Information Technology is the use of computers and software to manage the

information. Computers play the important role in information technology. We can say
IT is a technology to maximize the efficiency and production and improves the working
efficiency. The world has become a Global HUB due to developments of IT.

IT would be responsible for protecting the information, processing the information,

transmitting the information and retrieving the information.

Information Technology is often used to describe computers and computer networks, it

actually includes all layers of all systems within an organization from the physical
hardware to the operating systems, applications, databases, storage, servers and more.
with information technology we can have access to Latest news, Speaking with People
real time, Video Chatting, e-learning, eCommerce and Social networking

4. IT-Organizational Interdependence Understood Through Open Systems Theory

Three sets of propositions are offered.

(A) IT's Role in Managing Organizational Change

(A-1) Environment-Goals-Structure
(A-2) Organic Structure
(A-3) Differentiation & Integration
(B) IT's Role in Managing Organizational Interdependencies
(C) The IT Paradox

(A) IT's Role in Managing Organizational Change

(A-1) IT and Environment-Goals-Structure

Churchman (1968) defined environment as those factors which not only are outside
the system's control but which determine in part how the system performs.
Uncertainty is the difference between the amount of information required to perform
the task and the amount of information already possessed by the organization
(Galbraith, 1973:5; Schoderbek, 1967).

Proposition 1: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use IT for monitoring

the preferences of the environment.

System theorists have recognized the importance of "feedback" for the survival of the
system (Miller, 1955) and for maintaining a "steady state" or "homeostasis" (Katz and
Kahn, 1966). Organizations are purposive systems that learn of the impending threats
by scanning. Scanning is the process by which the organization acquires information
for decision making. The modes (surveillance and search) of scanning are primarily
determined by the external environmental stimuli and are determined by the
magnitude and by the direction of the discrepancy between the goal and its realization
(Schoderbek, Schoderbek & Kefalas, 1980). While surveillance is useful for
information-gathering process, search is oriented toward finding a satisfactory
solution to a specific problem. Complex systems require complex controllers (Ashby,
1956). IT will provide the "complex controller" to the increasingly complex
organization. The information systems of an organization need to evolve to remain
consistent with the changing organizational structure (Daniel, 1961). Referring to the
obscurity of causal laws of turbulence, Aldrich (1979: 73) argued that scanning could
provide the firm with the desired "competitive edge."

Proposition 2: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use IT for translating

the information on environmental preferences into goals.

Continuously changing environment requires organizations to continuously reassess

their goals (Thompson and McEwen, 1958). Effective structuring requires a
consistency among the design parameters and contingency factors (Mintzberg, 1979).
Maniha and Perrow (1965) have demonstrated that organizations' goals can be
generated by external forces, such as other groups seeking to use the organization to
further their own ends.

Proposition 3: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use IT to align their

structure with environmental preferences.

The very efforts of the organization to maintain a constant external environment

produce changes in organizational structure (Katz and Kahn, 1966). Scott (1987)
argued that organizational structure and goals are driven by the preferences in the
environment. The structure is determined by the information- processing capacity
requirements of the organization (Galbraith, 1977: 36) which in turn are governed by
the IT being used. Aldrich (1972), Perrow (1967), Walker (1962) and Woodward
(1958, 1965) have attributed structural differences to the organization's technology.
Mintzberg (1979: 221) had suggested that the organization's environment and
technology are the independent (contingency) variables that determine the structural
variables of the organization.

Fowles (1987), in his narrative on the history of organizational communications

technologies contends that the phenomenal expansion of organizations can be largely
attributed to advances in the technologies of organizational communication. Yates
(1987) argued that in absence of technological communication organizations could
have evolved differently. Preliminary econometric analyses of the overall U.S.
economy for the period 1975-1985 further confirms that the increased use of IT is
correlated with decreases in firm size and vertical integration (Brynjolfsson, et al.,
1989).

(A-2) IT and Organic Structure

Proposition 4: Turbulent environment drives organizations to make more use of IT for

increasing their "organic" characteristics.

"Organic" firms are better equipped to sustain themselves in turbulent environment

(Burns and Stalker, 1961). A dynamic environment will drive the structure to an
organic state despite other forces (Mintzberg, 1979); the more complex the
environment, the more decentralized the structure. Introduction of IT (automation) at
the "operating core" level transforms a bureaucratic administrative structure into an
organic one (Mintzberg, 1979: 265). Effectively, automation of routine tasks
(Woodward, 1965) eliminates the source of many of the social conflicts throughout
the organization.

Law of requisite variety (Ashby, 1956) implies that the rate of change of
organizational systems must correspond to the rate of change of environmental
systems, i.e., organizations with complex environmental interactions would develop
complex structures (Becker and Neuhauser, 1975: 71) like adhocracies or networks.
Adhocracy is suitable for a dynamic and complex environment, when the firm has
sophisticated technical systems and the focus is upon consistently offering
differentiated products (Mintzberg, 1979) for retaining the customers. Future
organizations would be "networks" (Keen, 1991) characterized by adhocracies with
flexible systems of projects and teams (Drucker, 1988; Malone and Rockart, 1993;
Mintzberg, 1979) brought together quickly to accomplish specific tasks (Ramstrom,
1974; Rockart & Short, 1989; Toffler, 1985). Some existing organizations have
already "farmed out" their operations by establishing them as separate organizations
or contracting them out to other organizations (Mintzberg, 1979).

