The report contains a process which the directors of company can use to help them search the internet. A flowchart diagram is used to make it easier for the directors to understand the process of using internet. To maximise efficiency and effectiveness in work the employees will also be introduced to devices such as PDA’s and Blackberries. They will also find out that how various features in those devices could be useful to them when working away from their office. A decision table is created, which will show all the features of different devices, this decision table will help the directors to choose the product which could suit their needs.
Findings
The company has received an invitation to tender of a relatively small construction project where the company has to use the software and system referred. The company has to send invoices and tenders electronically only, since the company does not have local area network and has only one computer connected to the internet by 56k modem, they had the opportunity to try out the system before bidding for the 2012 Olympics. Computers and internet are considered to be the backbone of commercial market now days, keeping that in mind Greenwich construction Ltd should improve their ICT. Local area network and wireless access to the internet is one of the basic requirements of ICT.
By looking at company’s background and a research has been carried out and it has found that to improve ICT, one of the basic requirements is to have Local area network and wireless access to the internet. The directors of the company do not have the knowledge about general applications in a computer system and also do not know how to search the internet.
Surfing the internet is a very useful tool, knowing how to surf can really help a company in many ways. It is a very easy process, using search engines like google, yahoo search, dogpile and many more can assist the company to find what they require from the internet. It is important to teach directors from very basic because these don’t have any knowledge what so ever. Here is a very simple step by step guide created to teach how general applications can be used to connect to internet and how to search the internet:
Step 1: Press the power button to turn on computer
Step 2: Click on the user name to log into computer
Step 3: Click Start
Step 4: Click connect to internet
Step 5: Type username and password
Step 6: Click dial to connect to the internet
Step 7: Open internet explorer or fire fox which are the best to start the internet web page
Step 8: Type the site name starting with ‘www’ where address is asked for in the given space where http://. e.g.http://www.google.com
Step 9: Write a key word regarding the topic needed to be searched in the space provided on the web page
Step 10: click on search and wait till the web page loads
Step 11: Using the results of the search one can find what they were looking
for just by reading the description given below.
Step 12: On clicking the link, one can find out more about the topic they were looking for
Because the employees are not particularly ‘computer literate’, it might be difficult for them to understand the step by step process how to use general applications and search the internet. To make it easier to understand a data flow diagram is created below. This will show employees how the information above is processed.
(Harry 1997. pg261)
We know from the information given that to take any contract the company is required to have efficient and effective communication when working onsite and also they need to send project reports and invoices electronically. The company should review the types of ICT devices which they could use to maximise their effectiveness when they are working away from their office.
PDA’s, blackberries, palmtops and laptops are so commonly used by the employees of many companies to enable them to do work when they are not in their offices. They being small and portable have substituted desktops, having the same features as desktop but can be carried and easily taken where ever wanted has really helped the commercial world. Using devices like this an employee can do most of his work even without being in his/her office.
There are many features available in these devices which could help employees make their work easier and quicker.
The company wants to send invoices electronically and also want to have good communication with all the parties involved in their work. Using GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) employee can surf the internet using mobile browsing software in these devices the managers can send quotations, invoices and project reports to its clients and their employees. They don’t have to have a computer to send these quotations and invoices; it can be sent from anywhere, which will help in improving communication between the company and the clients. The mobile browsing will also help employees search the internet to find information they required for their work and also when they are on site they can even send emails using such devices.
If the employees creates the quotations, invoices and project reports on a computer, they can still transfer those files to PDA’s and blackberries, these devices have built in software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Adobe acrobat. By using this software the employees can view and edit all files on their PDA’s and blackberries which would help them bring accuracy and improvements to their work.
Features like MMS (Multimedia Messaging) can really help employee to see what others can see at different places. Using MMS we can transfer pictures easily, Greenwich can use this feature to send project plans and site pictures and many other things.
The good thing about these devices is that the employees will not have to carry a mobile phone with them because they can simply use these devices like a normal mobile phone to make and receive calls, which helps in communication with clients and colleagues.
These devices have general application such as scientific calculators, calendar, memo, scheduler and many more. Calculators can help them calculate quotations instantly for their clients. A memo can be used to prepare agenda for the meetings. Scheduler can be used by employees to schedule meetings and put reminders for any important event.
Each and every feature of these devices can really help employees in their work in a very effective way. We have above spoken about some important features available in those devices, but the manager of the company might think it is difficult to decide which product could best fit for there purpose. To make is easier for them to choose one product, a decision table has been attached below which will have list of features for PDA and Blackberry and also how important each feature is to the company.
(John Haner’s Home Page)
Decision Table
Conclusions
Using the procedure, Greenwich Construction Ltd will be ensured in performing their task and will learn to use the system before bidding for the 2012 Olympics. This will also help them in completing the small time projects effectively. Providing Greenwich Construction Ltd with the procedure of surfing the internet will help them a lot in making new research and also the advice of updating their network will help them in communicating with their clients and their employees. Information on the use of PDA’s and Blackberries and their features will also help the employees and the directors of the company to communicate with each other. The features provided by research to the directors and the decision table will help them in deciding which is the best and most effective and economic way of communicating with their employees and clients.
Recommendations
On the bases of the report it is recommended that the company should train more of their staff in the world of technology, make their staff more aware of Modern features available to them, spreading computer literacy among their staff will help the company to achieve high standards. Having knowledge about devices like PDA’s and Blackberries will make it easier for the employees to use them. On research it is found that Blackberries are more efficient and has lot of features which is useful for Greenwich Construction Ltd, though they are expensive but will solve the purpose of the company if used effectively.
Bibliography
Harry, M. (1997) "Information System In Business", 2nd ed. London, Pitman Publishing
Bloggs, A. (2006), "Britain and the Universe", Lecture/Class, London University, unpublished.
The University Of Bolton (2006) “Report Writing” [WWW] Available from:
http://www.bolton.ac.uk/learning/helpguides/studyskills/reportw.pdf
[Accessed: 17 Nov 06]
John Haner’s Home Page “Decision Tables” [WWW] Available from:
http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/jharney/table.html [Accessed: 19 Nov 06]
