Background of the Study
The last two decades of the twentieth century saw the creation of a completely new global marketplace which established a new foundation for the twenty-first century global economy (Javalgi and White 2012). This economy has not only accelerated global trade competition, but it has also increased the need to access relevant business information. As a backdrop to the broader theme of this thesis - and in order to provide sufficient background for this study - it is important to examine the contemporary business trends in a global context.
For millions of companies throughout the world, whether large or small, conducting business, globally, is now imperative. In this era of globalisation, the international marketing of services has become a topic of discourse for various constituencies, including governments, private enterprises, academics, and individuals, alike. According to Sharma and Bhagwat (2016), recent research findings suggest that information flow is the bloodline of any business-operating unit irrespective of its size and the scope of its operation. In the present customised and globalised business environment, where geographical distances are of no consequence to customer-supplier relationships, an organisation's competency in information systems (IS) has become one of the key measures of its survival (Sharma and Bhagwat 2016). There is emerging consensus that, globally, businesses are growing faster than ever before. Rising trade and investments are creating national wealth and consumer affluence especially in developing countries. A convergence of tastes and preferences of consumers across the globe is increasing demand for global brands and services. Technological advancement especially in information technology is making the world more and more borderless and increasingly competitive.
Access to quality business information is essential for conducting business. However, access to quality business information, to a large extent, is dictated by the existence and exploitation of effective business information systems and services by business entrepreneurs. China for instance, provides a lesson and success story of the effective exploitation of a business information system and service. In China, the development of BOTIS (British Overseas Trade Intelligence Services) and other interventions has resulted in an efficient provision of information related to companies, products, markets, business opportunities and technical data for business communities, worldwide (Drew 2015:57). The provision of business information has facilitated trade and business operations and created multiple employment opportunities. Undeniably, different nations’ economies are becoming more and more economically interdependent creating a dominant, powerful economic force in which individual nations might not be as potent as they are collectively.
There are a vast number of information services available, today, and it is a recognised fact that information is a crucial element in any successful market economy (De Lange, Britz, Boon and 2013). Information is a major resource that businesses require for monitoring environmental trends, products, services, markets, regulations, customers; for forecasting future events; for countering competitors’ strategies; and for developing new products (Ikoja-Odongo 2012:5). The success or failure of business activities depends on how information is handled and utilised (Nigeria, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development 2018:18). For company like Texaco Filling Station, this implies that for progress, there calls for the timely provision and use of quality information.
Statement of the Problem
According to Shokane (2013), information is a crucial resource in gaining a sustainable, competitive advantage for modern business enterprises. Despite this importance and the structural changes in economic development in Nigeria, Texaco Filling Station operates in a business environment characterised by fragmented and incomplete information where an awareness of markets, technology, policies, regulations and finance is limited. There is no meaningful information system in place to facilitate efficient and effective access to business information by business enterprises. Traders and other small companies are simply “out of the loop” in developing strategic business relationships that occur more frequently.
An interview with the boards of the company established that the majority of business enterprises depended on “word of mouth” and “paper/pen method”. They did not have any meaningful mechanism for accessing relevant information on business resources without hassles. The problem of access to quality business information is, generally, attributed to poor information systems. These poor information systems and services have necessitated a study to investigate and to propose an appropriate business information system design for Texaco business enterprises. The proposed system curbs the problem of data management, storage and finance management.
Aim and Objectives of the Study
The main aim of this study is to design a computerised system for small business enterprise using Texaco Filling Station as the case study. To achieve the stated aim, the following specific objectives were laid out:
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