Fine

Departmental
Store
June 28
2014
This document focusses on the benefits for using Information System in
local retail store. And how has IS helped the Fine Departmental Store to
improve its systems over time.
Advantages of
using
Information
System
Fine Departmental Store
Advantages of using Information System
Sehr Zareen
Computing For Business and Economics III
2014
Lahore School of Economics




Project By
Abdur Rabb Arshad
Burhan Ud Din Asif
Fayzan Qadir
Yousaf Shahid

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Strategic Objectives of Information System ................................................................................................. 4
The Problems that the Company Faced before using Information System ................................................... 4
Information System for Competitive Advantage .......................................................................................... 6
IS for Competitive Advantage .................................................................................................................. 6
Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management ......................................... 8
Data Security ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Complexity ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Access Time .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Order of Data ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Telecommunications, the Internet and Wireless Technology ....................................................................... 9
Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Applications ............................... 12
E- Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods........................................................................................... 12
SYSTEM VULNERABILITY AND ABUSE ............................................................................................ 13




Introduction

Fine Departmental Store was formed in the 1970's as a small grocer's outlet at Azadi Chowk near
Minar-e-Pakistan by a man named Mohammad Naseem. Slowly and gradually the store gained
goodwill and it became popular amongst the residents in the Azadi Chowk area.
Soon after, the shop became congested and it was inconvenient for the customers to shop freely
due to limited shopping space. The management was of the view that they were in danger of
losing customers due to the congestion in the stores in peak shopping periods.
Mohammad Naseem and his son decided to open a new and larger outlet at Walton Road which
would make shopping convenient and satisfactory. They decided to open the outlet near Walton
Road because the owners did not want to lose their existing customer base. The store was
converted into a super market as they opened an outlet with 3 floors, reasonable parking space
and shopping area. The ground floor displays groceries and cereals. The second floor displays
electronic items and cosmetics whereas the third floor displays baby products and different
branded products. The Departmental Store operates for 12 hours daily from 1100 hrs to 2300 hrs.
Fine Departmental Store was being operated by a business man encapsulating very less
education and technological expertise. Considering the lack of technological exposure Mr
Naseem opted for manual data management. Supply Chain Management, Inventory records,
Pricing, Customer Services, Customer Relations Management, Supplier Relation Management
and etc. It is quite evident that the owner was not aware of such terms and did not operate
strategically rather on instinctive framework.
Strategic Objectives of Information System
The strategic objectives of using Information System have been quite effective as there has been
unsurpassed efficiency as compared to the rivals and previous records, much thanks to the point-
of-sale system that allows to find information on the product such as price, inventory , creates a
receipt and stores data on the items sold, mentioning every single product. This is done through
bar code technology, where information was placed on products with markers before, this is
helping every product being recorded properly on spreadsheets.
The store has gone on to achieve competitive advantage much because of the fact that it has
spent a considerable amount on IS and IT tools through which it has been able to link computers
in the store with a central computer and a supplier`s computer, through which supplier intimacy
has increased and it has allowed product replacement to quicken because the suppliers are aware
of the outbound products that need to be replaced with new. This has allowed the store to charge
less for some high-end products, something which is a positive for a medium-sized store.
Decision making has also increased with the help of the afore mentioned point of sale system,
which allows the owners to keep a strict check on the inventory levels and sales, and manage
products through product replacement techniques.
Products that have helped the store include cameras installed at acute angles and at inventory
which have helped reduce shoplifting and keep a check on employees and their customer
management. Handheld devices have been used so that inventory is checked there and then and
adjustments are made. All this is done through the software called POS Maid which helps realize
stock levels and replacement products.
The Problems that the Company Faced before using Information System
IT has changed this world completely; this era is far more convenient and easy with respect to
previous time. With the advent of new technologies people can perform their tasks effectively
and efficiently. From manufacturing huge machineries to sending small text messages IT has
changed the concept of doing things completely.
In this era when IT is on its peak, every organization is moving towards it, large companies are
building strong IS to control their daily routine tasks and duties so that they can get benefit and
compete strongly in market. Multi-national companies like Wal-Mart and Coke have competitive
advantage over others because of their big stacks of profit and strong IS that helps them to
manage their work far more better than other companies.
Fine departmental store was one of those businesses who face many problems before moving
towards IT. As they are departmental store the biggest challenge for them was their supply-chain
management.
Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods. It includes the
movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from
point of origin to point of consumption.
The first step of supply chain for Fine departmental store is to buy goods from suppliers. Before
IS managing suppliers was very complicated. They had different suppliers for different goods
and managing all of them was very hectic. Sometimes the suppliers they had, charge them more
money than other suppliers in market and just because of their weak network they were force to
buy from same supplier.
After buying goods the next step was inventory management. Inventory Management is the
supervision of supply, storage and accessibility of items in order to ensure an adequate supply
without excessive oversupply.
Storing goods was again big hassle for Fine Departmental Store as they had to work manually.
Counting all goods on paper then store it and again count them on weekly basis cost them lot of
time with greater risk of damaging their goods. Moreover Inventory cost was more than their
estimations and they had to deal with it because there was nothing else they can do.
And the last step was checkout of their products after consumer purchased it. They used same
old billing machine as used by majority of their competitors and because of that no proper record
of their products was stored. In addition to this there were no barcode system and risk of theft
was very high.
Lastly the other main security issue was no security cameras. Today we see that every shop
either small size or big have installed security camera which keeps a check on consumer while
they are looking for desired goods. Before this technology Fine Departmental store was
vulnerable to robbery and small thefts.
Information System for Competitive Advantage
Fine Departmental Store has been using much of Information Strategies in order to reduce cost
and enhance revenue at exponential level. However, the strategies are not very complex rather
very simple and intelligible. The increasing business and collaboration between numbers of
branches required more than just telecommunication access of the owner or employees from one
branch to another. It required data sharing or rather information sharing in a frequent manner and
instantly accessible.
Considering the scenario on the bases of operational issues, the very indispensible issue that was
being faced by the management was Supply Chain Management. The very basic issue was
dealing with different suppliers. Poor relationship was affecting the stores sales at huge ratio. At
this point Fine Department Store first initiated Information System operation to overcome
obstacles. They started using very basic networking to note the total inventory thorough barcode
scanning and keeping track of products that were sold from the inventory. The management of
the stock is done through bar coding. The stock, which is sold or needs to be replaced, is
identified through the bar codes. The required stock is then ordered and is replenished.
IS for Competitive Advantage
To increase the revenues of the partnership Fine reached out to a firm that provides delivery
services. They instigated software based on Extranet to communicate. Basically this was a sort of
out sourcing the delivery services. The consumer will reach out to the respective outsourced
company and register their order. That order will further be communicated to the respective
companys branch (area-wise) which will provide the consumers order to the agent responsible
for delivering the order.
Now, it is true that Information System is being used here but not at substantial level. The basic
idea is to communicate the order to the respective branch and to get the orders into the system.
So that afterwards there are no discrepancies in revenues, records and inventory management and
product that has been ordered or the product that has left the inventory appears on the records.
CRM Customer Relationship Management
Customers are considered as kings by the management of Fine Departmental Store. The
employees deal with the customers very politely. They are greeted with a smile and their needs
are catered to specifically. If some goods need to be returned, then in most cases the goods are
returned with money back facility. This is because of decentralized authority that has been
granted to the employees at ground level. They are able to enter the product back into the
inventory through computers or more vaguely IT and return the cash to customers.
Sometimes, if some good like tomato ketchup bottle gets broken accidentally the supermarket
does not charge any price for the damaged bottle. The only time when a price is charged on some
damaged product is when it is imported.

Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information
Management
As Fine chain of departmental stores in its developmental stages in terms of introduction of
information system and technology therefore significant quantity of processes involved in high
end technology utilization was not seen.
Fine Departmental Stores, as explained earlier in the report, uses a well set combination of
several departments to carry out their routine operational tasks, so when there are different
departments involved, the question about data creation, processing, sharing and utilization arises,
Fine Departmental store utilizes basic yet relatively beneficial method of data creation and
sharing as compared to old manual data entry process. Fine Departmental Stores has opted for a
basic version of Traditional File Environment few year back, during the interview, the
management refused to share the names of the software being utilized but confirm that this
software were locally developed with the help of local developers and worked on the principal
similar to Microsoft Excel.
TFO is no doubt an old method of data creation and sharing, but taking in to consideration the
size and capital of the firm, TFO seems very reasonable choice to be adopted as compared to
manual paper work and data listing. Small businesses accumulate various types of data, such as
financial information related to revenues and expenses and data about employees, customers and
vendors. Saving data within folders and filing cabinets is hectic and faulty. Electronic file
organization is a common alternative to paper filing; each system has its benefits and drawbacks.
The management described some of the beneficial aspects of TFO as compared to manual data
entry which were
Data Security
Traditional file organization has security advantages over manual filing, paper files can be lost in
fires and floods, but electronic data is easy to backup in multiple locations, reducing the potential
for permanent data loss.
Complexity
Traditional filing systems are less complex than manual systems, which can make it easier for
untrained people to access and manipulate data. Anyone can look through alphabetized filing
cabinets to find a file. Locating and manipulating manual database information may require
technical training, and user error can result in unintended alterations or data loss.
Access Time
One of the primary disadvantages of manual system is the time it takes to access data. It can take
minutes if not hours to locate a few files in a large paper filing system. Electronic databases
allow for almost instantaneous access to information.