Proposition 4a: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use IT for empowering

workers at all levels.

Growing availability of telecommunications has offered technologies like distributed

systems and client-server architecture (Keen, 1991) that facilitate the process of
empowerment of the lower levels (Mintzberg, 1979: 183). In the "informated"
(Zuboff, 1988) organization, workers would be "empowered" by virtue of access to
necessary information to perform higher-level tasks. Ramstrom (1974) has argued that
tactical decisions relating to "soft" information would be delegated to the "grass-
roots" where there is easy access to relevant information concerning the immediate
environment, at the same time providing these levels with the information generated
within the system by means of "cheap" (with internal coordination costs becoming
negligible) internal information systems.

Proposition 4b: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use IT for increasing

the spans of control.

Information technologies, by facilitating the standardization of coordination (Malone

and Crowston, 1991), would facilitate larger spans of control or work units
(Mintzberg, 1979: 139) which would be characterized by extensive lateral
communication and self- contained authority structures.

Proposition 4c: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use IT for increasing

lateral communications.

Selective use of lateral decision processes for situations involving task uncertainty
increase the information processing capacity of the organization (Galbraith, 1973: 18;
Ramstrom (1974). Bringing the points of decision down to the points of action (where
the information originates) reduces the information overload on the managers. Since
specification of "procedures" in complex situations (Becker and Neuhauser; 1975)
creates inefficiencies, organizations in turbulent environments would use more IT
resource for delegating the decision-making to workers ("empowerment"). Increased
use of groupware (Wilke, 1993) for lateral coordination will spell the demise of
middle-management (Bluementhal, 1963; Leavitt and Whisler, 1958, 1970).

(A-3) IT and Differentiation-Integration

Proposition 5: Turbulent environment drives organizations to reduce their

"dimensions" by focusing on core competencies by leveraging their use of IT.

Proposition 5a: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use IT to reduce

differentiation and integration to focus on increased specialization.

Organizations structure themselves to minimize coordination costs (Galbraith, 1970)

and group together similar activities to achieve the benefits of process specialization
(March and Simon, 1958). Environmental uncertainty or "task predictability" is the
basic independent variable influencing the design of the organization (Galbraith,
1970; Perrow, 1967; Thompson, 1967). Faced with increased uncertainty,
organizations can reduce the need for information processing by decreasing the
"diversity of outputs" (Galbraith, 1973). Reduced differentiation and integration
(Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967) of activities would decrease the coordination effort
involved thus reducing the information processing requirements. Reduced
coordination costs with IT would result in the substitution of IT for human
coordination (Malone and Rockart, 1993). Greater specialization would be achieved
by focusing on few core competencies.

(B) IT's Role in Managing Organizational Interdependencies

Proposition 6: Turbulent environment drives organizations to actively seek

interorganizational (interfirm) relations to leverage their core competencies.

Cooperation, especially in the international context, will be necessary to gain a

competitive advantage in the future (IBM, 1990; Cummings, 1980). To survive in an
increasingly competitive environment, firms would form alliances that would bring
together their core competencies to create the "best of all" products (Byrne, 1993;
Drucker, 1988).

Proposition 6a: Turbulent environment drives organizations to reduce environmental

complexity and uncertainty by seeking interdependencies (complex relationships) with
other organizations in the environment.

Proposition 6b: Turbulent environment drives organizations to use more IT-effort to

establish coordinating mechanisms with other firms.

To survive in the fast-changing environment the "adaptive organization" would be

more like a shifting "constellation" (Mintzberg, 1979; Toffler, 1985) that has [IT]
"linkages" (Pinfield, Watzke and Webb, 1974) with independent and semi-
autonomous organizations. Use of interorganizational linkages such as EDI (electronic
data interchange) would enable new forms of organizations and reduce the
coordination costs of increasingly market-driven organizations (Malone and
Crowston, 1991). Increasingly, electronic linkages are becoming the necessary
condition of doing businesses with larger firms (Keen, 1991).
Using an analogy to the study of community chests conducted by Litwak and Hylton
(1962), we observe that in the increasingly global competition, the firms are
competing for the common customers' "fund" and the increase in one firm's revenue
would come at the expense of other firm's loss [of customers]. Coordination, being a
function of interdependency, should grow in periods of increased competition for
"funds." (For a typology of interorganizational configurations based upon
interorganizational control, see Lehman, 1975.)

(C) The IT Paradox

Proposition 7: Increasingly turbulent environment would feed the need for further
[and greater] advancements in IT which would further increase turbulence.

Business needs are incessantly driving the demands for increased capabilities of IT. In
turn, increasingly advanced IT is being utilized in more and more sophisticated ways
by the businesses to outdo competition (Rockart & Short, 1989). IT, which is being
deployed as a solution to the increased complexity and uncertainty of the
environment, has paradoxically contributed to the situation by "compressing time and
distance." In absence of the present day advances in IT, would we be talking of
globalization or time-based competition? Perhaps, not. The pace of complexity is
increasing fast. Hopefully, the advances in technology would be able to keep up with
the environmental changes.

