Week 12 Blog Questions

—Week 12 Blog Questions 

Enterprise Resource Planning  & Collaboration

1. Explain the business value of integrating SCM, CRM and ERP systems

Companies run on interdependent applications. If one application does not function well, the entire systems is affected.

ERP takes a cross-functional, process view of the entire organization. With ERP, the entire organization is considered a collection of interrelated activities. It allows a formal approach that is based on documented, tested business models and includes a comprehensive set of inherent processes for all organizational activities.

ERP has three main benefits on top of these characteristics. These are:

 

—1. Being a logical solution to incompatible applications
2. Addressing global information sharing and reporting
3. Avoiding the pain and expense of fixing legacy systems

 

2. —What is meant by “extended ERP”?

Extended EPR refers to the extra components that meet the organisational needs which are not already covered by the core components. It primariliy focuses on external operations which includes features such as business intelligence, customer relationship management, supply chain management and e-business components
 

—3. Why it is important to have an enterprise-wide view of data?

It is important to have an enterprise wide view of data to create greater visibility, increase productivity and efficiency, provide an opportunity for better operational and strategic decision making and avoiding data inconsistency.
 

—4. What are some ways that different departments or even different organisations collaborate?

There are four systems for collaboration:

 

1. Knowledge management system

 – supports the capturing and use of an organisation’s “know-how”.

2. Content management system (CMS)

– provides tools to manage the creation, storage, editing, and publication of information in a collaborative environment.

3. Workflow management system
 – controls the movement of work through a business process.

4. Groupware

 – software that supports team interaction and dynamics including calendaring, scheduling, and videoconferencing.

—5. What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge management: involves capturing, classifying, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing information assets in a way that provides context for effective decisions and actions

 

Week 13 Blog Questions

Week 13 Blog Questions

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1. Explain the triple constraint and its

importance in project management.

 

 The triple constraint: the balancing of a projects scope, schedule (time) and cost. It is used 
 to determine whether a projects objectives are being met.

The triple constraint is important in project management as its allows for successful
planning, resourcing, effective execution of a project, and also helps meet organisations 
goals.The triple constraint helps to ensure goals are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.)

The variables are interdependent; you cannot change one without changing the others.  

 

2. Describe the two primary diagrams most

frequently used in project planning

Two primary diagrams used in project planning include PERT and Gantt charts

PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) chart- a graphical network model that
depicts a project’s tasks and the relationships between those tasks



Gantt chart- a simple bar chart that depicts project tasks against a calendar

 

 

3. Identify the three primary areas a project manager must focus on managing to ensure success

Managing people:

The project manager must ensure all stakeholders involved in the project are willing and able to work together. The project manage should also be responsible for resolving and disputes which arise throughout the project duration.
 
Managing communications:

The project manager must be the central communicator between stakeholders. They must ensure all stakeholders are aware of all aspects of the project. This will ensure all stakeholders are working towards a common goal and will prevent disputes arising due to miscommunication
 
Managing change:

The project manager is responsible for change management;

Change management – a set of techniques that aid in evolution, composition, and policy management of the design and implementation of a system.

 The project manager is responsible for ensuring change is fluid when it occurs during the project, this will help prevent disputes.

4. Outline 2 reasons why projects fail and two reason why projects succeed

There are numerous reasons why projects may succeed or fail outlined in the table below:

  Two reasons why projects succeed are:

 

1. Good project charter: having a good project charter ensures the project has been planned well. The project charter includes; the project scope, the project objectives, the project constraints and the project's assumptions. When these details have been analysed the project will be more likely to succeed.

 

2. Good communication: good communication ensures all stakeholders are aware of the all aspects of the project including the goals and objectives regarding time, cost and scope.

Two reasons why projects fail are:

1. Unrealistic expectations: when stakeholders have unrealistic expectations they are bound to fail. For example it is not likely that a product entering a saturated market will gain 60% market share in the first year of production. This is a result of the goals not being SMART.

2. Lack of project management: if a new project is not managed properly, it is likely to fail. The project must be managed to ensure stakeholders are working towards common, relevant goals which will contribute to the success of the project.

