MGMT 221 Assignment 1.6 Module Review Quentin Haynes Embry Riddle Aeronautical University MGT 221 Assignment 1.6 Module Review Chapter Questions 1.6 1) How can information technology support a company’s business processes and decision making and give it a competitive advantage? Information technology plays a key role in the success of a company. For example: information technology allows the use of communication medium such as e-mail, instant messaging, voice over IP, video chat, SMS messaging, cloud computing, etc. by employees located just across town or around the world. These types of communication help to reduce costs, save time, and increase customer satisfaction. Companies routinely use IT to track inventory, pay their employees, and monitor sales trends. Imagine if a large supermarket was not able to track inventory with a transaction processing system. They would be compelled to store a large quantity of items to ensure demand could be met. This directly leads to higher costs for the company and consumer. Overstocked items, such as perishables, could potentially expire before being sold. Non-perishable items would occupy valuable warehouse space. For example: Roundy’s Supermarkets were able to reduce backroom and overall store inventory levels without impacting product availability by implementing the SoftGrocer Inventory Management system. John Boyle, Chief Information Officer of Roundy’s Supermarkets stated that it “created an immediate cost savings for our stores”. (“Roundy’s Supermarkets Chooses SoftGrocer to Reduce Inventory Overhead and Improve In-Stock Position,” 2010) 2) How does the use of the Internet, intranets and extranets by companies today support their business processes and activities? Companies of today are increasingly competitive in global markets. Rising use of technology such as the Internet, intranets, and extranets provides a direct link to consumers, different areas within the company, and to the company’s trading partners. Using the internet to support virtually every step of the commercial process allows companies, small and large, to sell to consumers almost anywhere. This showcases how the Internet supports business processes and activities. Intranets support a company by allowing real time communication between different departments. They streamline the collection and distribution of information, support collaboration and project management, and simplify internal communications. Intranets can also support cost reduction processes and environmental impact reduction activities by reducing the use of paper medium. Extranets give companies the ability connect multiple intranets together. This capability facilitates collaboration between companies on joint projects, initiatives, and information sharing. They can also provide a tailored interface for specific business between companies. 3) How can a manager demonstrate that he or she is a responsible end user of information systems? Managers are able to demonstrate they are responsible by ensuring the security of any passwords, restricting access to data and communication centers to essential personnel only, and ensuring security programs are kept up to date. Backups of applications and information should also be stored off site. This will allow for recovery in case of a security breach. With e-mail spoofing being one of the major causes of intrusion, employee training to spot these emails and what to do would help maintain the integrity of their information systems Disaster Recovery Analysis Exercise 1) Failure to save work in progress frequently * How might the mistake result in data loss? Hardware failure, power loss, or the program being used could fail. * What procedures could you follow to minimize this risk? By saving frequently or setting up an auto save feature for an appropriate interval companies can avoid completely losing work that is in progress. Keeping hardware clean and cool will extend its life and reduce the chance of failure. Power backups can be used which will allow work to be saved before total power loss. Keeping programs up to date and sending crash data in the event of a failure. 2) Failure to make a backup copy * How might this mistake result in data loss? Data loss could happen if the primary data storage system were to fail. Without a backup copy this data could be impossible to retrieve. * What procedures could you follow to minimize this risk? Implementing automatic backup copy creation, making it part of the daily routine to ensure that a backup copy was made. 3) Storing original and backup copies in the same location * How might this mistake result in data loss? Catastrophic damage from fire, water, electricity, or malicious attack could result in the loss of the original and backup copies. * What procedures could you follow to minimize this risk? Backup data should be stored on a physically separate storage system. This will prevent loss in the event of failure of one of the storage systems. Depending on the value of the data another backup copy could be stored on a removable device such as flash drives.

References PR NewsWire, (2010, Jan 5) Roundy's Supermarkets Chooses SoftGrocer to Reduce Inventory Overhead and Improve In-Stock Position. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roundys-supermarkets-chooses-softgrocer-to-reduce-inventory-overhead-and-improve-in-stock-position-80730412.html