decision-making. Initially, the business intelligence tools used some data analysts and various It professional who facilitated analysis and producing reports with given query results for specific business users (Watson & Wixom, 2007, p.99). Business executives in auditing firms and various workers who use the business intelligence have affirmed success and manageable information in the process of decision-making. Business intelligence is a conglomeration of data analysis applications that includes hoc analysis, enterprise reporting, querying, and enterprise reporting and online analytical processing. Real-time business intelligence, mobile business intelligence, and operational business intelligence are some of the best forms of business intelligence that has made the field practical and possible. Moreover, the business intelligence technology involves the use of data visualization software that designs charts and other relevant info-graphics and tools used in building dashboards (Negash, 2004, p.78). Business intelligence works in various levels that include; strategic, tactical and operational level. Strategic business intelligence focuses on achieving long-term objectives and strategic goals that include increasing profit, cutting down the costs, new market shares and finally improving the customer relationships. The data helps the top management and some financial analysts interested in the analysis of the performance of companies in various areas with a vital role in reaching the above-mentioned objectives. The analysis takes place on data that has a temporal window of various months or years of historical data (Turban, et al, 2007, p.67). The tactical business intelligence focuses on reaching the stipulated tactical objectives defined for the strategic goals. Publicity and marketing upon releasing a new product on the market, new programs based on promotion are among the data that will involve the tactical business intelligence. Tactical business intelligence is applicable in the top most management especially in financial analysts in the line of business managers. It’s paramount to note that tactical business intelligence deals with now and here. It provides insight to decision makers with necessary information to monitor the changes in company’s current operating environment. It also helps them to discover new opportunities for the business. Under normal circumstances, tactical intelligence deals with real time through analyzing the current competitive conditions in a particular market place industry. Instead of planning, tactical intelligence normally addresses action steps that must take an initiative to achieve strategic objectives and goals that have quality results such as money, time and people. An organization’s tactical planning facilitates in making efficient use of resources for achieving the objectives and handling any challenges and risks associated to strategic plans(Sharda, Aronson & King,2008p.98).Strategic business intelligence has a focus on time orientation related to any business environment. Strategic intelligence has futuristic orientation and allows the company to make educated and informed decisions regarding the future conditions of a given market place in the industry. Strategic intelligence gives KPMG Australia an opportunity to make informed decisions concerning the future of the company. Strategic intelligence helps the company to predict and recognize the emerging trends in a particular industry and consequently predicting the potential problems affecting the current operating environment (Sharda, Aronson & King, 2008p.100). KPMG Australia and other corporations have inundations of data from the internal operational systems, suppliers and customers, vendors and other relevant sources such as industry sales and credit bureaus. The problem of understanding the direction of the company does not depend on the amount of data but the quality of that data. However, the main problem lies in the state of the data in such a way that it is not easy to break it into meaningful units. The impact of operational business intelligence is the most effective and must get to the operational systems to yield an ideal and right decision-making environment. The requirement faces difficulties if the operational environment is not ready to exist with new forms of business intelligence. There are several reasons attributed to incompatibility and technology proves to suffice all .The main goal of operational business intelligence is to manage and facilitate optimization of business operations (Golfarelli,Rizzi & Cella, 2004,p.90). As posited above, strategic business intelligence data facilitates the business to make informed and educated decisions concerning the future of business in the market or industry. The manager can make sound future predictions of the business through the application of the data retrieved. The company can make future predictions through considering the emerging trends and patterns in that particular industry and predict potential problems that may arise (Negash, 2004, p.77). Operational business intelligence helps the company to make tactical and meaningful decisions. It is helpful in making the tactical actions appear like timeless business decisions, accurate business decisions, operational efficiencies improvements and overall presenting accurate decisions. These events ultimately facilitate effective management. Secondly, it may improve real-time performance through real time or near time information on the key factors such as customer satisfaction, product marketing, and customer retentions (Watson, & Wixom, 2007, p.76). Tactical business intelligence helps organizations to market products effectively. Marketing of products must take the best approach to ensure that the business takes the right turn. Tactical business intelligence will make sure that the business ((KPMG Australia) takes the right turn and ultimately making the desired profit. Moreover, through tactical business intelligence, it is possible to come up with proactive measures to overcome the