Discussion and Summary of Propositions

For researchers as well as practitioners, open systems theory provides a 'wholistic'

perspective of the organizational issues which involves all the interactions in the
environment- organization interaction matrix. Moreover, L22 (the 'turbulent
environment') is increasingly significant because most organizational change is
externally induced. "Survival of the fittest" is a function of the fitness of the
environment (Terreberry, 1968). Organizational adaptability is a function of the
ability to learn and to perform according to changes in the environment. Complexity
and rapidity of change in 'external connectedness' (L22) results in increasingly
unpredictable change in the organization's transactional dependencies (L12, L21).
Adaptability exists to the extent that a system (L11) can survive externally induced
(L22) change in its transactional interdependencies (L21, L12) in the long run. To
confront increasing environmental turbulence, organizations are seeking to increase
their transactional interdependencies (L21, L12).

In this article, the issues of organizational change and organizational interdependence

have been used to illustrate some potential contributions of open systems theory.
Tentative propositions outline research questions and hypotheses that might assist in
solving some of the problems encountered by organizations. The propositions might
be summarized as follows.

Proposition 1 asserts that faced with increasing environmental change, organizations

will scan their environments more intensely and IT can be effectively used for this
purpose. Proposition 2 and 3 argue that the feedback from the environment will be
used to plan the organizational goals and the organizational structure by making
effective utilization of IT. Proposition 4 contends that faced with increasingly
turbulent environment, organizations will devise more organic structures by
application of IT. Proposition 5 states that in the increasingly turbulent environment
organizations would leverage their core competencies by deploying IT. Proposition 6
argues that organizations would use IT-enabled coordination-mechanisms for linking
with other organizations in a turbulent environment to leverage their core
competencies. Proposition 7 contends that increasingly complex and uncertain
environment drives the increase in IT capability, and the use of newer IT capabilities
further increases the turbulence.

Major Ecommerce Business Classifications

Electronic commerce encompasses all online marketplaces that connect buyers
and sellers. The internet is used to process all electronic transactions.

The first thing to think about is the type of business transaction you’re going
for. When you think about the business you want to run, who do you see
yourself selling to? Is your business B2B, B2C, C2C, or C2B?

Do you have an idea for a type of ecommerce business that you’ve been
thinking about for a while? Do those acronyms make your head spin? Let’s take
a look at the most common ways online transactions occur.

B2B Ecommerce
A B2B model focuses on providing products from one business to another.
While many ecommerce businesses in this niche are service providers, you’ll
find software companies, office furniture and supply companies, document
hosting companies, and numerous other ecommerce business models under this
heading.
B2B ecommerce examples you may be familiar with include the ExxonMobil
Corporation and the Chevron Corporation, Boeing, and Archer Daniel
Midlands. These businesses have custom, enterprise ecommerce platforms that
work directly with other businesses in a closed environment. A B2B ecommerce
business typically requires more startup cash.

B2C Ecommerce
The B2C sector is what most people think of when they imagine an ecommerce
business. This is the deepest ecommerce market, and many of the names you’ll
see here are known quantities offline, too. B2C sales are the traditional retail
model, where a business sells to individuals, but business is conducted online as
opposed to in a physical store.

Examples of B2C businesses are everywhere. Exclusively online retailers

include Newegg.com, Overstock.com, Wish, and ModCloth, but other major
B2C brick-and-mortar businesses like Staples, Wal-Mart, Target, REI, and Gap.

C2C Ecommerce
B2B and B2C are fairly intuitive concepts for most of us, but the idea of C2C is
different. What does a consumer-to-consumer ecommerce business look like?

Created by the rise of the ecommerce sector and growing consumer confidence
in online sales, these sites allow customers to trade, buy, and sell items in
exchange for a small commission paid to the site. Opening a C2C site takes
careful planning.
Despite the obvious success of platforms like eBay and Craigslist, numerous
other auction and classified sites (the main arenas for C2C) have opened and
quickly closed due to unsustainable models.

C2B Ecommerce
C2B is another model most people don’t immediately think of, but that is
growing in prevalence. This type of online commerce business is when the
consumer sells goods or services to businesses, and is roughly equivalent to a
sole proprietorship serving a larger business.

Reverse auctions, service provision sites like UpWork, and several common
blog monetization strategies like affiliate marketing or Google AdSense also fall
under this heading.

Government / Public Administration Ecommerce

The models listed above are the primary ecommerce retail structures, but they
aren’t the only ones. Other types of ecommerce involve government/public
administration conducting ecommerce transactions with businesses or
consumers.

 B2G (also called B2A), for businesses whose sole clients are governments
or type of public administration. One example is Synergetics Inc. in Ft.
Collins, Colorado, which provides contractors and services for government
agencies.
 C2G (also called C2A): typically individuals paying the government for
taxes or tuition to universities.

Two sectors that are closed for entrepreneur owners but are growing include
G2B for government sales to private businesses, and G2C, for government sales
to the general public.

Types Of Ecommerce Business Models

The next most important thing to think about is how you want to handle
inventory management and sourcing products. Some people like the idea of
making their own products and others hate the idea of their garage full of boxes.

Drop Shipping
The simplest form of ecommerce, drop shipping lets you set up a storefront and
take the customers’ money. The rest is up to your supplier. This frees you from
managing inventory, warehousing stock, or dealing with packaging, but there’s
a major caveat.

If your sellers are slow, product quality is lower than expected, or there are
problems with the order, it’s on your head (and in your reviews). Wacky
Hippo is an example of an ecommerce site using drop shipping. I wouldnt base
my business on dropshipping – and I totally agree with this article.

If you are dead set on dropshipping – print on demand is the way to go.

