understanding how businesses use information technology effectively
Information Systems
rom Instructor…minimun of 300 words
Before participating in the Week 1 Discussion, Everyone should watch the short video What is an Information System? This will help develop a common understanding of information systems.
As mentioned in this week’s reading, Introduction to Information Systems (Week 1 Content), understanding how businesses use information technology effectively is a critical skill in today’s business world. Often a position is established for the role of a business analyst, which may reside either within a functional department or the Information Technology (IT) department. Throughout this course, you will be approaching a Case Study and series of staged assignments from the role of a Business Analyst in the IT Department. Think of the business analyst role as the liaison between a functional department and IT who helps analyze business processes, gather requirements from key stakeholders, and identify technology solutions to benefit the business. Aligning technology solutions or information systems to help the organization achieve its business strategy is an important part of maximizing the investment in IT.
To help you understand this role and the importance of information systems, this week’s discussion focuses on analyzing how a business uses an information system for STRATEGIC purposes. Each member of Group 1 should do some research, or draw from his or her own experience, and tell us about a company that used an information system for STRATEGIC purposes. Please be sure to tell us what the strategy was that they were working toward. There are many examples in the Course Content reading, but our discussion will be much richer if you select something that is not covered there. Be sure you’re not just discussing their business strategy but also including the use of information systems to enable that strategy. Searching on a company’s mission and strategic goals can help you align the pieces.
To sum up, every post (initial post or reply) should be supported by relevant information rather than simply express an opinion. Prove your point by a) citing external research, b) citing readings from the class content, or c) providing detailed examples of personal experiences that are relevant and support your position on the topic. Be sure to read the instructions and the grading rubric for classroom discussions and participation that is posted at the top of the Weekly Discussions forum. These instructions remain visible throughout the 8 weeks
Students responsible for replying: Replied to a minimum of three classmates’ postings by Sunday midnight Eastern Time with substantive relevant postings, adding value to the discussion, incorporating relevant research correctly, and demonstrating student’s understanding of the concepts.
Respond to this
When I worked for a local, family owned insurance brokerage, we used information systems for strategic purposes. We used a system called QQ Catalyst to manage our customer information. With this system, we could record a customer’s information, document changes to information, and manage communication. The system connected with our phones to file our recorded calls to the customer’s file, connected with our text messaging system to file any text conversations, and connected with our company’s emails to file all emails. With this information system, we were able to make informed decisions in regards to customer service.
The strategy we were working towards was to provide the most efficient, but still highest quality customer service. The main job of the company I worked at was to connect our customers with insurance companies. However, more often than not, the best resource for the customer was to talk to the insurance company directly. One of the greatest strategic uses for the information system was to determine how best to help a customer. Most of the time, to get the most direct information, and conserve our resources, we would transfer most customers to their insurance companies. However, with the automatic filing system, we were able to see how much a particular customer had contacted us and why. If the same customer contacted us several times about the same issue, we would take matters into our own hands to resolve the issue. This helped us work towards having a competitive advantage. Our reading for this week says, “a company is said to have a competitive advantage over its rivals when it is able to sustain profits that exceed average for the industry” (Bourgeois, 2013). With the information system giving us the information to make time saving decisions regarding who to help, and who to transfer, we were able to keep expenses low, and increase the amount of customers we could manage, thereby increasing profits.
The information systems enabled our strategy to help the most customers with the least resources. Without QQ Catalyst, we would have had to ask every call we took about how many times they’d contacted us, about what they had already experienced in the resolution of the issue, if anyone else had helped them, and more. Instead, when a customer made a call, we were instantly able to see their entire history with the company. The information system is what allowed us to do our job strategically.
References:
Bourgeois, D. T. (2014). Chapter 7: Does IT Matter? Retrieved March 17, 2020, from https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/445319/viewC…
18 hours ago
REQUIREMENTS
UMGC
Computer Science,
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