Strategic Information System For Business

Answer :

Introduction

Accounting software is one of the essential needs to run any business organization. Accounting software majorly helps to structurally organize important data including recording and transferring. This system helps to lower the labour cost and saves both time and capital. It is essential to synchronize the data within the given parameter to ensure organizational success. In this evaluation of strategic information system of Esanda company has been analyzed. The study focuses on the current organizational structure of the company and gradually delves into analyzing the operational and organizational problems faced by this organization. System acquisition method and sales procedure of Esanda have also been discussed. In the second part of the study the focus lies on the marketing strategies and development and adoption of the mentioned software.

Part 1

Current organizational structure

Esanda which is a well known insurance company of Australia is considered to be an umbrella organization. Several other insurance ventures operate under the name of this company. The organizational structure of this company has recently been changed in order to ensure organizational development of this Insurance company.

The company is now paying more attention towards the customer experience and technological advancement. The organizational structure can be segregated into three major divisions for better understanding of the organizational structure (Ramazani, Allahyari & Ganbari, 2014). The divisions can be described as follows:

• Customer lab

Customer lab mainly functions as the component to handle customer experience related to the organization and develop innovative strategies for new product designs and marketing. Diverse brand architecture and new brand acquisition are also some of the major areas that customer lab focuses on. New business ventures are also planned and designed by this department.

• Digital innovation pathways

Digital Innovation Pathways handles and continues the different functions of the existing digital lab of the company. New innovative designs and essential technological advancements for the company is harnessed by this department of the organization. It also looks after the accounting needed for the online platform and e accounting of the company. It works to simplify the processes that are related to the core computing and accounting platforms of the company.

• Operations departments

Operational management of the company is handled by the Operations department of the company (Warren, Reeve & Duchac, 2013). The operational activities of the company includes supply chain management and procuring the organizational operations. But the function of this department is not restricted to only this. It also looks forward to troubleshoot the departmental problems that arise in the organization.

Present operational problems owing to this structure

Esanda is popularly known to be one of the respected insurance companies of Australia. But several issues have been faced by this organization in the insurance and constant innovation department of the company. It affects the proper functioning of the company which hinders the company from participating properly in the competitive market. Many expert economists have opined that it gradually becomes difficult to manage the recruitment procedure of the company with the rising strength of the company (Hoyle, Schaefer & Doupnik, 2015). According to the experts discrepancies and structural changes are also liable for the decreasing profit rate that the company is facing for last few years. Day by day with the structural change of the organization it is becoming difficult to assign jobs and maintaining the existing set of the employees.

Primary problems faced by Esanda

Along with the structural changes and decreasing profit rate esanda is facing few major problems which are enlisted below.

• Problems related to diversification: Mismanagement is one of the major issues that arises due to diversification and discrepancies in the organization (Gögüs & Özer, 2014). The problems related to the overall monitoring is one of the major issues because employees often tend to take advantage of such situation and it ultimately affects the efficient performance of the employees.
• Large scale operations and lack of monitoring: Esanda faces difficulties in keeping up with the natural order of the company’s performance. The operations are often delayed because of the scarcity of capital.
• Internal risks and threats: because of higher organizational structure and strength this company faces issues related to high level dependency. The company faces lo9ss due to threats and risks related to the company architecture. Communication gap among the employees and less interaction of the higher authority with the employees further problematizes the situation.

Choice of system acquisition method

In this particular assignment, a discussion will be done regarding the chosen organization’s resource system and the technicalities related to the healthy functioning of the organization. The term ERP stands for enterprise resource system. The enterprise resource system forms the integral part of an organization, since it aids in the different aspects of an organization. These different aspects of a commercial organization form the spine of it and hence contribute to the compendious functioning of an organization. The enterprise resource system, alone, is responsible for expanding the productivity of an organization. 

The organization plans to induce several other technical issues in order to make it flourish in this hardcore competitive market (Khandelwal & Aditi, 2016). The infusion of the technical gadgets will assist the organization in satisfying the potential customers and establishing a good connection between the customers and the organization. The enterprise resource system is a complex unit and it has several aspects to fulfill the required desire of the organization as well as the customers. It aids an organization in a symbiotic manner, where all the customers, the employees and the employer remain content. It is such because the system not only supports the organization to generate revenue, but also helps to establish a relationship between the customers. The queries of the customers get sorted out and the organization gets a chance to modify or upgrade its products according to the customers’ needs and demands(Zare, 2015). 

