Operations and Information Systems

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reduce personnel and improve the speed and quality of service (Bain & Company, 2010).

Information systems have been very beneficial to businesses and it has helped improved how managers make strategic decision making. From an economic point of view, information systems can help with higher productivity, lower cost location, reduced expenses, it can also help leverage investments related to Enterprise Resource Planning systems and other technology. From a strategic point of view, it can help with shifting focus from back office to front office, support meeting increased demand with fewer full time employees, achieve process and systems standardization, as well as enabling new or re-organized entities. From a quality point of view, information systems has improved information for decision making, it has given better service to stakeholders, it helps reduce error rates, and develop centers of expertise and innovation. From a speed perspective it helps reduce cycle times for close, authorizations, procurement, payments, billing, and sourcing (University of Michigan, u.d.).

For example, with information systems technology, Dell has been to double their previous capabilities and can now process orders four times faster. What used to take four hours now only takes one hour. The cost of owning and running their new system has been cut by 400% and Dell has reported that they save more than $18 million annually because of this. Dell gained a competitive advantage by having the capability to decrease processing time on a global scale (Lawlor B. R., 2007). Information technology is also a great asset in today’s business world because of the need for a company to be agile and flexible. So having the ability to shift resources quickly when necessary on a global level which is important in the current business environment.

Bibliography

Bain & Company. (2010, December 13). Shared Service Centers. Retrieved from Bain & Company: http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/management-tools-2011-shared-service-centers.aspx

Gartner. (n.d.). Shared Services or Shared Services Center. Retrieved from Gartner: http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/shared-services/

Lawlor, B. R. (2007, April). The Age of Globalization: Impact of Information Technology on Global Business Strategies. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=honors_cis

Lawlor, B. R. (2007, April). The Age of Globalization: Impact of Information Technology on Global Business Strategies. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=honors_cis

University of Michigan. (n.d.). What is shared services? Retrieved from http://ast.umich.edu/pdfs/What-is-shared-services-102811.pdf