Business Communications
Business Communications
I am lucky to get a job in a big organization like the McDonalds as an Assistant Manager. All my work experience in McDonalds was wonderful and marvelous, and I enjoyed working there. Considering work experiences in McDonalds, my task here is to assemble a report on utilizing the techniques of Management Information System (MIS) for making business decisions.
One of the major aspects on which special emphasize has been initiated in recent years was the application and implementation of effective and worthwhile systems for the decision making process. According to research studies, every single technologically oriented and efficient organization has many opportunities to utilize the management information system for productivity improvements (Hutton, 1980).
Throughout my working experience in McDonalds, I found that proper and timely communication with the employees is essential for the management. It is an avenue through which organizations can maintain harmony between the employee and company interests. Authors Jacobson & Ruddy, (2004) noted that communication is an important tool for organizations. It is one of the tools, which organizations can use to bring their employees together to work as a team for successful completion of projects.
I examined the procedures at McDonalds and find that the practices are as good, if not better, as those prevalent at some of the most technologically efficient companies of the world. From my extensive experience as an Assistant Manager in McDonalds, I found that proper and effective communication behavior with the employees is an integral aspect for the success of the companies. It is one of the most important elements by which satisfaction among the employees can be enhanced. During my service in McDonalds, I took notice and responsibility to overcome the challenges of poor internal communications. I also took up the challenge to make the decision making process easy for the company. With the help of technologically oriented decision-making stance initiated through the Management Information System (MIS), organizations such as McDonalds can get perfect harmony to operations. I also appreciated all the other technological advances found in McDonalds and studied them to learn about their effectiveness.
Statement of Learning
In addition to McDonalds, I also rendered my services to HSBC bank as a Collection Representative. It is one of the toughest jobs in financial institutions, because it requires interacting directly with clients. One may have to be harsh at times in collections. This particular job is very different from the job in McDonalds; nonetheless, I managed to stay long to accomplish my goals.
Customer satisfaction is a top priority for organizations, particularly the banks and financial institutions. During my job at HSBC, I found that the HSBC bank makes effective use of MIS. Current MIS Systems educate the bankers regarding the credit history of an individual as well as a company. Based such information, effective actions are taken. Proper language and recording of the relevant data are some of the important skills I learned while working in the HSBC bank. I learnt a great deal from all of these experiences about how organizations are implementing, and how they should implement the procedures and workings of the MIS to make timely decisions. Making the organizations responsible and ethical is the most important aspect related to organizations becoming economically sound and effective. The current business model is reflecting the same thing, because effective decision-making has emerged as integral and precious for the organizations (Kolb, 1984).
Discuss competitive advantages associated with managing information systems
McDonalds and HSBC are among the largest organizations of the world, wherein the level of technological advancement is highly demanding. I have enjoyed my service period in both of these organizations. I learned about the information systems and how they can be applied to improve the productivity. A management information system (MIS) is the core study of people, technology, organization, and the fiduciary relationships. It is one of the most important aspects for an organization in the current economic scenario, and it worked wonders in terms of having competitive advantages. MIS Professionals are always required to assist the organization with their allocated budgeted, and to have a high Return on Investment (ROI) (Carroll and Gillen, 1987). Management Information System (MIS) use sophisticated models for data mining, accumulation, and analysis. They project the best course of action for the company in the near future.
Managing the information system is an important feature that can bring certain competitive advantages for the entity (Edwards, 2006). There are three different competitive advantages associated with the information systems (IS), and these advantages would be initiated with the core advancement and management of the IS. In McDonalds, I have seen how the management is managing their information system for their long-term decision making aspects. From my core experience while working in McDonalds and HSBC Bank, I have found that there are three competitive advantages for the information systems, which are as follows (Fayol, 1966)
- Cost Leadership
- Differentiation
- Focus
Discuss hardware and software considerations for using information technology in global business environments
I worked in some of the largest organizations of the world in terms of revenue and size. These organizations have the highest association and proportion of users in the information technology. I have found from my experiences that the hardware and software implementations are essential for the companies in all over the world, and it is equally beneficial for McDonalds and HSBC as well. According to their working style, information technology has now become an important part of the organizations. Other than strengthening the technology platforms, there is no alternate plan for the companies to compete in this particular technological world (Gregory, 2008).
All of these hardware and software, which have been discussed above, are in extensive use in organizations like McDonalds, HSBC and others. I have learned that utilization of these technologically advanced gadgets is essential for the companies. The devices are effective for McDonalds and HSBC, and they will certainly be effective for companies all over the world.
Explain the processes and resources needed to support database management, network security, and business intelligence
Technology and its advancement are now creating effectiveness for companies in the current economic scenarios (Hales, 1986). Business Intelligence, Network Security, and Database Management are some of the important aspects to an organization as far as managing their operations are concerned. These are some of the dominating factors that affect the productivity and level of efficacy of the organizations, and I have found these applications and their implementation are desirable (Hales, 1999).
The process and resources that are needed to support database management, network security, and business intelligence are highly sophisticated. Some of the major segments under business intelligence are human resources and capital. Database management and network security require heavy system implementation within the company that can work in seconds to resolve any related issues within the company. From the prior learning in McDonalds and HSBC, I consider hiring of technologically advanced professionals is important to manage database and business intelligence functions. They have a direct linkage with the financial and strategic positions of the company. The same practice is found essential in the companies where I worked in, like McDonalds and HSBC, and these technologically advanced techniques would certainly be effective for their future.