Sales procedures of the organization

The company has taken the assistance of an integrated flow chart, to conduct its sales and marketing procedures. The flowchart aids the organization in supervising the status of the market and the production of relevant competitors in the market. A complete supervision of the market will not only assist the organization to gather market information but also would help it in giving a tough competition to the like competitors in the market(Cohan, 2017). The strategy helps the organization to develop a gnomic structure in order to face the harsh competition in the contemporary market. Sales procedures are totally interrelated with the marketing strategies of an organization. Advertisements regarding the promotion of the brand, the products and the righteous information regarding the features of the products are always conducted in an efficient way. 

Problems associated with fraud in Esanda

Fraudulent practices of the balance sheet were very common in the nineteenth century, and with arrival of accounting software in the twenty-first century, such records have become obsolete. The fraudulences accounts for a loss of about ten percent to a company’s revenue. In order to avoid such fraudulences, the organizations have installed high tech accounting software. The installation of such software reduces the risks of financial loss of an organization. The emergence of advanced technologies have been a boon for organizations, because those literally cut off the rate of risk that an organization was to prone to suffer. 

Part 2

Development and adoption of the accounting software packages:

Towards the tail end of 1980s, companies often failed to acknowledge the importance of adopting computer systems (Cohan, 2017). In no time they suffered defeat at the hands of those who did. Quite the same way, companies nowadays are focussing more on adoption of an experienced accounting software that would care to their accounting needs and manage organisational databases. The fact that technology could automate a great deal of financial reporting and management reporting could never be estimated with precision beforehand. 

Thus apart from maintaining an overall structured hierarchy and architecture for better functioning, accounting software packages give enough room for creativity, innovation, stabilisation, troubleshooting, intrinsic objectives and an overall stability control. A favourable attitude towards accountancy and meeting the ever increasing demands of the organization needs efficient performance which the best accounting softwares can provide. With time, growth of cloud computing and social media accounting plugins add to the cause and further company's future prospects.

Data collection and methodology of the course of action adopted by accounting softwares depend on the type used. Very more than often, companies prefer using ERP softwares and even cloud computing techniques (Zare, 2015). This helps them to gather enough data relevant to the company’s performance and then perform a detailed analysis from the same. Often these softwares utilise different sorts of indicators and analyses to predict and estimate rising/falling trends in company's future prospects. Choice problem, logit analysis and hypothesis testing furthers company long term goals. 

Prevalent market size

Keeping in mind the size and nature of the market, accounting softwares are moulded according to the needs and requirements of the organisation. Thus a company with less than a 50 employees will require less complicated systems than one we have taken in our assignment. Given the size of the target customers that Esanda caters to, it is obvious that they will need softwares that have the capability to store, understand and analyse the data. This helps the company plan its long term prospects and make necessary changes. Thus understanding the market and the size of the customers it caters to is very important. 

Organisation soften believe that it is the credibility of the accounting softwares that alone account for multi-level collaborative approaches. Database maintenance and variability of cost-minimisation techniques are among its other objectives. 

Identification of the leaders to ensure competitive advantage

Technical expertise and knowledge about the market is crucial when it comes to analysing the market for analysing future growth prospects. Any loss in data due to human/machine error can take a toll on the company's overall profit parameters. Thus as the first step, a company as big as Esanda should divert its attention towards understanding the market, ranking the market capturing capability of each and then make a detailed planning of its functioning. One of its steps include adoption of a stable accounting software which can even detect occurrences of malpractices and attempts to fraud. These expensive software systems are one time investments, opine Ismail & King (2014), which the company cares for due to its credibility and the reliable nature.

Existing challenges or gaps faced by the customers of accounting software

In spite of the constant efforts by the IT professionals to create something that can withstand extremes of data accumulation and the like, problems arise nevertheless. Some of the problems faced by the usage of the accounting softwares are given as under:

• Storage and organization problems:  It often difficult for the accountants to find the right file at the right time. Importing and exporting similar files often becomes a headache. Overloading computer systems might be the root cause for the same. Cloud computing is its obvious solution. 
• Glitches and occasional accounting errors: There is always a high probability that errors in calculating large digit combinations can turn out to be one hectic job (Murthy & Abeysekera, 2015). It also paves the way for more errors. Using internal calculating softwares and equations can come to help. 
• Cash flow nightmares: Market volatility added to the constant fluctuating market demand/supply can hinder accountant's ability to work carefree. Usage of a multi-func tion ERP software might solve the problem of excessive cash flows (Mageto, 2017). 

Conclusion:

It is important to understand the accounting software for the better understanding of the organizational practices. It is crucial to understand the accounting software of the company as it helps maintaining a proper balance between the company’s ex ante and post profit margins. Xero deserves a special mention among all the software that Esanda uses. The company encourages working under the cloud computing plane which lowers the labor and resources of work. As it is easily accessible it helps in maintaining the organizational structure. With the evaluation of the test scenario log data and proper verification of the data is necessary steps that the company secretary prefers. This necessarily helps to reduce human errors like fraudulent practices.