The Importance of Using Advanced Technology in Club IT - Research Paper Example

Club IT Introduction Club IT is a modern club that provides food, beverages and entertainment. This club faces its peak inthe evenings. In this modern age, where there are a lot of clubs it is of great importance for business to gain a competitive advantage over other clubs in the market. This can only be accomplished by offering products that others do not and at the same time improve on the services offered. Club IT has to put technical measures in place like, upgrade or acquire new hardware and software systems that will see it ascend into the club market domination. This club has a website that provides information to its customers, which displays some of its independently produced merchandise. When a website to any organization is visited often, it gives an assurance of success because other big companies will want to use the site to advertise their products. The various problems that Lisa and Ruben face in their business according to the research includes: Club IT’s website does not have an e-commerce system (Schneider, 2004). This is a type of system where customers can go online and shop for merchandise produced in the club. The website is mostly managed by the staff; this makes it impossible for suppliers to view the activities that take place in the club hence it is viewed as inefficient. Club IT lacks a good quality Internet. During peak hours, the club experiences problems with its Internet, which interferes with the handling of orders from bars to the point of sale. Slow Internet reception causes delays of service delivery to customers. The club also has a problem with the sizes of the managerial offices as they are quite small yet accommodate a large number of machines used in the business. Another thing that is pulling this club down is that, as much as they use technological advancements, they lack to provide shopping carts and snippet code to locate where various products are located. However, all these problems have solutions to improve the club’s performance, and well integrated systems can improve data analysis capabilities (Rainer & Turban, 2008). Therefore, the club should introduce an e- commerce system. This will help customers able to shop online without having to make an appearance in the very busy club. For most shoppers, home shopping is more comfortable. Club IT should take it upon themselves to improve their website by enabling those who supply goods to them to see the activities in the club so that they can deliver stock in good time. In this era, everyone is doing things in a technical manner. This club mostly attracts the young people, and they have become addicts of the Internet therefore; the Internet should be of good quality. Club IT should look for an alternative Internet network in order to satisfy customer needs. In addition to this, it is also advisable to have wired and secured networks for the bosses. Space is a very crucial matter when it comes to business operations. An organization with spacious working areas finds it easier to locate and do things as compared to very tiny offices. In the case of club IT, they need to expand the working space to make work easier for the staff. Club IT should avail shopping carts and snippet codes on its website. This virtual shopping cart will help the customer in locating the products that they need and add them to their cart; this gives them a better view of all the merchandise they have selected. According to Abdullah Al-Weshail, technology planning is an event which provides directions and helps users clearly understand where they are now and where they want to be. This plan will help club IT know their short and long term goals when it comes to technology. The technique used in the formalization of technology planning is by documentation. This technique helps in the explanation of the various points of interest and the path to a more successful integration of technology. A technology plan is therefore, not just a mere plan, but it is there to produce a continuous action that will create a technological- rich environment. When developing a technology plan there are six steps to be followed: As we start developing the technology plan we have to first of all understand the business structure, the market, the people in the organization and the customers. Club IT is a business that offers food, beverages and entertainment to its clientele. Since they are to some degree a restaurant, they serve customers across all ages during the day and it later it becomes a night club. It was founded by two people namely Lisa Tejada and Ruben Keys who are both graduates with degrees in Business Administration. They decide to accomplish their dreams by opening up a night club. In their college days, they used to work as musicians, and it is from this era that they learnt about a night club’s operations. The club has one assistant manager who manages the day to day activities of the club, four bartenders who tend to customers at the bar, six wait staff who are found in the restaurant area, two stewards who supervise kitchen activities, two short order chefs and lastly four security officers. Based on Club ITs mission that states, “We Ruben and Lisa offer you live music, DJ’s, dance space and refreshments that suits our friends, and we seek to build a community that meets regularly at the Club IT”. Therefore, this cub serves all customers who uphold the kind of lifestyle brought out here. Club IT is situated in the town of San Francisco located in the State of California. Club IT has a variety of goals that they have which will help them improve their business. They include: Superior service - it is providing quality services to the customers. Club IT intends to improve its services in order to make a positive and lasting impression that