competition that is a menace to business today. The approach will help KPMG Australia to formulate strategies that will counter competition by the end of the day (Negash, 2004, p.56). Strategic business intelligence is a key tool in making decisions that will affect the future of a business. It uses the collected data, analysis and results pursuant of making decisions based on that data. The decision-making takes place in the hands of high-profile manager and directors who shape the direction of the company. Operational business intelligence will guide the managers to make accurate and viable decisions based on the trend of operations of accounting. Finally, the tactical business intelligence facilitates the manager to value data and make an appropriate decision that will favor marketing of the company’s goods and services (Sharda,Aronson, & King, 2008). Enterprise computing (ERP, SCM, CRM) Enterprise computing refers to a computer hardware environment typically used in anchoring government and corporate information technology center for data infrastructure. The enterprise computers solve problems that exhibit high complexity. It exhibits high reliability; high performance and ultra security are paramount in addressing the volatility transaction volumes. Enterprise computing is a world of computing and management of data in large industries and businesses and that is what KPMG Australia has specialized to do. Computing takes place in audit firms and plays a crucial role in the daily operations in most of the world’s largest corporations such as the Fortune 1000 companies in the world. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is software used in the business management process that allows audit firms especially KPMG Australia to apply the system of the integrated applications in managing businesses and automating various back office functions (Golfarelli, Rizzi,& Cella, 2004,p.5). The ERP software normally integrates facets of the operation including product planning, manufacturing, development, and marketing.ERP is an enterprise applicable to huge businesses and requires dedicated teams to customize as well as analyzing the data that handles upgrades and deployment.SCM (Supply Chain Management) refers to the flow of goods and services from the manufacturer to the consumer. It involves the movement as well as storage of raw materials, the processing inventories as well as finished goods from the point of origin to the consumption point. In addition, CRM refers to the customer relationship management for the company interactions with future and current customers. It involves applying technology in organizing, synchronizing, automating, sales, customer service, marketing and the technical support (Hendricks, Singhal, & Stratman, 2007, p.79). Enterprise resource planning refers to business management software typically suited for integrated applications that companies can use when collecting data, managing, storing and interpreting data from various business activities and especially accounting. Enterprise resource planning provides an intricately integrated view of the common core process of the business normally in real time when using the common database management system.ERP can track the resources of the business resources in terms of raw materials, cash and the production capacity. It also indicates the status of business commitments that includes the purchase orders, orders, and payroll. The applications that constitute the system normally share data across the crucial departments, which include, purchasing, sales, manufacturing and accounting as the prime department.ERP creates a platform for information flow between business functions as well as managing connections with outside stakeholders. The enterprise system is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it produces main components that support various businesses (Hendricks, Singhal, & Stratman, 2007, p.79). The investments in IT have become the most productive and capital expenditure in the businesses all Australia and the world at large, over the past decade. Early ERP focused more on large audit firms and related enterprises but today it has expanded to touch the smaller enterprises.ERP is a vital tool in an organization because it normally integrates various organizational systems as well as facilities that are free from error.ERP normally runs on computer hardware and network configurations using database and information repositories. It is worth noting that ERP covers substantial tasks in financial accounting, fixed asset, general ledger and payables including matching, vouchering and payment of receivables. It also incorporates cash management, consolidation of finances, management accounting, cost management and management accounting. These are crucial task that auditing firms like KPMG Australia have specialized to do hence becoming an important tool for auditing firms and more specially KPMG Australia (Møller, 2005, p.489). Enterprise resource planning is the best computing application that will improve the accounting profession because of profound details and knowledge in crucial accounting fields. For management, accounting is a crucial section of accounting that determines the success of the organization. Moreover, financial accounting details and basics have a space in the system making it an ideal source of accounting knowledge. For example through effective financial accounting and management accounting, it is possible for organizations to know the actual profits and expenditures hence streamline activities as per accounting guidelines. Through the approach, the company may seek to lower the cost of goods or services, and this will prompt similar clients to buy more goods (Cheng, 2009 .p3). Auditing firms makes the situation possible through formulating principles that ascertain profit margins and determine the cost that can create profit and allow consumers to buy more services hence increasing profits. Accounting information made available by ERP will give clear information related to profit and ways