Discussing British Airways.

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

INTRODUCTION

In the present times the business firms are able to understand the importance of the right and the relevant information that is helping the firms in taking the right decisions. It is basically an intangible entity that is also having certain elements of the tangible aspects also in it. These are helping the firms in lowering the uncertainties concerning certain events or the situations. Therefore an information system is regarded as the series of systematic organized processes which when being used can help in providing the vital information that is helping the different departments of the organization to carry out their various operations in a smooth and effective manner. In the present project that is concerning the IMS group in which we have opted for the British Airways that is the most famous airline that is UK based which has been catering to consumers for a long time by providing them with the international standards of services.

Moreover the company has been able to earn the faith of the customers also due to the fact that the firm has virtually invested one hundred million pounds on the different security steps that have been taken in regard to the aircraft activities.

Even the company has been taking the feedback directly from its customers regarding their opinion about the various services being provided by them to the customers through a continuous survey system that is known as the Global Performance Monitor. By doing so the company has been able to make the necessary modifications in their services as per the changing requirements of its customers.

PREFACE OF THE COMPANY

British Airways happens to be one of the biggest airline operators that is U.K. based and among the different operators of Europe it is holding the position of the 3rd position after the Air France, Lufthansa and KLM. The major centers of the airline are at London Gatwick, and London Heathrow in which their range of the services being provided by them from the long routes to the short routes of the domestic European flights. Manchester happens to be one of the Britain Airports from where it is operating for the long distance flights. There are about Five hundred and fifty destinations to which the airways is providing flights at convenient timings.

Thus the British Airways is a group which comprises of the other subsidiary firms like the British Airways Plc and others like the BA Connect Ltd. and British Airways holidays Limited.

As British Airways is considered to be a leader in the industry mainly because of the kind of the technology that is being utilized by the company in providing various services like the online booking system and the ticketing method of self services.

FIRST TASK

BRITISH AIRWAYS HIERARCHIAL CONTROL FRAMEWORK TO PORTRAY THE DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS BEING PERFORMED

The rational kinds ...

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Thus the British Airways is a group which comprises of the other subsidiary firms like the British Airways Plc and others like the BA Connect Ltd. and British Airways holidays Limited.

FIRST TASK

BRITISH AIRWAYS HIERARCHIAL CONTROL FRAMEWORK TO PORTRAY THE DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS BEING PERFORMED

The rational kinds of connexion that is being seen among the various systems which are not changing in its life time are termed as the structure. There is one specific kind of structure which is being seen in certain kinds of systems. It is being referred as the hierarchy between the different systems. Therefore the system comprises of at least two and above systems that are interacting with each other for the entire system of the British Airways to operate in an effective manner.

Source: Harry Mike (1994) Information Systems in Business)

SECOND TASK

INPUT, OUTPUT, BOUNDARY AND ENVIRONMENT OF BRITISH AIRWAYS

As per (Scoderbeck et.al., 1985) system is defined as “A set of objects together with relationships between the objects and their attributes related to each other and to their environment so as to form a whole”

As per (Rapport, 1995) system is defined as an “Entity that can maintain some organization in the face of change from within or without.”

As per (Harry Mike, 1994) System is defined as the combining of various elements where:

The components or the elements are interrelated in a systematic manner.
These components or the elements are getting the influence as they are part and parcel of the bigger system.
The assembling is able to provide certain aspects
The assembly is considered by any individual which is a part of special interest

Therefore it has been seen that all the systems has certain universal components which are as follows:

INPUT

Workers and employees
Fuel
Capital
Electricity
Aircrafts

PROCESS

It is the procedure which are utilized by the system in the transforming the raw materials into certain final products.

Some of the dynamic properties which are being utilized by the firm are referring to the latest aircraft which are been put for the services to be rendered to the final consumers.

OUTPUT

It is the services or the products which are the outcomes of the processing units that are ultimately being utilized for providing effective services to be provided.

FEEDBACK

It is referring to the information concerning the process outcome which is being utilized for the analyzing and monitoring of the efficiency with which the system is operating and guiding in for more effective performance.

