CHAPTER 12 : INTEGRATING THE ORGANIZATION FROM END TO END

Most systems are modular to permit automating some functions but not others. Some common modules, such as finance and accounting, are adopted by nearly all users; others such as human resource management are not. For example, a service company probably has no need for a manufacturing module. Other companies already have a system that they believe to be adequate. Generally speaking, the greater the number of modules selected, the greater the integration benefits, but also the greater the costs, risks and changes involved.

mplementing ERP typically requires changes in existing business processes. Poor understanding of needed process changes prior to starting implementation is a main reason for project failure. It is therefore crucial that organizations thoroughly analyze business processes before implementation. This analysis can identify opportunities for process modernization. It also enables an assessment of the alignment of current processes with those provided by the ERP system. 

CHAPTER 11 : BUILDING A CUSTOMER CENTRIC ORGANIZATION-CUSTOMER   RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

In this chapter,customer relationship management (CRM) is a widely implemented model for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients to return, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Customer relationship management describes a company-wide business strategy including customer-interface departments as well as other departments. Measuring and valuing customer relationships is critical to implementing this strategy.

Successful development, implementation, use and support of customer relationship management systems can provide a significant advantage to the user, but often there are obstacles that obstruct the user from using the system to its full potential. Instances of a CRM attempting to contain a large, complex group of data can become cumbersome and difficult to understand for ill-trained users. The lack of senior management sponsorship can also hinder the success of a new CRM system. Stakeholders must be identified early in the process and a full commitment is needed from all executives before beginning the conversion. But the challenges faced by the company will last longer for the convenience of their customers.

CHAPTER 10 : EXTENDING THE ORGANIZATION -SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

The conclusion from this chapter is, companies that perform better in almost every financial measures of success,according to a report from Boston based AMR .When supply chain excellence improves operations,companies experience a 5 percent higher profit margin..

In the past,companies focused primarily on manufacturing and quality improvements to maintain their operations,but today,supply chain is a complex web of suppliers,assemblers,logistic firms,sales/marketing channels,and others business partner linked primarily through information networks and contractual relationship.

CHAPTER 9 : ENABLING THE ORGANIZATION - DECISION MAKING

Business is accelerating at a breakneck pace.The more information a business acquirires,the more difficult it becomes to make decisions. Hence,the amount of information people must understand to make good decisions is growing exponentially.In the past, people could rely on manual process to make decisions because they had only limited amounts of informations to deal with. Today,with massive volumes of available information it is almost impossible for people to make decisions without the aid of information systems.

CHAPTER 8 : ACCESSING ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION - DATA WAREHOUSE

A data warehouse has the ability to address a wide variety of phenomena.  A faculty

member may ask, “How can I modify my instruction to help my students learn to write more

effective essays?”  A manager in the Department of Human Resources may ask, “What kind of

training or orientation is necessary for new employees?”  Individuals from administration may ask,

“Are students who attend classes full-time more likely to succeed academically than those who

take classes on a part-time basis?”  Each of these questions requires more information about the

situation in order to conduct research.  This information originates from the data warehouse.

 A data warehouse is a storehouse of an organization’s historical data.  Information from

operational systems is extracted and imported into the data warehouse on a regular basis.  As a

result, complex inquiries, or queries, can be conducted through the data warehouse with minimal

interruptions to the operational systems.  The imported data is read-only and only adds to the data

existing in the data warehouse.  With greater amounts of data, the value of the data warehouse to

the user increases, since analyses looking over a longer period of time become possible.  When a

user query is submitted to the warehouse, all relevant historical data addressing that query is

readily available and current to support in the decision-making.

CHAPTER 7 : STORING ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION - DATABASE

Organizational information is stored in a database.Applications and programes,such as supply chain management system,and customer relationship management system,access the data in the database so the program can consult it to answer queries. The record retrieved in answer the question become information that can be used to make decisions.The computer program used to manage and query a database is known as a database management system.The properties and design of database system are included in the study of information science.

The central concept of a database is that a collection of record,or piece of information. Typically,a given database has a structural description of the type of facts held in that database. This description is known as schema. The schema described the  objects that are represented in the database and the relationship among them. Many professionals consider a collection of data to constitute a database only if it has many certain properties.For example,if the data are managed to ensure integrity  and quality ,if it allows shared access by a community of users,if it has a schema,or if it supports a query language.

storage information of organization

CHAPTER 6 : VALUING ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION

information is everywhere in an organization.When addressing a significant business issues,employees must able to obtain and analyze all the relevant information so they can make the best decision possible.Organizational information comes at different level and in differents format and "granularities".Information granularities refers to the extent of detail within the information.Employees must be able to correlate the differents level , formats and granularities of information when making decisions. For example,if employees are using a supply chain management system to make decision,they might find that their suppliers send information in different formats and granularities at different level.One suppliers might send details information to the customers,another suppliers might send summary information and still another send aggregate information from a database.

Successfully collecting,compiling,sorting and finally analyzing information from multiple levels,in varied format,exhibiting different granularities can provide tremendous insight into how an organization is performing.Taking a hard look at organizational information can yield exciting and unexpected results such as potential new market,new ways of reaching customers ,and even new ways of doing business.