Tuesday 28 June 2011

BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES OF IT/IS

HOW IT/IS BENEFITS EDUCATION:
1.CONNECTIVITY: it is beneficial as teachers and students are able to stay connected in and out of the classroom.
2.DISTANCE LEARNING: learning from home is made easy as IT has improved the quality of online courses and web-based training and communication technology has advanced.
3.ACCESS TO EXTERNAL RESOURCES: students, teachers now have easy access to general resources such as e-libraries, online dictionaries and research books because of information technology.
4. IT has also removed the barrier of distance, time and costs.

DISADVANTAGES OF IT/IS TO EDUCATION SECTOR:
1.The rapid way in which technology changes and evolves has lead to many infrastructures to become obsolete and the need to invest in newer technologies arises rather frequently.

BENEFITS OF IT/IS TO THE GROWTH OF AN ORGANIZATION
1. IT has become the driving force in today’s global economy as it has evolved from word processing, to networking, to the internet , to e-commerce.
2. Using IT to automate business processes and to improve information gathering, access, and quality has transform's the entire businesses and has made it easy for businesses to be carried out accordingly in an easier manner.
3. It capabilities have enabled the survival of organizations as it provides access to external knowledge through widespread information dissemination and generation of network ties.
4. Globalization has not only brought the world closer it has also made organization economy to become a single interdependent system.

DISADVANTAGES OF IT/IS TO GROWTH OF ORGANIZATION:
1. JOB ELIMINATION: as technology improves, tasks that were done by human beings are now carried out by computer systems. For example. Automated telephone answering systems have replaced live receptionists in any organizations.
2. IMPLEMENTATION EXPENSES: start up costs when implementing any type of information technology system are very expensive, as an organization is faced with buying hardware and software to be used by its employees.
3.
BENEFITS OF IT/IS TO INTERPERSONAL SKILLS OF A PERSON/INDIVIDUAL
1. Quality of life is improved because of the use of information technology systems.
2. Improvements in health care.

DISADVANTAGES OF IT TO INTERPERSONAL SKILLS/INDIVIDUAL:
1. Technology has resulted in human beings losing that ability to personally interact with other employees in the organization as they now use emails which shorten conversations and perhaps sound curt and rude if written hastily.
2. IT offers the ability to multi-task which does not nurture interpersonal skills which may result in employees doing double duty and not being fully focused on each task and become distracted .This may lead to poor communication which would give a wrong impression about an organization.

Tuesday 31 May 2011

WhAT DO I WANT

My first answer to the above question is that i want to be very successful in life, mostly because i am the first born in my family and this comes with great responsibilities which i intend to fulfill. I want to be able to complete my studies with very high marks, as i come from a family of very high achievers and in a way,they expect me to be even more successful.

I would also say i want to be able to help out in times of need especially that my childhood was not a good one,perhaps work together with those children that have been affected by divorce as i was affected by it and was not given enough counseling to overcome what had happened.

I also want to be able to grow into a respected person, be able to guide those young people who need the guidance because growing up, we all make mistakes and for some people you find they do not have those people to guide them and show them the way, but with my help i want to be able to build a better tomorrow for my country at large.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

A RURAL TALE

CULTURAL AND ETHICAL ALIGNMENT
The Experts' assessment of the counterpart between the villagers values and the values of the experts seems to have not been thoroughly investigated which has led to the incorrect alignment.
SOLUTION: The experts should research more about the cultural beliefs of the villagers and get to know why the women prefer to walk a long distance for water rather than use the new system.

FAILURE TO IDENTIFY PROBLEM AND TRACK REQUIREMENTS
The Experts did not investigate as much as needed or consulted with the elders of the village to convince them about the fairly-low solution they were planning on bringing to their village to ease the women's burden,they simply concluded for themselves that it was needed without consulting with the villagers thoroughly.
SOLUTION:The experts should identify the unique villager's requirements, before they become "fatal flaws" and to also try to balance the implementation of the new low-tech solution with the new low-tech solution to integrate legacy systems.

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE NEW SOLUTION
If the villagers were improperly prepared for the new low-tech solution then the likelihood of them making the decision of ignoring the new technology is increased due to the villagers' lack of knowledge about it. Lack of training is a mistake that was done by the experts.
SOLUTION: The villagers should be educated about the new solution so as to draw them into tolerating the new system because it will result in the villager's time saved as they will be reduicng th long time of having to travel far for water.

Monday 25 April 2011

WALMART INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

HISTORY OF WALMART
Walmart serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week ar more than 9005 retail units 60 different banners in 15 countries. It was founded in 1962,with the opening of the first Walmart discount store in Rogers,Ark. It incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores,Inc., on October 31 1969. The company's shares began trading on OTC markets in 1970 and were listed on the New York Stock Exchange two years later.
Saving people money to help them live better was the goal that Sam Walton envisioned when he opened the doors to the first Walmart more than 40 years ago. Walmart works hard every day in all its markets so as to deliver on this promise. Because of the level of integrity and respect it possesses Walmart continues to make a difference in the lives of its customers. members and associates.


