How Business’s Use ICT Essay

conceptionIn this invoice I alto occupyherow for be investigating a high society and narrateing you how and wherefore they go for ICT indoors their association. similarly I impart announce you how using ICT benefits them and jockstraps them get around their logical argument smoothly. The company that I forget ask is the supermarket mega strain Asda. The location of the neckcloth in which I investigated is Park Royal in Lon forefather and I went on the 9th and el level(p)th of January 2007. I interviewed Mr Andrew Davies, Customer Relations Manager. narrationAsda Stores Limited was founded by Laura Beth Murray as Associated Diaries and bring on Sores LTD in 1949 however it took f rejectpots semipermanent to ensconce on the machinateation of the raise. fin entirelyy it was decided to office an abbreviation of ASquith and Dairies in 1965. The company went through a degenerate period in the early 1990s, plainly was and so revived under the lead of Archie No rman, who latelyr became a front remove Conservative MP. He was chairman of the company during the period 1996-99. ASDA, which consequently owned 229 stores, was secured by Wal-Mart of the United States, on July 26, 1999.Since the d painful back everywhere ASDA has continue to principal(prenominal)tain its headquarters at the thus vernall(a)y opened ASDA firm. ASDA Ho implement was one of the first of the new big(a) office blocks to open as contri andion of the redevelopment of the huge ara mho of the River Aire from the city shopping mall of Leeds, in the Holbeck district, tungsten Yorkshire. as hearty, the mission statement for ASDA isGeneral readingThe international supermarket mega store do its name by just being a supermarket, solely based on food. However, Asda has grow and now they offer servicings for* CDs* DVDs* figurer Games* Flowers* Furniture* Mobile Phones* Glasses* Flights* reference point entry bugs* Clothes* Car lease* Contact lenses* Satell ite Navigation Systems* MP3 Players* foodThis presents how big this supermarket has become and has undergone a transitional period and has now became a multi decision cooperate business. Now, Asda runs it own dispersion expediency which delivers results to its stores which delivers products to its stores and to guests who cop online. Asda excessively has its own vestments designer label called George which is quite popular. Also, Asda has belatedly introduced 24/7 supportping which is genuinely comfortable for raft who wreak late hours and besides convenient at e peculiar(prenominal)(a) occasions such(prenominal) as Christmas. size (Staff/Customers)Asda employs 150,000 so I believe that Asda serves the lodge well beca aim it provides so legion(predicate) concerns for heap within the community. More over, Asda supplies a service for over 17 million sight in one week in the UK alone. at large last on that point be approximately 720 workers who work on the ICT network scarce.DivisionsAs of January 2006 in that respect were 21 Asda super centres, 243 Asda superstores, 37 Asda supermarkets, 5 Asda Living stores, 10 George clothing stores. In addition Asda announced plans to build a minimum of 18 stores across the consentaneous UK and it is expected to form 2000 new jobs. Also, at that place be twenty four distri notwithstandingion centres and in addition a Head Office.Aims* To comprehensively be recognised as the high hat supermarket in the UK and overly be cognize all around the world.* To provide jobs and stool high quality goods to all hoi polloi no matter what age, sex, religion and p ar down colour at affordable prices. involveThere argon many challenges go intimately Asda and these include* To further their global get and transmiting* To seduce smaller Asda stores on high streets to provide mass with to a greater extent(prenominal)(prenominal) convenience* To develop their advert to sum up their customers * To advertise for healthy eating* To develop their other parts including opticians, clothes, electronics, home appliances and 24/7 shop classping what is more, Asda is trying to take back in these aims by using ICT as a predominate figure.Purposes for which ICT is utiliseOverview* Asda uses ICT in tramp to envision that all shelves atomic number 18 full in the store. The pee of ICT in which they use is strain held terminals, frequently known as HHTs and these work by members of stave typewriting in barcodes of products and see if they be in beginning. If a product if off the shelves and there is in threadb ar a cognitive content dejection be sent to re-stock it. Also if the product is out of stock, thus(prenominal) you faecal matter cook up an order to re-stock that accepted product.* gross revenue gutter be recorded by using a device called the electronic stage of deal (EPOS) a huge with the prices of the product. This puts Asda at a huge utility becaus e this Asda knows what product is doing well and what products need further advertizing and promotion to supercharge its exchanges.* ICT is use to converge head office in the form of e dismount for administrative and executive matters such as special protracts, income and outcome and stave problems.* Asda prevail a website where you derriere shop online and even leveraging products which you put upt acquire in store and even at a cheaper price.* Asda also offer jobs on their website.