Impact of Information Technology on Modern Organization - Coursework Example

? Information Technology in Organizations Impact of Information Technology in Modern Organization The advent of Information Technology has modernized the business processes and services in the organization. The age of globalization is supported by the arrival of IT to a great extent. The term Information Technology is commonly taken as the combination of computer and internet only, however, the management and IT experts describe this term as the obtaining, processing, storing and he spread of numerical, pictorial, vocal and textual and numerical information which is received by the combination of telecommunication and computers making it a microelectronics-based blend. This blend assists the communication, operations and advancements in an organization and links its business activities. This is done through an extensive usage of the computer software, data constructs, computer hardware, programming languages, databases and other related components. These components enable a widespread distribution of the messages on a mass level across all the communication channels. Many modern organizations rely on a vast utilization of the information technology in order to render it business operations and services. One of such big organizations is Tesco Plc which forms and leads a huge network of the retail stores operating in various parts of the world. This in organization has been operating in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world since 1919 and has been ranked as the world’s third largest retailer. Other retailers such as Wal Mart follow Tesco in their rankings and services and operations. This Britain-based company having more than 500,000 employees and over 4,000 stores manage its huge base of employees and operation in effectives and decentralized structure (Clemens, 2001). The usage of IT plays an important role in the extensive operations, management and governance of Tesco Plc. Many advanced systems and technological equipments have been installed at the company for the purpose of the management of its functions. Some of the examples of such systems include the usage of sophisticated software such as Finance and HR software; supply chain management systems, order processing and scheduling systems and types of communication technology. Besides this, the company utilizes the advanced loyalty cards and car insurance policy quoting systems. The Tesco’s own Tesco Personal Finance system (TPF) allows it to schedule its workforce, and perform food labeling and loan application handling systems. Every checkout in the Tesco’s store manages its Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) systems and uses computer system in the operation and handling of Tesco’s services (Verner, 2000). This usage of IT has a huge impact on the profitability, operations and revenue generation of the company. One of the major ways in which the IT implementation impacts Tesco Plc is increase in the productivity gains and reduction in its costs of production. The customers shopping from Tesco retail stores do not have to go out and but the products. Instead they can sit at home and purchase online through web. Since, the market has become easily accessible to the customers, the productivity gains have increased in the form of customer retention, sales, revenues and other related factors. Besides this, a wide range of purchases are made without any hassle. Moreover, the company can cut their costs of advertisement, EPOS has reduced the employment of the members of staff, and only a few people need to be trained for few short computer and software trainings in the organization. Moreover, the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization is enhanced due to the less wastage and least duplication of the material and human resources of the organization (Clemens, 2001). Besides all the beneficial factors, the features and components of the information technology, such as computer, internet and other databases assist the company to manage its operations and functions. There is a better and an improved information flow, communication flow, stock, all the inflows and outflows of the organizations. The customer services and loyalty has risen and operational efficiency has also increased. Moreover, due to the integration and penetration of the information technology in the operations and services of the organization, the synergy is created for the purpose of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the organizational functions. Besides that, it is easier to manage the security and other threats to the organization through the proper management of data protection. The governance and management problems are also solved in a direct or in indirect ways through the ways mentioned above. The incorporation of technology and information enables the organization to run its functions smoothly and with sophistication. The management of organization’s resources, people and operations lead to a good governance of organization (Verner, 2000). Write-up of the Cases Overseas Outsourcing of Medical Transcriptions Sodexho actually saved the jobs of employees in the context of outsourcing through shifting them into different departments instead of downsizing the organization. The changes were implemented through the efforts and support employees and thus, they were made to remain in the company without being demotivated. Before outsourcing any or all parts of the business of any organization, there are various things which are necessary to be considered before implying such a great step of outsourcing any or all of the business activities. Thus, the organization has to review certain factors which include: Is it a core process or a project that has to be outsourced? What is the length and nature of the outsourcing? Is there any hidden or confidential information which needs to be disclosed? Are the budget and other priorities of the project sufficiently fulfilled? Is there any need to hire staff, resources or other organizational allocations? There are various advantages of outsourcing any part of the business. They include: Improving the efficiency of the entire business, Reducing the costs and overhead incurring, thus, proceeding to achieve economies of scale. Achieving a superior quality product and services through outsourcing as the expertise might be lacking inside the organization, Developing internal staff while focusing on the other operations of business by outsourcing some of the business responsibilities, Staffing flexibility and bringing in additional resources. Thus, it would be advantageous as well as a bit more hectic for the organization to outsource its operation its operations. Overseas Outsourcing of Media Transcribing The medical outsourcing has now become a common part of the hospital function these days. Though it poses many challenges such as a threat to the privacy of patients and their medical histories, however, still the concept of outsourcing is being applied by the medical institutions in order to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. In case of outsourcing the medical transcriptions to Malaysia, there will be many things to take care of. The organization will have to undertake the search for a company where the expertise is available (Kate, 2011). Troon Golf The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a concept which has been applied into the organization by as a financial estimate which helps the organization gain an idea about and fixes its direct and indirect costs of productions. The company performs its operations once it has implemented the idea of TCO through which it refreshes its hardware at the optimal cost level. The economic value of the hardware cost is determined and the optimal costs are determined through the computation of total costs of acquisition and operating costs. This process of TCO helps Troon Golf realize its capital investments. Saber Holdings The project was managed using the IT integration in order to ensure that it ran smoothly. Each step of it was controlled and monitored once it started taking an alternative turn. The penetration of Information Technology gave it the advantage of being profitable, more efficient and effective for the organization as well as the customers. REFERENCES Clemons Eric, (2001). The Impact of Information Technology on the Organization. Accessed online. Retrieved on July 17, 2011. Verner M., (2000). The Impact of Information Technology on the Organizational Transformations. Accesses online. Retrieved on July 17, 2011. Kate Towers, (2011). Outsourcing Pharmacy Service: A good or a bad idea? Accessed online. Retrieved on July 17, 2011. Read More