The business world is a dynamic field of activities that presents both opportunities and challenges to business models and investors. The types of challenges that a business model is likely to experience include; globalization issues, convergence of unlimited needs and limited resources, decision-making difficulties, complexity and diversity of the market the business thrives to succeed. In this case, the business scenario identified in this research is a multinational organization trying to implement employee fostered competitive advantage. The scenario and the challenges that are discussed link up with the need for systems that can channel the right information to the right departments to avoid inconveniences. The role of information systems in a business model is to provide the organization with relevant information that aims to affect the vital areas of concern, in accordance with the objectives of an organization. Identified in this research are technologies used and applied in healthcare and medical settings; this research has identified the need to link such technologies with the business or corporate situations. The need to use such technologies is to create a transparent model of doing business; one that would enable organizations to realize opportunities that channel their potential through employees and help them gain stability when dealing with competition.An organization is any form of business that is divided into various departments, each with different objectives, as compared to the other, but all working towards the same goal. A multinational organization is any particular form of organization with branches around the globe, and whose operational goals follow a protocol that unifies their purpose (Hispanic Network, 2005). Organizations are divided into two organizations; for-profit and non-profit. For non-profit organizations, employees or service providers are rewarded by sponsors and other volunteers to work for free; in this setting, competition is not an endeavor for the organizations. On the other hand, for-profit organizations hire individuals in regards to their qualifications and reward their employees in terms of basic salary and commission on other areas, where performance is vital (David & Miller, 2010). Competitive advantage fostered by employees is a joint endeavor where employees are integrated to the organization system in that they are involved in the decision-making processes, in order to deliver up-to-date services to the organizations. In this case, an employee promotes the organization’s image through the delivery of high-end services to customers, hence, creating a customer base attached to the organization.
Competitive advantage is any form of advantage an organization acquires; one that separates it from other organization, hence, being able to attract more profit-based elements and variables (Institute of Management Accountants, 2006). The world of business, as discussed earlier, is a dynamic one and it changes very often. These changes are either positive or negative in respect to the organizational structure and formula of addressing the challenges involved. A multinational organization, whose origin is the US, may not account for the variables that may negatively affect it in another nation. In this case, a sustainable information system is required to determine and explore opportunities, while at the same time providing a basis of avoiding negative challenges. Through this need, healthcare application systems have been identified to present an opportunity that can be utilized in the business world.
Review of Literature Defining the Business Scenario
A business is a form of a foundation or grounds, upon which entities trade variables, in order to sustain and satisfy their individual needs. The exchange of variables takes place in a formal setting governed by a contract or agreement to work towards a common course (Institute of Marketing, 2008). The business world involves management bodies, owners of the businesses, clients and shareholders. In much successful organization, venturing into bigger markets is a strategic move to expand on the number of entities involved. Multinational organizations thrive through the macroeconomics’ opportunities and they affect the GDPs of the nations they operate. In this regard, the number of inputs and outputs are big enough to sustain the existence of that organization through various challenges, like regulation and cultural differences depicted by the customers (Oscar & Marek, 2009).
Given the fact that multinationals are better placed than other organizations in terms of ability to change business trends and in taking risks, information required to quantify the variables is likely to be inconsistent regarding the current systems. Multinationals offer their employees various opportunities in terms of job portability from one geographical area to another. This trend affects organizations negatively as many of the employees, especially those holding managerial positions; tend to apply old strategies in the new business areas (Hanssens & Dominique, 2010). The grounds of applying old strategies are limited to movement along the same cultural and business terrain. A manager or any other employee is likely to make mistakes with regards to lack of knowledge about variables that matter. Social ties, business trends, government regulation, scarcity of resources, and difficulty of realizing goals are some of the variables that affect multinational organizations (Lane, 2001). A business idea is different from an actual business model in that the former does not incur actual profits or losses, as compared to the latter. It is, therefore, important to note that the definition of a business scenario includes all the variables that affect the business model (Minjeong & Sung-Un., 2010).
