MIS Test 3

computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

(also called digital manufacturing) is an approach that integrates various automated factory systems. CIM has three basic goals: (1) to simplify all manufacturing technologies and techniques, (2) to automate as many of the manufacturing processes as possible, and (3) to integrate and coordinate all aspects of design, manufacturing, and related functions through computer systems.

Financial ratio analysis:

: Another major accounting and finance function is to monitor the company's financial health by assessing a set of financial ratios

TPS (Transaction Processing System)

A(n) ________ supports the monitoring, collecting, storage, and processing of data from the organization's basic business transactions, each of which generates data.

Software-as-a-Service ERP

Advantages: Can be used from any location that has Internet access Avoid initial hardware and software expense Possible to extend ERP support to new business processes and new business partners by purchasing new ERP modules Disadvantages: Security Sacrifice control over a strategic IT resource Lack of control when experiencing problems

Budgetary control:

After an organization has finalized its annual budget, it divides those monies into monthly allocations.

Human Resources Development.

After employees are recruited, they become part of the corporate human resources pool, which means they must be evaluated and developed. IT provides support for these activities. Most employees are periodically evaluated by their immediate supervisors. In some organizations, peers or subordinates also evaluate other employees. Evaluations are typically digitized, and they are used to support many decisions, ranging from rewards to transfers to layoffs. IT also plays an important role in training and retraining. Some of the most innovative developments are taking place in the areas of intelligent computer-aided instruction and the application of multimedia support for instructional activities. For example, companies conduct much of their corporate training over their intranet or on the web.

Reports

All information systems produce reports: transaction processing systems, functional area information systems, ERP systems, customer relationship management systems, business intelligence systems, and so on. We discuss reports here because they are so closely associated with FAIS and ERP systems. These reports generally fall into three categories: routine, ad hoc (on-demand), and exception.

Budgeting:

An essential component of the accounting and finance function is the annual budget, which allocates the organization's financial resources among participants and activities. The budget allows management to distribute resources in the way that best supports the organization's mission and goals.

Organizational flexibility and agility:

As you have seen, ERP systems break down many former departmental and functional silos of business processes, information systems, and information resources. In this way, they make organizations more flexible, agile, and adaptive. The organizations can therefore respond quickly to changing business conditions and capitalize on new business opportunities.

Auditing:

Auditing has two basic purposes: (1) to monitor how the organization's monies are being spent and (2) to assess the organization's financial health.

ERP Systems

Causes of Failures Failure to involve affected employees Trying to do too much too fast Insufficient training in new work tasks Failure to perform proper data conversion and testing

Software-as-a-Service ERP Implementation.

Companies can acquire ERP systems without having to buy a complete software solution. the company rents the software from an ERP vendor who offers its products over the Internet using the SaaS model. The ERP cloud vendor manages software updates and is responsible for the system's security and availability.

Implementing ERP Systems

Companies can implement ERP systems by using either on-premise software or software-as-a-service (SaaS).

Strategic planning

Considering the nature of decisions, the long-range goals and policies for growth and resource allocation is

Extended ERP Modules

Customer Relationship Management. These modules support all aspects of a customer's relationship with the organization. They help the organization to increase customer loyalty and retention, and thus improve its profitability. They also provide an integrated view of customer data and interactions, helping organizations to be more responsive to customer needs. Supply Chain Management. These modules manage the information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. They help organizations plan, schedule, control, and optimize the supply chain from the acquisition of raw materials to the receipt of finished goods by customers. Business Intelligence. These modules collect information used throughout the organization, organize it, and apply analytical tools to assist managers with decision making. E-Business. Customers and suppliers demand access to ERP information, including order status, inventory levels, and invoice reconciliation. Furthermore, they want this information in a simplified format that can be accessed on the web. As a result, these modules provide two channels of access into ERP system information—one channel for customers (B2C) and one for suppliers and partners (B2B).