Discuss how the Internet works
In the field of technology, tremendous progress is associated with Internet. My prior experience while working in McDonalds and HSBC revealed that internet has now become an important source of discussing and sharing of knowledge among the management and other major players. One of the main statements that are associated with the internet is that it has the tendency to utilize the workings of the entire world. The entire world is in the hands of the professional, who uses the internet. The important thing is that it does not lie in working of internet, but it lies in the fact that how internet works (Berger, 2005).
Internet usually works in the form of data packets, which will exchange information hand to hand in different parts of the world, and this information will be effective for their future concerns and effectiveness. Internet has now emerged as an important technologically efficient technology through which the distances are getting shorter and shorter in almost every corner of the world. Internet works by exchanging each other information in a perfect manner. It is a pure sign of two-way communication in which data sending and exchanging of information will continue among different players.
Describe differences between various E-Commerce business models, to include: Business to Business, Business to Consumers, Consumers to Consumers, and Enterprise Resource Planning.
Information technology has now bought all sorts of advancement and effectiveness in the current economic scenario, as each and every operation is now engaging with the internet. Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) is the latest technology that now emerged as an integral thing from which organizations can buy and sell the products. E-Commerce usually means to buy and sell over the internet with some of the prescribed methods and technologies. There are three different types of E-Commerce, which are Business to Business, Business to Consumers and Consumers to Consumers (Martin, 1999).
Business to Business is an E-Commerce in which a company is in the business engagement with the other business. It means that the end users of the company will be the other business. For example, Intel is a technologically advanced company that makes microchips and processors, and if they selling their chips to let say Microsoft or HP, then this particular business model would be related as Business to Business Model.
Business to Consumer is an E-Commerce model used to sell the products to the consumers. It is one of the most common types of Businesses used in the current scenario. From the past learning in the companies, I have found the business scenario of both of the companies. McDonalds and HSBC are some of the major examples of Business to Consumers (B2C) business model, and these companies are using the same aspect accordingly for their future economic and strategic growth (Martin, 1999).
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) is an important type of E-Commerce business modeling associated with consumer to consumer, in which a company will provide the platform on which buyers and sellers can meet each other to have a deal. Organizations play the role of an agent in this case scenario.
Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) is a software mixing strategy and it is used to manage and manipulate the data for the future utilization to take the challenges and initiates.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages with Expert and Decision Support Systems
Advantages
- It is known as one of the most advanced methods of decision making used by the companies in the current economic scenarios (Martin, 1999)
- The system has the tendency to analyze the resources and capacity of the company effectively
- The engagement of management officials is low while taking decisions through the support systems
- Advanced methods are now available
Disadvantage
- The cost of such methods would be very high
- Since most of reliance of the companies would be towards the technological advancement and efficiency, it totally ignores the idea of man power
Describe the phases of the System Development Life Cycle
The system development life cycle (SDLC), also referred as Application development life cycle, describes the entire process for planning, testing, creating, and developing the information systems in software engineering. The different phases of life cycle are shown in Figure 1 (Rodrigues, 2004).
Figure 1. Various phases in the system development life cycle (Rodrigues, 2004).
The SDLC process starts from planning and then move towards the analysis and design process. After designing, the next big step is the implementation. Once implemented, maintenance becomes a part of the process. As depicted, the whole process is circular moving through the same steps as improvements or changes to the software are incorporated again and again.
Describe effective use of business applications, to include: word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation software
My work tenure at McDonalds and HSBC enabled me to analyze important aspects Business applications such as their operability in conjunction with other software applications such as word, excel, and power point. These are some of the business application processes, which are essential for the companies (Rodrigues, 2004). In terms of functionality, these applications are used for:
- Word Processing: It helps the companies to write reports and present them to the management or others. It leads to proper and effective decisions for the future aspects of the company (Easley & Kleinberg, 2010)
- Spreadsheet: It is used to compute and analyze the data collected for the decision making purpose
- Database: It is used to store, retrieve, analyze, and manage large amounts of data in a perfect manner
- Presentation Software: It is used to make presentations in meetings, conferences, and workshops. Presentation Software allows the easy mix of words, pictures, graphics, and videos. Modern presentations prepared in power point, for example, are effective tools for conveying complex information in front of the management and to the consumers
Discuss how business communication principles impact the effective use of computer applications for collaboration in the workplace
In the context of an organization, a workplace allows people with different mindset work together in a team for the achievement of a pre-specified goal (Rodrigues, 2004). For any organization, the stance of communication is extremely important among their employees and management. Effective communication keeps the team members fully informed. As business communication practices, computer applications can work miracles and promote collaboration in the workplaces. Intranet is one of the major programs that companies use to enhance the level of communication among the employees, as well as between the employees and the management. Thus, business communications is an important collaborative tool used by the companies to enhance teamwork, communication, productivity, and effectiveness.
Conclusion
Information technology consists of two different aspects known as Information and Technology. The collection and exchanging of knowledge and information is used to enhance the levels of technology and vice versa. It is vitally important for the companies to use the IT appropriately for their future prospects and growth. A large number of companies with concern for their economic and strategic growth are now focusing more on the utilization of information technology (Rodrigues, 2004).
I have been in the IT field for a number of years, and observed its ups as well as downs. Based on extensive experience gained through my education and career, I can say that technology is transforming every aspect of work in corporations. Without proper technology platforms in place, no organization can survive, let alone advance to prosperity. As one of the major players in technology and information, MIS is currently in use for the decision-making purposes in all over the world, and it will remain so in the future as well. With all the past knowledge and experience, I am fully prepared to exploit MIS in the future for bigger and better achievements.
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