DROPSHIPPING ECOMMERCE SOFTWARE

Many dropshippers use Shopify and Oberlo. Its quick and inexpensive to
set up. A popular model is to set up a quick store and drive traffic with
Facebook Ads. Margins are thin and if you can squeeze out some profit
here, more power to you. I’m holding off on drop shipping for now.

Wholesaling and Warehousing

Wholesaling and warehousing ecommerce businesses require a lot of investment
at the start – you need to manage inventory and stock, keep track of customer
orders and shipping information, and invest in the warehouse space itself.
DollarDays is an online wholesaler with a massive product catalog that includes
more than 260,000 products. They employ a key strategy for retailers in this
space – by offering case prices AND piece prices, they can sell to the general
public and to retailers. This gives them a higher profit margin than a strictly
wholesale model.

ECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS FOR WHOLESALERS

Wholesale businesses are all about volume. You’ll need to push
products out to Ebay, Amazon, Google, etc. BigCommerce includes all
this in their Basic plan for $29 month. No tinkering needed. If you have
dev skills, you can use X-Cart.

Private Labeling and Manufacturing

If you’ve got an idea for the perfect product, but don’t have the cash or desire to
build your own factory, this might be the right ecommerce business model for
you. Companies that manufacture products offsite for sale send the plans or
prototypes to a contracted manufacturer who produces the product to meet
customer specifications and can either ship directly to the consumer, to a third
party such as Amazon, or to the company selling the final product.

On-demand manufacturing allows you to quickly change suppliers if you

encounter problems with product quality. The startup costs are minimal, and if
you’re interested in potentially opening your own production facilities later, this
is a good way to test a new product or concept.

If you have a product idea and need to find a manufacturer, Try Sourcify.

 The Complete Guide To Finding The Best Private Label Manufacturers

  29 Private Label Product Ideas to Kickstart a $100K+ Brand

White Labeling
White labeling is similar. You choose a product that is already successfully sold
by another company, but offers white label options, design your package and
label, and sell the product. This is common in the beauty and wellness
industries, but more difficult to encounter in other niches.

One problem with white labeling is demand. You’re stuck with whatever you
order, and most of these companies set a minimum production quantity. If you
can’t sell it, you’ll have to live with it. Consider this option when you’re willing
to work full time on your business and know your product is in demand.

ECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS FOR BRANDS

If you have your own line of branded products and need to get
traction, BigCommerce is a good option to start. Their pricing model can
get expensive when you start to make significant sales ($150K+ per
year).

Subscription Ecommerce
One of the most popular and successful pure ecommerce brands is the Dollar
Shave Club. Other examples of subscription services include Stitch Fix, Blue
Apron, and Nature Box. On the local level, community-supported agriculture
boxes are popular.
These ecommerce companies rely on a subscription model that delivers
customers a box of products at regular, scheduled intervals. Subscription
companies have relatively reliable income streams and can easily incentivize
customers to purchase additional subscriptions or encourage their contacts to
subscribe.

Picking the right products and niches can be difficult. Successful subscription
boxes tend to fall into a small handful of product categories: health and
grooming, beauty, fashion, and food. Outside of these areas, few subscription
companies thrive.

RECURRING BILLING ECOMMERCE SOFTWARE

I love the idea of a subscription based ecommerce business.
Both Shopify and BigCommerce need additional, paid apps for
subscription based ecommerce. So you’ll need something
like WooCommerce Subscriptions (WordPress) or X-Cart to handle this.

Product Models
Once you’ve identified who you are selling to and where, you need to think
about what you want to sell. Some businesses sell a single white-label product,
while others offer a full selection of niche-specific products. Yet another model
depends on affiliate programs across a wide swath of categories. Before opening
your store, you need to decide the type and number of products. Depending on
your niche, you may also need to evaluate production practices and regulations
regarding what you can and can’t say (organic, for instance). But first, what IS
ecommerce?

What Counts For Ecommerce

Ecommerce is a broad term, but the simplest way to define it is the exchange of
services, and products online. Affiliate, physical, and digital products all fall
under this purview, as do services of all kinds that involve an exchange of funds
online. Our focus is on product-based businesses, so I’ll describe a few of the
top models for you here. I’ll provide a few examples, so you can see what they
look like in use, too.

Single Product Model

Single-product ecommerce businesses focus on a single product, potentially in

varying levels, offered to businesses or consumers. One example is Nvivo, a software
package made by QSR international. QSR’s only product is the Nvivo software
package, although the company also offers trainings and supplemental materials for
purchase by users.

This is a good model if you know you have a solid product with high demand and
limited competition. Otherwise, tread carefully. Remember the adage about putting all
your eggs in one basket…

Single Category

When you want to test the waters in an ecommerce niche, a single category site can be
a smart choice. By offering a small selection of carefully chosen products, you can
build your reputation and credibility without overspending. Several retailers started
with a model like this, and many continue to use it today.

Keep in mind that you can always make subcategories – take books, for example. If
you open a bookstore, your category is books. But what kind? Textbooks? Ok. What
area? Defining single category ecommerce is challenging when you really start to
think about it. Avoid overdoing it, and stay focused. The key to success with a site
like this is to focus on a specific customer avatar and their interests, then pull a subset
of those interests that seems most likely to turn a profit.

