Introduction
Information technology and system has become an important part of lives and in businesses it is
a key for success.
Introduction to Information Technology (IT) and Information System (IS)
Creating a company's communications networks, safeguarding data and documents, creating and
managing databases, assisting employees with computer or mobile device issues, and a variety of
other tasks to ensure the productivity and protection of business are all examples of information
technology (Stokdyk, 2019). Information Technology is a wonderful thing that can easily reduce
many types of errors on different type of activities. ( Leape , Bates , Cullen,1995)
Information system is a set of components which is used for the collection, storing, and
processing of data and it also provides appropriate knowledge, information and products which
are digital . (Vladimir,2021) . It is a formal system which is used by organizations which is used
for the collection , processing, storing and distribution activities of information. (Piccolo,2018)
Introduction to KFC
KFC’s full form is Kentucky Fried Chicken(Keyser, Hannah ,2015) . It is an American fast food
restaurant chain. KFC’s headquarter is in Louisville, Kentucky and they specialize in fried
chicken. It’s position as a restaurant is very good and, according to measurement of sales it’s
position round the world is second-largest after McDonald’s and as of December 2019, they
have 22,621 locations all over world in 150 countries. (KFC,2019). KFC is subsidiary of Yum!
Brands which is a restaurant company and Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, WingStreet etc chains are
owned by his company.(Yumbrands,2018). KFC’s founder is Colonel Harland Sanders who is an
entrepreneur . He began his journey by selling fried chickens in a roadside restaurant in Corbin,
Kentucky when it was the time of Great Depression and KFC’s logo we can always see his
picture.
KFC’S IT Infrastructure
IT infrastructure includes components such as, hardware, software ,facilities , networks ,
operating systems etc non-personnel resources that helps an organization in supporting ,
housing and running IT Systems ("ITIL®V3,Marlese,2020) . It does not include people , process
or any kind of documentation.( "ITIL® V3). KFC has it’s own IT Infrastructure for the help of the
organization and success of their business.
CRM : KFC is putting different programs with the help of technology to build relationship with
customers. KFC gives discounts, rebate offers, cash back offers to customers and KFC keeps
database of all purchases through management systems so that they can use that to identify their
regular customers. KFC has a website http://www.kfc.com/ where details about their food is given and
contact information of many departments are given and there are many things that KFC does with the
help of information technology which includes, sending email to customers to fill the customer feedback
form where customer shares their reviews, having a customer service call centre which is open 24 hours
where customers can call, give their reviews , make complaints and KFC in the website of there is a
section FOOD ALLERGIES AND SENSITIVITIES where the information related to nutrition and
allergies are given which represents their care towards their customers , they also use transactional
processing system which helps to identify the loyal customers and with TPS system they can collect the
information of customers easily and they can use those information according to the needs of the
customers. (Garima, Gaurav, Harshit, Aman, Faiz , 2021)
IDIC Model of CRM
Figure 1 : IDIC Model
Source : IDIC Process Model (Siddiqi et al., 2002)
Figure 1 shows IDIC Model of CRM . This model was created by Peppers and Rogers Group as
a generic blueprint to use model in different situations . This model has for stages which includes
identity, interact , differentiate , customize .( Lucidchart , 2021) .First stage of identifies customer
needs, wants and buying behavior, 2 nd stage differentiates customers according to their value to find out
that which customers should be given priorities to increase profit of organization , 3 rd stage is the
process of interacting with most valued customers through offerings to encourage them to be with us
and the 4th stage, works for the development more customized one-to-one service for them
according their needs and wants that we have found out .
E-Commerce : KFC has participation in E-commerce and now KFC is reaching customers
through E-commerce all around the world . Customers can order from KFC and get food
delivered at their doorsteps. For Italian customers , KFC has launched an app named “KFC
Italia” which is available in Google Play Store and App Store with lots of information of KFC
and through this app customers can order KFC food and get them delivered in their home
(Milan,2020) . In Poland, E-commerce is a very important part of revenue for KFC.
(Łukasz,2018).
ERP : KFC uses ERP in reporting and performance management, material management,
purchasing , manufacturing , service, order management ,E-commerce , sales , point of sale ,
financial managements and projects . (Solution, 2021 ) .
Figure 2 : ERP System Model
Source : tutotrialspoint,2021
Figure 2 is showing ERP model, this figure is describing ERP system . All core businesses
processes are supported by ERP such as inventory management, financial management ,
manufacturing , sales order procession , distribution processes etc . This figure shows that what ERP is all
about.
Literature Review
There is so much importance of information technology . There are 2 theories Metcalfe’s law and
Moore’s law which are related to technology .