Quality and efficiency

ERP systems integrate and improve an organization's business processes, generating significant improvements in the quality of production, distribution, and customer service.

Decision support:

ERP systems provide essential information on business performance across functional areas. This information significantly improves managers' ability to make better, more timely decisions.

Core ERP Modules

Financial Management. These modules support accounting, financial reporting, performance management, and corporate governance. They manage accounting data and financial processes such as general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, cash management and forecasting, product-cost accounting, cost-center accounting, asset accounting, tax accounting, credit management, budgeting, and asset management. Operations Management. These modules manage the various aspects of production planning and execution such as demand forecasting, procurement, inventory management, materials purchasing, shipping, production planning, production scheduling, materials requirements planning, quality control, distribution, transportation, and plant and equipment maintenance. Human Resource Management. These modules support personnel administration (including workforce planning, employee recruitment, assignment tracking, personnel planning and development, and performance management and reviews), time accounting, payroll, compensation, benefits accounting, and regulatory requirements.

In-House Logistics and Materials Management

Logistics management deals with ordering, purchasing, inbound logistics (receiving), and outbound logistics (shipping) activities. Related activities include inventory management and quality control.

Human Resources Planning and Management

Managing human resources in large organizations requires extensive planning and detailed strategy.

Make

The ________ component of SCM is the most metric-intensive part of the supply chain in which organizations measure quality levels, production output, and worker productivity.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

The vendor manages the most with ________.

Stand-alone mainframes

When IT was first introduced into the business environment, organizations initially used ____________.

Virtualization

Which of the following cloud computing characteristics allows organizations to use a single physical server for multiple purposes?

Encompasses the characteristics of utility computing

Which of the following cloud computing characteristics represents the "pay-as-you-go" concept?

Uses broad network access

Which of the following cloud computing characteristics represents the organization's ability to access its computing resources using any device?

SaaS (Software as a Service)

With the ________ model, customers do not control either the software or the infrastructure.

ERP; FAIS

________ are designed to correct a lack of communication among _________.

Extranets; the Internet; intranets

________ link(s) business partners over ________ by providing them access to certain areas of each other's corporate ________.

The custom approach

a company implements a more customized ERP system by developing new ERP functions designed specifically for that firm. Decisions concerning the ERP's degree of customization are specific to each organization.

The vanilla approach

a company implements a standard ERP package, using the package's built-in configuration options. When the system is implemented in this way, it will deviate only minimally from the package's standardized settings.

Sensitivity

analysis examines the change in an output given the change in a particular input while keeping all other inputs constant.

Descriptive

analytics answers the question "what has happened".

enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems

are designed to correct a lack of communication among the functional area IS.

Routine reports

are produced at scheduled intervals. They range from hourly quality control reports to daily reports on absenteeism rates. Although routine reports are extremely valuable to an organization, managers frequently need special information that is not included in these reports. At other times, they need the information that is normally included in routine reports, but at different times ("I need the report today, for the last three days, not for one week").

Product life cycle management (PLM)

business strategy that enables manufacturers to share product-related data that support product design and development and supply chain operations. PLM applies web-based collaborative technologies to product development. By integrating formerly disparate functions, such as a manufacturing process and the logistics that support it, PLM enables these functions to collaborate, essentially forming a single team that manages the product from its inception through its completion, as shown in Figure 10.2.

online transaction processing (OLTP)

business transactions are processed online as soon as they occur. For example, when you pay for an item at a store, the system records the sale by reducing the inventory on hand by one unit, increasing sales figures for the item by one unit, and increasing the store's cash position by the amount you paid. The system performs these tasks in real time by means of online technologies.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

capabilities that enable organizations to capture customer-specific information.

Private

clouds are IT infrastructures that can be accessed only by a single entity or by an exclusive group of related entities that share the same purpose and requirements, such as all of the business units within a single organization.