Identifying Business Problems
Globalization
“In business, the higher the number of services and range of products the organization produces, the higher the profits and ability to venture into new markets” (Lane, 2001). Multinational organizations are faced with the trouble of finding quality data that they can go with to explore the idea of globalization. As explained earlier, there is a difference between a business idea and the actual business model; it is through the exploration of the business idea that an organization is able to venture into the business. This occurs when an organization or an investor investigates on the number of opportunities, as compared to the number of challenges; at this point, an investor would be able to tell whether the business idea really works or not. For existing organizations, going global with their business practices is seen as an opportunity for the organization to get a bigger market share. However, the concept of globalization makes sense to organizations if they can venture in business arenas on new territories, and be as productive, as they were at their local destinations.
Globalization is a problem for organizations that take market expansion as a key to business success. This problem starts with the decisions made by the organizations in regards to the understanding of the business field. A United States’ organization venturing in African markets can prevail without the need of too much study on the business landscape, because Africa is in the initial stage of development and its associations with various cultures make them flexible. On the other hand, the same organization venturing in Asia and China, in particular, may be faced with various cultural difficulties; this is because the Chinese have traditions that prevent them from behaving in a certain manner or consuming some products. However, the bigger problem associated with globalization starts with the employees that are supposed to make decisions and offer services to the markets. By using the modern technology and application systems, globalization can be viewed as an opportunity rather than an obstacle (Jackie & Sudhir, 2010).
Business Convergence
Convergence is mixing or blending one finite variable with another that is infinite in nature (Linkage Inc., 2006a). In business and economic studies, human wants are classified as insatiable, because they are vast, and the resources to satisfy them are limited. The same case applies in microeconomics because there are various outputs expected from an organization before it can start to realize its goals. However, the number of inputs may be or may not be enough to produce the expect goals. In a situation, where inputs are considered enough, a possibility of unexplored opportunity is likely. On the other hand, an organization whose goals involve expanding its market share needs to accumulate capital or come up with projects that would sponsor the objectives. With regards to the number of objectives and resources an organization has, the applicability of both determines the realization of its goals. Some of the inputs that an organization involves itself with, in order to realize its objectives, include staffing the right people to steer the projects and activities of the organization. The other input is having a reliable application system that can predict the outcomes of various courses of action undertaken (Jesper, Stewart & Charlotte, 2010).
“Business convergence involves the merging of deliverables and the undeliverable variables” (Oxford Business Group, 2008). Employee knowledge is one deliverable that an organization can achieve; with fair salaries, an organization can attain employees with the right knowledge. On the other hand, venturing in international businesses using the same highly knowledgeable employees may not produce the same results they would get under the same settings they were hired “Jay, 2005)”. It is, therefore, conclusive that information requirements for new markets should not account as unimportant variable. This is because the number of resources and strengths an organization has does not predict the level of success in new markets. The amount of inputs an organization is able to invest do not match the expected outputs, hence, the creation of a business convergence (Practicing Law Institute, 2005).
Complexity and Diversity
Businesses in the 21st century have acquired a different trend, as compared to those that existed in the late 20th century. Businesses are targeting much specialized audiences, as technology has narrowed the tiresome manual work to almost automatic systems that deliver all variables to the planning table. Multinational organizations are discovering these changing trends, and are, therefore, willing to invest in more sophisticated technological applications to enable them predict the fate of their businesses in foreign markets. The application systems, on the other hand, have been changing at a very fact rate, because organizations are willing to invest as much as possible to create surplus in their production and supply chains. The more sophisticated an application system is the much complicated it would initially seem; however, in a matter of time, it is simplified, and the need for better system arises. It is, therefore, understandable that the business world is faced with constant problems and issues that make information access difficulty and the predicting of business growth even harder.
Diversity is the property of a business organization to venture in various practices, while producing and offering more goods and services. Diversity is a risk, an opportunity, and a problem at the same time (Thomas, 2006). Considering the multinational organization’s perspective of venturing into new territories to explore markets, diversity is a risk in that the probability of success is almost equal to that of failure. As an opportunity, multinational organizations are not limited to offering and producing the same type of services and goods. In this case, an organization, like Sony, can specialize in Hi-Fi systems for the European markets and specialize in PlayStation systems for the Asian market. In both cases, Sony would figure out what product is on higher demand on one market than the other, and therefore, subdivide its product according to that ratio. As a problem and the reason for including this section, diversity is a problem, because the rate at which business opportunities change, an organization would incur losses, trying to research on the best business model to undertake, and the necessary processes to include (Michael & Neil, 2003).