* ASDA use videoconferencing to hold meetings with staff or citizenry from other businesses who argon unable to be where the meeting is so-called to be held. So they ordain be face to face over long distances and both retinue get out be convergeed with several video tv cameras microphones and television monitors or PCs. sections in ASDA* gross gross revenue & Marketing This involves the exchange or distribution of the goods or service provided by ASDA and advertise for gross gross gross revenue* get This involves buying the goods or service call for by ASDA* Finance The ante up discussion section controls all the business regarding gold, including cash proceeding, reckon and cash flow.* Operations Carrying out the important business of ASDA* mathematical product This involves designing and producing products from desolate materials or semi entire products.ICT electronic computer peripheral utilize in Asdas gross sales and Marketing department* Electronic Point of Sale* CCTV* mechanism for Self service* Digital camera* S understructurener* tele die Machine* Online shop* Hand Held Terminals* Barcode subscriber computer computer bundles utilize by the sales and Marketing Department* Microsoft leger* Microsoft stand out* Microsoft regain* quick-scented Sales Order Processing SystemThe fix of using the ICTElectronic Point of Sale This shag about eons be referred to as a till or electronic cash register establishment and this i s where transactions happen at Asda and at all other supermarkets and shops. There are many forms of purchase at Asda including cash capital, belief card, debit card and even Asda card where you foundation get special discounts and last you can use vouchers to get notes off. It is safe to use credit tease in Asda because all you have a bun in the oven to do is swipe your card and enter a 4 digit pin shape which only the customer knows. This has increased sales because it is more than convenient for customers as it allows customers to compensate in all forms of possible affordments. So, a result of using debit and credit card is that it increases sales because it is user palsy-walsy as customer dont have to have cash money to purchase things in AsdaCCTV Asda uses CCTV cameras in their sales part by installing the cameras on the shop floor which monitor the shop floor. So by having these cameras it stops people from stealing from Asda as it scares of thiefs. Also if peo ple effectively steal from Asda then they exit roughly likely be caught and prosecuted because CCTV will show their faces minimising the chances of further robberies. So because CCTV helps ASDA because it saves them money as little people would consider attempting to rob it. calculators ASDAs sale discussion section uses computers for several tenablenesss. The most obvious reason why ASDA uses computers is to use databases to store information of customers and sales. The main advantage of using Microsoft Access for this is that you can pick up quieries, sort and filters. This saves a lot of beatMachine for Self Serving This was introduced in ASDA earlier this year and has been a coarse success. Firstly, I will explain what a self-importance serving machine is. You dress the barcodes of your breaker points on to the barcode reader and the cost of this appears on the dissemble and you can pay by inserting cash into the cash machine or credit or debit cards into the app ropriate machines and change is distributed as fits. This saves a lot of money for ASDA as it does the job of an employee without having to pay their wages. However, initially it costs more because the machine is quite expensive and the buy plane section withdraws this order. It will also take quite long for ASDA to launch a benefit but it will and it will be an enormous take in. Also, maybe in the future no human workers will be necessary and then there will just be self serving machines to serve customers.Digital Camera Digital cameras are apply principally in ASDAs sales segment for advertising purposes and are related to ASDAs sales division because it helps to increase sales and therefore strengthen the sales section. This happens because the advertisement, through with(p) online and in-store to come to customers aware of special offers such as 3 for the price of 2 or buy one get one free. For mannikin, cameras are use to take pictures of the product which ASDA a re advertising such as clothes or food or drink. So advertisements are used to get customers to buy a sealed product in the store and then attract the customer by helping them save money but rightfully if ASDA sell as a great deal as they hope by the advertisement then they will most probably make a profit solely although it will take quite long to do so.Scanner A year of learnner which ASDA uses is digital camera surveyners which are based on the concept of reprographic cameras. Due to the increasing small town and new features such as anti-shake, digital cameras become an attractive interpolatenative to perpetual scanners. While still containing disadvantages compared to traditional scanners, digital cameras offer unmatched advantages in pep pill and portability. This once again isnt really a peripheral used in ASDAs sales incision but hugely contributes to the sales subdivision because as explained earlier it is used for advertisement which helps to boost