Metcalfe’s law
Definition : Metcalfe’s law says that value of a telecommunication network. The value is the
proportion to the square of the number of of users who use and connect to this system which
means that the value will increase with the increase of number of users. (yourdictionary,2021)
Analysis : This law can is about many of the network effects which are related to
communication and technology which includes internet, social networks and World Wide Web
and it especially highlights the workings of internet . (Bob, Andrew and Benjamin , 2006 ) . This
law actually matches with example of a fax machines . It represents example of a fax machine which is
not used by anyone but the value of the useless fax machine is increasing with the increment of the use of
total number of fax machines that are being used by people to send or receive documents . (R. Tongia ,
2017)
Criticism : This law has a point to determine value of a network but this network does not
actually makes sense in many ways . If we think with the example of fax machines , there is no
point of increasing value of a useless machine just because other fax machines are getting
used .This law has difficulty in determining the “Value” of a network because it only depends on
the number of users. The number of nodes in contact determines the social utility of a network.
Moore’s law
Definition : Moore’s law is a prediction made by Gordon E. Moore in 1965 and this law says
that transistors per silicon chip gets doubled in every two years . (Intel, 2020) According to this
law , the computers will be more fast and more capable in every two years and the cost of using
them will be less .
Analysis : In today’s world , this law has been proven to be true in many situations . This law
sates the potential growth of computing devices with fast computing power with reduction in the cost of
the consumers and manufacturers. This law is applied to the modern chips of smartphones . A lot of
development in chips has taken place .
Criticism : This law has proven to be true but in future there’s no guarantee that this law will
be applied to chips. Maybe the costs will increase and maybe the speed will not be increased as it
is expected to be .
Role of Information Technology
For a food brand like KFC , information technology is playing huge role by helping in E-
commerce , CRM , ERP. From the research of a business to managing a business ,every
activities get help from information technology . A business’s success depends on it’s use of
information technology . Information technology helps in the accounting , finance ,
manufacturing ,sales and marketing , human resources and other departments of a business by
keeping information regarding the organization , it also helps in operation managements with the
use of TPS Transaction Processing System and it helps in communication when organization
uses communication systems .( UKessays, 2017 ) . According to the importance of Information
Technology , we can understand that all the employees of an organization should have a proper
knowledge and skills of using information technology . With the use of information technology,
it has become easy for businesses to achieve success.
Reasons Why Companies Need IT
Every company needs IT support for the success of the business . It saves time and cost for the
company . IT gives chance of Primary and Secondary research for a company with low cost . It
has help a company to solve complex problems ,data management, enhance customer support ,
increase safety and security, system maintenance and also helps in improving resource allocation
of the company (Axiomq,2021 )
Discussion and Analysis
IT has both advantages and limitations which should known by the businesses who use it .
Advantages of Using Application and Enterprise Systems
Good application can help a business in many ways . KFC has it’s own applications all over the
world. Mobile applications has lots of competitive advantages because of it’s benefits such as
,giving a chance for promotion and offering great support to the business, value addition through
rewards , giving the power to make better relationship with customers , driving high engagement
levels with customers as it has visibility 24/7 and for the development a business it is really
helpful . (Tuhin,2020)
ERP is very beneficial for a business. It gives benefits to a business such as, unifying IT costs
and improving efficiency , making the access of business data easy, improvement in reporting
and planning for the business , helping in resource planning ,providing good customer service ,
maintaining data and security ,managing supply chain etc (Madeline Reinbolt,2021)
Limitations of IT Implementation
There are some limitations of IT implementation such as , the need for training of using the
systems which is time consuming , the expense of implementing this of system which is a lot
,degree of customization , the need for connection between the departments etc
(Planettogether,2019) . Sometimes it is not easy for small companies to implement IT because of
it’s cost of implementation and it is not easy for them to train their staff for IT.
Findings
There are benefits and issues of investment in IT that should be known by the investors before
making any kind of investments .
Benefits of Investing in IT
There are several benefits of investing in IT such as, the return on the investment, reducing risk
of business and up-to-date systems keeps the business security as a priority which is very good
thing, along with this IT functions can help a lot in team works . (Shackleton Technologies,2019) .
IT makes everything easy if is used properly . IT can easily assure success of a business .
Discussion of Issues arising from IT
We all are living a lifestyle which is online based and very complicated and without even
knowing, we are sharing lots of information over the internet about ourselves. The older people
who don’t have much about information technology ,they might share many of their information
to the technology without even having any idea about it (Borenstein and Pearson 2010) . Cyber
crimes , hackings , online transactions etc are some of the risks of IT . Too much dependency on IT is not
right . A robot or computer or a software can’t have the ethical knowledge like human . Companies are
using information of customers in a wrong for the promotional activities without even caring about
emotions of the customers.
Recommendation regarding Issues
To solve this kind of issues , all the businesses who use IT should be very careful about the
ethical and security issues of the customers . They should not misuse any information of their
customers and should always maintain safety in their IT systems . We have to make the best use
of it instead of doing anything wrong.
Conclusion
IT is an important part of any type of businesses now . All businesses should use IT if is possible
for them . KFC has made the right use of IT and now it is a very successful business all over the
world . IT has made our lives easier and day by day it is getting more fast and helpful for us but
while using IT we can not forget the fact that it has it’s own limitations which should be taken
care of .
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