Question 1. 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

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.