Order of Data
Data can get out of order manual filing system. If someone accidentally puts a file in the wrong
place, or takes a file out of a cabinet and forgets to put it back, it can lead to lost data or the
creation of additional copies of files. Electronic filing systems allow users to quickly check
whether information already exists somewhere in the system, which helps avoid problems like
redundant files and data loss.

Each department of Fine Departmental Stores uses Data Mart which a simple form of a data
warehouse that is focused on a single subject (or functional area), such as Sales, Finance, or
Marketing. Data marts are often built and controlled by a single department within an
organization.
Moreover the firm is using basic business intelligence tools such as spreadsheet and Excel.

Telecommunications, the Internet and Wireless Technology
Software and Hardware are IT tools that help an organization to achieve its goal. Today there is
wide range of Hardware and Software; even some companies pay engineers to develop their own
software according to their need.
Fine Store also develops some software for their stores: Receipt Software, Inventory Software,
Suppliers Software, Bar code system.
Supplier software include all the suppliers list that supply a particular good, out of which they
buy product from best supplier. This software helps them to keep track of ongoing prices of all
goods, which is very helpful for cost cut. Before this software they had one supplier and that
supplier was free to charge any price he wants but now this software looks for the best supplier
in market.
Inventory Software is yet another way to cut extra cost for Fine store. This software keeps
tracks of commodities that are available in their inventory. Before this software they had to
manually count goods but now the trend is shifted and this software does this job. Moreover now
there is no need of weekly basis counting because software tracks every good going in and out of
inventory and updates frequently, which saves much time and cut cost of at least 4-5 employers.
Bar-code is an optical machine-readable representation of data relating to the object to which it
is attached. Originally barcodes systematically represented data by varying the widths and
spacing of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D). Later they
evolved into rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns in two dimensions (2D).
Although 2D systems use a variety of symbols, they are generally referred to as barcodes as well.
Barcodes originally were scanned by special optical scanners called barcode readers. Later,
scanners and interpretive software became available on devices including desktop printers and
smartphones.
Fine store use Bar-code system which include Barcode scanners in checkouts and Barcodes on
every product. This system helps them to keep tracks of goods and minimize the possibility of
misplacing or stealing. Now they can check products remaining in their store and products that
checked out from store and analyze if any single product is misplaced.
Receipt Software generates a receipt that customers pick with their products and this help Fine
store to store every data of their product and use in future if wanted.
Receipt include the name of Store, Name of products with their prices, total balance, total
payment, Balance remaining and contact number for any query and help.
Some hardwares are also used by Fine store which are mainly of networking and Security
checks: Metal Detectors, barcode reader, Computers, cables, router and Security camera.
Metal Detectors are detectors that are placed in entrance of Fine store and it detects every
customer entering the store and locate if any metal like pistol or anything dangerous is in their
possession. If detector beeps guards stop that person check it and let him go if everything is
good.
Bar-code reader is placed in checkouts which read barcodes.
Computers are hardware which helps to use different softwares that Fine store have installed for
their convenience. These computers also help in building a network and that network is then
linked with Server which holds every single data of Fine store.
Router and Cables are also used in developing network.
Security Cameras are installed in almost every single corner of Fine store which cover almost
every inch of store. With the help of monitors they keep track of every activity captured by their
cameras.
Networking is very important for transmission of data from one place to another and Fine store
use Client/Server networking to manage their work.
It includes a mother computer that is called a server, which usually stores data and give
permission for data transferring. Clients are nodes that are attached to this server. Every store has
its own LAN that connects every IT tool together.
Fine store also use Intranet that helps them to connect their stores network with each other.
Every Fine store has Wifi available while they use broadband to conntect their own personel
network. This broadband network is secured with different software that prevent unauthorized
users to connect with it.
Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise
Applications
Supply Chain Management is being managed through Fish Bowl Inventory which is affordable
and flexible software that meets the needs of companies that are looking to tighten inventory
control, material requirements. It majorly involves barcoding, asset management, cycle
counting. It further goes on to look at the purchasing, ordering, quoting of orders and processing
of orders. It is a low cost system that also works with Excel Spreadsheets.
CRM is not for the smaller platform, this notion has been downplayed by the store since it claims
