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Describe at least two ways in which dataflow diagrams could be used in a company.
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Task 1
Question 1. Describe at least two ways in which dataflow diagrams could be used in a company.
Data Flow Diagrams have numerous applications in companies. They, for example, are used to show the relations that exist between a company’s business processes and external systems, customers, external organization and other processes in business. They are also useful in companies for describing how the system transforms or changes information. They describe how a company’s system processes, stores information, and identify how this information moves through the processes (Waldner 54- 87).
Question 2. We will discuss possible organization structure for Mike’s Bikes and a diagram of this will be supplied on Moodle. This diagram will identify functional sections within the company. Create four headings identifying your choice of four of those functional sections, and then under each heading list at least four business processes that would happen within that function section at a company like Mike’s Bikes.
Finance Marketing Product development Operations management
Responsible for managing and analyzing the financial processes of a company, including its habits
This functional entity of a company comes up with a marketing plan and strategy. It is responsible for manufacturing and producing new goods. This section is responsible for making sure that all operations including production, manufacturing and marketing are carried out successfully.
This functional process is also responsible for making and drawing the budgets of a company by collecting all the monthly and annual financial information to come up with helpful financial records and analysis. It is also responsible for monitoring the competition in the market and coming up with ways to challenge it. It involves selection of market- viable products It is also responsible for identifying problem areas.
It is responsible for determining which clients have balances and contacting them for payment.
It is responsible for being creating and for developing new ideas for the business. Production departments are responsible for the production of quality products It is responsible for finding ways to improve operations and processes
Involves obtaining of financial data and sending it to the management teams to help them with making decisions
The responsibility of identifying market needs and coming up with ways of satisfying these needs also lies upon this functionality of a company It is also responsible for budgeting for and planning for production It is responsible for keeping records of the operations and processes carried out in a company, and thus responsible for reporting sales, production, productivity, among others
Question 3. Your textbook has a section discussing the value system integration. Clearly identify one potential problem that could be avoided when a company like Mike’s Bikes uses an ERP system and then briefly explain how the ERP system would solve that problem.
A large company like Mike’s Bike can have numerous challenges when it comes to the integration and sharing of external and internal management information across the whole company, embracing manufacturing, finance, customer management and sales and services. This challenge can be solved by the utilization of an enterprise resource planning system as it automates this particular activity with a software application that is already integrated. The problem can be solved because the purpose of these systems is to enhance the flow of information between all the functions of a company within the boundaries of the company and manage the connections that exist with outside functions of the company (Loh and Ching 3433- 43).
Question 4. Your textbook has a section describing qualities of information. Comment separately on each of the following, explaining their importance to a manager’s decision-making activities. Timeliness, relevance, feedback value, integrity. Examples from Mike’s Bike might help your explanation.
Timeliness is the information quality on which a manager can base his decisions and uses it to make decisions before the information loses its quality or influence. For instance, when marketers are selling products from Mike’s Bike they need to know such things as market needs, prices, customer feedback, among others, to go on with making decisions about selling.
Relevance, on the other hand, is the ability of a marketer to make a different decision that can increase their knowledge of certain entities in the market. For instance, a decision maker can sell and market different products in the market by coming up with products that are either cheaper or expensive than those of the other companies.
Feedback value is the value in knowledge companies derive from decisions made in the past, and the utilization of this value to make better decisions in the future. For instance, marketer in Mike’s Bike could have set extremely high prices in a certain year that might have resulted to decreased sales. With this knowledge, decision makers can come up with prices that are more suitable.
Integrity, on the other hand, is the information quality that is needed when accurate and complete so as to enable better decisions. Financial reports for Mike’s Bike might indicate wrong or inaccurate information that might in turn lead to bad decisions.
Question 5. From the course glossary activity, clearly describe what is meant by the term supply chain relating your answer to the activities happening at a company like Mike’s Bike.
A supply chain is a system of people, organizations, activities, resources and information that a company makes use of in the movement of a product from the supplier to the customer. In Mike’s Bike, for instance, raw materials are obtained from the suppliers, which are, then send to production to make bikes, which customers can purchase from retail shops. The steps in this supply chain include the suppliers, Mike’s Bike production, retail shops and the customers (Gelinas, Dull and Wheeler 12- 67).
