The Role of Information Technology in Monsoon plc

Monsoon plc is a company that markets and sells clothing accessories mainly specializing in children and women outfit. The growth of the company is attributed to good communication and integration of information technology management initiatives. Integrating information technology has enhanced efficiency, increased speed, and convenience in the key management scopes of such as human resources, financial management, and marketing of company products. The most significant benefit to the company is the increase in productivity levels. Trends in IT across the globe indicate dynamic technological advancements. Monsoon plc has embarked in the application of information technology to increase sales and subsequent revenue. It should also be noted that financial management is a complex task thus correct application of information technology is the best way to efficient management.

        The staff at Monsoon plc finance department has extensive knowledge and skills in information technology. This is a mandatory requisite since financial management is risky and there is a high probability of errors occurring. Such errors may affect the whole financial year and spoil the excellent rapport of the staff. It is essential for healthy financial management and reporting system to have zero errors. In the earlier days, financial data was handwritten, stored, and published manually. The advent of information technology has helped alter the once cumbersome task. In Monsoon plc, information technology has made the storage and publishing of financial data to be stress-free. The cost of financial management has subsequently gone down.

                 Information technology integration by Monsoon plc has led to reduced staff in financial management. Fewer employees increase the probability of accuracy in management. Communication activities in the business are also most effective with less staff team. Both horizontal and vertical communications will thus be effected easily and hastily. In addition to that, accuracy is necessary for financial management systems to minimize time wastage and redundancy. The scrutiny of ethics and performance contracts makes finance managers to avoid the financial errors at all costs. Since the use of information technology in business will enable the processing of financial data in a concise time, managers are the greatest beneficiaries. Improved performance is also a desirable management attribute.

                      Monsoon plc has accrued many benefits in management as a result of integrating information technology. Some of these advantages include:

Improved performance. The company applies sophisticated software in the management of finances thus enhancing speed, simplicity, and accuracy. Since financial data is enormous, information technology tools are used to increase data processing and processing in simple forms. Therefore, the efficient use of information technology has enhanced the financial management of the company.

 High processing speed. Company policy makers and managers will have ample time making decisions since the financial records will be up to date. Managers can process these reports at a high-speed and make decision making to be faster.

                  High reliability. Information technology systems are very reliable. Financial reports of the company will be accurate and error free. The company can then rely on the information to make correct fiscal decisions.

 The accuracy of data. Precision and keen attention is vital for financial records for secure processing of data. The company’s financial reports will be accurate, and managers will be able to make important decisions based on authentic records.

                  Monsoon plc is a retail company with outlets spread across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Asia among other countries. Information technology has played a leading role in enhancing the business operation of the company. Some of these roles include:

 Change in point of sale. In recent times, about ninety per cent of Monsoon plc transactions have occurred online. Customers of Monsoon plc can purchase apparels and merchandise of their choice from the company’s online stores through computers or cellphones through the use of e-receipt technology. Moreover, this is done at their convenient place or location unlike in the earlier days when there were long queues at the physical shops

 Payment for the purchased goods has also been made more comfortable and faster. Customers can pay via their visa cards, and NFC enabled phones.

  Improved customer service. Long queues of the past are no longer witnessed, and customer satisfaction is high. Also, self-help kiosks have been established by Monsoon plc to hasten customer feedback.

 Economic and faster price auditing. Monsoon plc has applied technology to automate price checkers on commodities to ensure that customers are not overcharged. This initiative saves time and promotes trust and brand loyalty in customers.

               Lastly, Monsoon plc has applied technology efficiently to promote marketing initiatives. Social media has also been tapped to market the company’s merchandise to customers and give prompt feedback to a consumer issue.

Numerical and analytical.

                   Monsoon plc is one of the global leading merchandise stores and has over 150 retail outlets in the United Kingdom. In addition to that, 90% of the company sales come from the United Kingdom market.  This has been possible as a result of the loyal customer base created by the company. The main strength of the company is the offering of trendy designs. Monsoon has embraced franchising as a model of international expansion. In the year 1997 sales increased to 108 million pounds from the previous year’s 80 million pounds. The net profit is what prompted the company to be listed at the London stock exchange. The company’s shares fetched a market value of 350 million dollars.

             Monsoon plc.’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), the measure of its net income of the 2016 financial year reduced by 16.4% to a value corresponding to 20.3 million pounds. The company sales also fell by 9.2% to a value about 442.1 million pounds. However, the previous year the sales had been about 464.9 dollars. The primary focus of the UK market also gave declining. The like-to-like sales dropped by a margin of 6%. The overall sales in the UK market also fell by 6.8% to 311.9 million pounds. A look at the total international revenues revealed a drop of 15.5% to a value of about 110 million pounds.

