Information Systems within Working Environment - Assignment Example

Information Systems within Working Environment Introduction Global business environment is becoming highly competitive as several leading organizations in this world are trying to develop and implement unique strategies in business operation process in order to gain potential competitive advantages over their competitors. Global soft drink industry has become highly competitive as well as saturated due to presence of several leading organizations as these organizations are trying to increase their core competencies. PepsiCo can be considered as one of the leading US based multination manufacturers and distributors of soft drink products founded in the year 1919. The organization is one of the leading employers within the global industry. In addition to this, the organization has adopted and implemented effective global business expansion, business diversification and product differentiation strategy in business operation process in order to gain potential competitive edge and maintain potential competitive advantage over its competitors. The organization has developed and installed several advanced technological applications in business operation process in order to enhance effective business operation practices. This report will discuss several aspects of the use of Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERPS) in PepsiCo including the advantages and disadvantages of the software application. Moreover, the study will determine how this specific software application has helped the management of PepsiCo to enhance effective business performance in global market places. Objective ERPS can be considered as important business management software. It is also considered as a set of integrated software applications, which an organization can use it to source, collect, gather, store, manage, record and interpret data and information from several business activities. These business operation activities may include manufacturing or service delivery, product planning, cost planning, inventory management, marketing and sales, and shipping and payment. The major objective of this specific business management software application is to provide an incorporated view of central business process in real time period by using common databases that are maintained by a particular DBMS or database management system. This ERP system can track several business resources of an organization quite significantly. The business resources include production capacity, raw materials, cash, payroll, purchased orders and status of the business commitments. One of the major objectives of this system is to facilitate information flow between each and every business functions. It also helps the management of the organizations to connect with several important external stakeholders. Alignment with Overall Organizational Objectives It is clear from the above mentioned aspects that the major objective of ERP system is to track each and every business resources significantly, offering an integrated view of central business process of an organization and helping management to develop effective relationship with the stakeholders. According to the business objectives of PepsiCo, the management of the organization always tries to maintain a good relationship with both external and internal stakeholders. The organization maintains sustainable business operation practices by ensuring effective handling of business resources, constant tracking of resources and providing value to the needs of both external and internal stakeholders. However, it is true that ERPS system has helped the management of the organization to maintain efficiency of each and every business process. This business management software application has helped the organization to develop effective business operation strategies including production strategies, marketing strategies and distribution strategies. Application of ERPS has helped the management of PepsiCo to maintain effective relationship with stakeholders through constant update about available and used business operation resources. It has increased integrity and sustainability of the business operation process of PepsiCo, which is its business objective in global market place. Cost/Benefit There are several benefits and costs or disadvantages of the use and application of ERPS in business operation processes in PepsiCo, which are mentioned below. Benefits ERP has helped the management of PepsiCo to improve the efficiency and quality of the business. This system has ensured smooth runni9ng of internal business process of the organization. In addition to this, this business management application has helped top level management of PepsiCo by providing valuable information about strategy development and decision making process (Masters, 2007, p.98). It has helped the management of organization in change management process due to higher flexibility of this application. Last but not the least; this application has improved the data security aspect of the business resources of PepsiCo through enhancement of common control system. Costs or Disadvantages Higher business operation cost is the major disadvantage as it is more expensive comparing to less comprehensive or integrated solutions. Customization of this application is quite complex and problematic that can hamper the smooth business operation process of PepsiCo (Carroll, 2002, p.78). Understanding of this application requires extensive training that can reduce daily operation resources. Last but not the least; higher switching cost may affect the decision making process and business profit maximization of PepsiCo in near future. Development, implementation and Training Approach The concept of Enterprise Resource Planning System was developed in the year 1990. Slowly and gradually, the founders of this application have done extensive research to upgrade the application. Earlier, E-business organizations used to implement this application to maintain business operation efficiency and effective customer relationship management. Then several leading organizations started to use this application. The management of PepsiCo used to cover several functional areas through the application of ERP system (Gordon, 2008, p.109). These functional areas are management accounting, financial accounting, supply chain management, human resource management, manufacturing, order processing, data services, project management and customer relationship management. The components of ERPS include management portal, transactional database, search, business intelligence system, customizable reporting, document management, workflow management, messaging, external access though web services, resource planning and product analysis. The scope of ERP generally implies effective changes to the employee work practices and process in PepsiCo. There are three different types of services that help the implementation process, such as customization, consulting and support. Implementation time of this software application used to depend upon the number of business modules, business size, process change’s scope, and customization of the application and position of customers regarding taking individual ownership of the project (Smith, 2010, p.223). The implementation process of ERPS at PepsiCo requires more than a year as the organization has to ensure business