Task 2
As a result, of your trial running of the Mike’s Bikes system, your team will have developed a Team Charter for the main competition and assigned roles for each team member. List your management team roles and comment on the importance of each of those roles, including backup systems if a person does not correctly perform their role.
Our team charter has a number if management team roles, which include the general manager, human resource manager, marketing and sales manager, finance manager and the production manager. I am the general manager and my responsibility is one of the most crucial, as I am responsible for all areas in the company. I am responsible for all processes in the organization. This position is extremely significant in all companies as it is the one that determines which direction the company takes, whether profitable or not profitable. For instance, the general manager’s role in Mike’s Bike is to determine which areas need improvement to improve productivity. One of the areas that need improvement is the need for an operations directory. The manager should implement this to ensure all managers are guided to the right direction (Nagurney 23- 97).
The human resource manager is Sara, and she has numerous, crucial responsibilities in the company. She serves as the mediator between the employees and that management. In addition to this, she handles such things as employment, administrative contracts, and administrative questions and handles conflicts in the company. She is also responsible for monitoring and evaluating all departments in the company making numerous decisions concerning firing of employee, mediating disputes, hiring new employees and offering discipline.
The finance manager is John, and he is one of the most critical persons in the company. This is because he handles, monitors, analysis and overlooks all the financial details of the company. He decides which department needs more funds, how much money the company needs in operations, production, supplies and other numerous areas. He computes profits and losses and he is the one who determines whether the company is running at a loss or at a profit (Nagurney 23- 97).
The marketing and sales manager is Godwin. This department is also essential as it determines whether the company will make profits or losses. This department also has numerous influences on other department such as finance and human resources. For instance, if the company did not make any profits then the finance department is affected. In addition, if the company is running at losses, the human resource department is forced to make some cuts. This is to imply that this department has to flourish for the rest of the company to be successful and profitable.
The production manager is Gertrude. She is responsible for a number of activities in the manufacturing and production process. Some of these activities include the process of manufacturing by controlling and planning for it. She is also responsible for making sure that the resulting products are of high quality (Nagurney 23- 97).
We also have come up with a backup system for our team incase our managers and team members are for a certain reason not able to perform these tasks. The backup system involves each of the managers training an assistant who is supposed to be conversant with all the duties of their boss. Therefore, in case one of the managers is not available to perform their duties their assistants take over. Another backup system we have developed is that all managers are required to draw guidelines for their workers so that they are aware of what is supposed to be done even in the absence of the managers.
Task 3
Using MS- Visio, draw a context dataflow diagram for the fictious Mike’s Bikes Company, based on the supplied case study and the system you have been running from the Mike’s Bikes website. Then draw an associated system dataflow diagram for the systems likely to be used by the staff at that company. You will need to ensure that these diagrams include standard company functions. You must include your name as a header or footer.
Content data flow diagram
System data flow diagram
Part B
Task 1
Our team charter has a number if management team roles, which include the general manager, human resource manager, marketing and sales manager, finance manager and the production manager. I am the general manager and my responsibility is one of the most crucial, as I am responsible for all areas in the company. I am responsible for all processes in the organization. This position is extremely significant in all companies as it is the one that determines which direction the company takes, whether profitable or not profitable.
The human resource manager is Sara, and she has numerous, crucial responsibilities in the company. She serves as the mediator between the employees and that management. In addition to this, she handles such things as employment, administrative contracts, and administrative questions and handles conflicts in the company. She is also responsible for monitoring and evaluating all departments in the company making numerous decisions concerning firing of employee, mediating disputes, hiring new employees and offering discipline.
The finance manager is John, and he is one of the most critical persons in the company. This is because he handles, monitors, analysis and overlooks all the financial details of the company. He decides which department needs more funds, how much money the company needs in operations, production, supplies and other numerous areas.
The marketing and sales manager is Godwin. This department is also essential as it determines whether the company will make profits or losses. This department also has numerous influences on other department such as finance and human resources.
The production manager is Gertrude. She is responsible for a number of activities in the manufacturing and production process. Some of these activities include the process of manufacturing by controlling and planning for it. We also have come up with a backup system for our team incase our managers and team members are for a certain reason not able to perform these tasks.
