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You may notice that many assignments are written in response to a given brief. These should be available soon.
Hailes Bookshop is a nationally renowned bookshop, with the
reputation for having every book in print. Hailes does not have a
great deal of computer systems in place in the branch. Considering
the size and performance it is quite remarkable that they have gained
such a strong reputation. The atmosphere within the bookshop is
somewhat personal with a good family relationship between the staff.
They even have a tea lady who wheels her tea trolley from department
to department at break times.
In terms of computerisation, Hailes only have electronic cash
tills, which means staff are literate with technology and
computerisation, therefore there may not be a problem with the staff
adapting to a more computerised environment.
Stock control and communication systems could benefit the most
from computerisation within the store. The tea lady should stay to
help retain the atmosphere, staff should also maintain conversation
with each other rather than using computers to talk to each other.
There should be a good strong group relationship amongst the staff as
they will need to speak to each other regarding any problems that
they may come across while a changeover takes place.
At present wages are paid in the form of cash direct to the staff,
every week enclosed in a brown envelope. They are calculated by the
staff within the cash office who are informed of hours worked by the
department managers. This is a key point within the business which
could benefit greatly by computerisation as any change here would not
sacrifice the personal touch within the business.
Many "Old Fashioned", bookshops will not have the advantage of a
computer system, Hailes can benefit from the introduction of a
computer. Without a computer, stock may have to be ordered manually
and there may be a need for an excessive amount of paperwork. In
addition to this from the time of placing an order to receiving it,
may be far longer than it would have been if the stock was ordered
using a computer system, where the order would have been sent
straight away. Modern computer systems are attached to a modem, so
that orders can be placed and sent direct to the supplier straight
away over the telephone network. This will therefore allow for huge
orders to be processed in a quicker time, and it will also mean less
paperwork!
Tills may be individual within Hailes and each till will need to
be operated manually, for example, prices will need to be typed in
for each book, and staff will need to be able to remember prices for
books which are reduced. The stock will simply be sold as a stock
item and not recognised as a specific title. With a computer system,
an electronic point of sale can be created (EPOS), whereby electronic
tills are connected to a main computer with a product file, and every
time that a product is sold through a till, the product is
automatically deleted from the main product file. As well as this the
till would be able to show the price of the product simply from
recognising the bar code (This will only work is the stock is entered
into the system with a barcode and a price and when the tills have a
bar code reader).
The till network would be attached to the mainframe via a local
area network. From computers in the cash office, they can enter the
amount at the start of the day in the till and after all of the
transactions have taken place they would be able to determine exactly
how much should be in the till. This system would greatly improve
security and highlight any problems which staff are experiencing, it
would also identify dishonest staff.
Without a computer system it is difficult to know off hand what
stock is in the shop, especially if there are several operators which
are selling at the same time. If the shop is split up into separate
departments, it may be easier to keep track of the stock being sold,
although customers may decide to purchase stock from several
departments and therefore make it more difficult to know what stock
is missing. A computer system will keep a good record of all products
in stock, so where there is a problem a stock check can be made, this
will correct the number of items within a specific range of
stock.
By law all companies must have an annual audit, the computers
product file can be updated whenever an audit takes place. Doing the
audit using electronic equipment will help keep the figures accurate
and there can be several easy methods of double checking the stock to
make sure that the audit is accurate, and not time consuming.
If stock is stolen or misplaced it may never be replaced with a
manual system. However, if the bookshop has regular stock checks they
will know exactly what stock is on the shop floor and they can
attempt to trace phantom stock.
The cash office of a company is an area which will consist of a
large amount of paperwork, even in some computerised cash offices.
However, the introduction of a computer system can help improve the
efficiency and security within a busy cash office. Hailes Bookshops'
cash office will have to handle the settling of accounts with
suppliers and possibly debtors, they will also need to pay their
staff amongst a host of other important jobs.