Examples of ecommerce sites in this arena include Mangelsen Nature Photography,

Flowers.com, and The White T-Shirt Company.
This is a smart model for new business owners, and requires minimal effort and
investment to manage. The main drawback is that you’re only likely to catch the
interest of a very small portion of ecommerce shoppers.

Multiple Category

Multiple category ecommerce sites are a good choice for established brick and mortar
stores. Retailers who have tried a single category site successfully and are ready to
expand their offerings might be ready for multiple category sites, too.

Product selection is one of the most difficult parts of managing this type of site. One
bad product can ruin your reputation, and if you are sourcing from multiple suppliers,
the larger your store is, the more difficult logistics become. Examples of multiple
category ecommerce stores include Target, Cultures for Health, and REI.

Affiliate
Amazon.com, DoTerra Essential Oils, and dozens of other companies are boosting
their sales with the help of affiliates. Often through blogs, but sometimes through
dedicated ecommerce stores, affiliate sales benefit the original seller by providing
additional visibility and the affiliate by providing an opportunity to monetize product
reviews, a personal blog, or other site.

Most affiliate sites aren’t big money makers, but they can provide an additional
income stream for sites that predominantly rely on other income streams. If you’re
interested in affiliate sales and ecommerce, JVZoo is a good place to connect with
vendors and other affiliates.

Hybrid [Single Category + Affiliate]

For businesses that have outgrown the income stream or the product confines of a
single category store, becoming a single category and affiliate hybrid store can be
beneficial. You can test related product categories in your niche, risk-free, to see what
your customers like. This gives you the benefit of an additional product category
without requiring you to commit to marketing and managing additional products.
There are many ways to make this category of ecommerce stores work, from listing
affiliate links on your store’s blog to using widgets that allow affiliate products to
look like the products sold on your ecommerce store, with a seamless checkout
process that won’t disrupt the buyer’s journey.

AFFILIATE MARKETING ECOMMERCE WEBSITE

Anytime we’re talking about affiliate marketing, we are talking about a content
driven website. WordPress is still the best for that. Once your branded product
takes off, you might want to move your site over to more of a true ecommerce
platform. X-Cart plays nicely with WordPress in terms of SEO and information
architecture.

What Model Fits Your Idea Best?

Now that you know what types of ecommerce businesses, product options, platforms,
and business classifications exist, you’re ready to get started. Take a look at
your business plan.

If you found this article useful, please give it a share. Keep reading the Ecommerce
CEO blog for tips to help you succeed in ecommerce, from choosing your platform
to marketing your products and site. If there’s a topic you would like to see covered
that you don’t see in our archives, leave a comment below.

Business system is any layout of elements within organization that is coordinated

internally and which has determined structure. It also includes set of processes and
methods of performing complex operations, overall organizational policy, the norms
and rules, etc.

Management of every business system is complex process consisting in a number

of functions:

 planning (decision making, selection of resources, formulating of goals and

objectives, etc.)
 organizing (coordination, communication, improvement of personnel,
deployment, etc.)
 motivating (encouraging, issuing commands, ordering, personnel policy,
inspiring, encouraging, etc.)
 controlling (monitoring, measurement, reporting, etc.).
Functional business system should not be equated to computer base IT management
system supporting any particular management function (sales, production, HR,
R&D, logistics, etc.) The meaning of this term is wider and (in addition to IT tools -
software and hardware), includes: people, organizational structure, documentation,
goals and tasks, policies, rules and management techniques.

Enterprise Resource Planning - ERP

REVIEWED BY WILL KENTON

Updated Jul 30, 2018

What is Enterprise Resource Planning - ERP

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a process whereby a company, often
a manufacturer, manages and integrates the important parts of its
business. An ERP management information system integrates areas such
as planning, purchasing, inventory, sales, marketing, finance and human
resources.

ERP is most frequently used in the context of software, with many large
applications having been developed to help companies implement ERP.
01:34

01:34

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

BREAKING DOWN Enterprise Resource Planning - ERP

Enterprise resource planning is the glue that binds together the different
computer systems for a large organization. Typically, each department
would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks.
With ERP, each department still has its own system, but it can
communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the
company.

The ERP software functions like a central nervous system for a business. It
collects information about the activity and state of different divisions,
making this information available to other parts, where it can be used
productively. Information on the ERP is added in real time by users.
ERP resembles the human central nervous system in that its capacity
transcends the collective ability of the individual parts to form what is
known as consciousness. It helps a corporation become more self-aware
by linking information about production, finance, distribution and human
resources together. ERP connects different technologies used by each
individual part of a business, eliminating duplicate and incompatible
technology that is costly to the corporation. This involves
integrating accounts payable, stock-control systems, order-monitoring
systems and customer databases into one system.

The first ERP system was developed by SAP, a software firm created in
1972 by three software engineers based in Mannheim, Germany. SAP's
goal was to link different parts of a business by sharing information
gathered from those parts to help the company operate more efficiently.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

REVIEWED BY WILL KENTON

Updated Jun 10, 2018

What is Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Supply chain management is the management of the flow of goods and
services and includes all processes that transform raw materials into final
products. It involves the active streamlining of a business's supply-side
activities to maximize customer value and gain a competitive advantage in
the marketplace. SCM represents an effort by suppliers to develop and
implement supply chains that are as efficient and economical as possible.
Supply chains cover everything from production to product development to
the information systems needed to direct these undertakings.

