Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Marketable Skills:
- Abstract Reasoning: Ability to construct a representation/model
- Systems Thinking: Ability to illustrate, interpret, and apply diff. systems to
diff. situations
- Collaboration: Ability to work with others to achieve a common goal
o Receive/provide feedback
- Experimentation: Ability to identify opportunities and test them (with use
of available resources)
5 Component Framework:
Management IS
• Use IS to help businesses achieve their strategies
• Role: Develop & maintain an effective IS
• To adapt to new requirement
IS Security:
Use Strong Passwords
• 10+ characters
• Does not contain your user name, real name, or company name
• Does not contain a complete dictionary word in any language
• Different from previous passwords used
• Contains both upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters
Chapter 2:
Business Processes, I.S., & Info
Process Costs
- BPMN do not display costs directly
- Costs are associated with labor & infrastructure
o Computer network, email, or other systems needed to support data flows
B) Competitive Strategy
o To be effective: Org’s objectives, goals, culture, and activities must be
consistent with the overall strategy.
1. Cost Leadership
a. Focused: Lowest cost within industry segment
b. Industry-wide: Lowest cost across the industry
2. Differentiation
a. Focused: Better product/service offering within industry segment
b. Industry-wide
Value: Amount of money that customer is willing to pay for a product, service, or
resource.
Product Implementations
o Create, enhance, differentiate products/services
Process implementations
o Lock in customers: Making it complex/difficult to switch to another product
o Maintain customer data
Saves customers from having to re-enter data Reduces
errors
o Make it complex/expensive to switch to a substitute
o Lock in suppliers:
o Make it easier for suppliers to work/connect with you
o Raise barriers to market entry:
o New entrants would have to possess a differentiated I.S. to be able to
compete
o Establish Alliances
o Reduce Costs
Chapter 9:
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
Challenges:
To write these application programs + to design a database that stores all
the integrated data
Many decisions to be made on who does what – this means procedures
should be well thought-out
These are difficult, daunting process required to implement + requires
high-skilled personnel
Today almost no organization develops its own ERP system Buy licensed
ERP systems from vendors
Conversion from separated databases to ERP systems is still expensive + long
process
A true ERP system must include applications that integrate the following:
Supply Chain:
o Procurement, sales order processing, inventory management, supplier
management.
Manufacturing:
o Scheduling, capacity planning, quality control, bill of materials.
CRM:
o Sales prospecting, CM, marketing, customer support.
HR:
o Time/attendance, HR management, commission calculations.
Accounting:
o General ledger, AR, AP, cash management.
Hardware
Cloud-based hosting:
PaaS (platform as a service): Replace existing hardware infrastructure with
hardware in a cloud
o Used by larger ERP systems
SaaS (software as a service): Aquire a cloud-based ERP solution provided by
vendors who offer ERP software (SAP, oracle, Microsoft, etc.)
o Used by smaller/newer ERP systems
Software
Application Programs:
Designed using program coding by ERP vendors Altered by
development teams to meet customer requirements
o Set configuration parameters and specify how each ERP application
will operate
o Configuration decision are difficult & require critical skills to develop
Require long-term maintenance costs
Should choose an ERP solution that has applications that function close to
the organizations requirements.
Data ERP Databases:
Computer programs stored within the database:
1. Triggers: Keeps data consistent when certain conditions arise
2. Stored Procedure: Used to enforce business rules, which are configured by
developers & business professionals
a. Ex. To never set certain items at discount
People
Training & Consulting
Training curriculum developed by vendors to prepare employees for:
o Implementation
o Usage
Super Users: Selected employees to be trained by the vendors to become in-
house trainers in training session called Train the Trainer
On-site Consulting
Steps for Implementation & Upgrading (All while still running the business)
Small: Employ 1 or 2 IT specialists who manage the ERP system + the entire IS
department Pressured during periods of ERP implementation.
Mid-sized: Expand IT from 1 person to a small staff
o This staff is separated from senior management Leads to
misunderstanding + distrust.
o Thus the senior management must be committed to ERP solution.
International ERP
Most large companies are present all over the world thus the ERP application programs
must:
1. Contain several languages
2. Adapt to different cultures
3. Support different currencies
4. Manage international transfers of goods in inventories
5. Work effectively with international supply chains
6. Provide worldwide consolidation of financial statements