4.7.1 How Intranets Support Electronic Business: Notes

Management Information Systems
Notes 4.7.1 How Intranets Support Electronic Business

Intranet can help the organizations create a richer, more responsive information environment.
Intranet corporate applications bases on the Web page model can be made interactive using a
variety of media, text, audio, and video. A principal use of intranets has been to create on-line
repositories of information that can be updated as often as required. Product catalogs, employee
handbooks, telephone directories, or benefits information can be revised immediately as changes
occur. This “event-driven” publishing allows organizations to respond more rapidly to changing
conditions than traditional paper-based publishing, which requires a rigid production schedule.
Made available via intranets, documents always can be up to date, eliminating paper, printing,
and distribution costs.
Task Discuss some examples of B2B and B2C business model.
4.7.2 Intranets and Group Collaboration

Intranet provide a rich set of tools for creating collaborative environments in which members of
an organization can exchange ideas, share information, and work together on common projects
and assignments regardless of their physical location.
Some companies are using intranets to create enterprise collaboration environments linking
diverse groups, projects, and activities through the organization.
Example: The Global Village intranet of U.S. West (which merged with Qwest
Communications International) is a prominent example.
4.7.3 Intranet Applications for Electronic Business

Intranets are springing up in all the major functional areas of the business, allowing the
organization to manage more of its business processes electronically.
Figure 4.5: Function Applications of Intranets
Intranet applications have been developed for each of the major functional areas of the business.
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Unit 4: Electronic Commerce and the Digital Organization
Finance and Accounting Notes
Many organization have extensive TPS that collect operational data on financial activities, but
their traditional management reporting systems, such as general ledger systems and spreadsheets,
often cannot bring this detailed information together for decision making and performance
measurement. Intranets can be very valuable for financial and accounting information on-line
in an easy-to-use format.
Human Resources
Human resource can use intranets for on-line publishing of corporate policy manuals, job postings
and internal job transfers, company telephone directories, and training classes. Employee can
use an intranet to enroll in healthcare, employee saving, and other benefit plans if it is linked to
the firm’s human resources or benefits system to take on-line competency test.
Sales and Marketing
One of the most popular applications for corporate intranets is to oversee and coordinate the
activities of the sales force. Sales staff can dial in for updates on pricing, promotions, rebates, or
customer or to obtain information about competitors. They can access presentations and sales
documents and customize them for customers.
Manufacturing and Production
In manufacturing, information-management issues are highly complex, involving massive

inventories, capturing and integrating real-time production data flows, changing relationships
with suppliers, and volatile costs. The manufacturing function typically uses multiple types of
data, including graphics as well as text, which are scattered in many disparate systems.
Manufacturing information is often very time sensitive and difficult to retrieve, because files
must be continuously updated.
!
Caution Developing intranets that integrate manufacturing data under a uniform user
interface is more complicated than in other functional areas.
4.7.4 Roles of Intranet in Organization
The internet is to the internal system of the organization what the internet is to its external
environment. That is it links internal data networks of the company but prevents access to other
outside the company. It also facilitates data gathering from with the company. For example
surveys can be easily conducted through the intranet to assess employee moral or popularity of
benefit packages. The intranet can be creatively put to use. Cronin remarked that Ford’s intranet
success is so spectacular that the automaker’s in-house website could save billion dollars and
fulfill a cherished dream of building cars on demand. Cronin went on to explain how the
carmaker’s product development system documents thousand of steps that go into manufacturing,
assembling and testing vehicles.
By opening its intranet to major suppliers, Ford customized every car and truck while reducing
cost at the same time. For instance suppliers could provide car seats in the sequence of colors
needed so that blue seats are ready just when the blue cars reach the seat installation station. By
opening up its intranet to suppliers and coordinating the delivery and assembly of thousands of
components some auto companies tried to move closer to manufacturing on demand.
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Management Information Systems

Notes 4.7.1 How Intranets Support Electronic Business

Task Discuss some examples of B2B and B2C business model.

4.7.2 Intranets and Group Collaboration

4.7.3 Intranet Applications for Electronic Business

Figure 4.5: Function Applications of Intranets

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Finance and Accounting Notes

Sales and Marketing

Manufacturing and Production

In manufacturing, information-management issues are highly complex, involving massive

4.7.4 Roles of Intranet in Organization

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