to increase the profit. Market and product promotion has been an instrumental tool in increasing customers because through marketing new customers will access the product. KPMG Australia gives a budget that will allow advertisement to take place and at the same time creating an opportunity for the business to make a profit (Da Xu, 2011, p.635). Technology is a paramount tool in creating customer support. For instance, creating website platform for clients to lodge complaints and commendations are a good platform that will support clients. Similarly, there are social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace among others can help in customer support because it is possible to create desirable and convenient customers support. In addition, advanced technology has helped in creating hotline numbers that are accessible in all the parts of the world. Therefore, no matter the location of the customer, it is possible to lodge a complaint and ultimately get valid assistance (O'brien, & Marakas, 2005, p.67). Summary E-business innovations refer to the digital transformations of businesses that ultimately results in profound effects on existing business practices. E-business is a fundamental innovation that modern businesses cannot avoid because of the lucrative benefits it brings to the organizations that culminate in high productivity. Some of the e-business platforms include business –to-business, consumer-to- business, government-to-government, and government-to- business and finally government-to-consumer. These platforms make transactions possible hence streamlining the business. Auditing firms have close links with various categories of E-business models. For instance, business to consumer model is a critical platform that accountants must employ to ensure that the business flows effectively. Organizations can use e-business platform to work with suppliers though there are potential risks related to the approach. For example, KPMG Australia is a multinational company dealing with auditing services in all over the world. The transactions take place online and if services turn out to be faulty, the customer face loss and compensation become a complex method that involves the use of legal documentation and representation. Business intelligence refers to the process of data analysis aimed at boosting the performance of a business through helping the corporate executives and other relevant end users to help them make informed decisions. It relies on technology for the process of analyzing data and presenting the actionable information to assist the corporate executives, and other relevant leaders to make sound and informed decisions. Some of the Potential benefits of using business intelligence include accelerated and improved decision-making that optimizes internal business processes. It also increases operational efficiency by driving new revenues as well as gaining competitive advantages over the other business rivals. Business intelligence works in various levels that include; strategic, tactical and operational level. Strategic business intelligence focuses on achieving long-term objectives and strategic goals that include increasing profit, cutting down the costs, new market shares and finally improving the customer relationships while tactical business intelligence focuses on reaching the stipulated tactical objectives defined for the strategic goals. In addition, Operational business intelligence helps the company to make tactical and meaningful decisions through helpful business decisions. Enterprise computing refers to a computer hardware environment typically used in anchoring government and corporate information technology center for data infrastructure. The enterprise computers solve problems that exhibit high complexity hence making it an instrumental source business expertise in the field of accounting. Enterprise resource planning is the best computing application that will improve the accounting profession because of profound details and knowledge in crucial accounting fields. Application of this knowledge will eventually increase the productivity of the company. References Amit, R., & Zott, C. 2001. Value creation in e‐business. Strategic management journal, 22(6‐7), 493-520. Brynjolfsson, E., & Hitt, L. M. 2003. Computing productivity: Firm-level evidence. Review of economics and statistics, 85(4), 793-808. Buyya, R., Yeo, C. S., & Venugopal, S. 2008. Market-oriented cloud computing: Vision, hype, and reality for delivering it services as computing utilities. In High Performance Computing and Communications, 2008. HPCC'08. 10th IEEE International Conference on (pp. 5-13). Ieee. Buyya, R., Yeo, C. S., Venugopal, S., Broberg, J., & Brandic, I. 2009. Cloud computing and emerging IT platforms: Vision, hype, and reality for delivering computing as the 5th utility. Future Generation computer systems, 25(6), 599-616. Chaffey, D. 2007. E-business and E-commerce Management: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. Pearson Education. Cheng, H. 2009. An integration framework of erm, scm, crm. InManagement and Service Science, 2009. MASS'09. International Conference on(pp. 1-4). IEEE. Da Xu, L. 2011. Enterprise systems: state-of-the-art and future trends.Industrial Informatics, IEEE Transactions on, 7(4), 630-640. Golfarelli, M., Rizzi, S., & Cella, I. 2004. Beyond data warehousing: what's next in business intelligence?. In Proceedings of the 7th ACM international workshop on Data warehousing and OLAP (pp. 1-6). ACM. Hendricks, K. B., Singhal, V. R., & Stratman, J. K. 2007. The impact of enterprise systems on corporate performance: A study of ERP, SCM, and CRM system implementations. Journal of Operations Management, 25(1), 65-82. Møller, C. 2005. ERP II: a conceptual framework for next-generation enterprise systems?. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 18(4), 483-497. Negash, S. (2004). Business intelligence. The Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 13(1), 54. O'brien, J. A., & Marakas, G. 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