Staff can have all goods received entered into a computer as soon
as they are delivered, a computer located in the stock room would be
attached to the mainframe and therefore access can be reached from
all of the computers on the network, including the computer in the
cash office. The number of goods received from a specific supplier
can be entered into the computer along with any extra comments, for
example if there are any discrepancies with the figures on the
delivery sheet. The cash office can then look at the computer to see
if the invoice matches with the stock received, this would allow time
for delivery claims to be made. A modern computer system may be able
to make the claims directly with the supplier rather than having to
personally contact them yourself.
When paying the staff at Hailes the staff in the cash office or
the managers within the branch can enter the number of hours the
staff have worked, and the system would be able to transfer funds
into the employees account. This saves the need for staff to be paid
cash at a certain day during the week, which may be a security risk.
This system could save a lot of time in the cash office and as a
consequence allow other more important tasks to be concentrated on
such as improving productivity.
Above illustrates ways in which computerisation could help improve
efficiency within the bookshop. It would be a great improvement if
computers are introduced to the business to cover the areas of stock
control, cash office efficiency and also communication both
internally and externally. However, communication would not be
entirely computerised, methods such as telephone and letter writing
would remain to maintain the personal touch. A fax machine could be
introduced in order to communicate with other businesses and
customers who may have a fax machine, it could also be used to send
illustrations where needed and also used to complement telephone
conversations.
Such communication methods as e-mail and pagers may be available
for the business to use but not be a necessity, as a main means of
communication for Hailes. These two forms of communication are
effective, although they wouldn't help maintain the personal
touch.
At present Hailes uses some very basic communication methods to
meet its business objectives. The main method of communication is the
telephone which is used for most external means of communication.
Other methods of communication used for external purposes are those
of headed paper for letter writing, fax cover sheets to accompany
facsimiles and business cards.
Hailes has always used headed paper, this portrays a professional
format for letters sent from the business. The paper is pre-printed
with the logo and address, this saves the need for a colour printer
when writing letters as the logo is in colour. The paper is simply
left inside the printer.
Hailes' management staff all have their own business card, this is
given to clients whenever personal service is being offered. The
business card contains the details for anyone to contact the
individual concerned and has the versatility to be carried in a
clients wallet. A business card is a very professional form of
business communication, it shows to an observer that the business is
well organised and efficient. If a client or supplier is given the
business card they will likely keep it on their person, so if they
need to contact a person at Hailes, they will be given a personal
service. This may save them from having to find out who they spoke to
and start any communications again from the start.
There are many forms of business communication available to Hailes internally. At present Hailes make use of the following methods of communication; memorandum, telephone message pad, and also a notice board.
The memorandum is a sheet designed for notes to be passed between
members of staff within the branch of Hailes. A telephone message pad
is used to make notes of phone conversations whenever a message has
to be passed on to another member of staff. The telephone operators
fill in the form whenever it is needed, the form is then handed over
to the member of staff as soon as they are available.
Oral communication is a method of communication that Hailes rely
upon greatly. This is used as a means to achieve the personal touch
with their customers. It is essential that Hailes maintains this
method, otherwise the personal touch would undoubtedly be lost.
Hailes staff at present communicate to each other orally, there is no
present electronic substitute at Hailes for oral communication which
is as effective, although Hailes do use a notice board, to inform
staff of meetings and information within the business.
Analyse the effectiveness of the following forms of business
communication; telephone message pads and business cards, advantages
and disadvantages. The telephone message pads are a good method for
communication. They allow important and other somewhat unimportant
messages to be recorded and passed on. The customer can speak to a
member of staff and the service will be a very personal one, although
the message will be passed on to the member of staff concerned in a
very impersonal way. The use of telephone message pads mean that all
messages can be recorded with all of the relevant information, so
that the member of staff will be able to recall the specific problem
and use the information to help work it out. The message pads are
very convenient ways of taking messages, in their place a rough piece
of paper can be used although these are more likely to get misplaced
or destroyed when they may be needed.
