SALES: AN EPOS terminal or till is used in the sales department and is used to enter sales details and print receipts. A colour inkjet printer is needed to print out adverts etc. to persuade customers to buy their products.
PURCHASING: In the purchasing department computers are needed that are connected to the internet to buy equipment that the company will need and then is inturn put through accounts for the finance department.
FINANCE: Laser printers are needed to print out invoices and to print out other important information about both the customer and the company on a whole. A software package that is very Important is called Save Instant account, these are important because they look after the customers bank accounts and money which is coming in and out of the company.
OPERATIONS: T o help run this department very powerful computers and monitors are needed. Video cameras are also used a lot that help make the videos that are made for this package.
How do these ICT systems help people to do their job more efficiently?
ICT makes life a lot easier for the Varndean E- Learning Company as it is used in all departments. Using ICT in small companies gives more flexibility and freedom. Take the sales department for example, producing enough adverts let alone would take up a lot of time to do it by hand especially when it is for over 3,500 schools. Letters also have to be sent and addressed, using ICT make it quicker and definitely less stressful which can help to get information to the customers quicker, which gives a better initial opinion of the company to the customer.
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How does ICT help individuals to communicate more effectively?
With the use of ICT, communicating between computers can be done making the process quicker and saving money. Adverts, leaflets etc can be processed and then sent to another computer via e-mail to be printed out which leaves the first computer free for more work to be made and printed. In the Purchasing department there are no internal communications made, but externally websites are used to sell and buy products.
Many of the departments are linked together through the computers such as finance which is linked to be able to do reports and bank statements. Externally the finance department makes VAT returns and record tax that the company pays. The operations department communicates the most so that all of the workers in the company know of the changes that have been made by another worker. Externally the major way to communicate with the customers is by sending the CD to the schools and also to try and find bugs in the system.
Where are these types of ICT used?
In each department ICT can be used in a different way and have different effects, this is how it is used in firstly,
First a mail shot is sent to all schools, which tells the people about all of the products and inviting them to a seminar. Using the software's on the computer letters and leaflets can be printed out. Next the names and the addresses are all merged and printed which are now ready to go.
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The PURCHASING Department
ICT is used effectively for the customers and their needs, if a product has not been received e-mail can be sent to the company to find out why.
This calculates the money coming in and out of the company, customers sending in an order is called a purchasing order and an invoice is produced which is sent out and the customer has 30 days to pay. Things are a little different of a cheque is sent but it is easier, the cheque goes straight to the bank and on the companies records the customers name and address is stored. Using a till, the customer must receive a receipt and the records kept.
Video clips are made using a video camera and then connected to the computer via firewire port. Videos can be edited and downloaded using a program called Video Factory. Next it is exported into windows media player format still being improved and finally it can be then put on a CD and delivered to the customers.
Conclusion
After doing a lot of research about the Varndean E-Learning company I now realize that the company would not be able to smoothly run without any ICT recourses. Work can be produced quicker and to more substantial standard. Lastly I would like to state some of the things that could be done to further the ICT recourses used in all four departments.
In the Sales department improvements could be made to make things more detailed and to store details of e.g. who was the customer and what and when did they purchase the item. This would mean that all of the data would be stored for future use and would take out the schools that have already purchased products.
In the purchasing department it would be a huge improvement to automatically see check what has been purchased and how much has been sent.
In the finance department the workers feel that it would benefit to see how much of the products are sold and also would be good to analyze the products.
Lastly the operations department could be furthery improved by testing the products more before they are mass-produced and sent to the customers.
Introduction
For my case study I am studying a small company called Varndean E-Learning. I have researched the four major departments of the company and I am going to explain how the company runs using ICT, the four departments are:
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SALES- this department generates and manages the sales of the product or the services of the company.
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PURCHASING- this is responsible for buying everything that the company needs; stock control programs are often used.
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FINANCE- this is responsible for dealing with the customer's money, pay bills and sends invoices. Also pays the company's employees and the taxes are properly paid.
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OPERATIONS- this is the part that is responsible for the core of the business. It is the things that the company does to make its money. E.g. selling a product made by someone else or manufacturing a product to sell.
