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Introduction

INTRODUCTION The management of information systems is a very important topic that every organization must develop properly and clearly within it because it is related to handling information necessary to achieve organization's objectives and goals. It concerns itself with systems which importance to the organisation extends beyond merely assisting it to perform its existing functions efficiently or effectively. In this assignment we will analyse Marks & Spencer through its mission statement, key business processes and environmental factors, as wells as its strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities to the organization and the critical factors related to its success. Finally, based on the above analysis we will recommend a specific information system at each of the levels in the management to support the major business functions of the organization and strategize its operations giving it the required competitive edge. MISSION STATEMENT ANALYSIS The mission statement is a brief description of what an organisation defines as its underlying purpose and values. The mission aims to summarize the main reason of its operations. An organisation's vision is reflected in the mission statement; hence vision should be part and parcel of MS. In other words, an organisation's mission statement needs to incorporate and accommodate its corporate vision. People tend to look at mission statement as merely an inspirational element or clich�'; but if it is to achieve its aim to communicate and inspire company's stakeholders the mission statement has to possess the following attributes: * A reflection of a consensus of what existing managers and staff believe they should be. * The commitment of the organisation to be alive, grow, evolve and change or progress as the organisation moves along. * Widely known and disseminated throughout the organisation. * Realistic and not based on far-flung ambition that employees could not relate to. Mission statement could also be used as a tool to give higher purpose for workers as exemplified by Marks & Spenser. ...read more.

Middle

In general, this means that British people is in a culture of spending rather than saving, therefore the overall message is that they have to save more and be less prepared to spend on immediate gratification and desires. This situation, definitely will have an impact in the retail sector. * Social The variable socio-cultural and lifestyle considerations have encouraged much of the change in shopping and retailing in recent years. Attitudes and beliefs as well as wants and needs have been transformed. They will continue developing and further change should be expected. Specifically, attitudes to work and leisure are worth so they are potentially really important. A significant change that has arisen in the social level is the proportion of women working. With this trend still rising and knowing the impact that it has on much of basic shopping, there remains a clear stimulus to retailers to accommodate variable patterns of shopping, work and behaviours. Shopping behaviour is likely to be segmented by behaviour, mood and product dimensions. Another important issue that has to be considerate is population. Changes in the population structure and the location of this population, as well as the features of the households in which people live are fundamentally important to retailers such as Marks and Spencer. For example, the growth of children as consumers and the recognition of the spending power of the people in their twenties represent new opportunities for the organisation. In the same way, the breakdown of the nuclear family and the rise of single person households changed the consumption landscape. Finally, population estimates for the UK suggest that there will be in the next twenty years an extra four million people in the country. It is forecast that current trends will continue leading to a substantially older composition of the population than at present. There will be significant growth in the 45+ age groups, many of whom will be young in body and mind and will be able to finance their consumption. ...read more.

Conclusion

4. INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS AT EACH LEVEL OF MANAGEMENT For the Marks and Spencer's case we are going to analyze the information requirements for three types of decisions made by the three levels of management, according to Anthony (1965) as shown in the following table: Type of Decision Management Activity Management Level People involved Strategic Planning Long term information. High levels of abstraction. Setting organizational objectives and deciding the type of business that the organization should be in. Executive Level Board of Directors Management Control Longer time scale. Summarized information. Acquisition of new resources assuring that they are used efficiently and effectively to accomplish organizational objectives Tactical Management Middle Managers Operational Control Detailed information very up to date. Short term. Use of existing facilities and resources to check that specific organizational activities are carried out properly Lowest level of Management Overseers or Supervisors Based on the information requirements of each Management Level, the information system for Marks and Spencer should have the following characteristics to accomplish with the actual needs of the company: Operational Control: For the lowest level of management the information system must be able to manage lots of detailed information of the dairy processes such as quantity of goods sold, price, place, date and time, number of orders, channel of distribution, etc. Management Control: For the middle managers the systems must generate reports I in which information such as goods profitability, customers preferences, goods availability, stock usage, and the possibility of producing cross information. Strategic Planning: The information system must be able to handling large amounts of information for long term periods. It is necessary to generate reports useful to decide the direction of the company. These reports should indicate a general overview of the performance of each division also interrelating them with the seven business units defined in the key business. Recommended Information System When retailers depend for their success on a deep understanding of customer behaviour and requirements, they need information about those customers and the products that they buy, in an easily understandable and readable format. ...read more.

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