 

Week 11 Blog Questions

Week 11 Blog Questions: Customer Relationship Management & Business Intelligence

 1. What is your understanding of CRM?

CRM is a model used to manage a company's interactions with a company's customers and clients. It includes the use of methodologies, software, and the Internet and allows a business to: 

• Understand the customer
• Retain customers through better customer experience
• Attract new customer
• Win new clients and contractsIncrease profitably
• Decrease customer management costs

2. Compare operational and analytical customer relationship management

Operational CRM:  focuses on the transactional processing for the day-to-day front office operations. It also deals directly with the customers.

Analytical CRM: focuses on the back-office operations and strategic analysis. It includes all systems that do not deal directly with the customers. It is an automated method of processing  data about a customer in order to make better business decisions.

3. Describe and differentiate the CRM technologies used by marketing departments and sales departments

The CRM technologies used by marketing departments are:

    List Generator- Compiles all customer data from a range of sources, then segments the information into different areas accordingly.

    Campaign Management System- Helps users throughout their marketing campaigns.

    Cross-selling & Up-selling- Cross-selling is selling additional products and/or services, whereas up-selling is increasing the value of the sale.

The CRM technologies used by sales departments are:

    Sales Force Automation (SFA)- A function that provides data for sales prospects, contact information, product information, product configurations and sales quotes.

    Bundling- Is a type of cross-selling In which a vendor sells a combination of products together, offering them at a lower price than the combined costs of the individual products.

4. How does CRM help businesses find and retain their most valuable customers?

Customer relationship management (CRM) helps businesses to gain an insight into the 
behaviour of their customers and modify their business operations to ensure that customers 
are served in the best possible way.

CRM can be achieved by:
   a) finding out about your customers' purchasing habits, opinions and preferences
   b) profiling individuals and groups to market more effectively and increase sales
   c) changing the way you operate to improve customer service and marketing

A major benefits of finding and retaining the most valuable customers are:
a) enhanced customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that your good reputation in the marketplace continues to grow
b) increased value from your existing customers and reduced cost associated with supporting and servicing them, increasing your overall efficiency and reducing total cost of sales
c) improved profitability by focusing on the most profitable customers and dealing with the unprofitable in more cost effective ways

5. Describe business intelligence and its value to businesses

Business intelligence:  the technologies and applications used to find, access and analyse 

data and information to support decision-making efforts.

Business intelligence is highly values by business becuase it helps companies meet the ever

changing needs of different markets, and helps them stay competitive. It also helps by

creating a single point of access to information for all users, creating systems that stretch

across many organizational departments within a business and allowing everyone access to

up-to-the minute information.

6. Explain the problem associated with business intelligence. Describe the solution to this business problem

The problem with business intelligence is that is can be  ‘data rich, information poor’.

The data which a business has increases every year.  Organisation’s are realizing that they
are generating an abundance of data. From this they can gather some information, but in
order to do that they need to analyse all the data, some of which may be unusable. 

Businesses have a lot of data (‘data rich’) and not much information (‘information poor’).
The solution to this business problem is for managers to provide their employees with
business intelligence systems and tools. These will assist the employees in making better,
more informed decisions.

7. What are two possible outcomes a company could get from using data mining

Two possible outcomes a company could get from using data mining are:

1. Cluster Analysis: A technique used to divide an information set into mutually exclusive groups that the members of each group are as close together as possible to one another and the different groups are as far apart as possible. It is used to segment customer information for CRM systems. It can also uncover naturally occurring patterns in information.

2. Statistical Analysis: Performs such functions as information correlations, distributions, calculations and variance analysis. It offers knowledge workers a wide range of powerful statistical capabilities so they can quickly build a variety of statistical models, examine the model’s assumptions and validity, and compare and contrast the various models to determine the best one for a particular business issue.

Week 9/10 Blog Questions

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

1. Define the term operations management

Operations management (OM) - the management of systems or processes that convert or transform resources into goods and services. 

2. Explain operations management’s role in business

OM's roles in business include:

1. Forecasting
2. Capacity planning
3. Scheduling
4. Managing inventory
5. Assuring quality
6. Motivating and training employees
7. Locating facilities

OM is critical to an organisation because of its ability to increase value added during the process of transforming resources into a product or service. 

3. Describe the correlation between operations management and information technology

IT can influence OM decisions including productivity, costs, flexibility, quality and customer satisfaction. OM information systems enable managers to make well informed decisions in line with the goals and objectives of the organisation. Managerial and strategic decisions can be made based on OM information systems which affect the organisations, including:

What: what resources will be needed and in what amount?

