Information Systems and Technology

By Umra Moin


Today, most organizations in all sectors of industry, commerce and government are fundamentally dependent on their information systems. In industries such as telecommunications, media, entertainment and financial services, where the product is already or is being increasingly digitized, the existence of an organization critically depends on the effective application of information technology (IT).

Information System

An information system is comprised of all the components that collect, manipulate, and propagate data or information. It usually includes hardware, software, people, communications systems, and the data itself. The activities involved include inputting data, processing of data into information, storage of data and information, and the production of outputs such as management reports.

Support Role:
 

Information systems support business processes and operations by:

recording and storing sales data, purchase data, investment data, payroll data and other accounting records.

recording and storing inventory data, work in process data, equipment repair and maintenance data, supply chain data and other production/operations records.

recording and storing market data, customer profiles, customer purchase histories, marketing research data, advertising data, and other marketing records.

to implement, control, and monitor plans, strategies, tactics, new products, new business models or new business ventures.

Information systems often support and occasionally constitute competitive advantages. Information systems, like business environmental scanning systems, support almost all sustainable competitive advantages. Occasionally, the information system itself is the competitive advantage. One example is Wal-Mart. They used an extranet to integrate their whole supply chain.

Information Technology

IT refers specifically to technology, basically hardware, software and telecommunications networks. It is thus both concrete (e.g. with servers, PCs, routers and network cables) and subtle (e.g. with software of all types).
IT facilitates the attainment, processing, storing, delivery and sharing of information and other digital content.

Effectiveness of IS/IT

A number of important forces affect the pace and effectiveness of progress in using IS/IT and in delivering business benefits. The relative weighting of each factor varies over time, and will also vary from one organization to another. These factors include:
o the capabilities of the technology
o the economics of deploying the technology
o the applications that are feasible
o the skills and abilities available, either in-house or from external sources, to develop the applications
o the skills and abilities within the organization to use the applications
o the pressures on the particular organization or its industry to improve performance.

Implementation of Technology via E-commerce and E- business

E-commerce can be viewed as the conduct of business commercial communications and management by using Internet technologies and through electronic methods, such as electronic data interchange (EDI) and automated data-collection systems. It may also involve the electronic transfer of information between businesses (EDI). E-business, on the other hand, has come to refer to the automation of an organization's internal business processes using Internet and browser technologies.
In using the Internet, many organizations have looked to add more value to the tangible products they sell by providing additional 'information-based' services. These can include online support, order tracking, order history, etc. Many of these initiatives focus on deepening the relationship with customers and suppliers. Others have moved their trading platform either partially or entirely onto the Internet.

Success Factors

Several factors have a role in the success of any e-commerce venture. They may include:
o Providing value to customers. Vendors can achieve this by offering a product or product-line that attracts potential customers at a competitive price, as in non-electronic commerce.
o Providing a 360-degree view of the customer relationship, defined as ensuring that all employees, suppliers, and partners have a complete view, and the same view, of the customer.
o Providing an incentive for customers to buy and to return. Sales promotions to this end can involve coupons, special offers, and discounts. Cross-linked websites and advertising affiliate programs can also help.

Hindrance in Acceptance

o Concerns about security. Many people will not use credit cards over the Internet due to concerns about theft and fraud.
o The problem of access to web commerce, particularly for poor households and for developing countries. Low penetration rates of Internet access in some sectors greatly reduce the potential for e-commerce.

Applications of IS/IT and Competitive Advantage

Dell Computers

Some information systems are totally automated by IT. For example, Dell Computers has a system where no human intervention is required, from taking customer orders, to delivery of components to the Dell factory for assembly, to shipment to customers. With this build-to-order model, perfect information and tight linkage match supply and demand in real time. The company can receive an order for a personal computer (PC) directly from a customer via its own website (www.dell.com).

Ryanair

Ryanair is one of the world's most successful 'low fares' airlines. Its online booking facility was launched in 1999, migrating customers away from the more expensive travel agent and call-centre channels. Customers can now search for flights online and book them with a credit or debit card. As a ticketless airline, the customers are supplied with a reference number which is given to staff at check in. Over 90% of ticket sales are now taken on the website, which is also available in a number of languages including French, German, Swedish and Norwegian.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com is an Internet venture that was launched in July 1995, and has probably become the most famous site in cyberspace. It initially started out with a mission to use the Internet to transform book buying into the fastest, easiest and most enjoyable experience possible.

Unlike traditional bookstores, there are no bookshelves to browse at Amazon.com. From the website, customers can search for a specific book, topic or author, or they can browse their way through the book catalogue and then complete the sale by entering their credit card information. Orders are processed immediately and books in stock, generally bestsellers, are shipped the same day. Customers are contacted by email when their order has been dispatched. All contact with the company is done either through their World Wide Website or by email. The company has also branched out into electronic auctions. It has also pioneered technologies such as customer profiling and '1-click' shopping. The profiling technology has enabled Amazon to recommend books based on previous purchasing history and what other customers who have bought similar books are also reading. Even today, the company strives to maintain their founding commitment to customer satisfaction and the delivery of an educational and inspiring shopping experience.

Otis Elevators

In the 1980s, Otis Elevators, the US manufacturer of elevators, identified that one of the aspects of its service that would give its customers most satisfaction was a prompt lift repair service. So, it built an automated system, called Otisline, to dispatch repairmen. Where something started to go wrong with Otis' lifts, they automatically called in their complaint to a computer--without human intervention. Otis' rivals suddenly had to compete on quality of service as well as the price and quality of lifts themselves.

