Week Nine - Operations Management and Supply Chain

1. Define the term operations management


Operations manaegement in a firm is based accross all departments and consists of converting resources from inputs to outputs. For example, an online travel agent creating holiday packages for customers. The input is all the airfares, hotels, and tours. The output is the itinerary with the final price for the package.



2. Explain operations management’s role in business

Operation managers control the flow of inputs and outputs in an organisation. Their role consists of:
Forecasting: knowing when particular services need to be done during the year. 
Capacity planning: how much inputs are needed to make outputs.
Schedualling: need to have a system in place stating who does what and by when
Managing inventory: the more inventory held, more money is spent which could go towards other things.
Assuring quality: ensuring the quality of the input matches the output product
Training and motivating employees: ensuring all employees are properly trained and are motivated will create better output by them.
Locating facilities: delegating the right inputs to the right departments will increase better chances of output.


3. Describe the correlation between operations management (OM) and information technology (IT)

Modern OM relies heavily on IT that OM can not do their jobs without IT. OM allows managers to:
- Find out what resources and how much of it is needed.
- Know when the work needs to be done
- Know where the work will be carried out
- Know how the work will be performed
- Who will take part in doing the work




4. Explain supply chain management and its role in a business

Supply chain management consists of managing the flow of information between and among stages in a supply chain to increase the profitability and effectiveness in the total supply chain. Its role is important in a business as it allows more efficiency in its productions of good and services- being more effecting and efficent in turning inputs into outputs.


5. List and describe the five components of a typical supply chain


•Supplier: supplies the raw materials (also known as inputs) to the manufacturer.

•Manufacturer: produces raw materials into products (also known as outputs) for distribution.

•Distributor: recieves the products form the manufacturer in bulk and sells to retailers.

•Retailer: sells the products to customers (known as target market).

•Customer: known as the end party consume the product purchased.

Dis-intermediation is caused from the use of eCommerce. This is known as the removal of stages in the supply chain (e.g: customer directly dealing with the manufacturer, instead of through the retailer).

Below: an example of travel and tourism supply chain

http://tourismtechnology.rezgo.com/2010/06/marketing-vs-distribution-a-place-for-both-strategies.html

6. Define the relationship between information technology and the supply chain.
 
In the supply chain, IT plays an important role. It is relied on to make accurate decisions reflecting each step in the supply chain. Without IT, businesses would be either
- Creating too much stock which is not selling
- Creating too little stock which is in high demand
With the help of IT, businesses are able to keep record on how much stock is available at present, how much needs to be orded in the future and also make decisions to whether profits are being generated from the goods sold and whether they should contine to produce them or not.

Below: video shows examples of ways to control stock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN4dibCMD7M

Week 8 - Networks and Wireless

1.Explain the business benefits of using wireless technology.

• Connect to the network any time: by the use of LANs and WANs, employees could process their work outside of the office.
• Can process, send and receive information at any location: broadband allows access to the internet anywhere in the office building.
• Less cable lines used means more space in the office: therefore there would be more space to move around and less wires on the floor reduces hazards in the office.

2.Describe the business benefits associated with VoIP

VOIP enables phone calls, faxes, voice mail, e-mail and Web conferences over digital networks.

It saves money by:

• Running over an existing network
• Calling over the internet with no bill attached.

3. Compare LANs and WANs

LAN- Local Area Network
• Connects a group of computers together that are located in the same geographical area.
• The computers could be located at home, within a company or school network.
• Most are built using Ethernet cables, networks and hubs.
• The smallest LAN consists of 2 computers and a large LAN can consist of thousands of computers.

Below: Image of a LAN structure in a workplace

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/telecomm_handbook/chapter2_03.htm

WAN- Wide Area Network
• Connect computers together located in regional or national boundaries.
• WANs are usually built for organisations and are usually private.
• Usually built using a lease line which is quite expensive.

Below: The image shows a typical set up of a WAN within an office environment

 http://www.virtualpro.co.uk/2009/08/08/citrix-branch-repeater-wan-acceleration-branch-office-in-a-box/

4.Describe RFID and how it can be used to help make a supply chain more effective.

RFID- Radio Frequency Identification provides a unique identification for certain devices. They are small electronic devices which once are scanned can retrieve data which is stored on it

They can help a supply chain by easily identifying what is in the shopper’s grocery bag and adding up the total price. RFID are more effective and efficient from barcodes as they use up less time from individually scanning each item.

