Proposal of Little Wombats Implementing New Information System

Background

This assignment is all about how we develop a business with help of the Porter’s Five Forces. Further, how we recommend an information system to develop a business with the help of information technology. By this assignment, we learn the proper way to run a business and gain more knowledge about market. The porter’s  five forces explain us the problem we might face when runs a business and also the way to overcome the problem.

At the end of this assignment, we learn the strategy of the business and also the way to develop it. In future, this type of assignment can help us develop a business and run the business with right way.  

Addressing the questions

1.      The application of Porter’s Five Forces in recognizing five major forces that could endanger the company’s position.

FORCE	EXPLANATION	IMPACT OF THE FORCE TO THE BUSINESS
Bargaining Power Of Buyers	1.      Buyers demand for a discount rate if they register more than one child in the kindergarten. 2.      Buyers will only pay half of the fees whenever there is a long school holidays. 3.      Buyers do have many kindergartens that offer similar syllabus at the competitive rate.	HIGH
Bargaining Power Of Suppliers	1.      Bargaining Power of Suppliers. 2.      The suppliers for service could be for the facilities as such table,chairs and fans ,food &drinks,books,stationery and teachers. 3.      Kindergarten have many option rather than depending on the suppliers. 4.      For example: Each of the teachers can cook each dishes of food daily for the kids.	LOW

Competitors	1.      Rivalry amongst existing competitors. 2.      There are many kindergartens providing the same syllabus at highly competitive rates. 3.      The Kindergartens provide many extra benefits such as swimming class,tuitionclass,day care service,pianoclass,computer class and others.	HIGH
SUBSTITUTE	1.      Threat  of substitute product or service 2.      The Kindergartensshould make some changes on their service just to attract attention from the parents. 3.      For example,decorates  the kindergarten colourful and employ a well trained teachers and increase the facilities. 4.      Therefore,the kindergarten should spend a small amount of cash to gain more profit.	LOW
NEW ENTRANTS	1.      Threats of new entrants 2.      To open a new kindergarten,it requires a big amount of cash,license,preparation of infrastructure and formalities. 3.      So , less opportunities for new entrants to enter the business	LOW

  

2. Suggest how the threats established in question (1) can be addressed by IT/IS.

Forces to be addressed	Competitive strategy to be applied	Recommended system that supported by IT/IS
Buyers (Bargaining power)	Innovation	Parents may complaint anything which is they not contented about the kindergarten services.
	Cost leadership	1.0 Use top-up system as payment 2. 0 30% off will be given for those who paying the payment regularly.
	·         Few switching costs exist	little penalty for moving to another supplier

3. Choose 4 out of the 7 quotes by Little Wombat’s staff members, and produce conceptual     screen mock-ups of a system that will address the questions in the quotes

 

1) Administrator for Branch Cheras (Geetha Raj): I need to know how many children we are expecting for the casual care in a day. I need to know which part time staff members are available so that I can make bookings to care for the children in the casual care. I also need to keep track of the fees payment made by the parents.

After login to LITTLE WOMBATS staff portal, Miss Geethe Raj can view the list of students that are attending for the Casual Care Program in STUDENT INFO page. Then she can view the update of the staff that are attend for part time in the STAFF INFO page. She can edit the staff according to the time in the CASUAL CARE BOOKING page. If she wants to view the payments part she can enter the CASUAL CARE BOOKING PAYMENT page.

2) Teacher/Team Lead (Maggie Tan): I need to know the parents of the children under my care, the background of the families or any special needs required so I can interact better with the children as well as the parents. I need to continue improving my knowledge on children’s early learning. I need to develop activities and programmes to be shared with other teachers and care givers.

When Miss Maggie Tan enter the LITTLE WOMBATS staff portal, she can go to STUDENT INFORMATION page to get to know the students family background. She can easily reconize the studetns because their photos are included there. Furthermore, she can go to EVENT PLANNER page to develop new activities and edit the upcoming new activities. She also can share this activities to the other teacher n care givers.

3) Child Care Giver (Mrs Doubtfire): Are any of the children under my care allergic to anything? Who is not well today and is there any medication I need to administer?

After login to LITTLE WOMBATS staff portal, Mr. Doubtfire can STUDENT MEDICAL INFORMATION page to see which students needs medical care. The parents will update their child illness or allergic and tey will inform if there any medicine to be given for their child. The CONTACT INFORMATION page is to Mr. Doubtfire contact the parents if any emergencies.

4) Parents (Mr & Mrs Smith): I want my children to get the best care and education; I wish to be able to ensure their safety at all times. I need to know what my children’s daily activities are at the centre.

  
This is the LITTLE WOMBATS parents portal where every parents will be given a ID and password to login this portal and their childs progress in the classes. Parents can view theirs child report cards and many more stuff via online in the MY CHILD PROGRESS page. Parents aslo can view the daily activity of classes in the ACADEMIC CALENDER page. The extra feature is EMAIL NOTIFICATION page where parents can email the teachers  and comunicate wif them to ask any doubts on their child studies.

