Information Systems for Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Information Systems for Management - Essay Example Getting closer to the customer and maintaining valuable relationships with members along the supply chain are some of the major issues circulating around the companies at present. Web-based selling, sales force automation and integrated customer service are the technologies and buzzwords that are fast becoming a company's focus point. In addition to that, the customers are busy dealing with so many things at the same time that they don't have time to personally visit physical locations or wait in lines to do their respective duties. They rather prefer doing business with companies that provide them with ease and comfort and as little hassle as possible; these are the companies that have web-based systems. The paper that follows will identify the types of web-based systems and how essential they are for companies to be competitive, retain their market share, satisfy existing customers and attract new ones. E banking is one of the web-based systems that a bank may use to improve its relationship with its customers or suppliers and effectively carry out its business. E banking involves all the banking activities that can be carried out from home, business or while on the road without being at a physical bank location. It is the new way of doing business with a bank and has brought about the hassle free way of conducting business. It incorporates many advantages for the banks as well as the customers. An example of a bank using e banking facilities is the Wells Fargo bank. The customers are facilitated greatly because they can do several activities like: View account balances at any time of the day Receive personal bank account statements Pay bills without the need to stand in queues Download their account transactions on their personal PCs Funds transfer between accounts Can handle their finances while traveling Can perform any bank related activity whenever it's feasible for them. Advantages of E banking are: Real time banking- can be done from anywhere at any time. Saves time- customers don't need to stand in lines to pay bills or personally visit a bank to carry out transactions. Convenience- customers don't need to cramp all their banking activities in the 9 to 5 banking hours; they can do everything at their own convenience. Attract more customers- the banks are able to attract those customers as well who are in remote areas and were previously discouraged by the far away location of the physical bank. Increased customer base- banks offering e-banking facilities are able to enjoy a large customer base and hence a competitive edge over traditional banks. Saving of costs- the banks are able to save the cost of paper transactions and the cost of hiring extra employees to deal with the large amount of customers. Disadvantages of E banking are: Losing valuable customers- if the main server is down and the customers are unable to process their transactions, they'll be dissatisfied and prefer not to do business with that bank the next time and the bank will lose current and prospective customers as well. Maintenance issues- the bank will need to hire expert personnel to deal with maintenance issues and proper handling of the expert systems. Security issues- hackers are a potential threat to both customers and the bank. Higher costs- the banks need to install costly safety systems such as firewalls to ensure safety and reliability of the systems. There are some implementation issues with