ML0013 – Retail IT Management
Summer 2013
Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 3
ML0013 – Retail IT Management
Q1. Explain the various factors affecting the use of IT applications in the retail industry?
(Detailed explanation on factors — 10 marks) 10 Marks
Answer : Various factors affecting the use of IT applications in the retail industry:
While every retailer may want harness the power of technology and use it to its optimum advantages many factors affect its use. The chief among them are:
1. The scale and scope of operations:
As stated earlier, the size or the scale of operations is the key factor influencing the decision on the type of systems required. In case of a small retailer; the significance is much lower as compared to that for a large chain retailer, who operates at a national or an international level.
Q2. What is the impact of e-retailing in the travel and tourism sector?
(Detail explanation of e-retailing in travel and tourism sector with examples — 10 marks) 10 Marks
Answer : Impact of e-retailing in the travel and tourism sector :
E-retailing in travel and tourism is growing day by day which provide opportunity to this industry to groom and grow. Due to change in Information technology, e retailing is emerged in this industry and companies are now heading toward e-business through website, internet and different online software. Moving from traditional business way to e-commerce way is quite challenging and various factors are standing as a barrier for companies to adapt e-commerce.
Q3. What is RFID technology and how does it work?
(Detail explanation on working of RFID technology — 6 marks, concept of RFID — 2 marks, and diagram — 2 marks) 10 Marks
Answer : Working of RFID technology :
A Radio-Frequency Identification system has three parts:
- A scanning antenna
- A transceiver with a decoder to interpret the data
- A transponder – the RFID tag – that has been programmed with information.
Q4. Describe the various features of retail software.
(Detail explanation on functions of retail software – 10 marks) 10 Marks
Answer : Features of retail software :
Retail software is computer software sold to end consumers, usually under restricted licenses. Until the 2000s with emergence of the Internet, retail software represented the vast majority of all end consumer software used and was referred to as shrink ware because software almost always ships in a shrink wrapped box. An important historical event that led to the expansion of the market for retail software was the Open Letter to Hobbyists by Bill Gates in 1976.
Q5. Briefly describe the steps involved in designing a database.
(Explanation of 5 steps involved in designing a database – 10 marks) 10 Marks
Answer : Steps involved in designing a database :
Step 1-Think/Talk:
The first step in designing a database is to consider the project you are working on and the features that your future users might want to have access to. I have found that during this step, it is extremely helpful to talk to both the management that is supervising the project and the end users who will work with the system on a daily basis to determine what they expect from the end-result and what issues they are trying to resolve.
Q6. Explain the various types of networks.
(Detail explanation of five types of networks – 10 marks) 10 Marks
Answer : Various types of networks :
1. LAN – Local Area Network:
A LAN connects network devices over a relatively short distance. A networked office building, school, or home usually contains a single LAN, though sometimes one building will contain a few small LANs (perhaps one per room), and occasionally a LAN will span a group of nearby buildings. In TCP/IP networking, a LAN is often but not always implemented as a single IP subnet. In addition to operating in a limited space, LANs are also typically owned, controlled, and managed by a single person or organization. They also tend to use certain connectivity technologies, primarily Ethernet and Token Ring.