HC1041: IT Impact on Business- Holmes Institute- Research Report Assignment Solution

Research Report Assignment

IT Impact on Business

You are to research an actual business examples and the impact of IT on that business.

Important Point

1. Does business need IT?
2. Why IT is important for business survival?
3. What is required to apply IT into business? (Cost, planning, designing, equipment,installation, training, etc…)
4. How does business use IT? (internally such as staff, employees, and externally such as customers, suppliers)
5. What benefits and advantages does IT bring to business? (Revenue, flexibility,reduces cost, etc….)
6. What type of risk does IT bring to business? (security, privacy, confidentiality)
7. How can business maintain and monitor IT?

Your report will be judged on the quality of your research and report presentation. Your report is to be in the style of a business report. There is a limit of ten pages excluding appendices.

Introduction

With rapid industrialisation it has become very vital for the companies to remain competitive. Information technology has been proved to be a boon for companies in remaining competitive. With the help of IT business is able to flourish by performing several functions easily. The research aims at analysing the impact of IT on business. To analyze the impact secondary research data would be utilised along with the practical examples of several industries such as Fishing industry, food processing industry, tourism industry, transport industry, etc. In this way the project would start with relevant course content, framework and literature.

Different dimensions of IT & Business

Information technology is the biggest invention for business houses so far. There are many functions that are required to be performed by a business in day-to-day operations. These functions when performed manually not only take huge time and efforts but the chances of mistakes are also high this is the major point from where importance of IT has been emerged (Nguyen, Newby, & Macaulay, 2015).All the departments in an organisation such as marketing, HR, finance, operations, production, etc. need IT to perform their functions with effectiveness. Due to its ease of use and competitiveness IT has become vital for the survival of business. IT helps in performing a task in a better and smarter way with full dynamicity. In this way the flow of resources in an organisation gets agile. IT helps in strategic decision making and that further aids in vision and mission of the business (Sidorova, Torres, & Beayeyz, 2014) To implement IT in business it is very necessary for a business to look into matters such as designing, planning, cost of implementation, training, installation, etc. IT brings a number of changes in the organisation and due to that training becomes a very important part. The software for business is expensive and it is required by an organisation to look at cost factors and then undertake cost-benefit analysis before installation of the IT systems or software (Wong, Lai, Cheng, & Lun, 2015).The use of IT is both internal as well as external. The internal users of IT include staff, employees, etc. whereas the external users are suppliers, customers, and various other stakeholders. After IT software gets installed in an organisation it fetches number of advantages to the business such as innovation, growth, efficient decision making, marketing, customers support and resource management (Haes & Grembergen, 2015). It further reduces the cost of operations and by doing that increase the revenue of the business. With this a number of risks are being associated with installation of IT in business. It has been observed that IT is hampering the security measures of business and thereby affecting the confidentiality of the business. There are several other issues related to IT that are training issues and managing change. When a new system is being installed, it is necessary for every stakeholder to understand it properly and use it but in several cases this does not happen (Miller & Skinner, 2015). Due to this the business has to face issues such as low productivity, waste of resources, etc. Thus it is very necessary to provide them proper training so that the new IT system becomes user friendly. In this way managing IT is very crucial for a business.

IT and Business

It is important for a business to bring innovation in its services or products to get succeeded in digital era. Innovation is only possible if a business performs its functions in a different and better way. This has been made possible by IT. The new trends of IT are visible everywhere including digital marketing, online shopping, digital communication, social networking, etc. (Davenport, 203). Due to its peculiar features such as real time monitoring,

effective marketing, business planning, systematic management, customer support, global sales, long term growth, etc. IT has made huge impact on business. This analysis is undertaken with respect to different businesses and impact of IT on these businesses.

IT in healthcare

Healthcare industry is one the most promising and growing industry in Australia. Many companies in this sector have achieved huge success with the intervention of IT in their business. Healthcare organisations have made their medication process online, they have started keeping a track of patients past records using software, etc are the impact of IT on this sector (Rai & Tang, 2013). A very good example of this is iCareHealth. iCareHealth has

implemented a software for medication management and due to this they have been able to enhance their quality of medication and care at village Scalabrini. They have installed this software in six other villages as well and due to that they are successfully accomplishing their objectives.

IT in food processing

Food processing business is also utilizing IT to perform several functions such as keeping record of raw material, ingredients, food material, etc. These records are kept online so that it can be retrieved any time when required. Food processing companies such as Alpini Foods Pty Ltd, Big River Pork Pty Ltd, GA Gathercole Pty Ltd, etc. are some of the companies that are using IT to perform several functions of the business.

IT in library

The most crucial task for a librarian is to find a book that reader is demanding and for reader it is very difficult and time consuming to search a book in library. But now IT has solved this problem by making available a number of Software. It has database of all the books, journals, newspapers, etc. and provides an option to sort out on the basis of author, year, volume, etc. (Otim, Dow, Grover, & Wong, 2012). ACT heritage Library, Mosman Library, South Brisbane Library, etc are using this system.

IT in transport

In transport business several tasks such as tracking dockets, loading date’s records, unloading dates records, load management, keeping records of the driver and cleaner, etc are easily kept using IT software and due to that the business has become less complicated and much secure (Mithas, Tafti, & Bardhan, 2012). Many companies such as Linfox, Scott’s transport, Wridgeways, etc. are using IT.

IT in airlines

Airline industry have also seen huge impact of IT on functions such as ticket booking, managing crew, flight timing update in real time, etc . Almost all the airlines companies in Australia like Qantas, Rex, Jetstar, etc. are using IT to perform several functions.

IT in printing and publishing

A number of functions such as taking orders, designing, printing, sharing samples with customers are now performed by printing and publishing businesses using IT. There are several soft wares that made designing part very easy. Companies such as PMPM limited, Fontaine Press, etc are the best examples to quote here.

IT in fishing industry

In fishing industry the intervention of IT is not much and thus they are still performing the functions manually. The only function that has been automatized by the business using IT is customer support. The reason is that IT is not cost efficient in this business and this business demands more manual work.

IT in forestry industry

Forestry industry has also started using IT in the business .Several functions such as plantation records, records of species of seeds, measure of fields, etc. are kept online. Companies such as Overseas and General Limited, Gunns Limited, etc. are using IT in business.

IT in media

Media business is getting transformed these days with the use of IT. Computer is very essential part of media industry now and various functions such as printing news, making news available online, etc. needs the use of IT. News Corporation, Optus Television has adopted IT.

IT in mail and parcels

Mails and parcels can be tracked very easily using IT. This is the most significant impact of IT in mail and

parcel business. Popular companies like DTDC, PACK & SEND, etc. are using this.

IT in computer games

In computer games IT is considered to be integral. Each and every task in this business is performed only because of the IT. Computer games demand use of software, specific commands and applications and this is only provided by IT.

IT in tourism

The functions such as ticket booking, journey details, real time tracking, etc. are the functions that are now performed using IT and due to that customer are now able to book tickets online and companies are able to manage everything properly (Ali & Green, 2012).Companies such as tripadvisor, autraliaone, etc. are using IT.

Conclusion

In this way IT has a huge impact on the business in making all the functions run smoothly. It shall be noted that IT has two faces and there is a dark side of it that deals with cost, security issues, etc. It depends on a business that how well it is able to manage these issues and use IT in such a way that it has a positive impact on business. All the businesses discussed above are gaining competitive advantage because of IT and saving huge costs as well as resources. Thus, for them IT has a very positive impact in expanding market share and interacting with customers thereby satisfying them. This is something that modern businesses are gaining by using IT in business.