Management Decisions and Information Technology - Assignment Example

Management Management The success of business in the 21st century depends on the ability of the organization to integrate technology in the business operation. In the advent of information technology, organizations have endeavored to inject business efficiency by using technology to run their data analysis and management and computer systems to enhance business management. The web, internet and computer technology helps the organization to streamline their business functions and to develop strategies for management decision making. Microsoft and Procter & Gamble are among the organizations that have embraced the use of technology within their business operations. A close evaluation of the two companies will help reveal the value of technology within the business environment. Information and its management is an important factor in the business environment. All the management decisions are driven by the data that the management team collects during the previous fiscal years. The managers analyze data and interpret to know their business performance and determine their next course of action. As Wolfgang (3) points out, the efficiency of the management in the data-analysis stage determines the nature of the direction that they opt to follow in their future business. Technology has provided new ways of analyzing information, hence providing the managers with a new approach to business decision making. In Procter and Gamble, the management shifted their focus on data analysis systems to shape their business using effective decision-making tools. Proctor & Gamble is a global organization that has embraced information technology for a long time in their business operations. Before 2005, the organization used decentralized data analysis systems to process their data. Since the company had a number of departments, each department processed its own data and the management had to collect information from each of them. The advantage of this peripheral method of processing data is that the process of collecting data is simple and the data so collected requires little processing (Norris, Linda Baer, Joan Pugliese, and Lefrere 28). In addition, this method helps the organization to evaluate the performance of each department and make decisions that affect each business. However, the weakness of this system lies in the complexity of developing management decisions that can affect the entire organization. In 2005, the CEO Proctor & Gamble, McDonald, decided to use the integrated data system (IDS) system to streamline business operations in the company. The main objective of this system was to “move business intelligence from the periphery to the center of how business is done” (4). In this light, the company management set out to gather the systems, the data and the people that would assist in the implementation of the change. Positioned in a competitive business environment, the organization intended to provide real-time effective decision-making platforms that can assist the organization to thrive in this environment (Stiles 23). McDonald and Passerini intended had the same passion IDS and set out to support the integrated data system. One advantage of the IDS in the organization is saving time by providing real time data analytics. With a centralized data system, the organization processed the entire organizational information at once and quickly. As such, the management spared the time that they had previously used to evaluate data from each system and this time was used in the implementation stage. The organization had enough time to market their business products and concentrate on the monitoring process (Davenport, Iansiti and Serels 15). The organization was able to give more attention to organizational functions, ensure that they are well developed and guarantee success of the business. As such, a centralized analytic system helped the organization to manage its operations in a more effective manner. Analytic systems make data analysis much easier and provide more information that managers can use in developing management decisions. The IDS enables the automatic generation of many reports that are much more detailed. Additionally, this system generates graphical reports that are important in profit maximization. This graphical information provides an avenue for the management to compare business performance in different locations (Campbell, DeBlois, and Oblinger 121). For instance, Proctor & Gamble was able to generate reports from Philippines, US and Brazil within the central system. Therefore, the managers found it easier to compare business performance in all these regions much easier and hence they could make a decision on which business to give more attention. On this note, using the IDS system enabled the management to make more viable management decisions than when the peripheral system was in operation. The IDS system serves to accelerate the decision making process within the business environment. In proctor & Gamble, the system generated real time messages and provided alert when specific critical information was available. As such, the management responded to real time problems and sought out the problems as fast as they arrived. This kind of scenario allowed the organization. Real time decision making has numerous advantages for organizations. First, the organization is able to manage its problems and react to problems before they become uncontrollable (Brown 32). The cost of delayed decision-making is very high and this is something that Proctor & Gamble managed to eliminate through the IDS Decision Cockpit. In addition, the analytic systems allowed business forecasts allowing the managers to develop