Business

The integration of individuals and systems is a blend of technology and management that should strive to consider the individual’s contribution over the absolute rigidity of the system. This was covered in the coursework during week three where it was explained that the people side of the business is highly important. Some businesses, such as companies built around providing services are highly dependent on its people. The processes and systems these companies employ are also highly important and therefore integrating the two are a key factor. Often times businesses offer a service and then simply find employees to fill the slots that provide those services. These employees are trained in that area and little thought is given to how to better integrate the staff into a process that flows. Even considering a sandwich shop’s system integration is indicative of the importance of integration. If the person who is making the sandwich has to also process the order and payment while another individual is only in charge of filling drink orders you can see where the flow breaks down. In this case the business will process fewer orders, people will get their food more slowly and customers will not return. Integrating employees into the system and balancing the flow would increase revenue for the sandwich shop and ensure patrons get their sandwich quickly and the business will continue to thrive. From this smaller system one can extrapolate the concept all the way up to global multi-national corporations managing a world-wide sales team. Systems integration can also include Information Technology (IT) systems that automate and streamline processes. Client and inventory databases, email systems, order processing systems, and business intelligence applications all are only as useful as the processes they are integrated into. The people must understand the goals and objectives of the system and be trained in how to effectively employ it.

Ethics and social...