F.1. Databases and ERP Systems

Question 1

What is a database?

Answer 1

A collection of related data files, combined in one location to eliminate redundancy, that can be used by different application programs and accessed by multiple users.

Question 2

What is a relational database?

Answer 2

A collection of related data items organized in tables with pre-defined relationships between them that can be used by different application programs and accessed by multiple users.

Question 3

What is a data field in a database?

Answer 3

Information that describes one attribute of an item, or entity, in the database such as a person or an object.

In an employee file, for example, one data field would be one employee’s last name. Another field would be the same employee’s first name.

Question 4

What is a database record?

Answer 4

It contains all the information about one item, or entity, in the database.

For example, a single database record would contain information about one employee, including the employee’s Employee ID number, last name, first name, address, department code, pay rate, and date of hire.

Question 5

What is a database table?

Answer 5

A set of common records, such as records for all employees.

Question 6

What is the primary key in a database?

Answer 6

A data field in a record that distinguishes one record from another in the table.

Question 7

What are foreign keys in a database?

Answer 7

They connect the information in a database record to one or more records in other tables.

Question 8

What is an entity-relationship diagram with respect to a relational database?

Answer 8

A diagram that utilizes symbols to represent the relationships between and among the different entities in the database.

Question 9

What is a database management system?

(DBMS)

Answer 9

A software package that serves as an interface between users and the database, managing a set of interrelated, centrally coordinated data files by standardizing the storage, manipulation, and retrieval of data.

Question 10

What are the four primary functions of a database management system (DBMS)?

Answer 10

• Database development
• Database maintenance
• Database interrogation
• Application development

Question 11

What is a schema with respect to a database?

Answer 11

A map or plan of the entire database—its logical structure. It specifies the names of the data elements contained in the database and their relationships to the other data elements.

Question 12

What is a subschema with respect to a database?

Answer 12

When access for an application or a user is limited to a subset of the information in a database, that limited access is called a subschema.

Question 13

What is SQL used for?

Answer 13

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is used for:

• Searching a database
• Creating a description of the logical and physical structure or organization of a database
• Maintaining and updating the database

Question 14

What is application independence in a DBMS?

Answer 14

The characteristic of a DBMS that allows applications to be independent of the data itself, meaning programs do not refer to a specific number or item, but rather to the name of the data item.

Question 15

What is Enterprise Resource Planning?

(ERP)

Answer 15

A system that integrates all aspects of an organization’s activities—operational as well as financial—into a single system that utilizes a single database.

Question 16

What are the components of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system?

Answer 16

• Production planning
• Logistics
• Accounting and finance
• Human resources
• Sales, distribution, and order management

Question 17

What are the features of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems?

Answer 17

• Integration of accounting, customer relations management, business services, human resources, and supply chain management.
• A centralized database.
• They usually require business process reengineering to implement.

Question 18

What are the advantages of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system?

Answer 18

1. Better customer service, production and distribution efficiencies
2. Reduced IT costs
3. Secure central location for data
4. Real-time information access
5. Improved communication across departments
6. Reduced data duplication and errors caused by multiple inputting of the same data
7. Better expense management
8. Facilitated inventory management
9. Easier trend identification
10. Increased financial reporting efficiency

Question 19

What are the disadvantages of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system?

Answer 19

1. Time-consuming business re-engineering required
2. Costly and time-consuming data conversion
3. Disruption of workflow due to employee training
4. Risk of system-wide failures
5. Ongoing hardware and system maintenance costs

Question 20

What is the primary function of a data warehouse?

Answer 20

Stores a copy of all the historical data for the entire organization in a single location for enterprise-wide data analysis and reporting.

Data warehouses are separate from ERP systems or other transaction processing and are used for data mining to discover patterns for decision-making.

Question 21

For data stored in a data warehouse to be useful, what requirements does it need to meet?

Answer 21

It should:

• be free of errors
• be uniformly defined
• cover a longer time span than the company’s transactions systems to enable historical research
• allow users to write queries to draw data from different database areas

Data in a data warehouse is read-only and not updated with real-time data.

Question 22

What is a data mart?

Answer 22

A subsection of information in a data warehouse that provides analytical capabilities for a restricted set of data.

Question 23

What are the benefits of using data marts in an organization?

Answer 23

1. It can provide security for sensitive data because it isolates the data certain people are authorized to use and prevents them from seeing data that needs to be kept confidential.
2. Because each data mart is used by only one department, one department’s usage does not affect other departments’ workloads.

Question 24

What are the three types of data marts?

Answer 24

• Dependent
• Independent
• Hybrid

Dependent - draws on an existing data warehouse

Independent - data for a single business function is uploaded, transformed, and loaded directly into the data mart

Hybrid - draws some data from an existing data warehouse and some data from other sources.

Question 25

What is a data lake used for?

Answer 25

Storing unstructured data, such as social media data, videos, and emails. ## Footnote Usually only a data scientist has the analytical skills needed to access a data lake's capabilities. Data lakes use NoSQL databases, which are more flexible than relational databases and do not require a schema until analysis is performed.

Question 26

What is the role of Enterprise Performance Management? | (EPM)

Answer 26

EPM monitors and manages an organization's performance in reaching its goals by linking strategies to plans and execution. ## Footnote EPM uses tools like Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Balanced Scorecards, and Strategy Maps to review and adjust strategies or operations as needed.

Question 27

What capabilities does Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software provide?

Answer 27

* Reports comparing actual performance to goals * Reports on Key Performance Indicator attainment by department * Balanced scorecards, strategy maps, and other management tools * Creating and revising forecasts, modeling * Generating dashboards presenting current information customized to the needs of individual users ## Footnote EPM software can automate budgeting and consolidations and can be deployed on-premises or as Software as a Service (SaaS).