ECS1501 ASSIGNMENT 6
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 customer 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 business
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 customizing 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
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 customer 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 business
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 customizing 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
