The Information Systems Used in Smoothie King - Case Study Example

Task Smoothie King Case Study According to Trcek (2006), e-mail security is an important part of any transaction that takes place online. At the current age of technological advancement, it is common to find companies losing a lot of financial and private information when sending e-mails. One of the ways through which data is lost when sending e-mails is when sending important documents. It is common practice to attach important documents to e-mail when sending them, which poses a security risk in itself. There are a ways in which a company can ensure that the documents sent are safe, and reach the intended recipients without tampering or loss of private information. According to Tracy, Jansen, Scarfone and Butterfield (2007), one of the ways of protecting important documents is using company e-mail lists to attach these documents. Company e-mail addresses usually have a higher level of security than common, free e-mail services; therefore, a company should acquire a private company e-mail server. This ensures that the servers used before the recipient accesses the e-mail remain uncompromised. One concept that many people usually fail to understand is the fact that e-mail is not sent like regular mail, where the sender and recipient seal and open the envelope. Contrary to regular mail, e-mail is usually sent as open text, and any individual who mistakenly or intentionally receives the e-mail can read the contents (Tracy, Jansen, Scarfone and Butterfield, 2007). Therefore, it is advisable to attach documents to the mail, and as an added precaution, add a security feature to the attached files. The security feature, like passwords and access codes, can then be sent as a separate e-mail or though a different way. This ensures that, in case the wrong person intercepts the e-mail, the chance of compromising the information is lessened. The size of the documents being sent as part of normal working procedure is usually big and cumbersome, and the process of attaching and sending them might be tedious. In this case, it is usually advisable to upload the file to certified file sharing websites and sharing the link with the intended recipient of the e-mail (Tracy, Jansen, Scarfone and Butterfield, 2007). This serves two purposes; first, it eliminates the tedious nature of attaching and sending the e-mail, and reduces the security risk of sending the e-mail. Most hosts of uploaded information require passwords and security clearance, therefore, the chances of unintended access is reduced. After an analysis of the Smoothie King case study, it is evident that all the steps needed for the establishment of a franchising operation are included. This is because the essential steps in the process; identifying the potential franchisee, proof of qualification, business agreement, and conclusion of the franchising decision are included. However, I would suggest that an extra step be added to the whole process. In my opinion, qualification on paper is not enough to prove that a potential franchisee has the potential to start a business. Even though a potential franchisee might have all the necessary financial ability and qualification to be able to run a franchising operation, the best quality is having business ability. Some individuals might have the necessary resources to run a business but lack the fundamental ability to run the said business. This means that the process of running a franchising operation requires an individual to have a certain mind set; therefore, it is essential that the franchiser test the potential franchisee. This can be achieved by having a short time where the individual or company is given the opportunity to run a mock franchise to test their ability. The steps listed above also lack an important part; the review of operations after the franchising deal is approved. Normally, a franchiser would want to retain their particular brand in the market, meaning that one franchisee can spoil an existing reputation. Customers would not understand that a franchisee is not part of the original brand of business; therefore, any mistakes committed by the franchisee would spoil the reputation of the whole franchise. This means that an extra step should be added to the franchising deal, the step where the franchiser reviews the performance of the franchise and decides whether operations are up to current standards. The information systems used in the Smoothie King case study are important since they simplify the franchising process and ease problems faced by both the franchiser and franchisee. The first important information systems used are the web pages on the company’s website, which are essential to the parties involved. The main use of the web pages on the company’s web page is the conveyance of information (Laudon and Laudon, 2003), which is important to the potential franchisee. The potential franchisee can access the information on the franchiser using the company website, and from there, be able to apply for the consideration as a franchisee. This is important to both the franchiser and franchisee since is eases the process of setting up appointments and advertising the opportunity for the franchise deal. The second important information system is the use of e-mail, which is probably the most important part of the franchising information system. The use of the e-mail in the franchising process is communication; where the parties to the process send and receive correspondence. The purpose of e-mail communication is to ease the communication process since it is easier and cheaper than most other modes of communication (Laudon and Laudon, 2003). The importance of e-mail to the franchiser is evident since the correspondence is cheap and effective. The franchisee also considers e-mail effective since the process of sending regular mail is less secure and takes longer than e-mail. The last information systems that are of major importance to the franchisee are the presentation programs used in the interviews and orientation steps. Presentation programs are very important since they give a potential franchisee the opportunity to show that they have the qualification and ability to run the franchise operation. The presentation programs are used to present qualifications that are not present in qualification documents, roadmaps for success, and the general strategic plans for the franchise program. The franchisee presents their proposal to a panel of interviewers using a presentation program, and the panel considers the ability of the potential franchisee by reviewing the quality of the presentation in the interview or orientation. References Laudon, K., and Laudon, J. (2003). Management Information Systems. New York: Prentice Hall. Tracy, M., and Jansen, W., and Scarfone, K., and Butterfield, J. (2007). Guidelines on Electronic Mail Security. Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Publication 800-45 Version 2. Trcek, D. (2006). Managing Information Systems Security and Privacy. New York: Springer. Read More