Strategic Information Systems for Business - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Information Systems for Business. Answer: Introduction Organizational Structure defines certain institutional rules and policies that outline different work flow within an organization. It helps in defining the tasks, coordination and supervision within an organization that are needed to be performed in order to achieve the organizational aim. Organization structure assigns a hierarchy that defines the roles and responsibility of the members of the organization (Christensen 2013). There are mainly two approaches of organizational structure, centralized and decentralized. The report discusses the organizational structure of Telstra Australia and the problems associated with the current organizational structure. The report puts light to different operational issues the company is facing and its possible solution. The report suggests the use of ERP to centralize the process flow within the organization. Current Organizational Structure The organizational structure of a particular organization is an important aspect for understanding and solving the functional and non-functional processes within an organization. Every organization has a certain structure that defines the work processes within an organization. The current organizational structure of Telstra Australia is illustrated below- Figure 1: Organizational Structure (Source: Telstra.com.au, 2017) Operational problems Telstra experienced due to the Organizational Structure Organizational structure is one of the primary aspects of managing and evaluating the growth of a particular organization. Having a proper organizational structure is essential for maintaining a smooth operation. Organizational structure is important for every organization as it provides clarity on the human resources issues persisting in an organization (Domeika 2015). A formal business structure is important in growth of the business. The operations of Telstra is illustrated below- Figure 2: Representing the operations of Telstra (Source: Telstra.com.au, 2017) He operational problems, Telstra is facing due to the complex organizational structure are listed below- 1) Lack of strategic management: An effective organizational structure is essential for proper strategic management within an organization (Warren, Reeve and Duchac 2013). Proper strategic management is necessary for effective decision-making. Moreover, an ineffective strategic management may hamper the sales procedures within an organization and in managing the different processes within an organization. Strategic management is necessary in order to manage the sustainability in managing the target market in relation to the organizational structure (Telstra.com.au, 2017). 2) Lack of communication: Poor communication is another operational issue associated with the organization. Communication is an important tool in ensuring the smooth operational processes within the organization. The lower level staffs are not given enough priority in the decision making and moreover, the process of communication flow from lower to upper level is difficult due to a complex organizational structure (Kiani, Lamego and O'reilly 2014). This leads to certain operational problems, which includes decisions related to the supply chain management and sales. 3) Inefficient Supply Chain management: The Company Telstra is based on telecommunication and therefore, supply chain management is an integral part of their daily business. Poor supply chain management is a major functional problem associated with the system. This operational issue must be addressed as soon as possible in order to prevent the serious loss of the company. An improper organizational structure is responsible for weak organizational relations leading to the poor supply chain management (Gereffi and Fernandez-Stark 2016). 4) Inefficient human resource management: Human resource is responsible for managing the workflow and process flow within an organization and therefore having a well-structured human resource management is necessary. Poor organizational structure is the root cause of inefficient human resource management (Hendry 2012). Chosen System acquisition method The most likely system acquisition method for Telstra would be implementing the Enterprise Resource Planning. This is an efficient system acquisition method for Telstra. Enterprise resource planning is a systemic process of managing and integrating all the important parts of the business, which includes different phases of planning, inventory, marketing sales and so on (Wallace and Sheetz 2014). This system provides certain functional benefits for managing the crucial processes of an organization. Researches prove that many organizations have been successful in implementing the ERP. Use of ERP would definitely help in streamlining the process flow within the organization and would help in lessen the operational issues arising due to an ineffective organizational structure. Moreover, adopting ERP as a system acquisition method may help in reducing the workload of Telstra to a considerable level. The software helps in integrating all the essential business operations within the organization. The different operations within the organization, which includes manufacturing, sales and marketing are integrated using the software (Leon 2014). However, the ERP should be implemented carefully in order to eliminate the cost overruns within the company. System flow chart of sales procedures The system flow chart of the sales procedure of Telstra Australia is illustrated below- Figure 3: Representing the sales (Source: Telstra.com.au, 2017) The control problems in the system The control problems associated with the operations, sales and security of Telstra are elaborated below- 1) The poor organizational structure leads to the ineffective control processes within the system due to which, the company is exposed to a number of frauds (March 2013). 2) Lack of proper compliance and clear objective of the proper compliance activities is another major control problem associated with the organization (Cummings and Worley 2014). 3) User access rights for information systems: the employees of the organization are granted more access to the information systems in comparison to the actual work they need to perform within the organization. This is again a result of a poor organization structure, as the person grating the rights to the access of Information system to the employees does not understand the roles and responsibilities of the member fully. The access to the information system should be limited only to selected employees in order to eliminate the frauds associated with the organization. 4) Documentation: Adequate documentation is necessary for developing an effective internal control framework within an organization. Absence of documentation makes it difficult for the organization to demonstrate the existence of completed transactions, procedures performed and sales. 