Input Devices:
Mouse:
The Marketing department uses the mouse regularly to fulfil there most simple and efficient needs when using a computer, such as when browsing the computer or reaching to other destinations where no keyboard shortcuts are available. Apart from the most basic uses of the mouse the Marketing department uses the mouse to manually produce detailed and attractive leaflets and posters to advertise the company. They also use it to drag and drop special symbols and features such as their company logo to represent what company this leaflet or poster is from. The mouse supports the work of the department as it allows them to effectively control the layout of the attractive advertisements. The mouse is a successful way to allow the Marketing department to construct their advertising methods.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The mouse helps the marketing department meet its objectives by allowing the staff at the marketing department to use it as a very useful tool because when they are producing the designs they have to be quick in order to meet their dead-line and if they were quick and have met the dead-line of the due date for the designs then this will build up the reliance of the department to the company so the company can rely on the department to produce the advertisements before or at the due date in order to help the company gain its major objective which is to be well known.
Alternative device or technology:
An alternative device to a mouse would be an Interactive whiteboard which would make it an easier way of doing the same thing but faster and in a more relaxing position because if you were on a mouse for a long wile your wrist will be affected which could cause an injury but with the interactive whiteboard you can easily do the same job but in a more relaxing position, another advantage of the IWB would be that it allows them to use the board as a screen which would help to display their work to other more important members of staff for their approval and also to use their fingers to create lines and to press buttons instead of clicking and rotating their wrist. This would allow them to avoid the need of using a mouse.
Keyboard:
The Marketing department also uses a keyboard which not only is in use for the basics of typing and shortcuts but to program special functions of the software that they use. The keyboard allows them to type into the computer which then allows the computer to follow commands and process the entered data and converts it into the necessary visual format.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The keyboard helps the marketing department to meet its objectives by allowing the staff at the marketing department to use it as a very useful tool because when they are typing up important word documents and advertisements or even logging on to the computer. If they didn’t have this input device they would not even be able to fulfil the most basic needs of the department let alone the most detailed and comprehensive daily tasks. So the keyboard plays a major part in the marketing department.
Alternative device or technology:
An alternative device to a normal standard keyboard would me a wireless keyboard, because it could be used as an effective replacement as the marketing designer could work not just in there little working area but in a small distance away to produce attractive work in a comfortable environment that best suits them because it can get a little packed and crowded at your working environment.
Output Devices:
Printer:
The Marketing Department uses a printer for different reasons then the sales department does because at the sales department they use the printer to print out ticks and not any old printer can do that they use a special ticket printer whereas the marketing department uses the printer to print out their most attractive work. The printer that they use is a highly more efficient printer that prints in exact details which is a main source for the marketing department. Due to the impressive detail on these posters and leaflets, the marketing department prints them on A4 and A1 size paper. The marketing Department uses a HP Design printer to print out the advertisements. Many of these are printed out in colour so they stand out and also because it makes them easier to read because of the colour key and symbols. These are made to attract more customers to the Leisure II so the company gets more reputation because this is the main objective of the company.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The printer helps the marketing department to meet its objectives because it allows the staff at the marketing department to print out all the designs of the advertisements. Even though designing the advertisements is a main objective for the department but producing them and handing them out so that they get seen is the next part of the task by publishing the advertisements it would result on encouraging more people to visit the centre and that is the most important objective of the department. However if the printer would not be used in the department then the marketing department will not be able to advertise and if they don’t advertise then the department isn’t meeting its objectives and if the department is not meeting its objectives then the company will not be able to achieve its main objectives.
Alternative device or technology:
At the moment I would not refer to an alternative device or technology to the printer that they are using at the moment because there is no other printer out at the stores yet to beat the quality of the printer that is being used in the marketing department.
CRT Monitor:
The CRT monitor’s are used to view the art in progress. Marketing designers and other staff can view the plans in real quick time as they are changed and modified as required. The marketing department uses a 19 inch screen to display these. The monitors allow all the stakeholders in the project to view and to modify all the art until they are fully constructed and given out to be advertised.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The CRT monitor helps the marketing department to meet its objectives by allowing the staff to present the designs of the advertisements to the higher authorities and to people who will judge and approve the designs - if they are to be advertised. Since there will not be only 1 or 2 people in the meeting that’s why it is most suitable for the staff to use a huge screen to clearly show the designs and to discuss the matters that might arise in the meeting, because the designs are being presented on the big screen it will be easy for the staff members to point out areas of improvement etc. This shows that the CRT monitors helps the department meet its objectives because then the staff can present the designs and soon have them out on the high streets so they get more customers and having more customers is one of the main objectives of the department and the company.
Alternative device or technology:
An alternative device to this 19 inch CRT monitor is a 21 inch CRT monitor because it would resolve the problem of having to zoom in and out of the posters and leaflets to view clearly.
Processors:
Intel Pentium 4 processor:
The Marketing department uses an Intel Pentium 4 processor. The processor is used to carry out several tasks. The processor’s speed is measured in GHz which determines the speed at which a variety of tasks can be carried out at any time. The more the memory the processor contains the faster the tasks can be carried out. The marketing department uses a processor which has a memory status of 512mb. The processors help the company to modify several items at the same time. This help’s the company to meet its objectives because they can edit the advertising material of the system quickly and easily to meet the needs of the organisation more effectively so it’s not much of time consuming. The marketing project manager thinks that the processors are generally good for the work that they are used for. He also thinks that the main Software/program used by the marketing department is Corel Draw and Corel Draw photo shop. Both of these programs use a lot of memory space in the RAM and 512mb worth of memory may not be enough.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The Intel Pentium 4 processor helps the marketing department because it works very fast and does not crash most often and that was the major issue that they didn’t like before and also it can contain a lot more data then the processor that they used to use. If the computer acts faster and allow the staff to work faster, then that means the designs that they have to produce will be of no trouble and can be produced in ease and if the designs are produced with no difficulty then that means that the department has met its objectives which is to advertise the company so that they get more customers and if this is met then the company’s main objective is covered which if for the company to get more new customers and for existing customers to keep coming.