Explaining Supply Chain Management (SCM)

BREAKING DOWN Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Typically, SCM attempts to centrally control or link the production,
shipment, and distribution of a product. By managing the supply chain,
companies are able to cut excess costs and deliver products to the
consumer faster. This is done by keeping tighter control of internal
inventories, internal production, distribution, sales, and the inventories of
company vendors. SCM is based on the idea that nearly every product that
comes to market results from the efforts of various organizations that make
up a supply chain. Although supply chains have existed for ages, most
companies have only recently paid attention to them as a value-add to their
operations.

Supply Chain
A supply chain is the connected network of individuals, organizations,
resources, activities, and technologies involved in the manufacture and
sale of a product or service. A supply chain starts with the delivery of raw
materials from a supplier to a manufacturer and ends with the delivery of
the finished product or service to the end consumer. SCM oversees each
touch point of a company's product or service, from initial creation to the
final sale. With so many places along the supply chain that can add value
through efficiencies or lose value through increased expenses, proper SCM
can increase revenues, decrease costs, and impact a company's bottom
line.

CRM stands for “Customer Relationship Management” and

refers to all strategies, techniques, tools, and technologies used
by enterprises for developing, retaining and acquiring
customers. This software ensures that every step of the
interaction with consumers goes smoothly and efficiently in
order to increase the overall profits.

The software gathers customer data from multiple channels.

Hence, CRM stores detailed information on overall purchase
history, personal info, and even purchasing behavior patterns.

Interorganizational system permits the flow of information to be automation

between organizations in order to reach a expect supply-chain management system,
which enables the development of competitive organizations. This supports
forecasting client needs and the delivery of products and services.
Interorganizational system helps to better manage buyer-supplier relationships by
encompassing the full depths of tasks associated with business processes company-
wide. In doing these activities, an organization is able to increase the productivity
automatically; therefore, optimizing communication within all levels of an
organization as well as between the organization and the supplier. For example,
each T-shirt that is sold in a retail store is automatically communicated to the
supplier who will, in turn, ship more T-shirts to the retailer.
An Inter-organizational system is an information system shared by one or more
suppliers and customers

Organizations might pursue an interorganizational system for the following

reasons:

1. Reduce the risk in the organization

2. Pursue economies of scale
3. Benefit from the exchange of technologies
4. Increase competitiveness
5. Overcome investment barriers
6. Encourage global communication
An examples of interorganizational systems is the Sabre (computer system).
“ understanding of environmental uncertainty are leading to the horizontal
relationships across organizations."

Global Information System (GIS) Definition: GIS is a system of

hardware and software used for storage, retrieval, mapping, and analysis
of geographic data. Practitioners also regard the total GIS as including
the operating personnel and the data that go into the system. Spatial
features are stored in a coordinate system (latitude/longitude, state plane,
UTM, etc.), which references a particular place on the earth. Descriptive
attributes in tabular form are associated with spatial features. Spatial
data and associated attributes in the same coordinate system can then be
layered together for mapping and analysis. GIS can be used for scientific
investigations, resource management, and development planning. GIS
differs from CAD and other graphical computer applications in that all
spatial data is geographically referenced to a map projection in an earth
coordinate system. For the most part, spatial data can be "re-projected"
from one coordinate system into another, thus data from various sources
can be brought together into a common database and integrated using
GIS software. Boundaries of spatial features should "register" or align
properly when re-projected into the same coordinate system. Another
property of a GIS database is that it has "topology," which defines the
spatial relationships between features. The fundamental components of
spatial data in a GIS are points, lines (arcs), and polygons. When
topological relationships exist, you can perform analyses, such as
modeling the flow through connecting lines in a network, combining
adjacent polygons that have similar characteristics, and overlaying
geographic features. Among the earliest and still most widespread
applications of the technology are land information and resource
management systems (for example, forest and utility management).
Other common uses of GIS in an urban policy context include
emergency planning, determination of optimal locations for fire stations
and other public services, assistance in crime control and documentation,
and electoral and school redistricting. Uses of GIS have spread well
beyond geography, the source discipline, and now involve most applied
sciences, both social and physical, that deal with spatial data. The nature
of the applications of GIS in these areas ranges from simple thematic
mapping for illustration purposes to complex statistical and
mathematical modeling for the exploration of hypotheses or the
representation of dynamic processes.
Business intelligence (BI)
Business intelligence (BI) is a technology-driven process for analyzing
data and presenting actionable information to help executives, managers
and other corporate end users make informed business decisions.

BI encompasses a wide variety of tools, applications and methodologies

that enable organizations to collect data from internal systems and
external sources; prepare it for analysis; develop and run queries against
that data; and create reports, dashboards and data visualizations to
make the analytical results available to corporate decision-makers, as
well as operational workers.

DEFINITION of Decision Support System - DSS

A decision support system (DSS) is a computerized information system
used to support decision-making in an organization or a business. A DSS
lets users sift through and analyze massive reams of data and compile
information that can be used to solve problems and make better decisions.

The benefits of decision support systems include more informed decision-

making, timely problem-solving and improved efficiency for dealing with
problems with rapidly changing variables.

BREAKING DOWN Decision Support System - DSS

A DSS can be used by operations management and planning levels in an
organization to compile information and data and to synthesize it into
actionable intelligence. This allows the end user to make more informed
decisions at a quicker pace.

12What Can a DSS Analyze?

