University of Phoenix
July 5, 2009
Abstract
outside influences on the business involved to create Information Systems that meet the assumed
needs and the perspective needs of the company and its organizational behavior. It explains the
how ethics and legal requirements affect Information Systems. It examples a large company’s
change from one type of technology to another and some considerations should be made
Proper, ethical and legal Business Information Systems (BIS) management improves
organizational efficiency. This essay will examine how BIS can improve organizational
efficiency, how those changes affect organizational structure and strategy as well as how ethics
(Wal-Mart, 2009) recently mandated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging on pallets
RFID tags trigger advanced ship notices (ASN) through the Electronic Product Code
Information Service (EPCIS) network each time a supplier ships product out the
receiving dock door. Suppliers access by logging onto Retail Link, Wal-Mart's Web-
based software to check inventory. Data collected from RFID tags to automate the
reorder process as products on shelves and storerooms sell. The information is available
within 30 minutes after a RFID tag has passed by a reader. Wal-Mart uses handheld
RFID scanners in back rooms to identify product it needs to restock shelves. In 2006, a
percent with RFID tags on cases and pallets of goods from suppliers. Employees use
automated notifications alerting them when promotional items and cardboard displays
filled with Gillette razor blades or Johnson & Johnson baby powder need to move onto
the store floor from the stockroom Perishable products from fruits to vegetables to
meats to dairy are required to maintain a specific temperature while in transit from
farms to retail distribution centers and stores. Vendors, such as Alien Technologies Inc.,
have been working on RFID applications that monitor temperature throughout the
supply chain. Wal-Mart has more than 61,000 suppliers in the United States alone.
About 20 percent contribute to 80 percent of its $285 billion in annual revenue last year.
To put its RFID efforts into perspective, the retailer officially brought on about 130
suppliers in January 2005, added 200 this month and another 300 scheduled to join in
Wal-Mart uses RFID systems to help organize shipping, receiving, marketing and corporate
behavior. Physically the system works by placing RFID tags on products and use RFID readers,
global positioning and data entries by suppliers and Wal-Mart to identify materials and their
condition. This saves from having to find materials in inventory, RFID reports where materials
are and when to order more material. Knowing where materials are at all times makes items
more secure, and is more efficient to automate the process of inventory and procurement rather
than waste hundreds of human resource hours guarding and manually making a product
inventory and ordering new products periodically after they run out. Other applications of
information systems for organizations besides RFID are Instant Messaging (IM), Electronic mail
(E-MAIL) and video teleconferencing. These applications, like RFID, keep businesses from
having to spend time and money on human resources and travel to find out solutions for small
The impact of IS on the business structure is not just to computerize tedious processes
carried out by human resources, but also, to study and organize behavior exhibited by the
organization. Some agree that while IS design concentrates on determinable functions capable of
manipulating data to produce the desired output; however it is foolish to ignore the general
behavioral climate of the organization. (Headrick & Morgan, 1991) Some companies can do
without internal security because employees are loyal and trustworthy, other companies may not
know who will be auditing receipts of online accounts the next day. The system that controls
documents may be intrusive to the organization or its customers by freely giving all permissions
to any users. In the above example, Wal-Mart uses RFID to not only to simplify inventory
processes but as well as to produce ASN from EPCIS by identifying when product levels get low
considered so suppliers would RFID tag marketing tools such as marketing displays and the
system gives automated notifications to employees locally when it was the correct time to push
development.
Technological (SLEPT) analysis is often carried out by business planners which enables them to
develop more informed strategies.” (The Times Newspapers Ltd, 2009) A SLEPT analyzes
external stakeholder and things a customer be swayed for or against a product or a brand. A Cost-
Benefit Analysis is a procedure performed by government where the entire social benefits of a
proposed business idea compared to the entire social costs used to consider a project. Changes in
consumer lifestyle, Regulatory changes and Economic changes can affect the behavior of an
organization. Anticipating how the customer and the public will use technology is useful
especially at the rate that IS becomes outdated and the consumer changes devices and means to
consume. With the development of new interactivity devices companies must follow consumers
or be left behind by products offered by companies supporting use of those devices. Regulatory
changes can influence technology because while a law enacted to suppress violent or illegal
behavior, it may still effect how your new equipment utilized regardless of its functionality. As
well as, if, as a producer of such equipment, be blamed for illegal behavior, when your intentions
were very specifically for legal and non-violent use. Economic changes may require that an
organization raise prices or lower requirements and reduce prices according to what consumers
are willing to pay and what they are willing to pay for. The understandings of external interests
This article examined how BIS can improve organizational efficiency, how those changes
affect organizational structure and strategy, as well as, how ethics and legal requirements affect
IS. The intent of IS development in business is to improve operational efficiency. The impact of
information systems on the business structure is not just to computerize tedious processes carried
out by human resources, but also, to study and organize behavior exhibited by the organization.
It examined influences on business, how to examine those influences. Development of BIS can
on if you are seeing the organization as a whole, as individual as the individuals that are the
Gurbaxani & Whang (1991). The Impact of Information Systems on Organizations and Markets.
Retrieved June 25, 2009, from Academic Search Alumni Edition database.
Retrieved June 25, 2009, from Academic Search Alumni Edition database.
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/539/1/1
http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--influences-on-businesses--390.php.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14761198/Government-and-Economic-Influences-on-Business.