Cross-Functional Integrated Enterprise Systems in the Business Use - Research Paper Example

1a) There is a strong trend toward cross-functional integrated enterprise systems in the business use of Information Technology as a result of the fact that different jobs need different information so different people in an organisation need different types of information. The cross functional integrated enterprise systems in the business use of IT mainly serves the purpose of showing that business is comprised of interrelated components which through combined efforts are aimed at achieving the same goal. It is a bit difficult to achieve cross functional team approach without the IT that supports the horizontal flow of information. This means that there ought to be coordination between different systems in an organisation whereby they are designed towards the attainment of the organisational goals set. b) Information systems are the means by which people and organisations, utilising technologies, gather, process, store, use and disseminate information (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins 2000). Indeed, business use of Internet, Intranets and Extranets has changed what businesspeople expect from Information Systems in their jobs. Basically, information processing has been made much easier through the use of internet, intranets as well as extranets. These make the link between different people more close and convenient for any business. If carefully implemented, the benefits of information systems are tremendous and overwhelming. Some of the benefits include the following: operating using networked computers is efficient, information can be processed at higher speed and paperwork is reduced and there would be likely chances of customer satisfaction since efficiency would be increased. 2. The phenomenal growth of the new information and communication technology particularly the internet has revolutionized the ways people conduct business during the contemporary period and businesses should engage in electronic commerce on the internet. E-commerce is primarily concerned with exchange of electronic information between parties normally followed by the exchange of goods and payment transactions. Essentially, the role of business is to serve its customers profitably and perfect service is only possible if a business has the right information in the hands of the right people at the right time of which this can only be attainable through the appropriate use of information technology. Thus, the internet plays a big role here. The internet is basically a network of networked computers all over the world (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins 2000). Indeed, the advent of the internet brought about dramatic changes in the processing and dissemination of information. On the internet, you can find almost any information you want by simply typing the subject which accessed from the internet through the use of specialist search engines such as Google. The internet immensely contributes to the way an organisation collects, stores and processes information. It can also be seen that consumers now have the ability to make evaluations on their preferred choice of goods and products owing to the improvements in communication technology which makes it imperative for the business today to engage in electronic commerce. Through specially designed website, it is possible for the organisation to gather the views of the customers about their products directly and it is also possible for marketers in the organisation to engage in dialogue directly with the customers since the website is developed in such a way that it is possible to get feedback from both ends since it is a two way communication channel. The employers are also constantly in touch with their suppliers which makes them effective in their operations. The internet makes communication relatively easy and can reach a wide range of people located in diverse geographical areas. Electronic communication via the use of the internet is very fast and effective. It is convenient, lots of information can easily be accessible without much hassles. It does not limit advertising space and can reach multitudes of people at the same time. It allows marketers to communicate with both new and existing markets in an integrated way that is beneficial to both the customers and the marketers. The internet can play a cost effective role in the communication mix where direct selling can be made possible through engaging dialogue between the marketers and customers. In most cases, the websites of different organisations are designed in such a way that it is easy to get any information about a product or about the organisation itself without many hassles. Information processing in the information society we are currently living is ideal for any business and it can be noted that the internet has greatly contributed to the success of businesses. Information dissemination is pivotal in the environment which is competitive and it allows the marketers to review the information they post on the official website. The internet facilitates online shopping where the buyer does not need to go to the shop physically to obtain any product of choice. With online shopping, the customers can purchase various products using credit cards or other online transactions regardless of the geographical location they are. With the use of the internet, the organisation is better positioned to keep pace with the other competitors given that it is able to scan the environment and come up with strategies that are meant to counter the challenges that can be offered by the other competitors. The internet has made possible for the organisation to gather information about the other competitors. 3. a) The form and use of information and decision support systems for managers and business professionals is changing and expanding. Many companies are handing over part of the problem to an AI system then use the results from that system as part of their decision making. A combination of Decision Support System (DSS) with expert systems stands high chances of giving better results. Expert systems used in conjunction with usual DSS components solve an aspect of a problem or provide information to the other DSS components, the reason why it can be seen that the form of use of the information decision support systems for managers is changing. A good example can be drawn from the case of Household Finance Corp (HFC) which uses an intelligent DSS to expedite home mortgage loans. HFC has an expert system that performs real estate in a couple of hours a task that used to take 18 days (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins 2000). It can be noted from this example that DSS is a useful tool in business which improves its efficiency. b) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science of making the machines imitate human thinking and behaviour. Various applications have the most potential value for use in the operations and management of a business. For instance, robots are well known form of AI. Basically, a robot is a mechanical device equipped with simulated human senses and the capability of taking actions on its own. This has potential value for the organisation in that the robot can be very productive to the industry as a whole without direct involvement of human beings. In other words, it complements the labour requirements of the organisation. Robots can be used in the automobile industry or any other related industry and they immensely contribute to the productivity of the organisation. Research has shown that about 70 % of the top 500 companies in the US use artificial intelligence as part of the decision support and the sale of the artificial intelligence software is rapidly approaching the $1 billion mark (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins 2000). People are valuable in business because they perform important business tasks and many of these tasks require expertise. However, people are bound to quit any time and AI can provide the organisation with expert system that captures the expertise thus making it available to those who are not experts so that they can use it to solve a problem or to learn to solve a problem. 4. Developing a system from scratch for the university library which is transforming its operations from manual filing to computerised system is a good example where the system development life cycle (SDLC) can be used to illustrate the different steps involved. In this case, computerising the operations of the library is a process which ought to pass through different stages of the SDLC which is a step by step approach to developing systems in an organisation. Using the SDLC, the university library will follow six steps. The first stage is to establish an IT plan to meet the strategic plans of the organisation (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins 2000). Planning is the first step and it helps to develop guidelines for technology use throughout the whole library. Emphasis will be put on cataloguing and filing of reading material. Scoping defines the scope of the proposed system and it lays the foundation for the systems development process of a specific system. This system will be specifically focused on solving a problem whereby efficiency will be improved in as far as issuing reading material is concerned. The scoping stage is concerned with identifying the problem as well as conducting feasibility studies to establish if the task will be manageable. Third step is analysis whereby the organisation determines the logical requirements for the proposed system. This involves the information needed and how to store that information in the form of file or database. In this case, the IT specialists will be concerned about servers that will store the data. Design is the fourth step concerned with converting the logical requirements into a technical system design. The goal of this step is to build a technical blueprint of how the proposed system will work. The recommendations of the IT specialists will address hardware, software, telecommunications, information, people as well as user interfaces (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins 2000). Implementation is concerned with creating the new system. The aim is to bring the proposed system to life and place it in the organisation. Key tasks involve programming or writing any necessary software. It also involves hardware acquisition and installation. Support is the last stage whereby provision of ongoing support is a requirement. The goal of this step is to ensure that the system continues to meet the stated goals. Changes will be constantly advocated so as to ensure that the system continues to meet the stated goals. Bibliography Antion T (2005). The ultimate guide to electronic marketing for small business. New Jersey. John Wiley & Sons. Haag S., Cummings M & Dawkins J (2000). Management information systems for the information age. 2nd Edition. Boston. Irwin McGraw-Hill. Robinson W (1997), Strategic Management and Information Systems, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, UK Read More