The DSS is an information application that produces comprehensive
information. This is different from an operations application, which would be
used to collect the data in the first place. A DSS is primarily used by mid- to
upper-level management, and it is key for understanding large amounts of
data.
Definition - What does IT Strategic Plan mean?
An IT strategic plan is a document that defines the strategy an organization will
implement to enable its IT infrastructure and portfolio to operate and function in line
with its business objectives. An IT strategic plan ensures that the enterprise IT
provides optimum output and services that directly support the organization's core
mission, strategy and priorities.
An IT strategic plan is also known simply as an IT plan.

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Techopedia explains IT Strategic Plan

An IT strategic plan is a formal document that defines how enterprise IT will provide,
support and ensure ongoing business operations. It consists of IT's strategic goals
and objectives as they relate to business, current IT infrastructure and HR
capabilities, future requirements, and the overall performance and transition road
map for IT.
Typically, an IT strategic plan takes several months of effort to complete, and
includes input and direction from senior IT and business management. It is designed
for a duration of anywhere from three to five years.

IT strategy (information
technology strategy)
IT strategy (information technology strategy) is a comprehensive plan
that outlines how technology should be used to meet IT and business
goals. An IT strategy, also called a technology strategy or IT/technology
strategic plan, is a written document that details the multiple factors that
affect the organization's investment in and use of technology.

It should cover all facets of technology management, including cost

management, human capital management, hardware and software
management, vendor management and risk management.
Executing an IT strategy requires strong IT leadership; the chief
information officer (CIO) and chief technology officer (CTO) need to work
closely with business, budget and legal departments as well as with
other lines of business and user groups to achieve its success.

Organizations formalize their IT strategy in a written document

or balanced scorecardstrategy map. The plan and its documentation
should be flexible enough to change in response to new organizational
circumstances, market and industry conditions, business priorities and
objectives, budgetary constraints, available skill sets and core
competencies, technology advances, and user needs.

Basics of an IT strategy

A strong IT strategy provides a blueprint of how technology supports and

shapes the organization's overall business strategy. Its strategic goals
should mirror business projects (aka business alignment) and take into
account the needs of key stakeholders including employees, customers
and business partners.

The strategy should offer a look at the organization's current technology

posture and provide an idea of where IT should head over the next three
to five years.

There are different models that help executives construct an IT strategy,

yet most contain certain key elements including:

 A high-level overview of the IT department that covers its mission,

core values, objectives and approaches to accomplishing its goals.
 Current budgets and spending forecasts for a multiyear timeline.
 An outline of current and future IT projects and initiatives with
timelines and milestones.
 A catalog of existing enterprise architecture; IT department
capabilities and capacities; and future needs and requirements with
details about infrastructure, staffing and other necessary resources.
 An analysis of IT's strengths and weaknesses.
 A list of the internal and external forces (such as market and industry
trends) that shape current technology requirements and innovations
as well as the future forces expected to shape IT.
 A prediction of the potential opportunities and vulnerabilities that will
necessitate technology responses to best position the organization for
success.
 The rise of information technology has paved the way for various
innovations. With the digitization of information, more and more
businesses are increasingly leveraging the benefits of digital tools
to improve their prospects. Information technology has been
crucial in turning this process into a complete success.

 Information technology has dramatically transformed the lives of

individuals. It provides businesses the scope to analyze data and
plan business strategies accordingly. Utilizing information
technology means that the data analysis is accurate, thus
optimizing profits.

 Information technology has had a major impact on various aspects

of businesses. Let’s take a look at some of these here.

 #1. Cloud Computing

 The concept of cloud computing is immensely popular among
businesses owing to the efficiency in business operations that it
provides. Cloud computing utilizes information technology to
 capitalize on its ability to provide improved agility and time and
resource management for businesses.

 Increasingly, businesses are shifting to the cloud to leverage its

many benefits. It has been predicted that more than $1 trillion will
be impacted in IT spending by the transition of businesses to cloud
computing by 2020.

 “Cloud-first strategies are the foundation for staying relevant in a

fast-paced world,” Ed Anderson, research VP at the analyst firm,
Gartner pointed out, “The market for cloud services has grown to
such an extent that it is now a notable percentage of total IT
spending, helping to create a new generation of start-ups and “born
in the cloud” providers.”

 A good Internet connection and a commendable WiFi connectivity

are important to accomplish this.

 #2. Automation of Business Processes

 The movement towards increased automation of business
processes has gained traction over the years. It improves efficiency
and increases workflow considerably.

 Information technology helps in developing automated processes

for businesses. This not only helps in reducing the cost of operation
but also saves time. The time saved can be utilized to focus on other
tasks, thus speeding up business processes significantly.

 Processes like billing, tracking metrics, collecting customer data,

monitoring certain processes etc. can be automated easily. There
 are numerous automation software that can be utilized for this
purpose.

 #3. Working Remotely

 Implementation of information technology provides the ability to
remotely access your company’s network. As a result, it equips
employees with the ability to get the work done even if they are not
physically present at the workplace.

 Such agility has a number of benefits. Therefore, it has gained

massive popularity. In fact, according to a U.S. federal government
resource, 47% of the employees are eligible to work remotely.

 Ian Adams, head of strategic marketing development at the

outsourcing company, Mitie pointed out, “We’re seeing greater
collaboration between HR, IT, property and facilities management
and job titles like ‘workplace director’ making this agile workplace
happen.”

