Hardware and Software

 

Hardware and software is a big component to information systems. It allows companies to perform at higher rates of efficiency. . A small business can use many avenues to broaden their companies’ horizons. One way to do this is by getting involved with the mobile aspect of hardware and software.

Intuit Go Payments- [i] This will allow you to attach a card swipe onto your cell phone so customers can pay you. This will give you flexibility to charge people where and whenever you need to. You can get rid of the bulky machines and all the equipment. The one drawback would be if someone wanted a paper receipt you would have to print it out for them.

Mobile Banking- Mobile banking allows you to check your bank statements and make payments over the internet. This would take away time and money spent on stamps, envelopes, and writing out the actual checks. You can set up for automatic payments to companies. This is a big time and money saver.

Mobile Email- Having your email account linked right to your phone gives you instant access to your email. This allows you to communicate via email while on the go. This allows you to save time behind the computer because you an answer any mail as it comes in.

Card Munch- [ii] This is a business card scanning system. It allows you to take pictures of business cards and file them without having to use a rolodex. This will help save time and space.

e-Mobile Call Manager-[iii] This software allows your to set up profiles for different callers and helps manage. This will make life a lot easier when at work. It will act as your secretary and put an end to calls that waste your time.

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[i] http://www.intuit.com/

[ii] http://www.labnol.org/software/scan-business-cards-on-mobile/19792/

[iii] http://www.pocketmedialive.com/e-mobilesoft/html/Categories/backberry.html

Value Chain

Recently I opened up a business buying and selling used CD’s to other students.  The upstream management part includes obtaining raw materials, inbound logistics and ware house storage and inventory systems. The first part of the value chain would include obtaining the CD’s. This would have to be done in person for inspection of used goods would be essential as well as cash payment could be made on site(Raw Materials). I would have to catalog all of my purchases. I would do this by music genre and the alphabetical name of the group in that specific genre.(Inbound Logistics) The inventory would be placed on CD racks or shelves so that if anyone wanted to come in and purchase anything in person this would be an available option.(Warehouse Inventory/Control System). As our product, we are using old CDs; therefore, I do not believe we have a Production element to our operation. The next step in our business is the start of the downstream management aspect. In the finished product storage stage, I would love to have a computerized information system which tracks our inventory and duplications of CDs. Our out bound logistics would be mostly via mail and pick up. Our marketing scheme would be to primarily flyers around school and mass emails. This would allow us to cut back on some of the opening cost. The final step of customer service, tracking and control systems would be done by me and my friend. As stated before I would love to have a system that tracked all inventory, transaction and set up some kind of e-commerce exchanges. A good site for this is paypal.

Value in a System

  The value in a system completely depends on how your business is set up, the products that you deal with and you clientele. For example, ancestory.com which is in the business of giving out family tree information, would find more value in a knowledge based information system compared to a robotic information system. The e-commerce aspect of Business Information Systems has changed the way many companies exchange currencies. E-commerce has allowed business to expand and connect with customers that would have never been in there demographic due to the internet. This has allowed companies to be very competitive in pricing and have instant payment procedures as one aspect of e-commerce. When you look at ancestory.com, they gather, process and discriminate information to their clients about their family going back hundreds of years. If they do not have a strong knowledge based information system, then their whole company’s integrity would be in jeopardy. Their business comes solely from giving information to their customers via information systems on the internet and receiving payment via e-commerce. I believe ancestory.com shows a great example of how an information system has to work. First you give the company money through e-commerce. The company then does research and gathers data about your family. This is the input process. Ancestory.com then goes into the processing phase making sure the information it is giving the customer is correct, reliable, verifiable and relevant. Once this process is complete then the output is given to the customer, which is the ancestral information obtained during the company’s research. These knowledge based and e-commerce systems are the most important because if they were not around then neither would the company. If you wanted ancestral information you would have to hire a private investigator to dig up information on your family. The investigator then would have to put in the actual man hours of digging through hundreds of papers and then typing up a family tree. I can imagine with the man hours needed this could cost a pretty penny. This is why e-commerce and knowledge based systems have such a high value to ancestory.com.

Systems Theory and Competitive Advantage.

Information systems are not a brand new concept that came with the recent technological boost during the Twenty First century.  The idea of systems is that every successful system has the same qualities no matter what the systems are or how they are .  Ludwig von Bertalanffy is a biologist who first proposed the General Systems Theory. He stated, “real systems are open to, and interact with, their environments…resulting in continual evolution. Rather than reducing an entity (e.g. the human body) to the properties of its parts or elements (e.g. organs or cells), systems theory focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts which connect them into a whole (cf. holism)”[i] This definition explains that everything has its place and for all to be fully functional they work in unison.  This creates wholeness and allows the system to adapt and change resulting in success.  Systems Theory is a guideline of how, if looked at closely, you can see that everything is a system and generally has the same characteristics.

            In business, there are many different types of systems.  You have your information systems, you have management systems, and when all these systems run as a cohesive unit you get a successful business.  This can allow you to obtain a strategic advantage over your competitors creating value to your systems and company.  In Michael porters “Potters Strategic theory”, competitive advantage can be obtained by effectively implementing Information Systems and Technology. [ii] He also states,” The primary, value-adding activities include those involved in the production, marketing delivery, and servicing of the product. They are linked, generally in a chain. Support activities include those providing purchased inputs, technology, human resources, or overall infrastructure functions to support the primary activities[iii]   The adaptation and change described by Bertanlanffy is implemented by Porter allowing businesses to adapt and evolve.

             

One of the requirements for Porters value chain is an investment in information system technologies. This shows that with out the right information systems you can never fully gain a competitive advantage over your competition.  Information can be turned valuable by doing the following applications,”…Assess existing and potential information intensity of product and process, Evaluate the likely impact of IT on their industry structure Identify the rank of activities that information first affects, quantify how information technology brings new business and generate a plan of action for taking advantage of IT”[iv]  Porter concludes that by implementing sound information systems you can add value to your company.  In adding value to your systems, you add a competitive advantage.

The competitive nature of our economy, especially in these hard times, makes information systems that more important.  When new technology comes out it is essential that a business plan is used to invest and obtain all this information because if you do not you will be left behind. This shows that General Tnformation Theory can be applied to any type of situation, as it was the basis of Michaels Porters, Strategic IS Theory.   We can now say we can judge the value of information and technology by seeing how efficiently our systems we have in place are running.

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[i] http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/SYSTHEOR.html

[ii] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Value_chain

[iii] http://www.rogerclarke.com/SOS/StratISTh.html

[iv] http://mrnair.articlesbase.com/strategic-planning-articles/information-technology-and-sustained-competitive-advantage-925286.html#ixzz1XxUyfoqp

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