Allergan

Allergan Pharmaceuticals

Allergan is a pharmaceutical company operating globally with the job of developing, commercializing and manufacturing of branded devices, pharmaceuticals, and biological products to be used by the patient in the entire world. Different personnel have been employed by the firm to help in production and distribution processes. Being a strong organization and dealing with a large number of customers requires well-trained and qualified personnel. However, the company has implemented other measures to ensure information is being shared among the branches which are distributed all over the world. Information technology has helped the company to implement good machines that can assist in the production process. Also having different branches requires coordination where information technology have come in place to assist in communication and sharing of files. The technology has helped the company to meet the best quality and standards in production and marketing of the products all over the world thus able to face the competitive market.

Porter’s five forces analysis

This is a model used to evaluate organization stages of the competition in the business strategy development and within the industry. The forces include the bargaining power of suppliers where the organization can meet the needs of the supplier thus more sales will be made. Next force is the threat of new entrants where the organization should ensure quality products are produced thus no new entrance that can take over the market share. Another force is bargaining power of buyers where the company should ensure they produce products that buyers can manage to buy while on the market. Next force arises from the threat of substitutes where the organization should ensure their product meets the market standards. Next force arises when there is rivalry within the industry which can lead to bigger loss as many employees may quit if there are no good health working conditions (E. Dobbs, 2014).

Supply chain management systems

This process involves having an overview on how resources regarding materials, finances, and information move from manufacturer to supplier to retailer to wholesaler and finally to consumer. Supply chain management helps to integrate and coordinate these flows within the organization and to other branches in the world (GUPTA & LAXMI, 2015).

Enterprise resource planning systems

Enterprise resource planning involves the process of integrating business process by using a core or central operating system which governs and manages another process. If the company upgrades the technology to an ERP system, this will help in managing other sub-branches and regulate the flow of information (GUPTA & LAXMI, 2015).

Customer relationship management systems

CRM refers to strategies, practices, and technologies implemented within an organization to manage and analyze customer interactions and data processing within the customer lifecycle, with the purpose of upgrading business relationships. The process also helps with customer retention and thus more sales will be generated. The organization can use this model to attain a bigger market from the high sales made.

Database management systems

Database management systems refer to the technology implemented to create, store, retrieve and update data about customer’s records and other information relating to an organization. This system has helped the firm to keep records of their sales and conduct company evaluation depending on the number of customers served by this system (Assunção et al., 2015).

Data warehousing

Data warehouse refers to a system that is used to conduct data analysis and generates reports on the progress of the business. The organization should use this technology to evaluate themselves and able to do rating compared to other competing companies. The information needed by the firm can be accessed from one central location carrying data from all other departments and branches within the company (Assunção et al., 2015).

Agent-based technologies

There exist different types of agent-based systems that can be implemented in the organization to help in the decision making. These agents include a rational agent, Model-based reflex agent, and simple reflex, goal-based, Utility-based agents. All these systems use artificial intelligence to learn advice and execute tasks using human thinking. The organization will be able to attain greater sales due to quality products once these systems are used (Paolucci & Sacile, 2016).

Electronic commerce business model

The organization implements business-to-consumer business models. Products are produced by the organization, and then given to distributors and suppliers who ensure the products reach customers to their respective places. The value of the organization can be achieved through this model by ensuring there are coordination and communication between the organization, suppliers, and distributors. By this means more sales will be made making the company face the competitive market (GUPTA & LAXMI, 2015).

System development life cycle

This process of software engineering and information systems that can be used in an organization to help in the process of analysis, planning, design, maintenance, implementation, deployment and testing of an information system. The organization can achieve the set goals and be able to utilize the system created through this process to manage and increase the productivity. However, implementation of such system may be costly at the start, but it is an information strategy that can change the operations of the organization. Through the use of such technology puts the organization in a favorable position to compete with other organization within the world. Also, starting and growing organization producing the same products will be stripped off the market when the system is absorbed in the organization (GUPTA & LAXMI, 2015).

Phases of business continuity planning

To conduct continuity planning within such bigger organization may be hard to achieve and different factors need to be considered. This process gives rise to five phases that should be used to ensure a good plan is achieved. Phase one involves evaluating the risks.  Risk assessment needs to be conducted by managers within this organization to identify areas that need to change or upgrade. The second phase involves analyzing the risk faced. The Allergan Company should conduct the business impact analysis (BIA) which will help the organization to generate the impact to be felt in case such risks occur. For the company to be a competitive advantage, ways should be provided to show how the processes will continue to run without areas affected by risks. Phase three involves designing the strategy. The company should come up with remedies strategies to be used to prevent risks experienced. Next phase requires the organization to plan for execution and development. Here the documentation of strategies implemented needs to be stated well. Then the staff members should be given the set plan to follow in case such risk occurs again. The final phase involves testing to measure the success. The organization should conduct hypothesis tests to evaluate whether the plan serves the intended purpose.

Emerging trends

Emerging trends can be used within the organization to improve the operation of the business. The company should implement Bluetooth technology to enhance information sharing between employees within a small geographical area. When Wi-Fi technology is implemented within the firm file sharing and communication will be made easier. Also, the staff members will manage to conduct research over the Internet in the process of achieving quality in products produced. Equipping staff members with the latest models of cell phones will enhance communication within the organization and during field research. Use of Radio-frequency identification (RFID) will help the organization in keeping track on the products in their delivery stage. The firm should implement those technologies to manage the competition from other firms (Assunção et al., 2015).

Cryptography

Cryptography refers to the process of encrypting and decrypting data shared over a network through the use of a secret key. Different keys can be used to achieve this process which includes private and a public key that is shared by both parties communicating. The encrypted information is always secure from vulnerable attacks by the intruder because the key used to encrypt data is also visible to sender and receiver. Different programs have been provided to ensure the security of information shared over the internet. A bigger company like Allergan should ensure they find the best solution towards preventing attacks as they deal with crucial information about their customers. A company can experience a downfall once their information is leaked by an intruder who penetrates the system (Stallings, 2014).

Conclusion

Different technologies have been used by the firm to achieve its success and manage the higher competition in today’s market. However, the organization should invest in other modern technologies so as to achieve high production and thus more sales. It is evident that information plays a wider role in the running of an organization. Information is crucial, and therefore data encryption should be the vital key to every organization. One organization may undermine the other by leaking other organization so that market can be evenly distributed. To attain good running of process technology should be the main factor to consider especially in such a bigger organization dealing with big data. Best information system practices always produce good results especially with the technical team to handle the technology used.

References

E. Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32-45.

Assunção, M. D., Calheiros, R. N., Bianchi, S., Netto, M. A., & Buyya, R. (2015). Big Data computing and clouds: Trends and future directions. Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, 79, 3-15.

Paolucci, M., & Sacile, R. (2016). Agent-based manufacturing and control systems: new agile manufacturing solutions for achieving peak performance. CRC Press.

GUPTA, R. S., & LAXMI, V. (2015). Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Implementationin Information Technology & Management. International Journal of Recent Advances in Information Technology & Management, 1(1).

Stallings, W. (2014). Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice, International Edition: Principles and Practice. Pearson Higher Ed.