 #4. Mobile Technology

 Mobile technology has picked up momentum owing to its
convenience, efficiency and speed. With the rise in the popularity of
information technology, implementation of mobile technology has
gained ground quickly.

 The trend of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is on the rise owing to
increased employee satisfaction. As many as 74% of the
organizations are already utilizing this trend or plan on doing so in
the future. In fact, the BYOD market is estimated to reach $181.39
billion by 2017.
 Mobile technology takes business communication to a whole new
level. A mobile team can improve the workplace productivity
considerably. There are numerous ways to integrate mobile
technology in the workplace. In fact, chances are, your employees
are already using it.

 #5. Protecting Information

 Every organization has a mammoth database comprising various
information related to business transactions, client details and so
on. Such information is extremely valuable to a business and can
cause a host of legal issues if it is lost. This is where information
technology becomes relevant. It provides the right resources to
store the information in a way that ensures maximum protection.

 Virtual storage systems can keep information safe by allowing a

limited number of users to access these. Increased protection also
ensures that these systems are not hacked and the information is
not wiped out owing to some problems. Therefore, information
technology helps in upholding business integrity.

 #6. Providing Customer Satisfaction

 Customer experience and satisfaction are crucial aspects of all
businesses. The key to customer satisfaction is a strong customer
support team and its availability to cater to the requirements of the
customers.

 Information technology provides the best tools for communicating

with customers and solving their problems in real time. It has
unlocked the facilities like Email, social media and other messaging
platforms for this purpose.
 A happy customer-base is important for the growth of a business.
Various cloud-based communication channels have made customer
experience more improved.

 #7. Management of Resources

 A business has a variety of resources. These may include financial
resources, human resources and so on. For large organizations,
managing resources becomes quite difficult. Information
technology plays a vital role in managing these resources
effortlessly by introducing a wide range of feasible solutions.

 For example, the integration of Enterprise Resource Planning

(ERP) has improved the efficiency of various business processes.
ERP is a business management software that enables an
organization to use a series of integrated applications that can
manage and automate various business operations.

 Information technology is at the core of such software. The

implementation of ERP is progressing at a rapid rate with more
and more businesses implementing this efficient technology to
make certain business processes hassle-free.

 #8. Open Source Software

 Information technology has paved the way for various open source
software that allow free usage of certain tools for various
organizations. The primary benefit of open source software is its
flexible license. This allows modifications to the source code. This
means that you have the facility to customize its functions
according to your requirements.
  Almost every software that businesses use has open source variants
that are widely available on the Internet. Utilizing these could
mean multiple benefits at reduced expenses.

 Such benefits of the increased implementation of information

technology have provided businesses with competitive advantages.
What matters most is, how businesses are utilizing this technology
to maximize their profits and ensure long-term success. Done right,
this can help your business scale new heights.

user environment management

(UEM)
User environment management is a technology designed to allow IT to
oversee a user's complete desktop experience, including the profile, any
policies IT applies and customizations the user makes.

The software allows IT administrators to control all of the personal and

corporate settings, personas, access controls and more that are unique
to each user on their Windows desktops. This includes aspects such as
display, folder and application settings.

User environment management software pulls out the policies, data and
settings from the operating system and applications from a centrally
managed location, and stores them to an individual user profile. This
process creates a personalized environment for each user when they
access their desktops -- whether the desktop is virtual or not. It even
allows for personalization in nonpersistent deployments.
IT administrators can also use the data from user environment analytics
to better adapt desktops to fit users' needs.

What goes into managing an environment

User environment management typically offers a GUI for IT to control

permissions on multiple levels, from the individual user to groups or
departments to specific applications and geographic locations. IT can
also work with user environment management tools to disable certain
peripheral devices, prevent users from consuming too many resources
and override Group Policy. In addition, IT can create logon scripts that
enforce certain security policies.

A user environment management tool can translate a user profile so it

works across multiple versions of an operating system. It can also give
users elevated privileges for specific applications and for specific periods
of time.

BPM (Business Process Management) is a business solution approach

which views a business as a set of processes or workflows. BPM
Software (BPMS) is software which enables businesses to model,
implement, execute, monitor and optimize their management processes.

business process management

(BPM)
Business process management (BPM) is the discipline of improving a
business process from end to end by analyzing it, modelling how it works
in different scenarios, executing improvements, monitoring the improved
process and continually optimizing it.
A business process is an activity or set of activities that will accomplish a
specific organizational goal.

BPM is not a one-time task, but rather an ongoing activity that involves
persistent process re-engineering.

BPM often involves automating tasks within any given business process,
although BPM is not a technology, and process improvements can
happen outside of automation and without technology.

Organizations engaged in BPM can choose to follow one of the various

BPM methodologies, which include Six Sigma and Lean.

What BPM is used for

BPM is used on an ongoing basis for business process improvement.

It is meant to improve order, insight and efficiency of the collective

workflows that make up any given business process. BPM is meant to
reduce any chaos within those collective workflows that make up a
process and eliminate ad hoc workflow management.

The goal for organizations engaged in BPM is to take control of their

myriad processes and constantly strive to optimize them to create a
more efficient organization better capable of delivering its end products
and/or services.

Thus, BPM is intended to support organizational leaders as they seek to

achieve not just operational efficiencies, but as they work to realize their
overarching goals for the organization as a whole.