Healthcare Application Systems Applicable
The healthcare sector deals with the health issues of various types and designs through the implementation of systems that regulate and monitor the changes in technology, medical intervention, introduction of new drugs to the market, and the association of the current conditions with the past. Lab application systems are some of the installments of healthcare application systems; they are used in the testing of various samples and registering trends in the specimens of patients. The manual work that had to be applied in such situation is long gone, it is a matter of placing the right samples to the right slots, and information regarding the samples would be detailed within minutes. The method is efficient in terms of accuracy, and saves on time. For classified information, only the right personnel can access the data at their convenient time. The application of these lab application systems can be extended to the business field for the classification of data and testing of various causes of business trends, as well as predicting the right course of action to deal with them (Linkage Inc., 2006a).
Patient Care Systems
Patient care systems are used to regulate and record the progress of a patient. Variables, like blood pressure, blood sugar levels, blood count, water levels, and elements, like alcohol in the blood, can be tested and recorded by these systems (Jesper, Stewart & Charlotte, 2010). However, for these systems to work, they should be in conduct with the patient, in order to register changes and make real time recordings. The reason as to why these systems can apply in businesses would be to keep track of the necessary information regarding markets and implemented unfavorable government policies. In addition, the customer is the important entity in any business organization and his/her shopping and response to the new products can be monitored through these systems. However, such systems would not be in conduct with patients or people, but rather the grounds upon which activities take place. The stocks market and the exchange bureaus are some of the grounds that these systems can be connected with, in order to cover the current trends and display data to the organizations they represent (Oxford Business Group, 2008).
Electronic Medical Systems
Electronic medical systems are either online systems or a number of systems connected to each other through internet to connect various branches and medical facilities together. The form of information shared through these information systems aims at linking doctors, hospitals, clinics, care units, insurance companies, and the pharmacies together, in order to deliver services to the patients that are quick and that cut on the travel expenses. In the USA, around 2% of patients in critical conditions die on their way to the medical facilities. These numbers would be higher, if the electronic medical systems were not present. On the other hand, about 5% of modern businesses collapse due to the lack of vital information reading the changing business models and customer trends. The integration of the electronic medical systems in the business world would not mean to address patient issues, but rather the trends that affect the circulating information in respect to current business requirements. For organizations with the need to compete effectively with the rest of the organizations worldwide, the employees should be able to access vital and relevant information that foster competitive advantage for the respective organization.
Solutions to the Business Problems Decision-making Process Using Lab Application Systems
Testing samples and detailing results that range from the simple blood levels to complicated DNA synthesis are some of the tasks that Lab Application Systems are designed to perform. The human DNA can be equated to a complex programming code regarding the nature that it is put together and how it varies from one individual to another. On the other hand, the variables that affect business information flow include the unstable nature of the data and the fact that these changes do not take a break. In theory, organizations use the available up-to-date data to make decisions that would affect their levels of success or how to deal with competition. In practice, organizations use trends to venture into the business without the consideration of other unexplored opportunities (Oscar & Marek, 2009).
To create a practical opportunity that only existed as a theory, organizations would require implementing the Lab Application Systems design to their business activities, in order to maximize on profits and educate their employees’ organizational image. The fact that employees do not consider themselves a variable or a resource to an organization is one of the problems that drag organizations behind. Take Facebook for example; Zuckerberg and his fellow founders did not actually think they could make money out of a social network. However, they continued to welcome more students and other people to use their site to get in touch with their friends and loved ones. Currently, Facebook is an organization trading shares and helping investors to expand their empires. In this case, an employee who does not acquire or thrive to acquire the latest information about his organization is likely to pull down the efforts of other organization’s staff. This is because the success of most organizations is vested on the employees, as they foster competitive advantage. On the other hand, multinational organizations require vital and fast decision-making mechanisms. To make the right or sustainable decisions, an organization requires information channels that not only provide charts and literature, but also are able to formulate measurable interventional options.
