IT Management and Governance
Institution
Name
The effects of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley act in IT governance.
Information and Technology (IT) governance has its profound effect narrowing down to the 2002 Sarbanes Oxley Act in the US. It was formed out of the cry of the public company’s consistent grievances regarding various activities of operations and governance. Besides, its enactment in July 2002 meant that investors’ confidence in the domestic and international financial markets besides closing loopholes which allowed companies to defraud investors (Usik, Belokurov & Vasilenok, 2016). The provisions of the act are well stipulated in the manual enlisting various activities to be undertaken by investors. Hellwig, (2007) suggests that the Major effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on public governance are to strengthen corporate audit committees. Here, the accounting management decisions are received by the audit committee according to the provisions of the act. The committee consists of the board of directors that include the non-management members responsible for overseeing external auditors handling matters dealing with the management accounting activities. On the other hand, IT assists in the compliance and governance of the public corporations since it helps in synchronizing activities around companies. Besides, it helps in the performance of internal control assets tests, makes officers and directors personally liable for all the accounting and financial activities in the financial sectors while strengthening transparency.
How IT policies, standards and procedures can be used to determine the enterprise’s compliance and strategies.
With increased globalization in retail operations both at the point of sale and supply chain management, IT takes center stage in the revolution of these practices. To effect this, policies, standards, and procedures can be used to determine the effectiveness of the firm while keen on supporting the IT strategy. Having come from another industry, the manager seems to lack some knowledge regarding the processes and controls important to IT management and governance. Concepts such as having the right policies like putting up a centralized point of sale will be paramount. These will go a long way in ensuring that all sales are made and accounted for by accountants at a specific place. Therefore, the new owner will have an upper hand in engaging the officers at a specified point of reference in case there is an issue. Additionally, retail domestic and international operations standards will have to be followed to the latter. For example, global data synchronization will come in handy when executing some supply activities. For instance, when procuring items for sale, standardized goods should be at the forefront (Garrido Azevedo & Carvalho, 2012). Globally every country has an agency that ensures that all products follow the requisites standard put in place. Therefore the new managers’ team especially the IT and the procurement officer will have to ensure that the purchased items meet the required standard. Also, due to electronic data product coding, the entire supply chain management system has become more intelligent. The retail must, therefore, deploy the use of real-time data to track inventory levels. Moreover, the retail enterprise could opt to use radio frequency identifications tagging that safeguards its shipments from possible shipwrecks besides allowing products to be tracked from the manufacturer across the whole supply chain. The process of procuring goods from the manufactures to the retail firm should also follow the right procedure. With the help of the IT departments, goods should only be delivered upon making an order. The officers responsible for restocking shelves should have submitted orders on time to the head of the procurement department who in turn coordinates their delivery upon production of the invoice (Garrido Azevedo & Carvalho, 2012).
Importance of quality management system
The measurement of product quality is done in terms of durability, reliability, and performance. To maintain and assure quality processes take place in the enterprise, the IT department should have good infrastructure since all the purchases, inventory control and marketing activities take place in this unit. Quality management tools will ensure radical changes in the retailer’s operations which will eventually result in high-quality sales and customer satisfaction. The introduction of the QMS by the IT department will also ensure that goods purchased to meet the required standard. Suppliers will, therefore, be put on toes to deliver high-quality products (Garrido Azevedo & Carvalho, 2012). This Quality management tool is paramount since it ensures that the products purchased not only meet the customers’ needs but also exceed their satisfaction. Additionally, customers whose inclination towards a certain product is high will be assured of their brand through various marketing advertising platforms like retail mobile applications. Also with quality services being offered, the retail stands a chance to gain much revenue through sales. Besides, the QMS will help the firm to reduce waste and inventory by enabling employees to work closely with suppliers and incorporate Just in time strategy. The IT section ensures this is made possible through synchronizing work and monitoring its progress. Therefore, through the introduction of quality processes and control via IT, the owner will have an edge over his competitors like carrier four and amazon hence surviving the cut-throat competition with a broad smile.
How IT management and monitoring of controls can be used to assess IT performance.
The process of managing and monitoring of activities in the retailer solely lies with the IT department. These will eventually culminate into easy assessing of IT performance. Therefore, to be sure that IT works well technology put in place has to speed up processes and deliver cost-saving processes to the company. Persons employed to carry out management and controls in the firm should, therefore, have the right skills and knowledge. For instance, customer data should be kept in the right database for easy retrieval of information in case of any issue. Also, they should increase transparency between systems while keen to obtain enhanced integrated systems from suppliers to the enterprise. PCI security compliance helps in addressing the retailers’ internal and security activities (Liozu, 2015). This helps to keep at bay payment security risks. Therefore processes such as collecting and storing credit information will be less compromised when accessed with an outsider. Also, the retailer will not be at risk of not accepting credit and payments. With all these IT management put in place, all controls in terms of purchases, storage, and inventory control levels will be made easier. Besides, they can be used to assess not only the performance of the firm but also the IT department which plays a pivotal role in the control of activities.
References
Usik, N., Belokurov, A., & Vasilenok, A. (2016). The importance of a quality management system in companies. Economics And Environmental Management, 70-77. doi: 10.17586/2310-1172-2016-9-4-70-77
Garrido Azevedo, S., & Carvalho, H. (2012). Contribution of RFID technology to better management of fashion supply chains. International Journal Of Retail & Distribution Management, 40(2), 128-156. doi: 10.1108/09590551211201874
Hellwig, H. (2007). The US Concept of Corporate Governance under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Its Effects in Europe. European Company And Financial Law Review, 4(3). doi: 10.1515/ecfr.2007.022
Liozu, S. (2015). Pricing superheroes: How a confident sales team can influence firm performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 47, 26-38. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.003