The best-of-breed approach

combines the benefits of the vanilla and customized systems while avoiding the extensive costs and risks associated with complete customization.

comparative reports

compare, for example, the performances of different business units or of a single unit during different times.

GRID

computing pools various hardware and software components to create a single IT environment with shared resources.

Material

flows are the physical products, raw materials, supplies, and so forth that flow along the chain.

Exception reporting

is a capability of dashboards that highlights deviations larger than certain thresholds.

Status access

is a capability of dashboards that reflect the latest data available on KPIs or some other metric often in real time.

Access

is an advantage of cloud-based ERP systems.

CIM

is an approach that integrates various automated factory systems.

Supply Chain Management

is an extended ERP module

E-business

is an extended ERP module.

Transaction

is any business event that generates data worthy of being captured and stored in a database.

production/operations management (POM)

is responsible for the processes that transform inputs into useful outputs as well as for the overall operation of the business. The POM function is responsible for managing the organization's supply chain.

functional area information systems (FAIS)

supports a particular functional area in the organization by increasing each area's internal efficiency and effectiveness.

Design

Validation of the model and answering the question "what are my options" occur in the _____ phase of the IDC.

Goal-seeking

analysis attempts to calculate the value of the inputs necessary to achieve a desired level of output.

Drill-down

A(n) ________ report displays a greater level of detail.

Downstream

Distribution is a(n) ________ activity.

Productivity

EDI increases

Benefits and Limitation of ERP Systems

ERP systems can generate significant business benefits for an organization.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

If you want to implement an ERP system but cannot afford to make large investments in IT, ________ ERP is a good solution.

Make

In the ________ component of SCM, supply chain managers schedule the activities necessary for production, testing, packaging, and preparation for delivery.

Financial and economic forecasting:

Knowledge about the availability and cost of money is a key ingredient for successful financial planning.

ERP Systems

Limitations Reluctance to change Loss of competitive advantage Complex, expensive, and time-consuming

Investment Management

Organizations invest large amounts of money in stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets.

Planning Production and Operations

POM planning is supported by IT. POM planning has evolved from material requirements planning (MRP) to manufacturing resource planning (MRP II), to enterprise resource planning (ERP).

Recruitment

Recruitment involves finding potential employees, evaluating them, and deciding which ones to hire. Some companies are flooded with viable applicants; others have difficulty finding the right people. IT can be helpful in both cases. IT can also assist in related activities such as testing and screening job applicants.

Upstream

Sourcing and procurement from external suppliers are ________ activities.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

The customer manages the most with ________.

Public

cloud services may be free or offered on a pay-per-usage model.

Semi structured

decisions are partially routine and partially complex.

Unstructured

decisions deal with "fuzzy", complex problems.

Structured

decisions deal with routine and repetitive problems.

JIT

delivers the precise number of parts to be assembled into a finished product at precisely the right time.

Inventory Management

determines how much inventory an organization should maintain.

exception reports

include only information that falls outside certain threshold standards.

enterprise application integration (EAI) system

integrates existing systems by providing software, called middleware, that connects multiple applications. In essence, the EAI system allows existing applications to communicate and share data, thereby enabling organizations to use existing applications while eliminating many of the problems caused by isolated information systems.

Control

is a disadvantage of cloud-based ERP systems.

VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory)

occurs when the supplier, rather than the retailer, manages the entire inventory process for a particular product or group of products.

Quality Control

provide information about the quality of incoming material and parts, as well as the quality of in-process semifinished and finished products. These systems record the results of all inspections and then compare these results with established metrics. They also generate periodic reports that contain information about quality—for example, the percentage of products that contain defects or that need to be reworked. Quality control data, collected by web-based sensors, can be interpreted in real time. Alternatively, they can be stored in a database for future analysis.

Key indicator reports

summarize the performance of critical activities. For example, a chief financial officer might want to monitor cash flow and cash on hand.

batch processing

the firm collects data from transactions as they occur, placing them in groups, or batches.