the sales segments actual sales because it encourages customers to buy a certain product.facsimile machine Machine Essentially, a fax machine is a tele parley engineering used to transfer copies of schedules to other people or other businesses to discuss things or to advertise. In the case of ASDAs sales department, they use fax machines to liaison customers for special offers or to sell a lot of their stock. Also, when their stock is approaching the end of their term ASDA want to offload this stock and can sell them to other companies by cogent them of the offer by faxing them.Online Shopping Online Shopping is the process in which customers can shop without having to go to the shop in person. Customers use the net income and pay by reference point, indorse or Debit cards and the goods they purchase are delivered by ASDA to the address of the customer. Online obtain is beneficiary to ASDAs sales department because it increases sales as more people shop online as it is very convenie nt for customers. Also, there are many people who are disabled and can not travel to ASDA for close to reason online obtain allows them to get their shopping without having to travel to the store itself and this makes more money for ASDA because they are gaining more customers than usual with online shopping.Hand Held Terminals These smart devices are extremely useful in ASDA and help them because they are very clock in effect(p). This is because ASDA workers can type in the barcode of around products and then the machine tells you how many of the products are in stock. This saves time for the ASDA sales department because it takes them seconds to decide whether an order needs to be primed(p) for more stock of the product to meet customer needs speedily and efficiently. This in maneuver benefits ASDAs sales departments because ASDA customers can rely and can trust ASDA to provide a good service for them.Barcode commentator A barcode reader is used in ASDAs sales departmen t to scan the barcode on the surface of products in the tab to determine the price of the product and then the computer adds all the prices of the products together and calculates a total for the customer. The barcode reader is useful to ASDAs sales departments because it is quick and time efficient and the customers spend minimal time in the encloseout queue.The electrical shock of using the packet program productMicrosoft tidings The ASDA sales department uses Microsoft reciprocation to assign documents, for ideal and if necessary transfer e-mails, memos, agendas and mail merge to benefit the department and to save time. ASDA also uses Microsoft Word to stack outdoor(a) a fiscal report which needs to be becomed every financial year. This financial report is produced by the companies accountants and makes legitimate that the yearbook incomes and expenses are all correct and so therefore the net profit is also. Companies only use Microsoft Word to make sure that the r eport looks professional and has no mistakes.Microsoft Excel This package is vital to ASDA as you can use it to produce graphs and tables based on the pays of ASDA. For eccentric, you can produce a graph on the increase of income over the past five years. This is in-chief(postnominal) to ASDA as it literally gives them a picture of how there pays are going. Also, ASDA can produce charts on what products of theirs are selling well and which are not and so therefore which need to be advertised and priced lower if necessary to increase sales.Sage Sales Order Processing System This computerized transcription fall inles sales, buying, stock control and accounts. Every time ASDA receives a order the details such as what product has been ordered, the mensuration and the accounting number of the order. This system will mechanically check if there are seemly of the of the required items in stock to fill the order. Then the invoice is printed out and the quantity in stock is automat ically change to show how many of distributively item is left. Also this system allows ASDA to keep caterpillar track of who its customers and suppliers, how much customers owe, hoe much the customer owes to its suppliers and so on.ASDAs Finance DepartmentThe finance department compiles preparation for budgets of new, current and future projects, appropriation of accounts, re-appropriations and savings. The finance department also needs to stay in control of expenditure and not let in spiral out of control. Moreover, ASDAs finance department has to administrate taxes, for example sale tax, entertainment tax or luxury tax amongst many others. Also, the department has to deal with the following pieces of business* payroll department* Forecast* Budget* Suppliers payment* creed controlICT Peripheral Used in ASDAs Finance Department* Computers* Fax Machine* Scanners* Debit and Credit Card Machine (ATM)* Digital TelephoneSoftwares Used by ASDAs Finance Department* Microsoft Word* Mi crosoft Access* Microsoft Excel* Sage Accounting big moneyThe impact of using the ICTComputers ASDAs finance department use computers for numerous reasons and without it alone couldnt operate without it. The first reason why computers are used by the finance department is the meshwork and this enables them to run free, quick and easy in the form of e-mail. The finance department uses e-mail to contact accountants, other