Addressing Globalization through Patient Care Systems
Patient care systems are complex applications that detail the medical history of a patient, current and past condition, formulation of various interventions, recommendation of drugs and referrals, and providing constant reminds on cultural, ethics, justice and social variables to consider when dealing with a patient. Life support machines use the mechanical powers and regulator systems to administer inputs to a patient. In this case, life support systems and other mechanical machines used in the care setting belong to the category of application systems. However, the connection between these machines and a computer system channels data from them to the computers. In this case, a software application then can send commands to the machines and gathers the specific data regarding the patient. This process may seem inapplicable to the business practices. However, the business setting does not incorporate life support machines, but rather daily life routines of businesspersons and customers. In this case, a replica application system would compare and contrast business models applicable in Asia, as opposed to those applicable in the US to deliver a comprehensible analysis (Minjeong & Sung-Un, 2010).
Globalization is a quest for organizations and institutions to attain modernity through the introduction of strategies and measures that address the needs and desires of everyone (Lane, 2001). The chances that modernity can be achieved are limited by different tastes and preferences; different generations tend to have and the influence of culture. It is, therefore, necessary to look at globalization as a problem rather than a risk or an opportunity. When the perspective is changed to reflect on the problematic nature of globalization, organizations can use application systems similar to patient care systems to gather relevant information on business cultures of various nations, business trends, and how employees’ competitive advantage can be used to foster growth and development. With competition as a challenge that organizations face, multinational organizations can apply diagnostic tools associated with patient care systems to establish methods and strategies to beat business threats posed by local organizations and small business models (Philip and Gary, 2009).
Addressing Business Convergence Problems with Electronic Medical Systems
The concept of this research paper is taking real life medical technologies and application systems, and analyzing how effective they would be, if applied in business settings. As much as these application systems are designed to address the matters relevant to and associated with the healthcare, their forms and structures provide a basis of flexibility in that they can be applied in more areas than healthcare. In the business setting, electronic medical systems can be modified to reflect a business image in order to appeal to organizations and business models. The importance of the systems is, however, not how they appear but the level of reliability that they provide to the organizations. Diagnostic tools are used in web applications and other forms of systems to determine the causes and probable risk areas. In this case, the electronic medical system’s design is structured in a manner that entities, elements, and variables associated with healthcare can be connected through a network. The importance of the electronic medical systems is to give patients and users an opportunity to save time. In the business setting, the electronic medical systems would be applied as electronic business diagnostic tools (David & Miller, 2010).
The use of the electronic business diagnostic tools would be to address the problem of business convergence. Business convergence as defined earlier, is a problem of addressing unlimited (infinite) challenges with limited (finite) resources. The situation becomes a problem when planning in the initial stages does not take care of all aspects of information, business challenges, budgeting for future expansion, and dealing with diversity. The application of the electronic business diagnostic tools can take place on the web, therefore, collecting, analyzing, and presenting data to the organization’s personnel responsible for various decision-making processes. This application system would limit the scope of decisions to fit the current budget, while at the same time outlining a schedule for future development in accordance to the organization’s growth rate.
Dealing with Complexity and Diversity through Electronic Medical system
Earlier in this literature, complexity and diversity were identified as some of the issues and problems that affect businesses and the planning processes of organizations. Taking complexity as a problem associated with the lack of reliable information systems that can address the challenges posed by the changing business trends. Specifically, some of the business trends that affect growth and development of organization in respect to employees’ capability to foster the competitive advantage include imbalance of knowledge between a certain level of employees and another. Lack of imbalance in terms of knowledge is a product of poor information mechanism and lack of access to updated information. Most business models envelop their employees in a ‘box’ where all they know about their organization is the contract they signed and the dates their salaries are ready. An application system similar to electronic medical system would make sure that all employees keep in touch with each other, the changing world, the seasonal customer tendencies, and the role they should play to advance their careers in their current organizations.
On the other hand, diversity is a worldwide phenomenon whose effects on business can be compared with globalization. However, diversity focuses more on delivering a set of products and services that address a variety of customer needs as opposed to globalization, which aims at acquiring technical power to modernize every aspect of life. Diversity causes organizations to lose focus, while at the same time it costs organizations a big deal of opportunities, if it is not embraced. Employers and management have a responsibility to make the right choices. However, employees should be challenged to take interest in organizational matters. This can be done by the introduction of software similar to the electronic medical system to integrate all organizational channels – production, distribution, demand, supply, and market share.