4) Discuss the potential issues the company may face in implementing the new IS (replacing the current manual systems).

This are the few potential issues that Little Wombats may face during implementing the new Information System to upgrade his pre-school education and child care facilities.

Planning

Without step-by-step planning, change in an organization is likely to fall apart or cause more problems than benefits. Little Wombats  need to understand exactly what changes will take place and how those changes will occur. Little wombats  also need to assign roles to individuals who are responsible for the change so all duties are covered. The time line for the change is also a key component. Little Wombats  need to plan for downtime or difficulties in completing regular work tasks while the change occurs.

Lack of Consensus

If  Little Wombats fail to get everyone on board with the corporate changes, then  likely to face barriers during the process. The decision to implement changes should come from the top level of the organization. All management level staff needs to be on board and able to deal with the changes or you may face dissension within the staff. You may not have everyone on board right from the beginning. Showing managers how the changes will affect the company and the steps for implementing the changes helps get them on board if they initially have reservations.

Communication

Failing to communicate with all employees invites rumors and fear into the workplace, particularly if you're facing major changes, such as downsizing or a merger. Employees want to know what's going on, whether it is positive or negative news. The feeling of uncertainty when management doesn't communicate disrupts work and makes employees feel as if they aren't a part of the decision. Keep employees updated regularly about the plans and progress toward the change implementation. Involve all employees as much as possible through meetings or brainstorming sessions to help during the planning phase.

Employee Resistance

In some cases, employees resist change. They become comfortable with the way the business is run. They know the expectations and their role within the company. When a major change disrupts their familiarity, some employees become upset. They don't want to relearn their jobs or change the way they do things. Supporting your employees and providing training for any new responsibilities can help ease the transition.

Conclusion

There are many benefits that can be obtained from the business owner application of information systems. To be able to keep compete with competitors Little Wombats require a good and reliable management informa tion systems. With the help of technology, the business of a company can practice for long term and earn more profitable with lower cost. Information system is importance in business to the global updated.

References

1.  http://llk.media.mit.edu/projects.php

   2.  http://www.studymode.com/essays/Advantages-Of-Information-Systems-552028.html

3.http://www.examiner.com/article/the-benefits-of-managing-information-systems-a-business- environment

eHealth Symposium 2013

INTRODUCTION

                The UNU International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) seeks to contribute to the development and strengthening of health services policy frameworks and management actions, particularly for people in developing countries and to support implementation of promotive and preventive approach to human health.

The objectives of UNU-IIGH are to:

·         enhance the efficiency, quality, access and equity in the delivery of healthcare services;

·         undertake and strengthen research in global health towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);

·         facilitate dissemination of information and innovation on global health to developing countries;

·         build and enhance capacities crucial in addressing global health issues, especially in developing countries; and

·         promote networking among research institutions in developed and developing countries.  

ROLE OF INFORMATION SYSTEM IN E-HEALTH 

      Healthcare is a very important part of our society and it is imperative for healthcare providers to do their jobs in an efficient and effective manner. Each day hundreds of thousands of patients enter healthcare facilities challenging the administration to run the show smoothly. The employees have to manage and integrate clinical, financial and operational information that grows with the practice. Previously, this data was organized manually, which was time consuming and failed to deliver the desired level of efficiency. Most professionally run hospitals and clinics now rely on hospital information systems ( HIS ) that help them manage all their medical and administrative information. A hospital information system ( HIS ) is essentially a computer system that can manage all the information to allow health care providers to do their jobs effectively. These systems have been around since they were first introduced in the 1960s and have evolved with time and the modernization of healthcare facilities. The computers were not as fast in those days and they were not able to provide information in real time as they do today. The staff used them primarily for managing billing and hospital inventory. All this has changed now, and today hospital information systems include the integration of all clinical, financial and administrative applications.  

      Hospital information systems have become very advanced and new innovations are continuously being introduced. But a HIS is useless if it confuses the hospital employees. The system must be user friendly and should include training by the vendors. A good HIS offers numerous benefits to a hospital including but not limited to the delivery of quality patient care and better financial management. The HIS should also be patient centric, medical staff centric, affordable and scalable. The technology changes quickly and if the system is not flexible it will not be able to accommodate hospital growth. An effective HIS also delivers benefits such as: 

·         enhances information integrity

·         reduces transcription errors

·         reduces duplication of information entries

·         optimizes report turnaround times    

APPLICATION OF HEALTHCARE (E-HEALTH)

            E-Health Research Group is a group and it is established with the aim to improve the delivery of healthcare services in Malaysian healthcare industry. Innovation in health information technology may help healthcare industry to realize the potential of information systems and to maximize the benefits of IT applications. Specifically, this group is keen to assist Malaysian healthcare industry to realize the full potential of information systems to help deliver better quality of healthcare services at low cost. Apart from that it will evaluate the success of current information systems (IS) in health and improve them to maximize the potential of IT in health. The important initial research is to address information systems issues in healthcare and the delivery of healthcare services such as social and ethical issues. It focuses on improving ways in evaluating the IT deployment in healthcare organizations in Malaysia. At the same time, aims at improving patient care through innovative use of IT among medical practitioners.

