Are you alive?

Recent events in my life have caused me to ask myself whether I'm actually alive or whether I'm just living.  My wife's great-aunt passed away on Thursday night.  While we were at the funeral home for visitation tonight, my mother called and told me that my great-aunt had passed away.  Two deaths in your family within a matter of days will make you stop and re-evaluate your life.

Are you just living or are you really alive?

MBA class inspiration

I have been neglecting my blog much more than I should, so I've decided that I may start posting some of my work from my MBA class just to keep content fresh.  It may not have much to do with photography, but I'll make it as relevant as I can.  Here's my response to this week's question: "Discuss the role of information systems in businesses today and include recommendations for business leaders on the best way to utilize it for competitive advantage."

I wanted to answer the other question because I found it more interesting, but since my job revolves around information systems, I felt I could contribute more by answering this question.   Information systems are becoming more necessary for a company’s success with each passing year.  Thirty years ago, few people owned computers and they were meant for specific tasks.  Twenty years ago, many (and I’d even go so far as to say most) business functions were still done on paper and filed away.  As the networking of computers became more common, information systems began to become more prevalent.  The next big step for information systems came as the Internet’s use expanded throughout the 1990’s.  E-mail and the World Wide Web drastically changed the way people do business.  No longer did it take days to send and receive mail from across the city or state.  Communication could take place within minutes.

Today, information systems are the backbone of many companies.  Companies rely on e-mail and instant messaging tools to communicate.  They have complex accounting and project management systems that may be housed in-house or outsourced.  For example, our company uses a suite of products created by Deltek to do everything from accounting to billing to project tracking to timesheet management to reporting.  Without their products, we could get our jobs done and our products completed, but it would take much longer than it does now.  Thanks to the information systems we have today, companies are able to produce products and services with fewer resources and in less time than ever before.

Information systems play a vital role in organizations by providing “support of business processes and operations, support of decision making by employees and managers, and support of strategies for competitive advantage” (O'Brien & Marakas, 2010).  Business leaders can use information systems to gain a competitive advantage in many ways.  The number one key to increasing income and profits is to gain new business.  A company cannot sit back on what it has already done and expect to continue to win new business.  Therefore, companies must innovate and adapt to their individual environments, and using information systems effectively can allow companies to do those things faster and with fewer risks than was possible in the past. 

As companies innovate and adapt, they must communicate what they are doing effectively with the rest of the world.  For example, if you create a product that cures the common cold but you don’t communicate that product to others, your work is basically wasted.  People and companies can set themselves apart and give themselves a huge competitive advantage simply by communicating more efficiently and more effectively than their competitors.

Here are a couple of suggestions I have for small businesses.  I define small businesses as small operations that may have 25 or fewer employees.  It could be anything from a one-man operation such as my photography business to a small engineering firm.

1.) Have a web presence.  In today’s society, it is not only a good idea, but it is necessary.  Web addresses are very inexpensive, and I’d say that almost everyone knows how to “google” a business type in a certain location.  The web presence does not have to be complex, but it should tell the purpose of the business and provide contact information for the business.  If the site is simply meant to generate traffic to a store, then a map with the store’s location is a good idea.

2.) Use social media effectively.  Social media is just now coming into its hay day, and I predict that it will continue to evolve and become more important to businesses in attracting both new business and new employees.  Consider this: “according to the latest traffic statistics from Hitwise, the social networking site is now more popular than Google in the United States” (Parrack, 2010).  Other social media sites such as Twitter are also expanding in popularity.  I consider blogging a form of social media as well.  Some businesses such as photography lend themselves to blogging as an effective form of communicating a business’s principles and purpose.  Using these tools effectively can dramatically increase a company’s local, regional, national, and even international recognition.

I could go on, but people would probably stop reading my post.  Feel free to comment; hopefully my post will generate plenty of discussion.

Bibliography

History of the Internet. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2010, from www.wikipedia.com: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

O'Brien, J. A., & Marakas, G. M. (2010). Introduction to Information Systems. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Parrack, D. (2010, March 15). Facebook beats Google for traffic. Retrieved March 17, 2010, from Tech.Blorge.com: http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2010/03/15/facebook-beats-google-for-traffic/

 And, since it's St. Patrick's Day, here's a picture of my favorite redhead.