Telephone message pads allow for staff to read information which
has been recorded for them, by the person that took the message. This
is a very effective method for enabling a member of staff to have
access to messages which were made on their behalf. With a message
pad, the customer will have the ability to interact with the
customer, to give the "personal touch". The member of staff that
takes the message will also interact with the member of staff for
whose attention the message is for. This means that there is a lot of
interaction in the business of Hailes, this helps create the
"personal touch".
Business cards are a useful way of passing on to a customer important contact details, so should they have a problem, they have a number or address to write to. The business card, because it is small, can be put into a customers wallet and kept there until it is needed. This can help guarantee the customer will contact Hailes because they may not have the details for any other bookshop at a specific time.
The card can also help make the logo for Hailes more recognised,
as well as more familiar with the customers. Business cards have a
lot of qualities although, these are only applicable if the card if
given to people and passed around. Business cards do not have the
ability to advertise the company to a wide audience, they are
obviously only good to those that have access to it.
Business cards offer the information of contact details, and
position held of the person who's card it is. The business card will
be handed out to people personally and there will be a lot of
interaction by these people. Interaction will continue when the
customer uses the card to contact the member of staff in
specific.
At present Hailes have a good system of communication both internally and externally, however it is felt that the methods used in external communication could be improved to improve efficiency.
Electronic Mail (E-Mail) would be a good starting point. With the
already suggested computer mainframe installed, it would be possible
to have the facility of electronic mail incorporated at a small extra
cost. Hailes would have a modem connected to the mainframe, for
placing orders with suppliers direct through the computer system. The
same modem could be used for sending and receiving electronic mail.
If for instance Hailes need to communicate with places overseas,
E-Mail could be used for the price of a local phone call. Long
letters and even computer files can be sent along with an E-Mail.
There are many businesses that are using E-Mail, and it can be
associated with professional companies and help boost corporate
image.
E-Mail does have its disadvantages as well as good points.
Electronic mail can be sent to any number of people as long as they
have a computer and modem set up to receive electronic mail. There
will at present be a substantial number of people who don't have
access to an e-mail facility. Therefore e-mail cannot be used solely
for external communication. Electronic mail can also be used within
an organisation, for departments to sent and receive messages to and
from each other, this would be done across the local area network
through the mainframe. This form of internal communication would take
the place of the memorandum to a certain extent. Electronic mail can
also help reduce the paper wasted in letter writing, a good
environmental factor. Another disadvantage is the fact that once
e-mail has been sent, you don't know whether or not it has been read.
Although it goes down the phone line, it is much the same as a postal
letter, as the message is simply stored in a post-box, awaiting to be
checked. However, if e-mail is sent to the wrong address it should
usually be returned by the server you contacted, you would know in
minutes whether or not the address was correct. If Hailes does not
have a modem liked up to their mainframe computer system, it could be
a very large cost to have an e-mail facility added. Telephone costs
as well as initial hardware cost would be incurred.
In conclusion, e-mail is a good modern method for communicating
although, it would be far more effective when more people have access
to an e-mail point. In America where technology has boomed especially
in computers nearly everyone has access to a form of electronic mail
through a computer system. It's use in the United Kingdom is
increasing as more and more businesses are changing with the
times.
Voice mail is very similar to that of electronic mail, however it
is just whereby a message can be left on a computer and then recalled
at a later time. It can be compared to that of an answer phone,
although it is linked to a computer. Users of voice mail have the
chance to interact with the service in some situations, for example
by pressing different buttons on the telephone, they can reach
different peoples mail box and retrieve messages left for them. It is
this which sets it aside from the typical answer phone. It can mean
that unlike an e-mail there is more of a personal touch. The
advantages and disadvantages are the same as those for e-mail.
When making changes within a business that affect all of the
employees it is essential that they are informed and trained to
manage the change. At Hailes there are some very well experienced
staff, some of which may not take change lightly. In the cases where
this may occur the staff should be trained and persuaded to use the
equipment. Although in special cases some staff we need to feel that
they are not pressurised in to using the equipment and there are jobs
the can do which don't involve technical know-how.
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