departments and also customers. Also ASDA uses the internet facility to forecast future sales and managers need to plan carefully the program line that the business will take in years to come. However, forecasting can be a difficult job and so doing this job is aided by the internet and information from it. Once a sales forecast is make, a budget can be drawn up for the new project. This will show what the costs are and how much profit the company can expect to make if they charge a special(prenominal) price. This is what the finance department is all about fore casting and budgeting.Fax Machine This is essentially much like the use of e-mail as it is a communication decice. However it is actually a telecom device and is used by the finance department to contact other departments, stock holders and also suppliers to make orders for items and products. Fax machines are useful for ASDAs finance department because there are some important documents that cannot be sent by e-mail. An example of such documents are contracts, supplier payments and also forecasts and budgetsScanners The finance department uses scanners to insert photographs or other types of images such as graphs and tables into a document. An example of a sort of document which scanners will be used for is a forcast. The finance department will scan graphs of predicted sales into the forecast to show what will have to be do to secure the aim of the project. Also previous sale trends will be inserted into the document. Now the forcast is done the finance department will produce a budget where hitherto again, a scanner will be used to insert some images into the document. An example of this could be a table where the company can expect to make a certain amount of money if they charge a particular price for an item.Debit and Credit Card Machine (ATM) These pieces of ICT are used in the finance department so that ASDA can pay suppliers and also pay their creditors (who they owe mony to) and basically clear their debts. ASDA also use these machines to pay people, including their employes and suppliers. So these machines are very useful to the finance department because it allows them to go about their business quickly and very efficently.Digital Telephone Although digital telephones are being used little and less frequently due to the revoultionary expanding upon of the use of e-mail and less so the fax machine. However, telephones are still noteworthy as the quickest way to communicate because with e-mail it is not certain that a person will be on their c omputer or checking their e-mails when one arrives. Also, e-mails dont make a preventative when one is received, and obviously telephones ring so it is still the quickest way to communicate. The finance department will use a digital telephone to talk to the corresponding people as fax machines and e-mail suppliers, other departments and also even customers.The contact of Using the SoftwareMicrosoft Word The finance department of ASDA uses this software to produce the annual financial report which takes away the profit the company has made from the expenditure to lay down the net profit of the year. ASDA uses Microsoft Word for this tax as it makes the document look more professional ad the spell check tool allows ASDAs finance department to save a lot of time. Also, the finance department uses Misrosoft Word to compile pay slips for their employees. Pay silps are essential as they show how much the worker ahs made and how much tax has been taken away from the worker. Once agai n the reason why Microsoft Word is used for this task is to make it look more professional and also save ime because the finance department probably have a template of a pay silp and just have to alter it to match the correct information for all(prenominal) worker.Microsoft Access The finance department use this software to create databases for many reasons. superstar is to keep track of their creditors and keep records of wheather they have paid them back or how much they still have to pay back. Also, databases are used by the finance department to keep records of each financial report of the year and see if the net profit of the company is increasing or acquire worse. Moreover, Access is mainly used because of the advantages it possess. These are being able to filter, sort and make quieries which saves time.Microsoft Excel ASDAs finance department uses Excel to produce graphs and tables for several purposes. sensation of these purposes is to use graphs to accompany forecasts a nd budgets. They are used in budgets to show how much money is to be spent on each project. More importantly it is in forcasts to authorise their prediction by producing graphs of previous trends to show why they think the company will go in the direction they think.Sage Accounting Package This is special software used by businesses such as ASDA and especially their finance department. It is specially prompt to help the finance business do what they do.ASDAs Purchasing DepartmentThe main functions of the buy department is to buy raw materials, semi absolute products and fully finished products. Each department works go on in hand with the other ones, for example the purchasing department gets it money from finance, buys the products for work and then it goes on to the sales department. other one of the main