Sample Assignment Case Study Analysis
Executive Summary
Fix it now, is a business which is managed by three people. It has three different kind of business. Since the business is expanding, it has become difficult for the administration department to manage human resource, finance and operations. Due to which they are getting complaints from customers and suppliers. There is only one girl managing all the departments, therefore it is becoming difficult for her to manage alone. Though they have a computer system, yet the man made errors do occur at times like quotations sent to different or to some other customer or a problem like the suppliers details not taken properly. The owners had a meeting where they decided that it’s a high time that they should come up with a solution that the company is expanding therefore there is a need for a system which can help them in maintaining the records and also help them in operations and other errands.. They require a system where the work process becomes easy and manageable for them. Therefore, they have decided that they will come up with the information technology systems which will help them in their day to day work.
Various problems currently prevailing in the FIN organisation are as follows:-
Answer 1. Problem relating invoices: - Most of the staff is not very skilled and trained as no one any former qualifications (except three members) and most of them don’t have much experience. In general an invoice may costs about 50$ during process if handled manually. General issues regarding this are lack of transparency, double payments, account payable and received vary, lost invoices and time involving and not much reliable process. Hence to cut short the errors and improve the efficiency a definite invoice processing team is need to be hired.it is much needed not only to avoid heavy penalties due to delays but also to retain and further establish the reputation of the organisation. (Konieczny, Piotr) :
Solution to this problem:
Supplies management: - proper and periodic record of supplies should be maintained. In FIN supplies were ordered in bulk which result in wastage and loss of money. Also market demand is a very crucial factor in making the choice of supplies. Hence latest supplies which are more likely preferred by the people should be chosen in order to increase the net purchase.
Order tracking issues: - most of the customers are unable to determine that when there order will arrive. What is the current status of their order? Hence this facility can be enabled through no of third party agencies like FedEx etc. only through tracking no. of the package customer can get the exact location of his package details. (Konieczny, Piotr)
Communication hindrance: - in order to enhance the scope of business and to maintain good links with the customers it is advisable to create a website with all the details of the organisation including the phone nos. of the service department so as to promote one to one communication. Also a general costumer care service can be provided to rectify their queries regarding various services and their orders. The clients can become a member of the website by signing up and thus all the address details along with the phone no. can easily be recorded for further transactions.
Mobile salespeople can be given with proper information about the products as they directly are in contact with the customers.The casual workers and helpers can be provided with a punch card. That is, before entering the organisation premises they need to punch electronic card .This will track their working shifts regularly. (Konieczny, Piotr)
Answer 2.
Application of IT
The application of information technology in order to support the proper functioning of any public or private organisation is called as information technology management system. Earlier only terms that was crucial in setting up a business was labour, raw-material, capital etc. But today managing the resource is equally important. The information technology management deals with manipulating, collecting, distributing and utilising organisation’s information resource. In Business accurate and up to date information is required, for this most organisations make use of computer systems to record the details of business transactions. ( Karpf, David)
IT support is like a heartbeat to many small businessman.in today’s global world the use of IT continues to modernize and create a competition worldwide. In order to survive in this competitive world all you need is a continuous verification of business environment, spy on the competitors, business partners, suppliers and consumers.( Karpf, David)
Solution to this problem can be: Use of IT for the following
Product development- with the help IT new products are flooding the markets.
Stakeholder integration- people from all over the globe are interconnected 24*7.
Improvement process- improvement in technology and business techniques resulting in increased productivity.
Cost efficiencies- with share market and long term investments everyone is experiencing benefits.
Competitive advantage- net increase in level of competition throughout the world.
Globalisation – leading to global standardisation.
The information technology assist you where to invest more in order to optimize the efficiency
Answer 3.
The information requirements is divided into two parts, one is details and summaries and the second is a data group(Konieczny, Piotr). As far as FIN is concerned, the information requirements in terms of details and summaries would include information like address, contact numbers, accounts of individual customers, purchase orders, information about the suppliers, accounts receivable and accounts payable. Also, the inventory control of the equipments and other products.( Konieczny, Piotr) Another thing that can be included is the list of competitors and their clients. Apart from operations and finance the other requirement was to manage human resources, which would include payroll, details of staff like address, contact number and identification details and job specifications. Second is collecting data of all the customers and suppliers which can be stored for further references. If we will go by Porter’s five force, it would become very easy to fight against any of the business threats. For example, if the supplier has sold a product at a particular cost, we can always cross check on the system for the rates contracted. When it comes to customers, we can quote them the prices keeping in mind or probably refereeing to the system for the price floating in the market.
Solution to the problem:
FIN should computerise their accounting system, this is important as the figures given by the system are accurate and also, they can get the reports through management information system (MIS) on the accounts payable and receivables. Second is human resource department, if all the details of employees are feed in the system, payroll can be calculated automatically by the system. This would highly reduce the work of administration department. Thirdly, stock and par stock needs to be computerized; this will give them actual figure of the requirements, much before the stock ends. Fourthly, a data collection system to hold the details of customers and suppliers. This can be attached to accounts system, so that when they will raise the purchase order, automatically, correct address and contact number of the customer will feature on the slip.( Konieczny, Piotr)
Answer 4.