(Source: Harry Mike (1994) Information Systems in Business)

THIRD TASK

EMERGENT PROPERTIES

It refers to all such properties which are being utilized together for the entire system to operate efficiently. These can be of great help to the users as they are able to help in the adaptation of the commodities to assist certain jobs which are never being thought of by the designers. At times these can be having a negative impact on the crucial safety needs. Thus there is a substantial debate concerning the emergent property nature.

There are other kinds of emergent properties which are being applied to show behaviors which are otherwise not found with the help of functional decomposition. Thus the manner in which any system forms the emergent properties is mainly on account the member in which it is internally interacting with the other elements and also with the outside entities such as the government or the other parts of the environment.

Even the strategies of B2B and B2C are being utilized by the company for having online connectivity with the other businesses or the customers or the suppliers and personnel etc.

FOURTH TASK

ABSTRACT AND CONCRETE CONNEXIONS

There are several concepts which are being utilized that are in the form of either abstract or concrete.

CONCRETE connexions are the ones that are tangible and are easily detected by any human brain. It comprises of the laptops, printers, computers etc.

ABSTRACT Connexions is referring to the intangible or the mental concepts which may be in the form of information.

The abstract and concrete connexions are being used together for the smooth transmission of the information among the various departments of the British Airways.

FIFTH TASK

MATERIAL AND INFORMATION FLOWS

The prime objective of IS is to ensure that the management decisions are being taken in an effective manner in lowering the operational expenditures and carrying out the operational controls for catering to the requirements of the consumers and thus catering to the requirements of the consumers and thereby enhancing the overall firm’s image. Therefore even British Airways has to ensure that the DSS (Decision Support System) are helping its managers in taking effective decisions based on the various information frameworks and evaluating tools.

But besides all these it is required that the firm is using certain collaboration systems that are helping in the usage of the latest systems like video conferencing, e-mails etc. by doing so the company would be able to utilize Intranet as an effective means by which it is able to have a system of effective communication to take place within the firm which is being done at various outlets.

There are even possibilities of using MIS (management Information System) which would be assisting the management to take some effective decisions which would be improvising the overall working of the firm.

SIXTH TASK

PRIME CONTROL FEEDBACK LOOPS

Control helps in drawing the links between the management and information by certain systems put in a hierarchical manner. In case in the case of organizations feedback is considered to be a procedure in which various findings, suggestions and concerned are being shared among the individuals with the motive of improvising the performance of the system or the individuals in the better way. There are three kinds of feedback which are:

Negative feedback – it has a tendency of lowering output however it brings stability
Bi polar feedback – it had no effect of enhancing or lowering the output
Positive feedback – it has a tendency of improvising the output

The prime control feedback system for British Airways has been shown with the help of the diagram given below:

Input

Figure: Control feedback loop used by British Airways

SEVENTH TASK

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

System Description British Airways

Source: (Source: Harry Mike (1994) Information Systems in Business)

British Airways is utilizing the latest systems for conducting its different operations such as the E-ticketing, intranet etc. British Airways has been able to develop these systems mainly because of the advices being provided by the managers of the system development that have been hired by the firm for this purpose only. There are six phases by which the life cycle of the system development takes place at British Airways.

Feasibility study – in this the prime objective and the scope of new system of British Airways has to be analyzed in regard to its feasibility like analyzing the possible expenditure and the advantages that would be flowing to the company.

System investigation – present processes and the manuals are to be taken into account before any new system is being introduced such as the E-ticketing etc.
System analysis – it is a stage of conducting critical evaluation of the present system in regard to finding out any drawback which are requiring any improvisations.
System design- in this a new system has to be developed in such a way that it is able to cover all the drawbacks of the present system
Implementation- before the introduction of any new system it is necessary to carry out the sample in order to see that if it is able to effectively cover up the drawback of the present system
Maintenance and Review – it is necessary that the company is maintain and reviewing the manner in which the new systems are operating so that it is able to analyze for all the different omissions and faults in the working of its present systems.

References

Harry Mike (1994) Information Systems in Business,Third Edition, Pitman publishing.
Henry C. Lucas Jr., (1994). Information systems concepts for management, Fifth edition, Tata McGraw Hill International edition
Bee, R. and Bee, F. (1999), Managing Information and Statistics. Trowbridge: Cromwell Press.