Technology Solutions and Recommendations

1 Running Head: Project Draft

Introduction

A.

The business owner is trying to solve the problem of the business not being able to reach

a lot of customers easily as compared to its competitors. The small brick and mortar business has

specialized in fashionable handbags, shoes, and clothing. The problem that the owner of a

business is attempting to resolve has been attributed to the store having a basic website that has a

list of fewer products making customers only buy goods that are in the store. Due to that, our

business is aiming at promoting growth with the presence of online and become focused on our

customers. The business needs to modernize the enterprise methods that are used in

incorporating a brick and mortar business with an e-business.

B.

The technologies that the business will use in our research systems analysis are social

computing and the management of big data and knowledge. Social computing is an element of

computer science that entails the intersection of computational systems to create or recreate

social conventions and social contexts through the use of technology and software (Zhang, et al.,

2016). Social computing has various elements such as social bookmarking, social networking

services, instant messaging, email, and blogs. Big data and knowledge management involve the

adaptation to changes, knowing what to capture, following audit regulations, protecting the data,

securing data, and determining the goals of the business.

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Business Requirements

A.

The goals of carrying out this project to incorporate new technology are to provide order

status and online payment processing, managing inventory and shipping, incorporating online

shopping, and enabling cooperation both externally and internally with the employees and

customers. Other objectives include enabling the use of new technology to control the existing

brick and mortar practices such as customer contact, inventory, payments, and sales, providing

reporting, and managing the contacts of customers. Our business currently is experiencing

difficulties in managing the information of customers due to its physical location because it does

not have a reporting tool that can be used in management to make informed decisions.

B.

i.

For the business to satisfy the objectives, the management should ensure that it performs

its primary functions, namely controlling, leading, organizing, and planning. The planning stage

will enhance the creation of the objectives and the ways in which the objectives will be achieved

by making strategic decisions that will set a path for the business. Planning involves using

various techniques such as operational planning, tactical planning, and strategic planning. To

achieve the objectives, organizing plays a key role since it will involve the distribution of

resources and delegation of tasks to the qualified personnel in the business. Leading will require

motivation from the business owner and influencing the behavior of workers to satisfy the

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objectives of the business. The management may use different leadership styles such as

delegating, supporting, coaching, and directing to ensure that every employee works towards

achieving those goals. Controlling will involve evaluating the execution of the plan and making

adjustments that will ensure the objectives are attained through training of employees on how to

use the new technology that will be integrated into the business.

ii.

The anticipated outcomes at the end of the project is the business being able to use the

new technology in managing the existing brick and mortar processes, providing reports of the

business, managing the contacts of customers, promoting collaboration both externally and

internally, and providing online payment processing and order status. It is also the desire of the

business to be able to manage inventory and shipping and incorporate online shopping.

iii.

My business owner needs to consider executing new technology since it has various

advantages such as promoting financial savings, protects sensitive information, provides reliable

storage, encourages collaboration and communication, productivity and automation. Acquiring

the new technology will enable our business to compete with other larger companies since it will

allow the business to be agile and swift in responding to changes. This will also increase

efficiency by reducing human error through various automated processes. Communication in any

business is necessary, and technology will provide resources for quick and effective

communication with the customers across all demographics, thus reducing the costs and time that

would have been taken to travel (Noe, et al., 2017). New technologies like cloud computing will

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offer reliable and easy storage that will protect the business’ valuable records while minimizing

the need for maintaining the server.

C.

The technological requirements that will be required in social computing to solve the

problem of the business are leveraging, enabling, participating, and monitoring. Monitoring

entails locating and tracking blogs and other media of the company. Participating involves

listening to the views and responses of the other users with respect and considering the

sponsoring and advertising on the required sites (Vitak, et al., 2017). Leveraging includes

analyzing what different customers are saying about the products and services to acquire their

potential feedback about them.

Competitors and Technology

A.

Zappos company uses the technology of big data and knowledge management. This

company deals in the sale of various types of using ranging from men's shoes to women's shoes.

The use of big data and knowledge management helps the company to accelerate the delivery of

its products to customers, communicate vital information quickly and more widely, avoid making

similar mistakes twice, reuse documents, ideas, and expertise and enable better and faster

decision making.

B.

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Macy's company uses the technology of social computing. This company deals in the sale

of various accessories such as clothing, watches, jewelry, and shoes. The company uses this

technology to share its products with consumers, keep them up to date on the available products,

and assists the business to gather data and make a brief analysis of their customers.

C.

The Macy’s company is benefiting from technology through acquiring high financial

benefits. This has allowed the company to make more investments with fewer employees, and it

has reduced the payroll costs. If our business could adopt the technology, we could benefit from

automation and productivity. This will enable our business to compete with other large

businesses and help us to adapt to changes quickly and swiftly. It will also increase efficiency

and reduce human error by creating automated processes.

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References

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource

management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Vitak, J., Proferes, N., Shilton, K., & Ashktorab, Z. (2017). Ethics regulation in social computing

research: Examining the role of institutional review boards. Journal of Empirical

Research on Human Research Ethics, 12(5), 372-382.

Zhang, X., Yi, Z., Yan, Z., Min, G., Wang, W., Elmokashfi, A., ... & Zhang, Y. (2016). Social

computing for mobile big data. Computer, 49(9), 86-90.