Responsible Information Systems

RESPONSIBLE INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1 Running head: RESPONSIBLE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Responsible Information Systems Development Improves Organizational Efficiency. David "Toby" Meyers BSA/310 – Business Information Systems University of Phoenix July 5, 2009

Abstract This article assesses Business Information Systems development. It attempts to describe outside influences on the business involved to create Information Systems that meet the assumed needs and the perspective needs of the company and its organizational behavior. It explains the necessity of an understanding of how those changes affect organizational behavior as well as how ethics and legal requirements affect Information Systems. It examples a large company’s change from one type of technology to another and some considerations should be made whenever an Information System is developed.

Responsible Information Systems Development Improves Organizational Efficiency. Proper, ethical and legal Business Information Systems (BIS) management improves organizational efficiency. This essay will examine how BIS can improve organizational efficiency, how those changes affect organizational structure and strategy as well as how ethics and legal requirements affect Information Systems (IS). The intent of IS development in business is to improve operational efficiency. Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart, 2009) recently mandated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging on pallets and cases of products to sell (RFID Journal LLC, 2003). RFID tags trigger advanced ship notices (ASN) through the Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS) network each time a supplier ships product out the receiving dock door. Suppliers access by logging onto Retail Link, Wal-Mart's Webbased software to check inventory. Data collected from RFID tags to automate the reorder process as products on shelves and storerooms sell. The information is available within 30 minutes after a RFID tag has passed by a reader. Wal-Mart uses handheld RFID scanners in back rooms to identify product it needs to restock shelves. In 2006, a study by the University of Arkansas found the retailer reduced out-of-stocks by 16 percent with RFID tags on cases and pallets of goods from suppliers. Employees use automated notifications alerting them when promotional items and cardboard displays filled with Gillette razor blades or Johnson & Johnson baby powder need to move onto the store floor from the stockroom Perishable products from fruits to vegetables to meats to dairy are required to maintain a specific temperature while in transit from farms to retail distribution centers and stores. Vendors, such as Alien Technologies Inc., have been working on RFID applications that monitor temperature throughout the

supply chain. Wal-Mart has more than 61,000 suppliers in the United States alone. About 20 percent contribute to 80 percent of its $285 billion in annual revenue last year. To put its RFID efforts into perspective, the retailer officially brought on about 130 suppliers in January 2005, added 200 this month and another 300 scheduled to join in January 2007 (Sullivan, 2006). Wal-Mart uses RFID systems to help organize shipping, receiving, marketing and corporate behavior. Physically the system works by placing RFID tags on products and use RFID readers, global positioning and data entries by suppliers and Wal-Mart to identify materials and their condition. This saves from having to find materials in inventory, RFID reports where materials are and when to order more material. Knowing where materials are at all times makes items more secure, and is more efficient to automate the process of inventory and procurement rather than waste hundreds of human resource hours guarding and manually making a product inventory and ordering new products periodically after they run out. Other applications of information systems for organizations besides RFID are Instant Messaging (IM), Electronic mail (E-MAIL) and video teleconferencing. These applications, like RFID, keep businesses from having to spend time and money on human resources and travel to find out solutions for small things. IS improves organizational efficiency while eliminating valuable labor cost. The impact of IS on the business structure is not just to computerize tedious processes carried out by human resources, but also, to study and organize behavior exhibited by the organization. Some agree that while IS design concentrates on determinable functions capable of manipulating data to produce the desired output; however it is foolish to ignore the general behavioral climate of the organization. (Headrick & Morgan, 1991) Some companies can do without internal security because employees are loyal and trustworthy, other companies may not

know who will be auditing receipts of online accounts the next day. The system that controls documents may be intrusive to the organization or its customers by freely giving all permissions to any users. In the above example, Wal-Mart uses RFID to not only to simplify inventory processes but as well as to produce ASN from EPCIS by identifying when product levels get low to reduce customer turn-away by out-of-stock product. The behavior of the organization considered so suppliers would RFID tag marketing tools such as marketing displays and the system gives automated notifications to employees locally when it was the correct time to push displays to outlet floors. The understanding of organizational behavioral context is integral to IS development. There are many influences on business. “A Social, Legal, Economic, Political, Technological (SLEPT) analysis is often carried out by business planners which enables them to develop more informed strategies.” (The Times Newspapers Ltd, 2009) A SLEPT analyzes external stakeholder and things a customer be swayed for or against a product or a brand. A CostBenefit Analysis is a procedure performed by government where the entire social benefits of a proposed business idea compared to the entire social costs used to consider a project. Changes in consumer lifestyle, Regulatory changes and Economic changes can affect the behavior of an organization. Anticipating how the customer and the public will use technology is useful especially at the rate that IS becomes outdated and the consumer changes devices and means to consume. With the development of new interactivity devices companies must follow consumers or be left behind by products offered by companies supporting use of those devices. Regulatory changes can influence technology because while a law enacted to suppress violent or illegal behavior, it may still effect how your new equipment utilized regardless of its functionality. As well as, if, as a producer of such equipment, be blamed for illegal behavior, when your intentions

were very specifically for legal and non-violent use. Economic changes may require that an organization raise prices or lower requirements and reduce prices according to what consumers are willing to pay and what they are willing to pay for. The understandings of external interests are integral to IS development. This article examined how BIS can improve organizational efficiency, how those changes affect organizational structure and strategy, as well as, how ethics and legal requirements affect IS. The intent of IS development in business is to improve operational efficiency. The impact of information systems on the business structure is not just to computerize tedious processes carried out by human resources, but also, to study and organize behavior exhibited by the organization. It examined influences on business, how to examine those influences. Development of BIS can improve organizational efficiency, however whether it improves or destroys a business depends on if you are seeing the organization as a whole, as individual as the individuals that are the incorporate persona of the company.

References Gurbaxani & Whang (1991). The Impact of Information Systems on Organizations and Markets. Communications of the ACM, 34(1), 59-73. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from Academic Search Alumni Edition database. Headrick & Morgan (1999). Measuring the impact of Information Systems on Organizational Behavior. Journal of End User Computing, 11(4), 16. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from Academic Search Alumni Edition database. RFID Journal LLC (2003). Wal-Mart Expands RFID Mandate. Retrieved June 25, 2009 from: RFID journal, http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/539/1/1 Stair & Reynolds (2006). Fundamentals of Information Systems. U.S.A.: Thomson Course Technology. Sullivan (2006). Wal-Mart Advances RFID Project. Retrieved June 25, 2009 from: ChannelWeb, http://www.crn.com/it-channel/177101319. The Times Newspapers Ltd (2009). Influences on businesses. Retrieved June 25, 2009 from: The Times100, http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--influences-on-businesses--390.php. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (2009). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Retrieved June 25, 2009 from: Walmart.com, http://www.walmart.com/. http://www.pdfcoke.com/doc/14761198/Government-and-Economic-Influences-on-Business.