functions of the purchasing department is to order new stock and also to also take a stock count to make sure that the order is complete. They will need to order things requisite for the smooth running of the office, such as stationary and computer equipment, and service such as insurance or hotel rooms if staff have to travel. A salesclerk in the purchasing department will enter the details of a purchase order and send it to the supplier. They in turn will receive the goods or services and an invoice will be passed on to the Finance Department. The finance department has to take responsibility of stock control and make sure that everything is in order.The purchasing department uses the collar main softwares to help them to run their business* Microsoft Word The purchasing department uses this to write earn to suppliers to contact them regarding their stock. They also use this software to save time by mail merging and creating memos.* Microsoft Excel This is used to create graphs, charts and spreadsheets based on suppliers and the products which the purchasing department has bought.* Microsoft Access This is used for simple reasons, retentivity data of suppliers into databases. Also the sort, filter and quires tools are very useful as it saves time when you are looking for a particular person or product.ASDAs Production DepartmentThe whole purpose of ASDAs take department is to produce the products for ASDAs sales department from three states raw material, semi finished products and finished products which just need to be packaged. However, ASDAs issue department has many methods in achieving this which I will now tell you about.ICT Peripheral Used in ASDAs Production Department* Robots* ComputersICT Peripheral Used in ASDAs Finance Department* Computer aid Design (CAD)* Computer back up Manufacturing (CAM))The impact of using the ICTRobots These hi-tech pieces of ICT come in all divergent shapes and sizes yet all have the uniform components which are1. Sensors Capture information from the environment.2. A Microprocessor Processes the information3. Actuators Produce movement or alter the environment in some way, for example by turning an electronic switch on or off.Robots are used because they can work in environments which are too dangerous for domain to work in. Such environments where ASDA use robots are radioactive environments or deep underwater. Moreover robots can perform horrid and dim tasks, carry heavy objects and also exceed long distances. Further advantages of ASDA using robots are that the quality of work is always invariable unlike humans who can have lapses in concentration and therefore make mistakes. Robots can work twenty-four seven-spot and even work harder than humans. Lastly, ASDA do not have to pay their robots basic every week wages, however, robots are expensive to buy and to install.Computers Computers are used for several reasons in ASDAs work department such as computer control. Here computers are used to control hundreds of processes both in manufacturing and elsewhere. All of the robots and other devices have computer chips which control their operation. I n ASDAs production department, computers are used to schedule production processes so that machinery is maximally utilized. Also, at ASDA, some workers are paid by piece-work which core that the computer calculates how much work a employee has done and how many products produced. It is then inserted into the system.The impact of using the softwareComputer Aided Design (CAD) These systems allow ASDAs production department to create designs on screen for many of their products. This piece of software lets users create 3-D models with features like volume, weight and centre of gravity. The image can be rotate and viewed from any angle. The advantages of using this piece of software are that images can be scurfy and resize without distortion. Also the draftsmanships are device-independent e.g. a drawing can be transferred to a varied screen of a different resolution, yet with no distortion. The files which are created by the software are generally smaller than for equivalently size d bitmapped images. Lastly, some of the drawings can be made with an immaculate scale of accuracy.Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) As we know ASDA produce some of their products from raw materials and this piece of software allows them to do so. This software works when the design is undefiled the specifications are input directly into a program that controls the manufacturing of products. The advantages of using this software for ASDAs production department are that this system is very versatile and flexible. For example undivided items can be manufactured to a customers exact specification. determinationIn conclusion, all departments use ICT and softwares to help them get about their business and without it couldnt simply operate. Also, I have learnt that all the departments go hand in hand. For example, the finance department gives the purchasing department money and then the purchasing department buys raw materials, semi finished and finished goods and gives it to the produc tion department who makes the products and then gives it to the sales department who obviously sell it for profit. So ICT is essential in all the departments to allow for the easy running of ASDA efficiently and quickly.