ensures loyalty of customers. For the success, they need to maintain a high employee to customer relationship and ratio to avoid delays, in addition to this they should, offer employee training programs as a motivation to good services. Quality - the most important success key to a business is providing quality products. In the case of club IT, they should provide quality food, beverages and an entertainment atmosphere. As long as the quality is of a high standard the customers will have no problem even if the prices are high. Safety - in the day-to-day activities we often consider safety. Club IT being a night club it is essential to maintain safety of employees and customers. This can be achieved by hiring well trained security officers, having emergency exits, which are clearly marked and ensuring bartenders do not over serve alcohol to the customers. Profit - the ultimate goal of every business is to make profit, Club It can only accomplish this if they control inventory, manage cash flows and minimize on expenditure. They should also set long term goals on how much total revenue they expect, which is after five years. Longevity - in this era in time, trends in fashion, music and even products change frequently. Club IT should be consistent through the evolving customer trends, that is, they should be prepared to roll with the changes and evolve with society. They can only do this by keeping their eyes and ears open to any new stuff. The Club’s strategy for training employees is coming up with programs that come up in time during the contract period, because it gives members opportunity to network, reflect and share best practices with mentors. The club IT staff members are advised to quire proper training, and this can be achieved by the management assigning a specific day of training on the new systems to be installed in the club. This will help the members to stop being shy and become more comfortable with systems. The training will be done by the company installing the new system and the staff members should keep in mind that the training will enable them acquire extra knowledge. Currently at the club IT the technology in use is limited, for example, they do not have a customer relationship management, which is an e-commerce system that deals with online sales. Secondly, their Internet connection is slow hence, communication is a problem (Schneider, 2004). The system to be purchased in order to meet the goals specified in the criteria above, will include a transaction processing system for the accounts department, e- commerce system for the ICT, a fast Internet connection for better communication within and outside the club and lastly for safety, security measures should be put in place (Shelly, Cashman & Serwatka, 2004). For example, CCTV cameras, water sprinklers and alarms. With the analysis done and considering the willingness of management to purchase these upgrades the implementation should be between one and two months. The budget size available will be determined by the ROI (return on investment) that the club gets in a month. When analysis is done for the new upgrade of all these systems then, a final budget can be compiled and provided to the management for approval. The best use for these funds in terms of acquiring and maintaining the systems would be to outsource a company that deals with hardware maintenance and software development. Acquiring of the hardware should be done the club after all these has been achieved the club’s management should consider hiring an IT support staff who will be trained in all areas to cut down on cost of paying a different company. The evaluation process should be conducted by the top management, who are none biased towards any employee, be it middle management or the supervisors. Evaluation will be conducted through handing in daily reports to the line management then to the top management. Evaluation should occur on a quarterly basis. Inventory type Number Central processing unit Visual display unit Neon lights Speakers Microphones Providing an inventory of the current hardware, software, and types of telecommunication service would make Club IT an advanced business technologically. By acquiring an inventory enables the Club to know what should be replaced, maintained and kept. In conclusion, the club like any other business is experiencing a few problems, like stiff competition more so in the entertainment market. With the introduction of new technology change not only does the owners benefit, but also the customers and the employees enjoy the convenience. From this research, I hope that the club IT will realize the importance of using advanced technology in their business. An example is the use of Digital dashboards, which are also known as executive dashboards or management cockpits. These are designed to provide “rapid access to timely information and direct access to management reports” (Rainer & Turner, 2008, p.273). I believe that, with this kind of changes, club IT will move a level higher, which in return results in the opening of other branches. References Michelle, R. (2013). Goals of a night club business. Demand Media. Retrieved from http://www.smallbusiness.chron.com/goals-club-business-21162.html Club IT mission http://higheredbecs.wiley.com/legacy/college/rainer/0470169001/club_it/about.html Napier, H.A., Judd, P.J. Rivers, O.N. & Adams, A. (2003). eBusiness Technologies. New York: Thomson Learning, Inc. Rainer, K. & Turban, E. (2008). Introduction to information systems: supporting and transforming business, 2nd ed. Chapter 2: Information Systems: Concepts and Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Schneider, G. (2004). Electronic Commerce: The Second Wave. Course Technology Shelly, G.B., Cashman, T.J. & Serwatka, J.A. (2004). Business Data Communications. New York: Thomson Learning, Inc. Read More