English for Academic

Question: Discuss that the essay is aimed at verifying the fact whether business can be practiced without information technology. Answer: The function of a successful business depends on the strategic framework of the business. Introduction of new technologies and other advanced framework has lead businesses to a better position in the competitive market. The key player among the technological factors is the information technology. Introduction of information technology in business has helped the organizations to gain a proper edge in the business domain (Davenport 2013). Moreover, presently the key feature of any business environment is its fast moving nature. In order to cope with the continuously increasing speed it is necessary to introduce information technology in the strategic framework of the business. In addition to these factors, the emergence of globalization has made information more valuable to the business organizations. This has helped the organizations to gain better and well-structured information about the market structure, develop and design products accordingly (Zikmund et al. 2012). Therefore, it i s also necessary for the organizations to adapt the technologies that will be able to handle this information in a proper way. Counter argument- Nowadays, most of the business organizations are dependent on computers for the automation of the traditional processes. Moreover, business organizations have to deal with a large data base, management information systems, internet, intranet and other computerized machineries which are strictly correlated with the computer technologies. Rebuttal- The perceived idea was that the use of information technology is concentrated on the marketing and finance department. Argument- Willcocks (2013) argued that presently it is almost impossible for the human resource department of the medical industry to operate successfully without information technology. Evidence- This can be presented with the help of an example. All the transactions performed in a warehouse are recorded by a transaction processing system (Zhu et al. 2012). In the absence of the machine, the human resource department would need to make a note of all the transactions. This would be a long drawn process whic h could also delay the production. Counter argument - Business process redesigning is the key element of getting success in the business. The business process redesigning can be characterized as the process of redesigning and reforming the business process in order to achieve extensive advancement in performance in various sectors of business such as cost, service, quality. Now, with the passage of time the business process redesign became the strongest concept in the business management (Zhu et al. 2012). Rebuttal - A detailed study by Jeston and Nelis (2014) revealed that information technology and the concept of business process redesign are highly correlated. In fact, information technology acts as the activator of the process change mechanism. Argument - According to Hartmann et al. (2012), the business process redesigning increases the effectiveness of the business as well as the quality of the products delivered is also improved. This is because of the strict monitoring of the management on the processes. Evide nce - Now, business process redesigning can be referred to as an essential requirement for successful business while it is a result of the implementation of information technology. Therefore, the introduction of information technology in the business is essential for its efficient operability. Counter argument - Majchrzak and Markus (2012) pointed out that information technology is turning into the centre of development and delivery of strategic framework of business, it is more essential to pay addition attention to the increasing use of information technology in the business. Rebuttal - However, Schneider and Spieth (2013), argues that it is also very important to note what the organizations are trying to achieve with their information technology and the way information technology designs its strategy is also important for the success of the organization. Argument - Again, author, opined that the business strategies and the information technology of the business should be complementary to each other as well as being supportive. This in turn signifies that the strategy development is a two way process between the business organization and information technology (sterle 2013). Evidence Maximum business organizations are using the ERP system for getting more facilities in their business (Jeston and Nelis 2014). Counter argument - The emergence of ecommerce websites has opened a number of market opportunities for the business organizations. It has helped the organizations to gain access to a broader customer base and target the desired segments more efficiently. Introduction of ecommerce has leaded the business organizations to a wider market, where the company can simply design a website and put the pictures of its product on the website along with the respective prices of the products (McCaughey and Ayers 2013). Rebuttal - This will help to attract a large number of consumers who shop online. In the remote areas where it is not possible for the company to reach to the consumers directly, it is beneficial for the residents of those places to buy the products online. Argument - However, Rainer et al. (2013) argued that the introduction of ecommerce has given rise to a significant level of competition in the market. The companies are now competing with a large number of competitors in the sam e trade as the consumers are now faced with a large number of alternatives. Evidence - The introduction of ecommerce in the business is also a result of information technology. It helped the ecommerce sites to maintain the logistics as well as maintaining the transactional accounts. Counter argument - With the emergence of information technology, there is a rise of social media networking and nowadays it is almost impossible for a company to survive in the competitive market without promoting its product in the social media networking. Therefore, it is also essential for an organization to take active part in promoting its product in the social media. Rebuttal - As per the statistics, it is evident that a significantly large portion of the population is now using Smartphones and almost all of them are active users of internet. Argument - Therefore, it is more likely that a large number of mobile phone users will be using the social networking sites, thus promoting in the social media will help the company to address a significantly large customer base (McCaughey and Ayers 2013). Evidence - The business organizations have also become eligible to obtain the opinion of the consumers about the company. In order to conclude it can be said that, in the era of globalization and advancement ofthe economic structure, organizational change is quite likely to take place. With the ever-changing organizational structure, the business should keep up changing its framework accordingly. Therefore, to cope with the changing environment it is essential for the business to use the most efficient tool of business management that is the information technology. The entire essay is concerned about the role of information technology in the business process redesigning and the strategic framework of the business. Both of these act as the heart of the business, while it has been found that without the introduction of information technology it would have been impossible to perform these functions. Again, the implementation of information technology has opened up a new scope for the business organizations. For example, the introduction of ecommerce websites and promotional activities in the social media n etwork has helped the companies to acquire a larger base of customers. However, the companies could more efficiently perform the promotional activities if they try to communicate with the potential customers on a one to one basis. The competition in the ecommerce world can also be mitigated by offering unique opportunities or taking patent of a particular popular product so that no other ecommerce website can sell the product. Moreover, rigorous and extensive market research should always be conducted to gain knowledge about the competitors; as this will help to design strategies more efficiently. However, at the end it can easily be concluded that it will be very difficult to operate the business in an efficient manner. Reference List Davenport, T.H., 2013. Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology. Harvard Business Press. Hartmann, T., Van Meerveld, H., Vossebeld, N. and Adriaanse, A., 2012. Aligning building information model tools and construction management methods. Automation in construction, 22, pp.605-613. Jeston, J. and Nelis, J., 2014. Business process management. Routledge. McCaughey, M. and Ayers, M.D. eds., 2013. Cyberactivism: Online activism in theory and practice. Routledge. sterle, H., 2013. Business in the information age: heading for new processes. Springer Science Business Media. Rainer, R.K., Cegielski, C.G., Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, I. and Sanchez-Rodriguez, C., 2013. Introduction to information systems: Supporting and transforming business. John Wiley Sons. Schneider, S. and Spieth, P., 2013. Business model innovation: towards an integrated future research agenda. International Journal of Innovation Management, 17(01), p.1340001. Willcocks, L., 2013. Information management: the evaluation of information systems investments. Springer. Zhu, X., Mukhopadhyay, S.K. and Kurata, H., 2012. A review of RFID technology and its managerial applications in different industries.Journal of Engineering and Technology Management,29(1), pp.152-167. Zikmund, W., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., 2012. Business research methods. Cengage Learning.