The backup system involves each of the managers training an assistant who is supposed to be conversant with all the duties of their boss. Therefore, in case one of the managers is not available to perform their duties their assistants take over. Another backup system we have developed is that all managers are required to draw guidelines for their workers so that they are aware of what is supposed to be done even in the absence of the managers.
Task 3
The main strategy for loading information on marketing of Mike’s Bike product will mainly be done through the appropriate ERP system. This system will enable members to store, collect and store information among each other throughout the departments to ease and achieve marketing success. The data entry decisions will be made after consultations have been made among all essential members. As a result, of these strategies, the company experienced some beneficial results. For instance, profits increased, the shareholder value also improved and the supply chain support was positively affected. There are a number of things that could be done differently to improve performance though. For instance, some members could increase their commitment, I would ensure that all members learned and were trained on the strategies, I would also change some strategies to include low-level employees and I would change the data entered to a format that was simpler and easier to understand.
Task 4
Data Flow Diagrams aid communicationManagereSupplierdPurchase OrderCabinetM1StockFileM2*ReceiveStock2 Stock ClerkManagere*SellStock3 CashierCustomeraPurchase OrderStock ListP.O.Matched OrdersOrdersPurchase OrderDeliveryBought GoodsStock ListSold GoodsDelivered GoodsOrderStock1 Stock ClerkM2StockFileProcessesData StoresExternal Entities
References
Gelinas, U.J. Jr., Dull, R. B. and Wheeler, R. P. Accounting Information Systems. USA. SouthWestern, 2010. Print.
Loh, Chiat and Lenny Ching. “Critical elements for a successful ERP implementation in SMEs”. International Journal of Production Research 42. 17 (2004): 3433–3455. Print
Nagurney, Anna. Supply Chain Network Economics: Dynamics of Prices, Flows, and Profits. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006. Print.
Waldner, Jean-Baptiste. Principles of Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1994. Print.
Creating Graphs for the MAP (2)
Name
Professor
Course Date
What is public sector innovation
Public sector innovation is a strategy to do more for less through innovation (Innovation Policy Platform). It is not only about technology but goes beyond that to include a behavioral change to better cater to the needs of the public. In the end, digital innovation combines with technology, creativity and empathy to form public sector innovation.
How important is public sector innovation?
Public sector innovation cuts costs, improve service delivery and improve a country’s economy in the long run.
It improves the quality of service delivery at the lowest costs possible
Innovation, especially in the modern world, is a basic driver for economic progress and improve the competitiveness of an economy.
The public sector innovation involves collaboration between the public and private sectors which transfers skill sets to the public sector and ensure that a more responsive work culture is adopted.
What are the policy challenges facing public policy innovation?
Public policy innovation requires the absolute goodwill of government officials, and when this is not available, public policy innovation becomes a challenge.
The implementation of innovation in the public sector requires financing to purchase infrastructure and support the building of skill sets. With governments struggling with economic crises and inadequate finances, additional costs are quite a challenge. Governments incur the cost at the beginning with the aim of generating benefit worth the expenses.
Inadequate skills to manage the implementation of the public innovation policy is a common challenge because governments have not had the culture of investing in their employees and raising their capacity. When the infrastructure is being installed and requires management, skills become inadequate and posing an additional challenge.
What are the three problems that countries face in developing public sector innovation systems?
Finding the right innovation system suitable for a specific government is a huge problem. The operation in itself is complicated and is expected to be the right choice as various activities that are cost incurring are involved. Government agencies need to develop new strategies, find alternative approaches to service delivery and making proper use of collaboration with the private and not-for-profit organizations.
The cost is obviously a challenge beginning with capacity building, infrastructure to facilitate the new systems and increased operational cost.
Lack of commitment from stakeholders within the governments is also a big challenge.
Briefly discuss the principles for a better public sector outlined by Diana Farrell in the article in the link above
According to Farrell, governments face various challenges in performing their duty as entities for delivering services to the people, especially economically (Farrell & Goodman). Farrell believes that governments are required to transform their countries with very little resources. She, however, continues to state that governments today have been presented with ways to deliver services as expected of them by their citizens despite these hurdles. The proposed solutions, according to McKinsey research, are believed to boost productivity and reduce costs bringing the total performance improvement to about $1 trillion. Using the so-called government by design, officials can make actual progress other than engaging in partisan debates and unfruitful politicking.
