Strategic Uses of Information Systems
The web has been a prime mover and has become an essential part of most companies’ business models in recent years. This is because the web has forced a company to changed it’s business strategies to be able to keep up with its competitors. Because of the ongoing competition, a continuous process of innovation occurs. A company can be the first in a specific web based service that has improved its market share and increase its revenues but this can be short-lived. Other companies can easily find out the strategy the company is implementing and use it or sometimes use it as a benchmark to start another strategic business strategy that is better than what is already been implemented. Thus, the company must now look for and implement another business strategy to be able to keep up with the other companies. The cycle goes on and on thus making business competition tighter and tighter. Since, the changes the companies are implementing are web based then they can’t hide this from their competitors.
An advantage of the web based businesses is it somehow levels the playing fields for small and large businesses. Internet marketing is slowly making the small business level up with the big and well established businesses. Social media has been one of the big factors that enabled them to compete with the large businesses. Utilizing the social media such as facebook and twitter to advertize and market the products has been more beneficial to the small businesses as they are able to attend personally to their costumers unlike the big companies where usually, they use social media only for advertizing.
Strategic information systems (SIS) have a big role when doing business online. It generally supports the day to day business operations and processes. This helps the management and staff attend to business tasks efficiently. For example, an ordering system helps the company keep tract or orders more accurately. Likewise, SIS also helps the management in making strategic decisions to gain more competitive advantages and for the management and staff as well.
Business Functions and Supply Chain
For a small manufacturing shop that has specific clients and whose business model is to online selling and online acquisition of raw materials, a financial IS would be better used than an accounting and payroll system since the company has only two employees. Since the company manufactures the products it sells, a financial IS would help them determine the prices of their products, help the owners keep track of their financial status through the cash management feature of the financial IS, perform investment analysis service since the company may have purchase some materials or equipments needed in manufacturing their products and help the company in budgeting and forecasting their income.
Since the company is not that large, supply chain management is not needed but if the company wishes to expand, it may be used. Likewise, a human resource management system is not needed at the moment but would be helpful if the company wishes to expand.
Because the company relies mainly on the internet for its income, an online Customer Relationship Management (CRM) must be implemented by the company. This would enable the company to keep track of their customers so they will have ways of keeping them and further expanding their customer list in addition to being able to give service, take orders and inquiries 24/7.