Below: example of how RFID is used on wine bottles instead of barcodes

http://www.frascatilivinglab.org/FLLPortal/s_rfid.jsf

5. Identify the advantages and disadvantage of deploying mobile technology

Advantages
• Accessed anytime and anywhere
• Can send and receive both text, pictures and videos on the go
• Easier to access information whenever it is needed
• Don’t need to connect your phone to a wireless network as you mobile phone provider can provide the connection.

Disadvantages
• Mobile phone screens can be quite small to see the text at times
• Some devices are not able to open certain pages due to the software it uses
• People become dependent on their mobile
• Unable to print from your mobile

Week 7- Database and Data Warehouse

1. List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.


Accuracy: Information needs to be accurate and high quality. High accuracy will allow organisations to meet their goals. E.g: Excel spreadsheets designed to report monthly sales figures for a clothes store.
Completeness: Gives a big part of the picture of the information being reported. E.g: Total sales figures of a shoe store for the whole year.
Consistency: It is important to keep information reported consistant, to keep all added information on the same level as what was previously reported. E.g: When adding a telephone no. in the field, the field wont accept more than a 10 digit number to reduce inaccuracy.
Uniqueness: In order to add value to an organisation, information must be unique and distinctive. E.g:Is the information available on other sites?
Timeliness: New and current data is more valuable to an organisation than old and outdated information. It is important to keep up to date with information, as the era is more competitive. Eg: Real time information.


2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.

Database: A collection of organised information that allows data to be manipulated or extracted to suit the reporting needs.
Database management system: A set of programs used for managing the database. It facilitates the creation and maintenance and use of an electronic database.


3. Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.

Increased flexibility:
- Handles changes quickly and easily.
- Provides users with different views.
Increased scalability and performance
-scalability: How well a system can adapt to increased demands.
-Performance: measures how quicky a system performs a certain process or transaction.
Increased information integrity (quality)
Assurance that the information has not been changed or altered since the last time accessed.
Increased information security
- Information must be protected as it is an organisational asset. This is controlled through passwords and access controls.

An example of a database is MySQL is below

http://sync-database-mysql-edition.smartcode.com/screenshot.html

4. Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

A database system in which any database file can be part of more than one of the database's tables.


5. Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.

Development- Allows owner to make changes to website at anytime-> user friendly.
Content Management- A static website required a programmer to make updates. This can lead to misunderstandings to desired changes.
Future Expandability- Allows the site to grow faster allowing changes to be easily updated.


6. Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organisation

Roles-

Data Warehouses
A logical gathering of information from different databases supporting business analysis and decision making.
Data Marts
Contains a subset (a set of numbers who are part of another set) of data warehouse information.

Purposes-
Data Warehouses
To aggregate information through the organisation into a single location of storage, so employees can make decsions and undertake business activities. Therefore the information stored to support decision making processes.

Below is an image showing an example of data warehouse

http://ecommercecenter.net/management/what-is-a-data-warehouse.html

Data Mart
Focuses on informational subsets depending on the needs of a business unit such as finance or production.

Below is an image showing the components that make up a data mart

http://www.qedfinancialsystems.com/Products/datamart.htm

Week 6 - Chapter 5 Architectures

1. What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how do they relate to each other?

Information architecture: Consists of how to store files and where.
Information infrastructure: Consists of how the architecture works. How reliable and flexible it is, is important.
Differ-
Architecture: Is how the system will be used in the organisation. It includes all the systems and file paths involved in storing files.
Infrastructure: The way in which the files are stored and ensures that is runs well.
Relate-
Architecture relies on infrastructure as infrastructure ensures works behind the scenes to ensure that the files are stored properly and that the system is working well and is up to date with minimum error.

Below shows a link of how different infromation architecture looks like
http://www.prescientdigital.com/articles/strategic-design/design-ii-structure-comes-before-design

Below is an image showing how an information infrastucture on a national scale looks like

http://www.ibiblio.org/nii/

2. Describe how an organisation can implement solid information architecture
List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture.

Implement solid information architecture-
By creating a blog site which enables employees and employers to create and distribute information within and amongst different sections of the organisation. This will be an easy and less time effective way to send messages and updates around the organisation.
Five requirement characteristics-
1. Flexibility – must meet all types of business changes. It is designed to include the ability to handle multiple currencies and languages, even if the company is not yet operating overseas.
2. Scalability – is how well a system can adjust to increased demands. Capacity planning determines the future IT infrastructure necessities for new equipment and additional network capacity.
3. Reliability – ensures all systems are functioning correctly and providing accurate information.
4. Availability – addresses when systems can be accessed by employees and customers. High availability refers to a system or component that is continuously operational for a desirably long length of time.
5. Performance – measures how quickly a system performs a certain process or transaction in terms of efficiency IT metrics of both speed and throughput.


