Theoretical Concept of Business Information System - Case Study Example

? Business information system [Sur Executive Summary CPS uses poor technology even in this era when technologyis on the rise. CPS depends on the very old and manual ways of doing things. First, there teachers are still seen walking with big notebooks and research material. Most of the record keeping is also manual, although some information is also stored by the computer. However, there is only one computer in the secretary’s office, upon which the whole school depends upon. Information is stored in a word document. Both teachers and student don’t have computers that have been set aside for their use. The marketing technique used by CPS is also archaic. They depend on advertising themselves on newspapers and magazines as well as organizing open days to allow people to learn more about the school. The school does not have a website, and hence faces a hard time especially in the process of recruiting teachers. This is especially so because other schools are adopting IT and their working procedures are continually being simplified. Students lack adequate Information Technology knowledge since they do not have a computer lab where they can be taught computer classes. Teachers have also complained that the process of researching via books and recording every information on paper is very tedious. Collaboration with the outside world is impossible due to lack of a modern system of IT. They do not have a virtual learning system, and hence open learning, and distance learning cannot be take place in CPS. The available computers are stuffed with a lot of files, and the files have not even been arranged; they have just been dumped into the computer. This makes the computers useless, since they cannot achieve their role. Accessing the files that have already been saved on the computer is also very hard. Introduction With the recent revolutions and inventions in the field of technology, one ought to stay up to date. There is a need to upgrade to better technological systems so as to catch up with the rest of the world. Information technology is the pillar of every successful business of the modern day world. Technology has helped to reduce the burden of having to work for long hours by introducing methods of working effectively and maximally for a shorter period than it used to be. The introduction of the latest technology into CPS can have various benefits. This paper will give a critical analysis and review of CPS, regarding its use of technology. Literature review (Theoretical concept of Business information system) Technology is a key to success in today’s world (Blaze 2010). Not very many people are able to live in a world that lacks technology. Everyone wants to have a mobile phone and a PC in the modern world (Burnstein 2007). People want to drive vehicles that have the latest technology installed in them. Employees want to do work with the help of modern machines (Goodpasture 2009). Technology is everything. The teachers of CPS live a very stressing life. For example, they have to mark exam papers, then record the marks in a book manually. Their record keeping is also manual, in books, and this would mean that in case of a fire, all their data would be lost. What would happen if the marks of the final exams of students got lost in a fire? This would be a very terrible situation since most of the students would not care about what happened; they would sue the school. Most of the students may also leave school when they are not fully conversant with the computer system. This would pose as a threat to them since they would not be able to fit in the world after school, considering that everyone is getting acquainted with the technology. The school may also face a problem of marketing itself. With the advancement of technology, not many people buy newspapers and magazines; people simply don’t have space for such paper work in their houses and offices (Sutherland 2005). Most people read them online, and get news from different internet sources (Hoolladay 2011) Social networks have also ensured that people stay up to date with information. If CPS school wanted to recruit teachers, it would be much easier and cheaper for them to advertise on a Facebook page, rather than use newspapers and magazines. The possibility of getting visits from potential teachers, during open days, is less than that of getting Facebook likes from potential teachers. The school also faces the threat of losing a lot of school funds. Modern technology dictates that all transactions should be done in the bank and that the school should only be allowed to work with papers. However, since CPS school does not have such technology in place, then they are probably using the old method of handling cash. This can attract thieves, or can even be exposed to other internal fraudulent people, causing the school to go at a loss. The insurance would probably not cover them for such losses since it was their own making; they did not do anything to try and protect their funds against such misfortunes. Result (Finding/identifying the problems/solutions) Research was conducted from various sources. Most of it, however, is from books, journals and technology websites. According to XXXX, technology can reduce the annual expenditure of a firm up to almost a half of the initial money that was being spent. It cuts down the cost of working by doing the same thing that was done by many people at a faster speed and yields better general results when compared to that of the many people. It also helps to motivate the workers. He says that from a study that he conducted, through interviews and by filling of questionnaires, more than 70% of the respondent confirmed that they would not do without technology in their places of work. See the bale below. Profession Number of respondents Percentage (%) I can do without technology 40 20 I can’t do without technology 140 70 I don’t know 20 10 Among the 70%, most of them said that working without technology would mean that they had to go back to the old manual systems of doing things, and that would be very tiring and cumbersome. A middle aged accountant was interviewed and this is what he said, “Technology has come along with various accounting software that I can use in my daily work. Working without this software would mean that I have to work using very old accounting procedures. Unlike the software, which comes along with various templates, I would need a ruler and a book to start drawing tables; I would do my calculations manually. I would rather resign that do all that work. It is donkey work” From the case study; it is also evident that work is not easy for CPS teachers. The secretary is also overloaded with work, since she has to handle all the work by herself. This is very tiring to her, since she is consistently under a lot of pressure. If all teachers had their own dedicated computers, they would perform most of the work by themselves, and that would have lifted some pressure from the secretary. Work gets late because it all depends on that single secretary to work on it. As technology advanced, people are moving from classes to doing open; learning. Many people prefer to do their own work, and read when they feel comfortable. This means that internet classes would be the best for such people. CPS does not have a virtual learning centre, and does not support distance learning. This only is enough to de-market them. In fact they will not sale among the youth who cater for most of the population of school going people. Instead, they will pose as an old and archaic school that is still in the colonial era. Who wants to be associated with such a school? No one; they will lose market to other upcoming schools in the region, which have decided to embrace technology. Pries & Quigley (2010) say that people want to get their assignments from the internet and submit them online. Long are the days when a student had to go to class to pick an assignment, most people consider this as a waste of time, and would prefer doing everything over the internet. Conclusion, Recommendations Working in an environment that has poor technology could be very sickening. Traditional methods of work are very cumbersome and monotonous. In CPS school, for example, the teachers agree that their work is very exhausting. Traditional forms of work involve a lot of manual procedures that involve that physical presence of a human being and at the end of it all, the people working on whatever kind of projects they are get very worn out. Technology, in most cases, only requires people to monitor whatever is going on. In fact technology reduces the need for hiring many people into an organization because a machine can handle what ten people can do, and still be more efficient and effective than the ten people. This means that it is much cost saving to whatever organization that uses it. It is hence good to recommend that CPS should adopt the latest technology systems in their school. They should establish an IT department that should be responsible for the implementation of all technology related matters. This way, they will be able to cope up with other school, and even do much better than them. References Blaze, M. 2010. Insights to Performance Excellence 2009-2010: An Inside Look at the 2009 - 2010, Baldrige Award. New York: ASQ Quality Press Burnstein, I. 2008.Practical Software Testing: A Process-Oriented Approach. Chicago: Springer Publishers. Clarke, T. 2007. European Corporate Governance Systems; Reading and Perspectives. New Delhi: Taylor & Francis Goodpasture, C. J. 2009. Project Management the Agile Way: Making It Work in the Enterprise. New York. J. Ross Publishing. Hoolladay, S., & Coombs, T. 2011. Managing Social responsibility: A community Approach. New York: John Wiley & Sons publishing limited Hoskisson, R, et. al. 2011. Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization: Cases. Hong Kong: John Wiley and Sons Publishers Pries, H.K. and Quigley, M.J. 2010. Scrum Project Management. New York. CRC Press. Sutherland, J.V. and Schwaber, K. 2005. Business object design and implementation: OOPSLA '95 workshop proceedings. The University of Michigan project management journal. Read More