Accounting
For accounting, FIN can use SAP, this is an accounting information system where one can collect, store and process the financial and accounting activities. Here the accounts and information system goes hand in hand. Because of AIS, bookkeeping is no more required. They will be able to raise purchase orders, quotations, can also find details of accounts payable and also accounts receivable.( Konieczny, Piotr) With the help of the reports, they will be able to identify their profits and loss as well. This will give them a clear picture of how their business is doing in terms of finances. The stock control system will help FIN in maintaining their stock levels of products, orders and supplies. With this, they will be able to get the correct balance of products with them and also they would know how much more they need to order to have a surplus amount of products.
Solution to the problem:
With the help of the system, they would be able to check the most ordered products and less ordered products. Also, this will help to raise the quotes for the new products and purchase orders. Human resource information system can be used for the workforce. With the help of this system they will be able to track the data of the employees, information on the employees and payroll. All together, the HRIS will help them in employee management, employee handbooks on policies and procedures, analysis of employee information, managing the new requirements and resumes and also the management of payrolls, bonus and increments. (Wallsten, Kevin. {"Yes We Can"}: How Online Viewership,)
Answer 5.
Purpose :
The information system that I have suggested is for stock keeping, employee management and account management. If we talk about the first one, that is stock keeping, it is important to have all the stock details readily available to the owners of the business, as said earlier, one important function of this system is that it will check the outflow of the product and give you the correct picture of what items are mainly used and which are less or rarely used. This will help FIN in managing the stock properly without any extra blocking of money.( Wallsten, Kevin. {"Yes We Can"}: How Online Viewership,) They would know the correct requirements of the stock which will help them to decide what to buy and what not to buy, therefore saving the money to some extent. The accounts information system will help them to decide about the financials of their company like what rate to be charged to the customers depending on the market competition, the accounting system will help them to decide on bargaining that the customer or the suppliers will do.( Wallsten, Kevin. {"Yes We Can"}: How Online Viewership,) The reports generated will help them to decide on how to cover up or what new strategies to be put in place for more revenue generation.
Solution:
With the help of the system, they would be able to decide, to whom they need to give the credit depending on the past records of the customers that the system can generate. They will also be able to decide on which product to be bought from which supplier, as the system will tell them the past records (like time of delivery, on time delivery or late delivery) of deliveries made by them. The human resource system will tell on the money spent on employees every year. This system will help them to decide what pay to be offered to different job profiles. This will also help them to decide on the increments that they need to give to the employees. (Jaeger, Paul T.; Lin, Jimmy, Grimes, Justin M..)
Solution to the problem:
Separate system can be introduced where the customers can put in their requirements, which can feature on the systems of FIN, this will save time and also will give accurate requirements and the possibility of mistakes will again come down. In this, FIN can give access to the customers, where they can choose the product as per the requirements and can also see the price for the same. The internet services can also be used for the new customers and also to find out about the various suppliers. FIN can introduce them and can also put the feedback of their customers; this can increase the revenue as more companies and individuals will get aware about FIN.
Answer 7.
Security and Ethical Issues:
The Information System comes along with some security and ethical issues like privacy of the data in the system, access of the computer or system by any one and storage of data in a secured place. The issue of security is with customers, employees and especially with FIN. It is important and also mandatory to keep the data secured also because of competition in the market. It is possible that someone from the company can access the system and pass the details to the competitors. Keeping in mind the same, it is very important to safeguard the computers access. One way to do the same is by providing access code only to the concerned people of the department or to whom who directly work on the systems.
Solution:
It is important to have a back up of the system at all times so that in case the computer crashes, details are not destroyed. Access code will decrease the possibility of any one going and using the system. Access code should also be given to the customers who will be using the system to place the orders. If required, the codes can be changed every month for security purpose. This process will help FIN in securing the data of their company.( Jaeger, Paul T.; Lin, Jimmy; Grimes, Justin M..)
Answer 8.
Organizational Change:
FIN will face the organizational change when the information system will come in place. It is important to brief the customers, suppliers and also the employees about the change happening in the company as it takes time for everyone to adjust in the new environment. Customers and suppliers should be sent a note mentioning about the changes happening and also a sorry note for any inconvenience they might face during the change. It is important to train the employees on how to use the new information system. Once they are trained, the work flow will become easy for everyone.
Solution:
Employees should be given new job responsibilities, job specifications and also given standard operating procedures on how to carry out work on the systems. They training should be specific to the departments, like human resource people should be trained only on how to operate human resource information system, so on and so forth. (Jaeger, Paul T.; Lin, Jimmy; Grimes, Justin M..)
Conclusion
Fix It Now is a company with almost fifty six employees, working in different sections. Therefore, we have come up with different IT solutions like human resource software to take care of wages and other employee details. Stock management system and accounting management system for the stock keeping and managing finance of the company respectively. If they will use the above mentioned management systems, there work pressure will reduce and they will be able to give valuable service to their customers.
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