           Despite the declining sales, the company managers were very optimistic and devised new strategies to help turn around the dwindling fortunes of the company. The approach envisioned key decisions to be taken for the changing of the situation. One of the decisions was to abandon markets that were non-performing and prone to losses completely. Some of the markets include; the South Korean, Venezuelan, and Singaporean markets. The second initiative to turnaround the fortunes to different the entities of the company’s brands. In addition to that, the company’s portfolio was to be scrutinized and reviewed to align it with the dynamic market. The company also undertook the initiative of opening more shop-in-shops. Lastly, it was decided that more funds be invested in the online platform since the lion share of customer purchases were done online.

           Data to be presented for business assessment need to be thoroughly analyzed for it to make meaningful conclusions. First of all, a hypothesis needs to be stated, so that finding a potential solution to a financial problem. Then, measurement priorities should be determined. This helps to come up with the parameters to measure and the way to accomplish the task. The financial data should then be collected. The data may come from primary or secondary sources. In this case, primary sources should be given preference. Before data collection, prior preparation is needed to minimize time wastage. The collected data should be kept safe and organized chronologically. The following step should involve the analysis of the accumulated financial data. The data should be manipulated using computer tools such as Excel and tables. Lastly, the data should then be interpreted. Meaning conclusions can be made from the analyzed data. Hypotheses may be rejected or accepted.

           After financial data collection and recording, meaningful conclusions can be drawn. The quantitative part is the first bit to be scrutinized.  Two sets of this data are then compared. The control set of data in which it’s collected at normal circumstances and the test set in which it’s obtained by a deliberate change of an independent variable. The significant difference between the two sets of financial data should be analyzed. The qualitative part concerns the pattern of feedback. Different companies will give out different financial data recording.

Management of information and research techniques.

      The collected data should be analyzed and used to project the financial position of the business in the future. The internet era has simplified the task and made it cost-efficient and reliable. Financial data is extremely tedious therefore should be broken down. This helps to focus on the exact scope of information for easier retrieval. Most staff, economists, or researchers are mostly concerned with specific details rather than the whole financial data. If this is not done someone else may end up collecting all irrelevant data and lead to time wastage.

                  The most encouraging fact of financial data is the accuracy of the data in all aspects. Almost everything in financial data is measured in monetary terms. Therefore the financial data nominal shortcomings are minimized altogether. Monsoon plc has numerous sources for its financial data. Some of the locations of financial data in the company include:

The financial reports. These reports are already processed and formatted. Thus, they are easy to analyze. Most accountants, staff, and researchers give them priority during retrieval of financial information. The best part is their systematic categorization. In Monsoon plc, you can easily find the gross annual financial reports, the mean annual reports, quarterly financial reports or even monthly financial reports. Therefore, each one will have the specific scope of information to major in.

The inventory, staffing, and production reports. Monsoon plc is at times obliged by financial regulatory organs to avail the inventory, staffing, and production reports. This is necessary to the government agencies to compile financial and economic statistics for planning and regulation.

The accounting records. These are extremely detailed and comprehensive. These records are crucial sources of data for the company. The analysis of the records will show the financial position of the company. The records can also be used for decision-making purposes and the correction of financial anomalies in the company

The internet sources. Monsoon plc stock prices, shares, and dividend reports can be obtained from internet sources. Loads of information about the company’s stock prices can be found on multiple websites albeit providing similar information. Some internet sources enable the general public to view the financial information of public companies such as Monsoon plc.

            There other sources that have economic data, for example, the government of the United States through the United States Federal Reserve, the National Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Other global institutions are also sources of financial data. These institutions include; the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the CATO institute. These institutions provide data in an online form. The data can be used to undertake financial research tasks for the company

         Competitive retail research analysis is key in assessing the performance of the company in the market. Therefore, Monsoon plc has formulated strategies to navigate business completion in the competitive retail industry. The company has professionals whose main task is assessing competition factors in the market regularly and consistently. The advent of information and technology such as the internet easily avails the necessary data and makes the task simple, time efficient, and economical. The frameworks are meant to gather intelligence of rivals in the industry and assessing competitive activities. Such activities are bound to have many benefits such as learning competitors’ marketing tactics and avoiding unnecessary mistakes done by the competitors.

             Keeping close tabs on the competing firms enables the company to plan ahead of possible events that can affect its market share and differentiate its business activities. In addition to that, being smart allows a company to make wise decisions regarding commodity pricing, product research and development, and competitive marketing. The following are the benefits that accrue to Monsoon plc. As a result, its aggressive competitive research:

Monsoon plc has been able to comprehend the competitive retail market both locally and global markets.

Monsoon plc has been able to target productive customers, for example, a massive focus on the online platform.

The company has been able to anticipate potential trends in the market.

Monsoon plc has been able to factor in the effect of the external environment on the market.

The company has kept a close check on competitors’ pricing strategies.

