E-Commerce Platforms Conduct to Businesss - Admission/Application Essay Example

? E-commerce Platforms Conduct to Business In todays’ business environment, Management Information System (MIS) plays a vital role for enhancing the performance and productivity of the organizations. In Allen & Overy, an international law company, MIS can be implemented in order to enhance the business effectiveness. MIS can provide benefits to Allen & Overy in several ways such as functional support, better decision making, better management of risk and better competitive position among others. MIS can also render various impacts on human capital, environmental, management and revenues of the organization. Besides, there are different other social and ethical implications that must be addressed by Allen & Overy before implementing MIS. A proper investment plan can also help to achieve desired success in relation to MIS implementation. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Company Profile 4 Application of MIS in Allen & Overy 5 Importance of MIS to Allen & Overy 5 Impact of MIS on Business Logic of Allen & Overy 7 Target Users of MIS 8 Impact of MIS on Human Capital, Environmental, Management and Revenues of the Organization 8 Ethical and Social Implications this MIS for Allen & Overy 11 Short / Mid-term Investment Strategy and Return on Investment 11 Conclusion 13 E-commerce Platforms Conduct to Business Introduction In any business, Information System (IS) helps to generate information for meeting the requirements of both organizations as well as other major parties related with them. This information reflects the inner functions of organizations, competitive activities, environmental and sociological interests along with other business trends. Information requirements exist with equal importance in every industry. The growth of business is directly related with the amplification of data and information processing. Thus, it has become important for every organization in present days to manage and to process information in better ways. In this context, it can be stated that Management Information System (MIS) assists organizations for better management and processing of information. The idea of MIS is to accumulate internal and external data into unified and operative business information (Asemi et al., 2011). Focusing on this aspect, the report provides an explanation regarding the use of MIS in Allen & Overy. The purposes of the report are to highlight the significance of MIS Allen & Overy, demonstrate how the implementation of MIS can create an impact on human capital, environmental, management and revenue of the organization, understand the ethical and social implications of MIS and devise a short-term investment strategy along with return on investment of MIS implementation in Allen & Overy. Company Profile Allen & Overy is an international law company which is centrally located in London. Allen & Overy is broadly considered to be one of the most elite law firms in the world, which advises multinational along with national corporations, governments and financial institutions. This company was founded in the year 1930, and since then it has been able to grow as one of the biggest law firms around the world. The corporation operates with the help of 5000 staff which include in excess of 500 partners who operate in the 42 offices worldwide. This firm is largely known for providing legal advice to various countries (Allen & Ovary, 2013). Application of MIS in Allen & Overy MIS is a set of cohesive technology which gathers, processes, categorizes, stores and shares information in order to support decision making. MIS comprises information regarding clients, locations and products/services within organization along with the surrounding business environment. It provides information regarding actual economic worth to the business. In reality, a complete MIS includes every system that facilitates management decisions and actions. Figure 1 demonstrates the types of MIS that can be used in Allen & Overy. Fig 1: Types of MIS Importance of MIS to Allen & Overy MIS is important for Allen & Overy for following reasons: Functional Support: Business functions are amid the most basic aspects of operational processes of Allen & Overy. The regular functions of Allen & Overy comprise gathering, recording, keeping and processing information. In this context, it can be stated that MIS can provide support in all these functions of Allen & Overy and therefore can help to enhance the performance. Strategic Support: MIS can also deliver strategic support to Allen & Overy by providing required information, essential to develop and integrate strategies into organizational objectives (Ghanim, 2009). Better Decision Making: Since Allen & Overy operates in legal industry, decision making plays a vital role in its business. In order to make decisions in an efficient manner, it is vital to incorporate a good MIS system because decisions are only dependent on the information available. The effectiveness of business of Allen & Overy is subjected to timing and content of business information. In this context, it can be stated that MIS can play an essential part in decision making for Allen & Overy by systematic instruments, timely information and adequate managerial policies (Singh & Kaur, 2012). Problem Identification: Identification of business problems and factors are also vital for Allen & Overy in order to enhance the performance. In a distinctive MIS setting, standard reports are generated in a routine way by contrasting actual performance against expected performance. As a result, it helps to recognize any variations in performance and lets the management to be aware of the problem areas in business. Increased Control: MIS can also help in implementing control over the business of Allen & Overy. By rendering a visibly defined framework regarding strategies, rules, practices, standards and processes of Allen & Overy, MIS can provide a way for monitoring the activities of the organization. As a result, it can help the managers to be vigilant about any kind of issues and to take corrective measures rapidly. MIS also assists in providing feedbacks to the management and thereby it can enhance the communication process. Consequently, better communication within organizations can improve the efficiency of operations control. Better Management of Risk: MIS acts as critical element of risk management strategy. In any organization, risk management comprises four key components namely organizational policies, operational procedures, management and feedback. As such, MIS can lead to better management and feedback instrument for Allen & Overy. Furthermore, through MIS, Allen & Overy can develop control through assigning duties and responsibilities to employees thereby it can support proper management of risk. Competitive Position: MIS can support the competitive positioning of Allen & Overy. It can facilitate in piloting the chain of internal worth. The competitive advantages of legal industry include superior services, extensive contracts, positive company reputation and greater employees along with management team among others. MIS often supports and infrequently institutes these competitive advantages through providing access to timely and up-to-date information. Better Performance Monitoring: MIS is not a mere statistics and data analysis tool. It can also act as a management by objectives instrument for Allen & Overy. For Allen & Overy, MIS can help to establish pertinent and quantifiable objectives. It can also send notifications to the management regarding deviances between expected performance and pre-established aims and budgets. Fig 2: Importance of MIS for Allen & Overy Impact of MIS on Business Logic of Allen & Overy In relation to the impact of MIS on the business logic of Allen and Overy, it has been determined that the company largely utilizes and controls global network to a greater degree. The company also utilizes high profile media, telecommunications and technology in its major operations. As the company is already using the components of technology, there are high possibilities for the company to utilize the broad concepts of MIS in its overall business logic. MIS helps in proper utilization of the individuals’ resources that in turn aids in the improvement of the overall decision making process in a company. In relation to the company, it can be stated that MIS will help the company to be operative in a more effective and efficient manner. Furthermore, it will also provide great aid to the company in terms of ensuring the improvement of the documentation and design process of their overall operations. Most importantly, the induction of MIS into their business logic will help in improvement of the information sharing process which is very much essential for any business. Thus, taking these broad factors into consideration, it can be stated that if the company regards the benefits of utilizing MIS into their systems then it will lead to high end positive impacts along with improvement of the overall business logic (Stair & Reynolds, n.d.). Target Users of MIS The target users of MIS would be every member of Allen & Overy. The senior management would be the owner of MIS and they will have the authority to supervise ad control different aspects of the system. Furthermore, the other members/users will require following certain rules and regulations in order to maintain best practices of MIS. Impact of MIS on Human Capital, Environmental, Management and Revenues of the Organization Positive Impact of MIS on Human Capital Inducting of MIS will certainly pose major benefits pertaining to the aspects of human capital in the organization. As MIS helps in proper management of human beings by way of inducting efficient decision making process, it is certain that the company will be positively impacted by way of inducing the concepts of MIS in the system. One of the major benefits that the company will be able to attain is that it will be able to minimize a lot of time consumption in the overall process of operations. As human beings are primary players in the overall operational process, MIS can help in minimizing a lot of manual labor. For instance, MIS comes with different components. One of the major components comprises the payroll module which helps in the performance of the broad functions concerning payroll calculations among others. Thus, in this way it will help in reducing manual labor which results in increasing the human capital (Stair & Reynolds, n.d.). Negative Impact of MIS on Human Capital Induction of MIS can also lead to certain impacts that may bring out negative implications in the overall organization. For instance, MIS will make the company very dependent. It may also lead to employees becoming reliable towards this particular software. Thus, increased dependency on such software may lead to lowering of the human expertise which further can result in inefficiencies. It will also limit the grounds for showcasing the human talents which may ultimately bring about a reduction of the human capital (Stair & Reynolds, n.d.). Positive Impact of MIS on Environment The impact of MIS on environment has evolved over time and has become an integral element of business for several organizations. In Allen & Overy, MIS can have a positive impact on environment as it creates a knowledge base for every individual in the organization. MIS can make information available in such a way which can be used promptly, hence developing a positive environment. MIS also creates a positive impact on environment as it relates to the understanding of business itself. MIS can systemize the business operations for better effectiveness. It results in the improvement of environment by bringing in positive discipline in operations where every employee is required to follow and use certain procedures. Negative Impact of MIS on Environment MIS can also have certain negative impacts on environment of Allen & Overy. MIS is associated with new working environment along with practices which can differ sharply with existing working environment of Allen & Overy. Besides, MIS implementation can also result in power shift which can cause difficulties in working environment. In the lower level of organizational hierarchy, MIS can generate a sense of uncertainty among employees, because it would change existing job roles (Uma et al., 2010). Positive Impact of MIS on Management MIS can largely deploy major positive impacts pertaining to the factors associated with the management of the organization. Induction of MIS in the central operations of the company will provide great aid to the company in making all its legal operations much more effective and operational. It will also facilitate the company in ensuring proper tracking along with monitoring of the broad operations and functions of the company. It will also aid the company in the maintenance of the day-to-day aspects of the business which is of primary importance (Jawadekar, 2006). Negative Impact of MIS on Management In relation to the negative impact of MIS on management, it can be stated that it may pose similar impacts to that can be created by the induction of MIS on the human capital front which is mentioned above. It may pose certain negative implications concerning too much dependency on the technological front. It is certain that any company going for technological advancement will definitely be benefitted by way of improved attainment of business solutions. However, the primary factor hindering the overall management is too much dependency on the particular software (Jawadekar, 2006). Positive Impact of MIS on Revenue MIS can also have certain impact on revenue of Allen & Overy. On a positive side, the implementation of MIS can help for better management of revenue