5) Policies and procedures: effective policies and procedures help in aligning the business objectives and further helps in establishing the operating procedures in a proper way. Frauds Possible in the System The frauds possible in the system due to the control problem discussed above are elaborated below- 1)False sales and false purchase: This is one of the major control problems associated with the system. Organizational members or the insiders are responsible for this particular fraud. 2) Security issues: many security issues and system frauds arise due to the absence of the control rights in the information systems of the organization. 3) Lack of proper documentation is the source of another fraud in the organization. Documenting the sales is important in order to prevent the fraud in the organization. Conclusion Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that, having a proper organizational structure is essential for an organization in order to eliminate the risks of certain operational and control problem in an organization. The report discusses the organizational structure of Telstra Australia and certain operational problem the organization faces due to its inefficient organizational structure. The report further puts light to the sales procedures of Telstra and the control issues identified in the organization. ERP as the system acquisition method is recommended for Telstra and its benefits are discussed in the report. Introduction This part of the assignment elaborates the use of accounting software in different processes of business and organization. Accounting software can be used in managing and automating different accounting transactions, which includes managing all the accounts related tasks including the account receivable, payable and trial balance (Murthy and Abeysekera 2015). The report elaborates the use of different account software and the software that is leading in the Australian target market. The report focuses on the accounting software Xero, which provides a wide advantage to the business. The report further discusses the drawbacks of accounting software and challenges faced by the users. Development and adoption of accounting software packages The different functional modules of accounting software are made keeping in mind the different functional modules of a company and business, which includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and trial balance. Accounting software packages are generally built in cloud based architecture incorporating the business intelligence applications and report generation modules. Adoption of different accounting software for automating and managing the different financial processes of business has been beneficial for the organizations. Out of the different accounting software present in Australian market, Xero is the leader in the market as it provides a wide range of benefits and manages the accounting related issues quite effectively (Von Der Emde et al. 2014). Current Market Size The data from the competitive market shows that MYOB and Xero accounting software packages hold a larger market place in the target market. SMB ranked Xero to be number one accounting software in Australia. Therefore, it can be said that Xero offers one of the best platform in managing the different accounting functionalities of business. The different operational benefits include accounting and payroll at one transparent price, real time financial data, which is accessible everywhere and automatic bank feeds. Xero therefore offers effective management of the different accounting operations within the organization (Robey, Anderson and Raymond 2013). The pricing of Xero starts at only $25 per month, which is a very cost effective solution. Therefore, it can be deduced that Xero hold a larger market size in Australia. Leaders in the Market and the competitive Advantage The two accounting software that leads the market includes Xero and MYOB. This is because these software offers a wide range of advantages and is very simple to use. Xero and MYOB provide an effective support in managing the financial processes within the organization. The different manual operations involved with the work processes are effectively automated using these software. The regular updates of the financial database of the organization help in reducing the redundancy in data and helps in improving the operational system architecture of the organization. The competitive advantages of the software discussed above are elaborated below- 1) Cloud based setup: The cloud set up offered by these accounting software helps in customization of the software according to the need of the client. The software with a cloud based setup and easy update provides a competitive advantage in the target market. 2) Speedy Functional Output: fast performing software is necessary in this competitive and fast-paced world and therefore, speedy performance is a must need. Xero, the leader of the Australian market provides all the functional operation and the performance level of the software is high as well. 3) Interface: having a complex interface is a drawback as software with a complex interface becomes very difficult to manage. Therefore, the software that provides an effective solution along with a simple and easy to use interface is the prominent choice of the business. The user interface of Xero is quite simple and the software is easily manageable and therefore it leads the target market. Therefore, Xero provides an effective solution for the small and medium sized business. Since it is cost effective, it becomes the first choice for any business organization. The process integration in Xero is quite effective and therefore it offers varied functional benefits and thus leads the market (Xero Accounting Software 2017). Challenges encountered by customers of accounting Software With the wide range of benefits, there are certain challenges that are faced by the users of accounting software, which are listed below- 1) Security issues: Since the accounting software is based on cloud setup, different security issues creep into the system, which must be eliminated in order to eliminate the risk of data breach (Mudge 2013). 2) Complexity: With the addition of ne features, the software becomes complex to manage. 3) Installation/ Update: The process of installation is time consuming and the updates are lengthy, which may sometime delay the work as well. Conclusion Therefore from the above discussion, it can be concluded that accounting software offers wide range of advantage in managing different business processes. Xero is the leader of the market due to the advantages it offers. However, there are certain issues faced by the users of accounting software, which must be fixed to retain the market position. 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