3. Describe the business value in deploying service oriented architecture

A SOA will allow organisations to become integrated with other businesses which makes working together easier. It also ensures that IT systems can adapt quickly and rapidly to support business needs. Using Meta data, they can re use systems many times which makes development cheaper and flexible.


4. What is an event?

It is an event example which the flow of program is determined by events such as sensor outputs, the amounts of clicks per page or messages etc.


5. What is a service?

A service cab be a business task, such as checking a potential customer's credit rating. They are similar to software products.


6. What emerging technologies can companies use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively?
-Virtualisation- enables division of recourses of a computer into different environments.
-Loose Coupling- services joined together on demand to create complex services.
-Grid computing- collection of dispersed computing, storage and network resources, used to improve quality of service.

Below is an example of a virtualisation desktop using Mac

http://mac.sillydog.org/archives/001212.php

Below is an image of how grid computing works

http://communication.howstuffworks.com/grid-computing.htm/printable

Week 5 - Ethics and Security

1. Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology.


- Privacy Issues: Consists of the interest of the business for keeping valuable information away from the public. This relates to confidentiality. This is kept in mind when a company has valuable infromation which is wanted to be kept private. The risk of being released in the public could result to the company 'sinking'.

- Data Accuracy: It is important that data is keep up to date and is as accurate as possible. Constant checks must be made to ensure that no 'suspicious' activity has occured. Data must also be limited to who can access it to decrease amounts of malicious activity.

- Property Issues: Issues with who owns information in companies is a problem. It is shown that most companies are montioring employees' emails as they are misusing them with the information which is being issued out to peole outside of the company.


2. Describe a situation involving technology that is ethical but illegal

Employees search organisational database for sensitive and personal information. This is an example of bank employees who have access to customers' bank details and use it against their will to trace their bank details, which could lead to fraudulent activity such as taking money out of their accounts.


3. Describe and explain one of the computer use policies that a company might employee

Internet use policy- Consists of generalpriciples which guide the correct use of the internet in the workplace. The policy:
- Describes available internet services.
- Defines the purpose and restriction of internet access.
- Describes user responsibilities.
- Shows the consiquential result for violations.


4. What are the 5 main technology security risks

1)Human Error
2)Natural Disasters
3)Technical Failures
4)Deliberate Acts
5)Management Failure


5. Outline one way to reduce each risk

1) Human error: Strong passwords which consists of some letters and numbers make it harder to guess the password and prevent people guessing passwords.
2) Natural disaster: Retaining offsite backups which are kept outside of the premises and are kept in the exact same order as on premises.
3)Techinical Failures: Network rights and permissions correctly assigned reduce the risk of employees accessing parts of the system which could result to failures.
4)Deliberate Acts- Passwords: Changing passwords on a regular basis with a secure password reset,will decrease the prevention of external parties hacking into systems.
5) Management Failure: Training employees on the job helps employees to develop the correct skills needed to perform their tasts with minimal risks involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyq-Q9HEnFg&feature=related

The link above describes how security online has changed in today's world.

6. What is a disaster recovery plan, what strategies might a firm employee?

The process of regaining information and data after a disaster has taken place. It is a form of Off Site Backups- This involves saving information and data outside of the workplace, so there will be a copy available if something goes wrong in the workplace.

http://www.mustakes.com/2010/05/cloud-computing-disaster-recovery-planning/

The link above desribes ways which disaster recovery plans could be implemented

Week 4 Blog- E Commerce

1. What is an IP Address? What is its main function?

The unique codes which all computers with access to the internet have that identify each of them on the World Wide Web. Its main function is to identify where the internet connection is coming from.

Below: Image of  an IP address for wirless access point

http://www.usr.com/support/2450/2450-files/24xx-ug/three.html

2. What is Web 2.0, how does it differ from 1.0?

Web 2.0: Is a two way interaction on the internet allowing users to create, update and give feedback on a webpage. It differs from Web 1.0 as 1.0 only enables to give information, while not allowing the end user to add any information. Therefore 2.0 is two way communications while 1.0 is only one way.