to use Batch book which promises to tell the owners who their customers really are, even with
their small scale, their effort to know details on their customers is worth the praise as Batch book
allows them to use its cloud-based technology through which customers could be viewed through
their contact numbers, Facebook, location etc. It allows the very basic spreadsheet data like
contacts or websites to be imported on it cloud server and later used to analyze the projected
customers. This is one aspect where they have taken operational excellence, another point to be
noted under the heading of operational excellence is the Retail Link System through which they
have linked up with the supplier where the supplier monitors the items sold and then orders the
replacement freight for them.
Customer Intimacy seemingly remains nil since the CRM is yet to roll into complete shape and
thus give the results, whereupon information about customers could be sidelined and made
specifically allows them discounts on certain products.
E- Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods
Fine departmental store does not operate in E-Commerce or E-tailing. They initiated an online
service couple of years back but the response was not very effective due to which they stopped
investing on it. They now intend to perform a thorough research on the e-tailing and launch the
service again with greater number of good available for purchase and not only consumer goods
but also the electronic appliances, fabric and crockery. The management is also working on the
idea of having online transactions. This would mean it would be extremely convenient for the
people who would not even have to visit the shopping mall and all the shopping would be done
from home. However, talking online transaction is a long step and away from home. Right now
the company is fully operational and will have to extend labor to expand.
SYSTEM VULNERABILITY AND ABUSE
With new technology new vulnerabilities has also born which can destroy whole data or copy
confidential information of any organization. Viruses, worms, Trojan horse and spyware etc. are
some softwares that are used to locate confidential data and to steal it.
Computer Virus is a malware program that, when executed, replicates by inserting copies of
itself (possibly modified) into other computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of the hard
drive; when this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected. Viruses
often perform some type of harmful activity on infected hosts, such as stealing hard disk space or
CPU time, accessing private information, corrupting data, displaying political or humorous
messages on the user's screen, spamming their contacts, or logging their keystrokes. However,
not all viruses carry a destructive payload or attempt to hide themselvesthe defining
characteristic of viruses is that they are self-replicating computer programs which install
themselves without the user's consent.
Worm is a standalone malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other
computers. Often, it uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failures on the
target computer to access it. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach itself to an
existing program. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by
consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted
computer.
Trojan horse, or Trojan, in computing is a generally non-self-replicating type of malware
program containing malicious code that, when executed, carries out actions determined by the
nature of the Trojan, typically causing loss or theft of data, and possible system harm. The term
is derived from the story of the wooden horse used to trick defenders of Troy into taking
concealed warriors into their city in ancient Anatolia, because computer Trojans often employ a
form of social engineering, presenting themselves as routine, useful, or interesting in order to
persuade victims to install them on their computers.
Spyware is software that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without
their knowledge and that may send such information to another entity without the consumer's
consent, or that asserts control over a computer without the consumer's knowledge.
So with all these threats a company should protect itself so is Fine Departmental store does, they
take certain precautions to avoid loss or theft of data.
Their network is full protected with Firewall and Anti-virus system that prevent viruses to attack
their network. Firewall is a program or device that acts as a barrier to keep destructive elements
out of a network or specific computer. Firewalls are configured (in hardware, software, or both)
with specific criteria to block or prevent unauthorized access to a network. Antivirus is
computer software used to prevent, detect and remove malicious computer viruses. Most
software described as antivirus also works against other types of malware, such as malicious
Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), browser hijackers, ransom ware, key loggers, backdoors,
rootkits, Trojan horses, worms, malicious LSPs, dialers, fraud tools, adware and spyware.
Computer security, including protection from social engineering techniques, is commonly
offered in products and services of antivirus software companies. This page discusses the
software used for the prevention, detection, and removal of malware threats, rather than
computer security implemented by software methods.
As Fine Store have no severe threat and no major confidential data thats why they just have
these two soft wares. Till date there is not a single case of Hacking or Cybercrime that is why
they are not making any further investments in this phase.