INVENTORY SYSTEM
Walmart alone stocks items in more than 70 countries, according to its corporate website. At any given time, the Arkansas-based retailer manages an average of $32 billion in inventory, reports Supply Chain Digest. With these kinds of numbers, having an effective inventory control system/ inventory management system, is imperative. Walmart's system helps it maintain its signature "everyday low prices" by telling store managers which products are selling and which are taking up shelf and warehouse space.It uses a computerized system that identifies each item sold together with its price and in result creating n accurate sales receipt for the customer.
The computerized system made of a database is enormous because the Wally keeps track of so many products. All of which must be in the same database because products we do not carry will still scan and give us all the relevant information. It is also linked to the cash registers. When a product is sold, inventory is updated automatically.On hand counts are updated and on some products they are reordered automatically, depending on how many are left.

BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEM
1. Because of the better coordination this system has, the suppliers are able to have a more consistent manufacturing operations at lower costs and hence passing some of the savings to walmart.
2.Low discount pricing ensures that the sales are high and consistent with daily operations.
3.Goods do not take a long time in the shelves as the inventory system is able to identify which products the customers are interested in so this result in Walmart using less floor space and warehousing.

Tuesday 19 April 2011

WEBSITES REVIEW

CONTRAST BETWEEN GrOUPSMORE, JACKCOW, MILKADEAL AND SUPERDEALS

ACCESS:
Anyone who visits these websites is able to access them through Facebook by simply following them on facebook without registering as a customer first.

DISPLAY OF INFORMATION:
They all display discounts on a wide range of products to their customers with information about the prices, discount rates and validity of these discounts.

PURCHASING COUPONS:
These websites allow customers to purchase coupons online and print them out to present to retail outlets and redeem them.


DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPSMORE, JACKCOW, MILKADEAL AND SUPERDEALS

1.Groupsmore and Superdeals display the number of coupons that have already been purchased while Milkadeal and Jackcow show the number of buyers that should atleast be reached with those that have already been purchased.

2.Milkadeal, Groupsmore and Jackcow offers customers cash reward when they refer/bring their friends to the website to register as new customers.

RANKING OF THE WEBSITES
1.Superdeals
2.Groupsmore
3.Jackcow
4.Milkadeal

The purchasing process of Superdeals is more convenient as it contains the step by step procedures to making a purchase. It also allows businesses to advertise without the need to worry about the advertising deals.

These websites bring new customers into a business and they also act as advertisers to businesses therefore making them effective and well known by customers from everywhere regardless of their locations as they can access them from anywhere where the is connection to the internet.

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Report:Individual Assignment

BOTSWANA CRAFT

It was established by the Botswana Development Corporation in 1970 so as to develop handicraft industry based in rural areas of the Botswana.It has grown to be the largest retailer and exporter of handicrafts in the country.
Botswana Craft works closely with distributors,retailers, and craft producers.Its target market is anyone who might be interested in handicrafts,no age limit!

My assignment will be focused on the Sales Department-the online store which allows customers to purchase any of the craft from anywhere in the country.

My research will be conducted with the use of electronic mail interview and internet research.

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Digital Economy

Digital Economy
It refers to an economy based on digital technologies and whose customers and other businesses are better informed and able to communicate as a result of information technology. It emphasizes on the convergence of telecommunications via the internet which results in the flow of information which stimulates electronic commerce and online transactions. The digital economy is flooded with digital products and services.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'OLD ECONOMY' AND 'DIGITAL ECONOMY'



OLD ECONOMY
  • Regular travel from residence's place to work place for work to be done.
  • Uses cubicles,that is, partially enclosed workspace.
  • Gatekeepers-control access to everything.
  • Economies of scale- arise when the cost per unit falls as output increases.
  • Trade secrets- information that companies keep secret to give them advantage over their competitors.


DIGITAL ECONOMY



  • Utilizes new technology that allows user to live and work wherever they want-be it home, internet cafe or anywhere in the world.
  • Digital nomads- allows user to essentially work from anywhere in the world using a computer.
  • Gatejumpers.
  • Diseconomies of scale- its businesses grow so large that the costs per unit increases.
  • Transparency- free and open exchange whereby the rules and regulations behind regulatory measures are fair and clear to all participants.





























Monday 4 April 2011

What is information system?

Any written, electronic, or graphical method of communicating information. The basis of an information system is the sharing and processing of information and ideas. Computers and telecommunication technologies have become essential information system components.

Importance Of Information Systems.
All medium to large organisations depend on Information technology For their continued survival.

Decentralization
Minimizes information overload.


Information systems support different types of decisions at different levels of the organizational hierarchy. Major types of Information systems include structural databases and information management software that can include the following;