Chapter 2 part 3

Question 1

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems

Answer 1

overcomes many problems as they integrate all aspect of a company’s operations with a traditional AIS. Most large and many medium-sized organizations use ERP systems to coordinate and manage their data, business processes, and resources. The ERP system collects, processes, and stores data and provide the information managers and external parties need to assess the company.

Question 2

Advantages of an ERP system

Answer 2

1. Provides and integrated, enterprise-wide, single view of the organization’s data and financial situation
2. Data input is captured or keyed once, rather than multiple time, as it entered into different system
3. Management gains greater visibility into every area of the enterprise and greater monitoring capabilities
4. The organization gains a better access control
5. Procedures and reports are standardized across business units
6. Customer services improves because employees can quickly access orders, available inventory, shipping information, and past customer transaction details
7. Manufacturing plants receive new orders in real time, and the automation of manufacturing processes leads to increased productivity

Question 3

Disadvantages of an ERP system

Answer 3

1. cost (costs of hardware, consulting for which product etc)
2. amount of time required (time for selecting a proper ERP system)
3. changes to business processes (adapting to the ERP system)
4. complexity (comes from integrating different business activities and systems)
5. resistance (People resisting change, training etc.)

Question 4

Name some ERP vendors

Answer 4

two largest are SAP and Oracle

other leading vendors are The Sage Group, Microsoft, and Infor