Using collected information to make decisions is becoming more common in governments that measure their success on results. Every government should measure its results on the basis of data collected over the period of implementing a project. Evidence-based decision making in governments is made up of three forms; one is collecting data where the government defines what to measure and the method with the overall goal as the benchmark. Another form of evidence-based decision making is benchmarking other governments. Governments deal with similar issues, and not one government has been able to proudly come out and say that it has excelled in every area. For this reason, it is possible to find solutions and problems, both of which provide important learning opportunities. The third form of evidence-based decision making is using data to inform the design of interventions.
The other principle is engaging the public and increasing empowerment. Governments are making it possible for citizens to not only access services better but give them the opportunity to offer input into the design and the delivery of services. This move allows the government to improve productivity and increase choice for better satisfaction among its citizens. This also involves soliciting the input of citizens to improve government services. Technology has allowed governments to bring services closer to the citizens. The public sector’s movement towards technology-based service delivery has put pressure on the government to create a service delivery system that is close to the citizens in this manner. Governments are creating systems that allow citizens to pay their taxes online, apply for various services, vote and register organizations. Farrell also mentions the initiative by the Australian government that has taken service delivery up a notch by having mobile governments moving to remote areas to ensure equitable service delivery (Farrell & Goodman).
A growing economy depends on a skilled workforce; that is why it is very essential for governments to invest in skill-building and expertise. A workforce that has a mission is very important for the public sector. The problem is that governments neglect training and other exercises that improve the skills of their employees, and when they do, they invest in the wrong kind of training. Smart governments are those that know exactly where to invest in terms of building the capacity of their employees.
The final principle is having an effective collaboration with the private and social sectors. Governments engage with businesses and social organizations by buying products, offering public services, acting as a regulatory body or an economic stakeholder. Governments should, however, check their activities, especially paying above-market prices for items when the goals should be to reduce costs. The other step is accelerating governments’ service delivery to ensure that businesses have a good environment to operate in. The other thing is refining the role of the government as an economic shaper and integrator, which means defining issues are at the highest level and figuring out how stakeholders should co-exist.
In various ways and with distinct effect, these four principles represented in each paragraph are creating a difference for both local and national governments. The implementation of government by design principles is, however, not easy. For the said reason, officials should be willing to do what it takes to reform their own governments by first giving up the ineffective ways. The end, an effective, affordable government that can be able to handle its mandate properly will be worth every effort.
Works Cited
Farrell, D., and A. Goodman. “Government by Design: Four Principles for a Better Public Sector.” McKinsey & Company, www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/government-by-design-four-principles-for-a-better-public-sector.
Innovation Policy Platform. “Public Sector innovation.” Innovation Policy Platform, www.innovationpolicyplatform.org/www.innovationpolicyplatform.org/frontpage/index.html. Accessed 24 Jan. 2020.
Describe approaches to schooling and the development of achievement in children
Describe approaches to schooling and the development of achievement in children
The development of children is understood when parental and non parental care surroundings and individual characteristics used to develop a child are considered. Putting a child in good non parental care and beginning school are vital evolution stages in development of a child. There has been a significant growth in understanding various childcare effects on children. Giving a child good care is an imperative variable used in shaping the long and short term progress of a child (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002).
In order to link quality care to better outcomes achieved from the child, factors constituting to quality care are needed to be put into consideration and how quality care may be measured. In addition, the amount of quantity care issued to a child is helpful in shaping the development of a child. Wigfield & Eccles (2002) assert that different factors such as family and culture influence the transition of a child to school both achievements gotten from school and school adjustments.
In addition, adjustment is subjected by the factors affecting a child and the family, experiences the child gets in school and the relationships between the child and the teacher. The adjustment of children to school is a vital analyst of the educational progress and life of the children (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002). Many children come to school with different experiences both from child care and home influencing their response to the teacher. Children from a stable family with good income delight in greater success at school. There are studies revealing that good behaviors from children may be influenced by early good care of the children.
Reference
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, S. J. (2002). Development of Achievement Motivation. Massachusetts: Academic Press.