Alternative device or technology:
The alternative device/technology for this would be a RAM that contains a larger amount of memory space then a 512mb. Which could be a 1GB worth of memory in the RAM because then the more complicated and larger pieces of art can be created more faster and also these detailed pieces of work take up a lot of memory so if the company was to use a 1GB worth of memory it would be of no hassle to save these documents, and most importantly the computer would work much faster and would not crash most often like it would with the 512mb RAM.
Ports and Cables:
Ethernet Cable:
The marketing department’s computers are connected to a network using an Ethernet cable. The main advantage of the network is that it allows the staff at Leisure II to use any computer ether at home or at their working environment and still gain access to their files and documents via a special connection to the company’s intranet. Data can be shared in common folders that can be e-mailed to other members of staff allowing them to share work-related data. If consultants and approvers want to view the posters and leaflets then they can view these using a different computer than those at the marketing department. So then they won’t have to walk over to the marketing department to have a spec over these pieces of work. This proves that having this connection is the biggest advantage of the Ethernet cable which is that the staff can easily share data between different departments within the organisations.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The Ethernet cable helps the marketing department to meet its objectives because the people who have to view the designs before approving them don’t have to walk all around the massive building to just judge the work and also it helps the staff by allowing them to edit the designs at any time or place all this is leading to one big advantage and that is that the Ethernet cable is not time consuming. The Ethernet cable is a main aspect of the objectives at the marketing department because of it the department meets its objectives because the staff can work on the designs any time even if they are free at home so that means that the designs can be produced before the due date and not be late for advertising and that is one of the main objectives of the department and if that is met then it would result to the company meeting its objectives. If each of the departments meets their main objectives then it is for certain that the company has met its objectives.
Internet Connection Cable:
The marketing department also has access to the internet via a modem. This helps the company to easily communicate with their suppliers and customers. They can also access their e-mail accounts electronically using the internet connection. The internet connection allows the e-mails to be sent to the servers such as hotmail or yahoo depending on the server they use. This helps the staff to communicate easily with not just other members of staff but their customers as well, who are a big part of the main objectives that this department has at Leisure II which is to provide a full none stop service to their customers. The staff at Leisure II doesn’t just use the internet to send and receive e-mails; they use it to check up on their company web-site and to get customer feedback or even to get pictures for their art work.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The internet connection cable helps the marketing department to meet its objectives because it allows the staff at the marketing department to research on new poster themes and fonts and also to check out its competition. If the marketing department creates attractive posters and leaflets then their will be more customers and that is the main objective of the company in order to do that they will need to produce excellent posters which attract the eyes of customers. Also the internet cable helps the marketing department to meet its objectives by allowing the staff to contact the customers and to analyse their feedback so that they can make changes. And if changes that the customers what are changed then that would result on more customers to visit the center and that means that the department has met its objectives and if the department has met its objectives then the company has also met its objectives. All the departments and the objectives of the departments are linked with the company and its objectives.
Alternative device or technology:
An alternative device/technology for their internet connection would be a faster internet connection which blocks pop-ups so they don’t waste time on unnecessary things and also it would allow them to browse much faster then now in addition to that it would give them more memory space for downloads.
Storage devices:
USB Pen Drive:
Some of the larger files are copied on to a USB using one of the USB port on the CPU unit. There are a number of memory spaces that a USB can contain and those are: 128mb, 256mb, 512mb or a 1GB and more. The staff at the marketing department uses 1GB worth of memory on their USB because due to the sizes of the different posters and leaflets and other important document it would be most appropriate to use a large memory capacity on their USB. Once the complete sets of posters and leaflets have been successfully saved they then can be sent of to be approved by other but more official members of staff to be approved with out the need of the printer to print of the plans because it would be time consuming and a waste of resource.
How it meets the departments objectives:
A USB pen drive is one of the main aspects of the department meeting its objectives. The USB pen drive helps the department to meet its objectives because it allows them to save all necessary data onto it so the data can not be lost this means that the data then can be produced and advertised and if the data is advertised successfully that that would mean that the marketing department has met its objectives which are to produce advertisements such as posters and leaflets and also to find new ways to advertise the company so at least part one of the objective has been achieved and part two to still be accomplished.
Alternative device or technology:
An alternative technology to a USB would be a CD because on a CD you can store more files and documents on it and it is most appropriate to store back up files on CD then a USB because you could make more copies of the CD and also send it in the post for other reasons.
Hard Disc Drive:
The marketing department sometimes stores minor files and documents locally on the hard drive of the computer. The hard drive’s at Leisure II are 40GB which is a large amount of memory for a normal standard computer that someone would use at home for their personal use but for the people at Leisure II it is quite small because the marketing department contains detailed contracts and state of the art posters and leaflets. The hard drive is used to store small files for smaller contracts and for other important documents or folders that they might need in the near future for reference.
How it meets the departments objectives:
The hard disc drive helps the marketing department to meet its objectives in the same manner as the USB pen drive because they both are used for the same purposes. The only difference between them is that the hard disc drive is used to only save minor sized data however the USB pen drive is used to save huge sized data. They both lead to the job being done in success so it does not make a difference of which device is being used it is just commonsense to use both methods of storage devices.
Alternative device or technology:
An alternative device/technology for the 40GB hard disc drive would be a hard disc drive with a larger capacity of memory space then 40GB it would result on the computer working faster and not crashing much often which is a major problem for the marketing department especially when the work is not saved.