process application in global market places. It is true that training practices of ERPS is both time and cost consuming aspect. It has been mentioned earlier that it is quite complex to customize the software application. Therefore, the management of PepsiCo requires long time to educate an employee regarding handling and controlling of this particular business management software application. In addition to this, application of this software application is expensive comparing to the less complex solutions or approaches. Therefore, the management of PepsiCo has to bear a huge business operation cost regarding the training of employees for this particular software application. Stakeholder Satisfaction It has been mentioned earlier that the management of PepsiCo always tries to give significant values to its both external and internal stakeholders. Owner, line manager and users are the major and valuable external stakeholders of PepsiCo. On the other hand, customers are the major internal stakeholders of PepsiCo. This part of the report will determine the impact of ERPS on these stakeholders. Owner Owners are considered as important internal stakeholders of PepsiCo. According to the values of the organization, the owner, board of directors and CEO of the organization always have to focus on resource efficiency, business operation efficiency and output of business. This Enterprise Resource Planning System always helps manager to focus on these things (Goldberg, 2010, p.62). Therefore, they can develop effective business strategies for the future perspective based on analyzed and evaluated result through the application of Enterprise Resource Planning System. Line Manager Line managers can be considered as valuable stakeholders of an organization. It is true that line managers have to focus on several supply chain management practices in order to justify the values, mission, vision and business objectives of the organization. The business success of PepsiCo heavily relies on the efficiency of line managers. According to the organizational value, line managers are responsible for effective business operation process, resource efficiency and employee management (Ray, 2011, p.287). Enterprise Resource Planning system helps managers to track the performance of each and every employee in PepsiCo. In addition to this, the managers are responsible for effective employee motivation and effective performance management of employees. Efficient wage allocation through the application of Enterprise Resource Planning System helps the organization to maintain good relationship between top level management and employees of the organization. End Users In this case, end user means the staffs and employees of different departments in PepsiCo. It has been mentioned earlier that the management of PepsiCo tries to manage each and every business operation process efficiently through the application of Enterprise Resource Planning System. Therefore, all the managers used to provide effective training to employees to control and use this specific application with significant skill and expertise (Leon, 2008, p.465). This aspect helps the end users or employees of the organization to provide effective solutions to the developed problems. Therefore, it is clear that the end-users of PepsiCo are really benefited by the utilization of this application. Customers Customers can be considered as important stakeholders for an organization. It is true that, business success of an organization effectively depends upon the buying decision of target customers. The management of PepsiCo tries to maintain effective relationship with the customers through the application of Enterprise Resource Planning System as it helps to give effective solution to the contemporary problems (Cokins, 2004, p.81). In addition to this, it also helps to maintain an effective communication process between employees and customers. The management can develop effective CRM strategy based on observed issues through the help of application of ERPS. Flexibility and Adoption to Organizational and Business Change It is clear from the above mentioned facts that adoption and application of ERPS is quite flexible. The employers can get effective result as it reduces high supply chain lead time. In addition to this, the management of the organization can track the previous and ongoing record of each and every business operation process through the application of this software (Kumar, 2011, p.247). In terms of organizational and business change, it is quite difficult for the management of PepsiCo to apply this software significantly. First of all, it is both time and cost consuming as it takes huge time to customize this software application. On the other hand, high switching cost may impact the business profitability of PepsiCo during the implementation of change management process. Perception of Success It is true that ERPS is one of the valuable business management software applications tools. It helps the management of PepsiCo in different types of business operation activities as this application helps to monitor and control each and every business process significantly. Moreover, the effectiveness of this application helps the management of the organization to enhance business operation efficiency (Wulf, 2006, p.32). Despite some inadequacy and disadvantages, the application of Enterprise Resource Planning System generally helps all the valuable stakeholders of PepsiCo to be satisfied with the performance of the application. Conclusion It is clear from above discussion that the popularity of Enterprise Resource Planning System has increased from the beginning of the 21st century. Several leading organizations started to adopt and implement this technological process in business operation in order to enhance effective business performance. Being one of the leading soft drink manufacturers and distributors, PepsiCo has significantly adopted and implemented ERPS in each and every business operation system. This application has helped the management of the organization to control the efficiency of each and every business operation process. First of all, it has helped the management to track all the business management resources significantly. Then it helped the top level management of the organization to make effective decisions and develop effective business operation strategies based on the analysis. It has also helped the managers to enhance effective employee management and organizational performance management aspect. Despite the disadvantages, the application of ERPS has helped the management of PepsiCo to ensure positive business outcomes in global market places. References Carroll, B., 2002. Lean performance ERP project management. London: Routledge. Cokins, G., 2004. Performance management. New York: Springer. Goldberg, N., 2010. Modern ERP. London: Routledge. Gordon, S., 2008. Supplier evaluation and performance excellence. London: Kogan Page. Kumar, S., 2011. Handbook of research in Enterprise Systems. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Leon, A., 2008. ERP Demystified. London: Kogan Page. Masters, J., 2007. SAP ERP HCM Performance management. London: Sage. Ray, N., 2011. Enterprise resource planning. London: Routledge. Smith, B., 2010. Effective operations and performance management. London: Cambridge University Press. Wulf, C., 2-006. CFO Insights. London: Routledge. Read More