Management Information System
Introduction
The paper is intended to examine the management information systems (MIS) of the companies in the world to understand that the companies are using information system and related disadvantages of using management information system. For this purpose, the study is going to conduct the comparative study of the management information system of two different organizations. The organizations selected for the comparison include Zara and Benetton. Both of these companies are related to fashion industry where, Zara is based in the UK, and Benetton is based in Italy (Pirone, 2010).
Zara and Benetton both are involved in using management information system for the management of the information and communication in their networks around the world. Zara has its own IT infrastructure for the development of the applications and systems for the management the information within the company. Its management information system is in La Coruna (McAfee, Dessain & Sjoman, 2007). The system of Zara is based on different and simple Information technology as compared to its competitors.
On the other side, Benetton is using a technology based information system to respond to the market pressures and challenges to the fashion industry. Benetton has been involved in using Electronic Data Interchange and databases from last many years. The managers of the company rely on data generated inbound at the time of transactions and purchasing. The data is then filtered in the piece of information to identify the market trends and customer demands (Pirone, 2010). The information system of Benetton is advanced and sophisticated as compared to Zara’s information system.
Comparison of the Use of Information systems for the internal operations and decision making
Zara uses Information technologies for different purposes and activities of the organization. Information technology is at the heart of Zara’s business strategy that is used for both operations and decision making in the company. The operations of Zara are based on three processes include ordering, design and manufacturing and fulfillment (McAfee, Dessain & Sjoman, 2007).
For the ordering of new designs and stock, the handheld computers are used by the managers and these computers are directly linked to the information system in La Coruna. It helps the managers to get information about the newly available stock in all categories. The information system provides the order information to all the handheld systems in different stores. In general, the company uses IT system for the orders and their aggregations. The information system of Zara helps to maintain the orders with the stock and inventories of the company and to manage the equilibrium in between supply and demand (McAfee, Dessain & Sjoman, 2007).
Other than the orders, the information system is also used in the factories, and it provides the factory management with the information about the quality required and the deadlines to meet the orders for particular quantity (McAfee, Dessain & Sjoman, 2007).
The purpose of Zara to use IT in the information system is to improve the decision making process within the organization. Based on the information about the customer demands and changing trends in the market, Zara makes decisions about changing the designs and placing the orders. The major business strategy of Zara is to quickly response to the market needs. For the decision making, the information comes from the stores around its international store chain (McAfee, Dessain & Sjoman, 2007).
The information system of Benetton is also aimed to improve the operations and decision making of the company. The electronic data is updated in every 24 hours that is used to make the decisions about the product designs, colors, and features. The decisions about the production align with the demands of the customers with the help of the information system of the company.
Benetton updating the information system placed CAD (Computer-Aided Design) to improve the speed of production and manufacturing with the help of computerized designs of garments. Different software is used to create colors and designs and to store the information about the previous designs. The whole manufacturing operations of Benetton is now based on the information system and technologies from designing to cutting. It results in the improved production process of the company (Pirone, 2010).
The management information system of Benetton improved some major areas such as production, distribution, raw material purchasing, transportation and the speed of the retailing and order filling (Pirone, 2010).
Comparing management information system of two companies, it can be found that both companies are using MIS for operations and decision making. However, the system of Benetton is complicated and advanced while the system of Zara is very simple. On the whole, both companies have improved the speed of the production and operations to respond to the market demands and trends with the help of their information systems. It means that either a simple management information system or it is complicated, its helps the organizations in the decision making process with the help of easy flow of information throughout its network.
Use of Information System for competitive advantage
The information system of Zara is completely different from its competitors and efficiently supported the company to achieve the competitive advantage. Using the information technology in the information system led Zara to the leading position in the fashion industry. Zara is the fastest growing retailer in the fashion industry because of the use of information system for fast retailing and responding to market demands and changing trends. Zara with the help of managing the orders, designs, manufacturing, and distribution, efficiently uphold its competitive advantage in the fashion industry (Pirone, 2010).
On the other side, Benetton also improved its market position and achieved a competitive advantage with the help of management information system. The process of designing, manufacturing and shipping becomes quicker than ever before and takes a week to complete as compared to six months before the installation of management information system (Keegan, 1989). The major advantages to Benetton with the help of new management information system includes the advantage of cost savings, improved services to the customers for the supply and demand, an increase in the revenue and profitability with the help of demanded stock availability (Pirone, 2010).
It shows that both companies are succeeded in achieving the competitive advantage with the help of their management information system. Despite of this, it is apparent from the analysis that both companies are mainly focusing on fast retailing and manufacturing in line with the customers’ demand. However, both companies have few disadvantages. The major disadvantage to both companies is the no economies of scale for the distribution and logistics because of the centralization (Pirone, 2010).
Consequences of Using Information Technology and Computer Crimes
The consequences of using information technology are diverse and both negative and positive. The management information system results in the flexibility in the organizations that increases the engagement of the employees in the organizational decision making. The improved processes of both the companies discussed above shows that how efficiently the information technology helps the organizations to improve their speed to respond to the market and increase the sales and profitability of the company.
Despite of the positive impacts, the individuals and organizations both are being impacted negatively by the use of information technology. Within the firms, the white collar crimes are very popular. The irregularities in the accounting, the security issues to the information of the organization and the employees, the security issues of the investors’ finance are the major challenges faced by both individuals and organizations in the use of IT (Willison, 2006).
The computer crimes threatened both the individuals and the companies in terms of privacy and security. The hackers accessing to the information of the company or the employees endangers the organizational operations and security of the individuals. From the database and data warehouses, the hackers steal the information of the customers as well, such as their personal information, date of births and bank accounts (Willison, 2006).
Conclusion
References
Keegan, W. J. (1989). Global marketing management. Prentice Hall.
McAfee, A., Dessain, V. and Sjöman, A., (2007). Zara: IT for Fast Fashion. Harvard Business School.
Pirone, C. (2010). Benetton and Zara information systems: a comparative analysis. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from; http://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstream/handle/2099.1/9456/67045.pdf?sequence=1
Willison, R. (2006). Understanding the offender/environment dynamic for computer crimes. Information Technology & People, 19(2), 170-186.