       When: when will each resource be needed? when should the work be scheduled? when should materials and other supplies be delivered?

       Where: where will the work be performed?

       How: how will the product or service be designed? how will the work be done? how will resources be allocated?

       Who: who will perform the work?

   

4. Explain supply chain management and its role in a business

A supply chain is a network of organizations and facilities that transforms raw materials into products delivered to customers

The customer orders from a retailer, who orders from a manufacturer who ordered from a distributor who received the item from a supplier. Customers are also able to order from each individual player without going through a retailer. IT allows the various players to communicate and transmit information to each other. 

Supply chain management integrates the key business processes, from original suppliers through to the end user ( the customer). For example if a retailer is only able to sell x amount of product the they need to communicate with other players to prevent over supply. 

5. What is the bullwhip effect, and how can it be avoided?

Bullwhip effect -occurs when distorted product demand information passes from one entity to the next through the supply chain. The variability in the size and timing of orders increase at each stage up the supply chain, from customer to supplier creating excess inventory and increasing costs. IT allows greater visibility in the supply chain, managers are able to view their suppliers' and customers' supply chains. High visibility creates competitive advantage for an organisation. 

6. How does technology assist in supply chain management?

Technology advances have significantly improved companies’ forecasting and business operations

Integrated Systems provide companies with greater visibility over the supply chain inventory levels

IT’s primary role is to create integrations or tight process and information linkages between functions within an organisation

Week 8 Blog Questions

WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY AND COMPUTER NETWORKS

1. Explain the business benefits of using wireless technology.

Benefits for a business of using wireless technology include increased productivity, increased efficiency of communication, high flexibility for user to communicate,  faster delivery to the market and reduced operating costs. 

2. Describe the business benefits associated with VoIP

Voice Over IP (VoIP) transmits voice calls over Internet technology and is used because it reduces the costs and complexities associated with traditional telephone services. Skype and Viber are two popular examples of VoIP. 

3. Compare LANs and WANs


LAN - local area network: designed to connect a group of computers in close proximity to each other, such as in an office, school or home. 

WAN - wide area network: spans a large georphic area, such as a state or country. WAN's can connect multiple smaller LAN's. 

4. Describe RFID and how it can be used to help make a supply chain more effective.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) -  technologies using active or passive tages in the form of chips or smart labels that can store unique identifiers and relay this information to electronic readers. One way RFID is used is in traking physical assets such as manafacturers and retailers, similar to a bar code, the RFID stores basic product details and pricing information. This can make the supply chain more effective becuase the RFID does not need to be scanned directly, the tag just needs to be within range of a reader. This reduces time and labour costs of scanning individual products, cases or pallets. 

5. What is one new emerging technology that could change a specific industry? 

Mobile TV is an emerging technology which has the potential to change the TV industry. Broadband technology allows digital TV can be viewed on a mobile phone or device in high quality. 

Week 7 Blog Questions

1. List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information

1. Accuracy:  Information is correct e.g. names spelt correctly, values correct or correct units
2. Completeness: No blank information e.g. all personal details included
3. Consistency: Information agrees with other information. e.g. are totals correct 
4. Uniqueness: Does information only appear once. e.g. are there duplicates of the same customer
5. Timeliness: Information is not outdated. e.g. customer details are up-to-date

2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.

Database management system is software through which users and application programs interact with a database. DMS is the way all people can access and manipulate the database, and the database is an organised system of data.

3. Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.

Database advantages a business can gain from databases include:

•  Increased flexibility
•  Increased scalability and performance
•  Reduced information redundancy
•  Increased information integrity (quality)
•  Increased information security

4. Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model

The relational database model is a type of database that stores information in the form of logically related two dimension tables each consisting of rows and columns.

5. Describe the benefits of a data-driven website

In a data-driven website the customer enters search criteria in to the website, hence making the database run a query on the search criteria to give the customer a specified result. Advantages include development, content management, future expandability, minimising human error, cutting production/update costs, efficiency and improved stability.

6. If you were a sales manager in multi national company, what are some reports you would want to see?

As a sales manager for a multi-national company you would want to see reports such as budgets, sales forcastes, revenue and profits, sales representative statistics, average product sale results and individual product sale results.