ECS1501 ASSIGNMENT 6 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2023 Traditional Organizational Functions - CORRECT ANSWER traditional functions within organizations include marketing + sales, supply chain management, accounting & finance, human resources, and more! These functions are HIGHLY INTERDEPENDENT with many functions assisting or affecting another function. This makes the exchange of information (usually through Information systems) within organizations ESSENTIAL! ✭ Core Business Process & Organizational Value Chain - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Order -to-Cash (selling) 2. Procure -to-Pay (buying) 3. Make -to-Stock (manufacturing) 4. Make -to-Order (manufacturing) Order -to-Cash - CORRECT ANSWER ** SELLING - the process of selling goods & services & collecting revenue for them. This includes every aspect of receiving an order, fulfilling it, and receiving payment. It involves multiple business functions (marketing + sales, supply chain management, accounting & finance, manufacturers & operations) & quality exchange of information! * Can you imagine how much time and complexity this process would take a company like Amazon without Information Systems? Information systems help business to operate effectively & efficiently AND add VALUE! Steps: (1) Create Customer Record, (2) Check Credit, (3) Create Order, (4) Allocate Stock, (5) Pick, Pack & Ship, (6) Prepare & Send Invoice, (7) Collect Payment Procure -to-Pay - CORRECT ANSWER ** BUYING - the process of ordering goods & services & paying for them. This includes every aspect necessary to acquire goods or materials for operations. It involves multiple business functions (marketing + sales, supply chain management, accounting & finance, manufacturers & operations) & quality exchange of information! Steps: (1) Negotiate Price & Terms, (2) Issue Purchase Order, (3) Receive Goods, (4) Receive Invoice, (5) Settle Payment Make -to-Stock - CORRECT ANSWER ** MANUFACTURING - the process of manufacturing goods, either based on forecasts or orders. - The make -to-stock process is based on forecasts or budgeted sales figures and is simpler since it is usually used with standard or commodity products (cheap, high volume). Steps: (1) Procure Inputs, (2) Schedule Production, (3) Production, (4) Quality Control, (5) Stock Product Make -to-Order - CORRECT ANSWER ** MANUFACTURING - the process of manufacturing goods, either based on forecasts or orders. - The make -to-order process is more complex since it is used with designed or specialized products (expensive, low volume), so extra steps like designing or additional engineering is required. Steps: (1) Process Sales Order, (2) Design/Engineer Product, (3) Procure Inputs, (4) Schedule Production, (5) Quality Control, (6) Ship Product Example Supply Chain with Core Business Processes Included - CORRECT ANSWER * See Image Below! ✭ Value Chain Analysis - CORRECT ANSWER used to identify opportunities where IS can be utilized to gain a competitive advantage; analyzing a company 's activities (listed below) to identify which processes/activities need to be optimized to gain a competitive advantage. - Core activities (inbound & outbound logistics, operations, marketing & sales, service) are those that DIRECTLY create value for the c ustomer while support activities (firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development, & procurement) are those that enable the core activities to function efficiently, but do NOT DIRECTLY create value for the customer. - These core activities differ among industries, but the idea behind the value chain is companies will perform better than their competitors if they perform better in one of more key business processes! Value System - CORRECT ANSWER combining the value chain of multiple organizations through information systems (IS) to facilitate the flow of information to operate effectively & efficiently! Enterprise Systems - CORRECT ANSWER information systems (IS) that span the breadth of the organization; involves multiple business functions (marketing + sales, supply chain management, accounting & finance, manufacturers & operations) & NEEDS quality exchange of information! - The two most likely benefits realized from utilizing enterprise systems are improvements in (1) availability of information and (2) increased interaction throughout the organization. OLD Enterprise Systems: Legacy (Stand -Alone Applications) & Proprietary Systems NEW Enterprise Systems: Integrated Enterprise System Approach Old Enterprise Systems - CORRECT ANSWER ** Legacy Systems (Stand -Alone Applications): EACH department has its OWN system to conduct daily busin ess activities that were NOT designed to communicate with other systems. These were NOT particularly useful for other areas in the firm! - This is inefficient because people must take the time to access, correct, coordinate, and more throughout MULTIPLE systems! Pitfalls of this system include infrastructure specific, inefficient processes, & potential for inaccuracies! ** Proprietary Systems: from vendors, these were NOT designed to share information with other vendors' systems. There was a problem "knitting together" information because of a lack of integration. Integrated Enterprise System Approach - CORRECT ANSWER NEW Enterprise System that streamlines operations across the ENTIRE value chain, improving effectiveness & efficiency! Contains internally (information flow WITHIN the organization) & externally (information flow OUTSIDE the organization - includes supply chain & customer relationship management). - Each module within an enterprise system replaces a legacy (stand -alone) system! Software Types to Improve Enterprise Systems - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Packaged Software ("Off the Shelf"): this software often does NOT require configuration & are usually divided into modules. Special functionality may require customizin g the packaged (or vanilla) version. An example of this includes Microsoft Word! 2. Customer Software: enterprise software is extraordinarily complex & often requires configuring. This software entail significant costs & often creates a version that can NOT be upgraded with reprogramming, so a cost -benefit analysis should be performed prior to any customizations. Business Process Management - CORRECT ANSWER evolved from "business process reengineering" - actively managing a company's business processes like process modeling, redesign, & improvement. The benefits of this approach include reduced costs & cycle time, better