long-term plans for the business. As such, the system provided an opportunity for the organization to be profitable in the long term. Microsoft Inc is a company that tapped the merits of cloud computing to inject efficiency in its business functions. The various cloud platforms that include software as a service (Saas), infrastructure as a service (Iaas) and Platform as a service (PaaS) helped the organization to streamline its business activities. The Saas platform provides an avenue where the users are able to access application in their online presence through a wide range of search engines. The Iaas cloud computing method allows the organizations to have access to processing and storage systems as a service from their remote locations. Lastly, the Paas provides the users with the right to write and run applications without having to worry about the infrastructure. These cloud-computing methods are evidence of the evolving computer technology that have come up in the web 2.0 platform. The cloud computing technology has many advantages that can help to run business operations smoothly. One major benefit of cloud computing is the availability of information and increase in data access. All the cloud-computing technologies allow organization to have centralized data systems that the management can access at any time. In a business organization, ability to record, analyze and store data is of great significance as all management decisions depend on this data. Cloud computing allows the organization to have real time access of data over the internet and helps the managers to make real time business decisions. The management can access information from their remote location and this allows internationalization of organizational operations. For a global organization such as Microsoft, availability of information allows them to coordinate all the business operations across the world and make decisions that can work for all their market segments. Another advantage of this system is the fact that it saves cost for the organization. For small organizations, data storage infrastructure is expensive and this provides organization with a big challenge when launching their operations. Purchase of such equipment draws a lot of money from the business capital and reduces the amount of live capital that the management can use for production. The PaaS cloud computing technology allows the organization to access write and read services without having to worry about the need for infrastructure (Buyya, Broberg, and Gościński 12-34). The organization can store its information virtually and retrieve it at any moment within the network. For small business organizations, cloud computing allows companies to save over 40% of the cost of production (Meier 45). This implies that the organization has more capital to expand business and generate more profit. However, the disadvantage of cloud computing technology is that it is highly dependent on internet and hence during internet downtime it is impossible to access information. This system downtime is a moment of loss for any organization that depends on cloud computing technology. Consequently, cloud requires efficient maintenance of internet and data systems to guarantee continued access of information (Shroff 115). With efficient maintenance, cloud computing saves time and cost for production making management functions much easier. In conclusion, information technology has a significant influence on management decisions. In Proctor & Gamble, integrated data system helped the management to centralize their operations and generate detailed reports on data. This data provides a ground on which the management can make effective business decisions. In addition, the system allowed the managers to make real time decisions and avoid the losses that accompany delayed business decisions. In Microsoft, the cloud computing technology allowed virtual storage, and access of data which helps the organization to reduce the investment cost. Again, the cloud computing technology allows international companies to access information remotely from all the market segments. The cumulative impact of well-managed data systems is to provide opportunities for more effective decision-making that has a long-term impact on the organizational profits. Works Cited Brown, Malcolm. “Learning Analytics: The Coming Third Wave.” EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative brief. Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE, April 2011. Buyya, Rajkumar, James Broberg, and Andrzej Gościński. Cloud Computing: Principles and Paradigms. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2011. Internet resource. Campbell, John P., Peter B. DeBlois, and Diana G. Oblinger. “Academic Analytics: A New Tool for a New Era.” EDUCAUSE Review 42, no. 4 (July/August 2007): 41–57. Davenport, Thomas, Iansiti, Marco and Serels, Alain. Managing with Analytics at Procter & Gamble. Havard Business School, 2013. Iansiti, Marco and Serels, Alain. Microsoft Server & Tools. Havard Business School, 2013. Wolfgang, Jank. Business Analytics for Managers. New York [etc.: Springer, 2011. Print. Meier, Marco, Werner Sinzig, and Peter Mertens. Enterprise Management with Sap Sem/business Analytics. Berlin: Springer, 2005. Internet resource. Norris, Donald, Linda Baer, Joan Leonard, Louis Pugliese, and Paul Lefrere. “Action Analytics: Measuring and Improving Performance That Matters in Higher Education.” EDUCAUSE Review 43, no. 1 (January/February 2008): 42–47. Stiles, Randall. Understanding and Managing the Risks of Analytics in Higher Education. A guide. Educause, 2013. Shroff, Gautam. Enterprise Cloud Computing: Technology, Architecture, Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. Read More