ATC Bologna

HELLOBUS is the Short Message Service (SMS) created by Omnitel Vodafone in collaboration with ATC, Bologna's public transport company. Travelers can find out the exact time the bus they are waiting for will arrive at any of ATC's 1,300 stops, 24 hours a day. All they have to do is send an SMS with the number of the stop and the chosen line. In a few seconds, the reply arrives on their mobile phone indicating the bus's actual time of arrival.

HRMS Software - Employee Self Service (ESS) Defined

By: Clay Scroggin

HRMS Software employee self service (ESS) systems continue to be one of the most popular options with HRMS software and the demand is only growing. The objective of this article is to define the typical capabilities of today's HRIS ESS systems.

Typical HRMS Software ESS Options

Employee Access - In the most basic sense, employee access is the main purpose of ESS systems. Employees have the ability to view or update their own information without having to communicate with HR or their managers to do so. This access may include simple demographic data, emergency contacts, attendance details, benefits, training, payroll information, or insurance plan details. When an ESS product is setup, an HRMS software administrator will typically have the option to define field by field what information employees can view, not view, or update. There may also be situations where they can change data but that change must be approved by others before the change is live. This important capability will be discussed later in this article under the option title Work Flow Management.

Manager Self Service - With many of the companies I have worked with in the past, this option has been viewed as being more important than the employee self service. With this option, managers are able to view or change data on their direct and indirect report employees. An indirect report is an employee who reports to the manager and also has employees reporting to them. In this example, the CEO or President of your company should be able to see all employees. Managers typically may be provided access to all the information employees are but they may also be able to run additional reports on their employees and managers.

Integration of HRMS and Payroll Information - If your HRMS and payroll application are integrated or you have an interface that can populate an HRMS software ESS option, employees and managers may also be able to see payroll data or payroll history. I worked with a twelve hundred employee company recently and, for them, the most important capability of ESS was having the ability for employees to print their own direct deposit advices.

Work Flow Management - I briefly touched on this very important capability under the employee access option section. With this option, you can designate an approval process for any changes that may occur in the system. For example, an employee requests time off, the manager then may approve or disapprove this time, if they approve it, the information may move to human resources to make a final approval. If the manager is out of the office, they will typically have the capability of designating a temporary approver while they are out.

As I mentioned earlier under employee access, the HRMS software administrator has the ability with each field to determine if the employee can view, not view, or change the item. You are typically allowed to setup a work flow for each change, as well.

Time off Management - We briefly touched on this topic already but the important thing to mention is that employees are typically able to view their time off history, balances, leave balances, and request time off. Managers are typically provided the ability to approve or disapprove this time and view reports relating to when employees are scheduled to be out or view attendance summary reports.

Benefits Open enrollment - Benefits Open Enrollment may or may not be an option included with ESS. Sometimes it is an extra option with its own price.

Benefits open enrollments allow for the creation of a benefit setup wizard by the HRMS Administrator. The employees are often able to read details regarding the plans and compare the costs and coverage of multiple plans side by side. This allows employees to complete their benefits setup and changes at home where they can, perhaps, view their spouse's coverage options to make the best decision for their family.

Training Management - If your HRMS software has a detailed training management system, you may also see a number of the following options included in your HRMS application:
o Ability to register online for in house classes
o View training history
o View course catalog
o Take online tests
o View reports associated with programs requiring CEU's or credits for completion or renewal.

In House Recruiting - If your company HRMS software offers a recruiting option, you may also be able to offer in house recruiting options to your employees. They may be able to view a job, the description and requirements or post directly for a job.

Company Information - If your company does not offer an employee intranet, an ESS application can also assist with this demand. You may typically place a variety of links within the employee or manager access portion of the ESS product that may include the following:
o Employee handbook
o Company policies
o Links to benefit providers
o On the first page of the employee or managers access, notes may be added on upcoming events such as benefits open enrollment or other company news.

Role of HRMS in Any Organization

By: Balu Rankonda

Delineating human resource department functions are very crucial for an organization that runs HRMS. In olden days managing large scale human resources was a very toughest task. Even it becomes difficult for sharing the information about employee records, banking and payroll records for International business agencies that do not have central HR administration. Even some U.S. business concerns having multiple offices at various places were running individual HR departments to meet their requirements. The additional expenditure incurred for establishing and running HR departments are being met by balanced company expenditures. Now HRMS has overcome all these problems.

Over many years, of course nearly 20 years HRMS are satisfying the needs of corporate landscape. In early days to implement and operate HRMS an advanced degree in computer science was a mandatory requirement. Also there was a need to hire administrators for getting HRMS data for their company. There were lots of constraints in adopting HRMS. Many companies felt that empowering HR departments would be more beneficial than implementation of HRMS. But over a period of years the revolution in technology has given life to the HRMS and improved to such an extent that without HRMS no corporate office is existing now. The growing needs of HR necessitated for the development of highly specialized tools. A parallel evaluation of HRMS incorporating these tools made ease of HR tasks. The various HR aspects like time, attendance to payroll and labor distribution are valuable commodity in the business world.

The modular packaging is the one of the most beneficial developments in HRMS. Few years back software was the only usable entity in HRMS and there was no scope for a series of applications. There was no dedicated HRMS for small businesses. They used to adopt the same HRMS that large business used. Now trend has changed and HRMS are modulated to suit for all types of businesses. Any business whether it is small or big can purchase HRMS applications meeting to their requirements and can be implemented in their organizations. Scalable modules facilitated in reduction of cost of HRMS. Also scalable modules created the scope to implement for localized applications without disturbing the resources that deal with larger applications.

Now the business community realized HRMS as standard application by virtue of software's integral value. Also in the present business world either small or large business organizations felt HRMS as indispensable tool in their organizations. Though HRMS has become part of most functional and practical of all business software solutions, still there is vide scope for its continual development.