Introduction
First of all, it is essential to define the management information system (MIS) – for further conduction of the comparison analysis of the MIS of Starbucks and MinuteClinic (CVS) as well as the challenges, faced by the MIS of these companies in terms of efficacy improvement and ensuring the high rates of security.
The MIS is the computerized database of the data, which is programmed and organized in such way that the regular reports are produced by it for every managerial level. In addition, informational systems imply an easy access and option of generation of the special reports within the limited timeframes.
The core purpose of the informational systems (IS) is provision of the feedback to the managers - regarding their own performance. The top management of the entity has an option of conducting a monitoring of the whole set of activities, performed in the organization. The data, which is displayed by the IS may be also used for conducting a comparison analysis of the ‘actual state of affairs’ with the ‘planned achievements’ as well as the state of affairs of the previous periods. In other words, there is an option of measuring the progress against goals, while applying into the practice the IS. The information from the company functions and units is obtained by the IS. Some information is collected from the computer in an automatic manner while other is keyed in periodically (Uslegal.com, 2016).
MIS in Starbucks
Initially, the core purpose of Starbucks was the global expansion – in order to become an international company and preserve its eminence. The top management of this business entity was tending to increase its sales rates not only by the frequency of bringing the clients to the coffee house, but by attracting additional numbers of target demographic alongside with increasing of the demanded quantity of coffee (or other items) purchased (ordered) at every visit.
Currently, the IS of Starbucks may be characterized as a rather sophisticated one because the locations for the coffee houses were selected by this system while referring to the Starbuck’s target demographic; in addition, the set of the aspects of the quality management in Starbucks is operated by its IS. It is estimated by the experts that the following challenge is faced by the Starbucks IS - there is a need of re-organizing the managerial system of this entity within the further decade for making it as business-to-business e-commerce. In such case, there is also a need of making some advancements and developing the extranet within the currently existing information system and ensuring the high rates of data security
Additional attention shod be paid to the fact that there is a direct interrelation between the currently existing IS of Starbucks and social networks. The core reason for active engagement of Starbucks IS into the social networks is the fact that the actual clients who have already tried the production of Starbucks, post their impressions, make comments and in such way, attract additional target audience, for free – there is no need in making some investments into this area (the possible expenditures in this case are the following: issuing the advertisements and organization of the active engagement of the management of this business entity into the process of responding claims or managing disputes, which may emerge between the clients or potential clients or even more, made by the competitors). Currently, the business entities and Starbucks, in particular, have their accounts in Facebook and thus, some investments are made by these organizations for making advertisements on this web site (Farzanatasminali.wordpress.com, 2012).
Starbucks uses the four informational systems: decision support system; customer relationship management system; supply chain management system; transaction processing system. All of these systems should ensure the security of the stored and shared data and thus, individual logins and pass works are provided to each particular user, in such was, the cybercrime rates are minimized and the security managers are provided with the possibility of tracing the changes, made by each particular user.
The core purpose of using the decision support system is the business data analysis and its assessment. Such type of IS, used in Starbucks, may be referred as an effective tool, for the decision makers. Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) is used by Starbucks for conducting the large scale data analysis and corresponding statistical assessment for the decision making processes.
The decision support system (DSS), applied by the top management of Starbucks, is an application to the computer program, which conducts an assessment of the business data and furthermore, interprets it is such manner, that the user may apply it into the practice for making the corresponding decision for the organization. The singular DSS system is used by the parent Starbucks Company in USA – “oracle”, which, in turn, generates the reports, critical for the decision making, on a monthly basis. The authority for making the decisions, regarding the products, is provided to the parent company only.
The use of the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition and Oracle Exadata Database Machine for development and practical use of the enterprise data warehouse of the high performance has created the set of advantages (and competitive advantages in particular) for this business entity. For instance, the managers, analysts, decision makers and other employees of all levels, located at different departments (stores or coffee houses) of this organization, are provided with an access to the performance records, as well as operations, which take their places within the supply chain. The option of refreshing and loading of the information from all of the stores all over the world, in a timely manner, ensures the high level of the provided services and their compliance with the initially stated standards (Starbucksinformationsystem.blogspot.com, 2014).
Informational system in healthcare sector
- MinuteClinic (CVS).
The major emphasis of the information systems in the healthcare sector is put on the security of stored data as well as on the improvement of the operational performance and minimization of the medical errors. These are also the core challenges of the information system within the industry – the experts in IT are constantly tending to improve these aspects of IS functioning. That is why, the electronic health records have been launched in a MinuteClinic. Additional emphasis of the information system is put on the effective, accurate and prompt reporting; the reporting system in MinuteClinic is an integrative part of the transactions systems.
Currently, the healthcare sector is tending to become accountable care organizations (ACOs). That is why, the systems for controlling the cost and quality of care have been launched and as a result, the huge impact on the personal care was done – the core area of activity of the MinuteClinic. The major IT driver of this organization is pervasive computing. That is why, the set of microprocessors has been integrated into the organizational activity of the healthcare entities within the system of the pervasive computing of MinuteClinic – for monitoring the performance of the personnel, for securing the data as well as for provision of a prompt access to the Electronic Health records (EHR) of each particular patient.
EHR have been widely implemented into the practice in the scope of the informational system of the healthcare entities within the system of MinuteClinic – as effective tools for the pervasive clinical decision making. The information as well as medical experience, which is gained form organizational data assessment, plays the vital role in the performance improvement (and in such manner, adds the competitive advantage for this network of healthcare entities).
Generally, it is possible to make a statement that informational system of the MinuteClinic implies the great values, as well as the competitive advantage for this organization since it enables its personnel to improve the services, their quality and accuracy and in such way, attracts more patients and enhances its client base by creation of EHR, where the detailed medical (patient’s) history is stored and is available per request in the case when such patient needs some urgent interventions, additional care or advice from the physician (such advice should be grounded on the individual aspects of the health (allergies, forbidden interventions, diabetes etc.) in order to be effective and not make the harmful impact on the patients’ health condition). The convenience of such informational system may be supported by the fact that there is an option of getting an access to the EHR of each particular patient from every department (healthcare unit) of MinuteClinic. The security of data is ensured by the limited access (and well as transparency of accesses, viewed data and corrections, made into the record), provided to the particular physicians (Grandia, 2016).
References
Farzanatasminali.wordpress.com (2012) Information Technology at Starbucks. Retrieved form: https://farzanatasminali.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/information-technology-at-starbucks/
Grandia, L. (2016) Healthcare Information Systems: A Look at the Past, Present, and Future. Retrieved form: https://www.healthcatalyst.com/healthcare-information-systems-past-present-future
Starbucksinformationsystem.blogspot.com (2014) Information Systems at Starbucks. Retrieved form: http://starbucksinformationsystem.blogspot.com/2014/11/starbucks_10.html
Uslegal.com (2016) Management Information Systems Law & Legal Definition. Retrieved form: http://definitions.uslegal.com/m/management-information-systems/