through collection and administration of information. MIS can enhance the service delivery of Allen & Overy, therefore it can enhance the sales. At the same time, MIS also provides an opportunity for deploying technology in numerous operational processes, making the functions more effective than before. As a result, it can enhance the revenue generation ability of the organization (Nowduri, 2010). Negative Impact of MIS on Revenue With regard to the negative implications of the implementation of MIS, it can be said that it is basically a complex, lengthy and troublesome procedure, which can influence the revenue cycle of Allen & Overy. In reality, when boarding on a new system in business, it is expected that Allen & Overy would face temporary but significant negative impacts in terms of revenue performance because the implementation of MIS is related with high expenses about system development, changes in working procedure along with training. Clearly, these aspects can have major negative impacts on cash flow and ultimately the revenue of Allen & Overy (Huron Consulting Group Inc., 2012). Ethical and Social Implications this MIS for Allen & Overy There are certain ethical along with social implications of MIS that the company need to consider before the implementation of this particular software centrally for Allen & Overy. Correspondingly, the utilization of MIS can act as a substitute to workers to a very large extent. Moreover, there are also instances in which the quality of working life can be drastically impacted. It can also harm workers by way of causing monotonous stress injuries if they continuously spend time on the computer terminal utilizing MIS. This aspect can also lead to skipping of manual work by a considerable extent. Owing to the fact that the main objective of MIS is to reduce operational costs, it can very well put the workers at stake. It may also give rise to certain other issues concerning sharing of intellectual information that may lead to inadequacies. Moreover, sharing of intellectual property to unauthorized users may also cause the loss of certain information which might be passed into the hands of malicious users. It may also give rise to poor maintenance of the aspects of privacy which is of primary importance in any organization. In addition, universal acceptance and usage of this particular software may give birth to other social and ethical issues concerning the facets such as full accountability along with liability of all those users of this particular software. Therefore, these issues concerning the social and ethical aspects are needed to be render due importance, otherwise the above mentioned instances are very much likely to come into play in relation to the concerned company i.e. Allen & Overy (Information Resources Management Association, 1994). Short / Mid-term Investment Strategy and Return on Investment The implementation of MIS can be considered as significant investment for Allen & Overy. There are no definite characteristics of investment plan for implementation of MIS, however, there are certain short and mid-term activities which must be considered as investment. The investment plan should be flexible in nature and must be subjected to historical performance, organizational strengths along with wealth. The short-term the investment strategy of MIS should consider the following aspects: Investment in Hardware and Software: The quality of information processing in MIS is dependent on the level of investment in hardware and software. Poor investment can result in the waste of money on MIS implementation. Optimization: The investment must be optimized in such as way so that it can enhance profitability with respect to better services and performance. In the mid-term, Allen & Overy should consider the following aspects as a part of investment strategy: Complexity of Business: The scope of the business of Allen & Overy is wide, touching several fronts. Thus, the investment plan would be designed in such as way so that it can have far-reaching impact on business growth, direction and profitability. Sensitivity Analysis: Before making investments, a sensitivity analysis should be done to evaluate the critical factors of success of MIS. Sensitivity analysis can facilitate to make decisions regarding opportunity cost and investment cost of MIS implementation. Return on Investment (ROI) All the investment options can better be evaluated through ROI analysis. ROI analysis can be judged from budget consideration and payback period method. Since investment of MIS is difficult to evaluate from monetary terms only, it can be better judged with respect to the value of information of incremental sales (University of Mumbai, n.d.). When every facet of MIS implementation is arranged, it is likely to workout monetary implications of such implementation. Conclusion From the above analysis, it has been learnt that the concept of MIS plays a very important role in the overall development of a company. Concerning this aspect, all those factors of improvement that can be made in relation to Allen & Overy with the inculcation of MIS have been precisely highlighted and discussed. An in-depth analysis has helped in citing the broad applications along with the broad impacts of particular software in relation to human capital, management, revenue and environment. Correspondingly, the study provided a great aid in establishing a fair idea regarding the usage along with benefits of MIS in Allen & Overy. This study also has helped in establishing an idea regarding the impact of MIS in the business logic if the particular company. As per the requirements of the study, it has also facilitated in identifying all those target users of this particular software. From the overall analysis, it has been determined that a successful and comprehensive implementation of MIS can render Allen & Overy company a diverse set of benefits. References Allen & Ovary. (2013). About us. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from http://www.allenovery.com/pages/default.aspx Asemi, A., Safari, A., & Zavareh, A. A. (2011). The role of Management Information System (MIS) and Decision Support System (DSS) for manager’s decision making process. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(7), 164-173. Ghanim, A. (2009). Impact of information technology on corporate performance: a practical study at Palestinian firms. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from http://www.idmc.ps/userfiles/file/Impact%20of%20information%20systems%20on%20industrial%20corporate%20performance%20in%20palestine.pdf Huron Consulting Group Inc. (2012). Keys to optimizing revenue cycle performance through a health information system implementation. 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Introduction to management information systems. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from http://www.mu.ac.in/mis.pdf Read More