USES OF INFORMATION SYSTEM IN PUBLIC HEALTHCARE  

Public Health is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. Public health professionals analyze the effect on health of genetics, personal choice and the environment in order to develop programs that protect the health of your family and community.

Overall, public health is concerned with protecting the health of entire populations. These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood, or as big as an entire country.

Public health professionals try to prevent problems from happening or re-occurring through implementing educational programs, developing policies, administering services, regulating health systems and some health professions, and conducting research, in contrast to clinical professionals, such as doctors and nurses, who focus primarily on treating individuals after they become sick or injured. It is also a field that is concerned with limiting health disparities and a large part of public health is the fight for health care equity, quality, and accessibility.

The field of public health is highly varied and encompasses many academic disciplines. However, public health is mainly composed of the following core areas:

• Behavioral Science/Health Education
• Biostatistics
• Emergency Medical Services
• Environmental Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Services Administration/Management
• International/Global Health
• Maternal and Child Health
• Nutrition
• Public Health Laboratory Practice
• Public Health Policy
• Public Health Practice

 

ADVANTAGES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN HEALTH

Information systems can improve cost control, increase the timeliness and accuracy of patient care and administration information, increase service capacity, reduce personnel costs and inventory levels, and improve the quality of patient care. However, experience shows that most of these benefits will not occur automatically following system implementation. Operational problems may exist that diminish information timeliness, accessibility, and accuracy; policies and procedures may not have been sufficiently tailored to reflect the realities and intents of the systems; and personnel tasks may not have been adequately restructured. In order to realize the full potential of information systems, health care organizations must plan for and implement strategies that are designed to maximize such benefits. This describes a method for developing benefits maximization strategies. The processes used to define strategies and their outcomes are presented.   

SUMMARY 

The eHealth Symposium 2013 is proudly brought to you by the CIGMA (Centre for Information Governance, Management, and Audit) and Department of Information Systems, College of Information Technology, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. Organized by the eHealth Research Group, College of Information Technology, UNITEN, this symposium is intended to bring together the enormously varied community of researchers with an interest in ehealth to showcase their work, and exchange expertise, interests and ideas, with a view to establishing future collaborations and strengthening the eHealth research area. Gearing towards the symposium’s theme: Revolutionizing Health Care – Delivering Health Services The Smart Way. eHealth Symposium 2013 has teamed up with the International Journal of Healthcare Information Systems and Informatics (IJHISI) for publishing a Special Journal Issue on eHealth.

 

Professor Dr. Syed Aljunid officiated the event and delivered the keynote paper entitled ‘e-Health: Real Solutions or Problems for Developing Countries?’. In his keynote paper, Professor Syed Aljunid highlighted the the importance of e-health as an enabler to support developing countries to achieve Universal Coverage. He also stressed the importance of research and development to evaluate the outcome of e-health projects since many such projects failed to achieve the intended objectives in developing countries. The roles played by UNU-IGH in building health human resource capacties and developing softwares on casemix system and health information system based on open source technology in low income countries was deliberated in his keynote address. In addition to the the keynote session, intern of Dr. Nurhizam Safie, Naima Omar presented her paper in the symposium track. The title of her presentation was ‘Conceptual Modeling of Patient Management System: Malaysian Public University Health Center’. The symposium was attended by around 150 participants, mostly are researchers, postgraduate students, government officers and ICT consultants. 

 

REVIEW OF KEYNOTE SPEAKER

 

Professor Dr. Syed Mohamed Aljunid

M.D, MSc; Ph.D FAMM; DSNS

Professor of Health Economics

Senior Research Fellow

United Nations University-International Institute For Global Health,

HUKM Complex, Jalan. Yaacob Latiff, 56000 Cheras

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA

CONTACT Tel No.: 603 – 9171 5394 Fax No.:603 – 9171 5402

Email: syed.aljunid@iigh.unu.edu 

   Dr. Syed Mohamed Aljunid is a Professor of Health Economics and Senior Research Fellow in United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health. Prior to this he served as a Professor of Health Economics and Consultant in Public Health Medicine and Head of Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia(UKM). He obtained his MD from UKM in 1985, Master of Science  Public Health from National University of Singapore in 1989 and PhD in Health Economics and Financing Programme, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1995. He is a Fellow of Academy of Medicine Malaysia since 2000.  

His main interest is in the strengthening of health care system of developing countries through research and development in health economics and financing. He is currently involves in supporting a number of developing countries to develop and implement case-mix system, a health management and information tool to enhance quality and efficiency of healthcare services. He was appointed as the Consultant and Advisor to Ministry of Health Indonesia on the implementation of Case-mix System for Health Financing Programme in public and teaching hospitals in the country from September 2005 to December 2009. From September 2006, he was appointed as a Consultant for Asian Development Bank for Implementation of Case-Mix System to improve quality and efficiency of health care services covered by National Health Insurance Scheme in Mongolia.

  

He served as consultants and advisers to a number of international agencies such as World Health Organisations, UN-AIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, GAVI and the World Bank.