Applications of Computers

and Information
Technology
UNIT 5
AGENDA
• Introduction
• Business And Computer
• E-Mail
• E-Commerce
• Project management
• Computers in Personnel Administration
• Accounting
• Computers in Cost and Budget Control
• Marketing
• Manufacturing
• Materials management
• Banking
• Insurance And Stockbroking
• Purchasing
• Computers in warehousing
Introduction
• Computers have transformed the business world as we know it,
whether you are part of a small business that uses computers
for keeping inventory or accounting records or if you are part of
a large business that uses computers for about every operation
in the business, computers are there to stay.
Business And Computer
• Computers in business can be categorized into four major
applications. The applications include :
• Computers Clerks
• Computers as an Information System
• Architect and Designer
• Controllers
E-Mail
• A small business owner is able to communicate with customers
from long distances to confirm business deals.
• He or she may also be able to provide more information to a
customer about the product being sold by using E-mail.
• A sales-person from a larger firm may also use E-mail to
communicate with customers, but may not use it to sale a
product for the first time to a new customer.
E-Commerce
• E-commerce or electronic commerce is the buying and selling of
products and services on the Internet, and it seems to be the wave
of the future.
• Concept of E-commerce is pretty simple. Someone gets on the
Internet and shops around.
• After he finds a product he wants, he can purchase it. All he needs is
a credit card.
• He will fill out the order form and submit his credit card number with
it.
• Then the transaction goes through a transaction server and then to a
credit company to check and make sure that the person shopping,
has good credit.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Project Management is the discipline of organizing and managing
resources (i.e. people) in such a way that the project is completed
within defined scope, quality, time and cost constraints.
• A project is a temporary and one-time endeavour undertaken to
create a unique product or service, which brings about beneficial
change or added value.
• This property of being a temporary and a one-time undertaking
contrasts with processes or operations, which are permanent or
semi-permanent ongoing functional work to create the same product
or service over and over again.
• The management of these two systems is often very different and
requires varying technical skills and philosophy, hence requiring the
development of project management.
CONSTRAINTS IN PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
• TIME
• COST
• SCOPE
PROJECT MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
• Planning the work or objectives
• Analysis and design of objectives
• Assessing and controlling risk (or
Risk Management)
• Estimating resources
• Allocation of resources
• Organizing the work
• Acquiring human and material
resources
• Assigning tasks
• Directing activities
• Controlling project execution
• Tracking and reporting progress
• Analyzing the results based on the
facts achieved
• Defining the products of the project
• Forecasting future trends in the
project
• Quality Management
• Issues Management
• Issues solving
• Defect prevention
• Project Closure meet
• Communicating to stakeholders
BENEFITS OF A PROJECT
MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
• Scheduling
• Calculating Critical Path
• Providing Information
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS
• PERT Chart
• GANTT Chart
• RUN Chart
COMPUTERS IN PERSONNEL
ADMINISTRATION
• Computer plays a very important role in personnel
administration.
• Payroll system is the most important part of personnel
administration that is fully managed by computer.
• WHAT IS PAYROLL?
ACCOUNTING
• Accounting is the backbone of business.
• Ethical and professional accounting forms a clear financial
image of a business, and allows managers to make informed
decisions, keeps investors abreast of developments in the
business, and keeps the business profitable.
• It is also one of the oldest professions; businesses have been
practicing accounting for thousands of years.
COMPUTERS IN COST AND BUDGET
CONTROL
• Cost is the basis of price determination. The companies till now,
working without computer found it difficult, to have an account
of a number of expenditures and sometimes they found it
impossible also.
• Big companies, or those companies which are completely
computerized don't find it difficult to know even how much
amount of diesel was spent on generator on a particular day.
The company with a full control on cost will be closer to
success.
• Cost control in most companies is one of the major applications
of computer. The cost system controlled by a computer can give
you an account of Rs. 10 being spent very easily which is
impossible for traditional system.
MARKETING
• Marketing is a business field that is based on promoting a
company or its product.
• They still need databases and programs that can document and
store files and work just like most other companies.
• Some of the uses of the computer that they use are such as
desktop publishing, database management, and of course the
use of virtual communication via e-mail.
• Desktop publishing is a source that can create ads, proposals
and newsletters that can be sent through the company
computer system.
MANUFACTURING
• Manufacturing companies focus primarily on electronic networking in the
offices and using their own shipping program.
• If they do not provide their own shipping, they may use such companies
like UPS or FedEx’s software programs and services. This software
provides labels for packages and a UPC code so the products can be
traced throughout the world.
• These programs also keep track of inventory in the warehouses, which
helps cut back on counting the inventory by hand that is more time
efficient.
• Before sending out products from the warehouse, the software has a
program that weighs and computes the cost for the products to be sent
out.
• All of this is done electronically which cuts back on manual labor, time and
makes shipping products more resourceful.
MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
• MATERIALS PLANNING
• REQUIREMENTS DETERMINATION
• INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
BANKING
• Banks were among the first large organizations to invest heavily
in computing, and today banking is almost totally dependent on
the computer.
• In the past, a large but manageable amount of book-keeping
was handled manually, but such has been the expansion in the
banking sector that a huge labor force would be needed to
tackle today’s massive volume of book-keeping.
INSURANCE AND STOCKBROKING
• Insurance companies, finance houses, stock exchanges and
stock broking firms also make use of computers.
• Here conditions and requirements are similar to those in
banking. Large files of information have to be prepared and
payments made.
• In the buying and selling of stocks and shares various
calculations have to be made, contract notes drawn up and files
consulted and amended.
PURCHASING
• An organization involved in manufacturing goods, only
Production Planning and Control departments fulfil the chief
responsibilities.
• Its main role and function is to see that the production orders
can ensure the fulfilment of market related requirements and by
decorating the arrival of the material in different steps of
production process, can restrict the price of each product at the
minimum.
COMPUTERS IN WAREHOUSING
• Use of Computers in Common Public Services and e-
governance
• Meetings
• Correspondence
• Registration and admission