Lastly, Monsoon has been able to obtain new customers by considering auxiliary market offers.

            There are numerous tools for accomplishing competitive research in the market. However, the competing companies should be differentiated as either public limited companies or private companies. The cost of resources should also be factored in. Some of them such as social media feed from Twitter or Google alerts come free of charge. Others such as market research reports can cost the company a lot of money. Monsoon plc usually considers its financial needs concerning competitive research before the cost of resources is determined.

                Monsoon plc uses the following tools and resources to achieve competitive research:

Auditing the website reports. The web is the avenue for researching competition about a company. Professionals from Monsoon plc have undertaken extensive research on the competitors’ websites. Some of the issues to consider should be; competitors’ pricing, ease of shopping and purchase payments and mode of purchases.

Free website resources. Signing up for free internet tools is a proven way of obtaining intelligent on competitors. Managers at Monsoon plc have actively subscribed to email newsletters of the competitors. Another tactic has been the signing up of Google alerts on competing firms’ activities and their management team. The effect is the remittance of emails on every online presence. Subscribing to competitors’ Twitter feeds and RSS feeds are effective tools in collecting competition intelligence in the market.

Public records’ resources. Information on competing public limited companies can easily be obtained from the market’s respective stock exchanges. However, privately owned companies have scanty research details and records are not easily accessible.

Ancillary research records and databases. Monsoon plc undertakes to acquire reports from the retail industry or other firms outside the sector.

Understanding and evaluation.

           Commercial value propositions are well-defined marketing strategies and that a company uses to attract customers toward buying their commodities. The marketing statements are meant to implore customers into believing that the company’s products have more value than the competing companies’ commodities. Therefore, it’s more of an assurance to the market niche to consider the products from the particular company. Consequently, the commercial proposition ought to be clearly stated and defined to show in which way the company’s commodities-based satisfies the needs of customers, the added benefits and actual superiority to market competition. As a result, the commercial proposition should be attractive and abridged to potential customers.

          Monsoon plc has formulated commercial propositions to entail why the company’s apparels and merchandise are the most valuable in the market segment. In addition to that, the proposition is clearly stated on the company website and also at consumer stores. This intuitive display has helped increase the sales because merchandise consumers can understand the value proposition on their own. For Monsoon plc, the commercial propositions are bold headlines. These help consumers to quickly understand the quality and auxiliary benefits of merchandise they are about to purchase. These propositions are usually single sentences with extremely captivating messages. At times, sub-headlines may be placed after the main headline to help explain further the value superiority of the company products compared to the competing commodities. This nice design enables buyers to swiftly determine the desirable features of the product and also enhance communication form the company to consumers in a short time.

      Commercial value propositions should always be unique to the company, in numerous patterns and easily identify to the market segment. Consequently, the company’s products should be differentiated from the competition. Some popular clichéd phrases must be avoided and the value

               A commercial proposition has helped Monsoon plc improve the marketing and sale of merchandise. This initiative has been engraved in the business plan of the company for continued marketing suspension.

Monsoon plc has been able to attract the attention of customers and easily communicate the value of the products.

The commercial proposition has made Monsoon plc to strongly differentiate its merchandise production from what is offered by competitors.

Monsoon plc customers’ saves time when it comes to deciding which products best suits them. This is because of the transparency brought about by the commercial proposition.

Lastly, the commercial proposition has enabled Monsoon plc to the competitive market structure. This has also promoted unity in the marketing team.

                  Research activities require secondary data since its very convenient and economical. Secondary data is relevant and full of utility in research purposes. The sources of this data may be either internal or external. All data existing and stored in Monsoon plc is classified as an internal data source. Whereas, data collected from the external environment of the company. Internal secondary data sources include; sales records, marketing research report, as well as financial records like balance sheets, inventory records, and profit and loss statement.

On the other hand, the external secondary data sources include; corporate filings and annual reports. Government sources like; the national agencies for census and statistics are also external data sources. Trading agencies and business associations also provide external secondary data sources. All these categories of secondary sources are used in the analysis of business activities and the sustenance of a company.

        Market and industry awareness has been taken seriously by Monsoon plc. Serious advertising initiatives by the company have enabled its consumers to make informed choices on what it offers to the market. The company has come up with various models of product promotion to shift awareness to consumers. It has been proven that through advertising, consumers are more enlightened about the products, make more informed purchasing choices and also look for better alternatives. This awareness has thus increased the market share of plc and made the retail apparel industry more competitive.

References.

Hooley, 2009. Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. Pearson India.

Michael, T, 2012. Corporate finance for dummies. For Dummies.

Nigel, B, 2013. Marketing Research: Tools and Techniques. Oxford University Press.

Volker, S, 2005. The Impact of Technology on Marketing Strategy. GRIN Verlag.