Below: Image of 2.0 programs

http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2009/11/random-web-20-statistics.html

Below: Image that shows how web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 differ and the year created

http://www.muvedesign.com/the-virtual-worlds-hype-cycle-for-2009/

3. What is Web 3.0?

Consists of making databases online. It enables you to search using all sort of media and will evolution towards 3D. Through tagging, more returns in search engines would be given.

The link below explains web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsNcjya56v8

4. What is eBusiness, how does it differ from eCommerce?

eBusiness is the actual running of the whole business online. It consists of marketing, legal and accounting side of running a business online. Whereas eCommerce is the buying and selling of goods online.

The link below explains the diference between ecommerce and ebusiness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FCv8Qtevd4

5. What is pure and partial eCommerce

Pure: Purchasing digital software or data online such as Itunes.
Partial: having various goods for sales which will be delivered to you such as fruit and vegetables.


6. List and describe the various eBusiness models?

1) Indirect PC Value Chain: Consists of purchasing product from supplier, then to the PC maker, followed by the Distributors who send them to Retailers who resell the products to the Final Customer. This is the old fashioned way of purchasing products from the warehouse to the end user. It is still commonly used today as people still prefer to directly deal with the retail stores to gain the best advice.

2) Direct PC Value Chain: Consists of the Supplier, then to Dell and the Final customer.
This is a more informal way of purchase and is becoming more common as customers find it cheaper to purchase from the company it is less expensive for purchase.


7. List and describe the major B2B models?

1) Sell side B2B- Has many buyers and only one seller that they all purchase their goods from.

Below: Image of Sell Side B2B website

http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/NC/B0/B64/029MB64.html

2) Buy side B2B- Has many sellers and only one buyer.

Below: Image of Buy side B2B for IBM

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/patterns/b2bemp/index.html

3) Electronic Exchange- Has many sellers, buyers, and services which are all connected at an exchange point to deliver transactions to each other.

Below: Image of an online electronic exchange between suppliers and customer

http://www.tracefood.org/index.php/GTP:Electronic_exchange

4) Collaborative Commerce- Has different industries, buyers, sellers and governments who exchange transactions through a hub manager.

Below: Image of collaborative commerce in a workplace

  http://www.zonar.com/Solutions/Supply_Chain/supply_chain.html

8. Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online?

Challenges:
1) Website not functional- There may be an issue with the website such as not capable to be opened using different types of browsers. It may also have a problem with navigating as it may have broken links
2) Checkout requesting too much information- May end up having consumers cancelling purchase due to the online forms asking for too much information which may make the user feel uncomfortable in filling out.
Opportunities:
1) Cheaper to sell online-Won't need to consider to pay for expenses such as rent therefore more profits would be generated as the consumers tend to pay for the postal.

2) Ability to create an Extranet- This allows businesses to engage in work online at anytime of the day bycreating a blog page to add and received information.

Week Three- Strategic Decision Making

1. Define TPS and DSS, and explain how an organisation can use these systems to make decisions and gain competitive advantages


Transactional Processing Systems (TPS) includes all the information contained within a single business process. Its main purpose is to support the performance of daily operational tasks. An organisation can use this system to record daily operational data  such as credit decisions and cash deposits. It helps in supporting daily operational tasks at the time that they take place. This would help in keeping up to date with all records in order to look back and make decisions on what should stay the same or what should be changed in the operational sides of the business.

Decision Support Systems (DSS) allows managers to go through the decision making process with ease as they would have captured all the necessary information to come to a good decision. An organisation can use this system to decide on good outcomes to ideas which they would like to see take place the company. This allows them the managers to determines whether the new decisions should take place or whether operations should remain as they are. Competitive advantage- This allows organisations to create new innovative ideas which competitors haven't decided on and come to the conclusion whether it will help the company or not.



2. Describe the three quantitative models typically used by decision support systems


1) Sensitivity Analysis: The study of the outcome that one or more changes in the model have on the other parts of the model. It deteremines what would happen if a change in the organisation takes place.

Below: An image of a sensitivity analysis using Schematic software

http://hw-server.com/software/pspicest.html



2) What If: Checks the outcome of a change, before the idea takes place. It determines the end result when asking the question "What if" something in the organisation was to be changed.

Below: An image of What If analysis using Excel

http://www.java2s.com/Tutorial/Microsoft-Office-Excel-2007/0080__Table/CreateaOneInputDataTable.htm

3)Goal Seeking Analysis: Searches for the inputs necessary to achieve a goal. It ask the question "Tell me what will happen" if a certain activity in the organisation was to see changes.

Below: An image of Goal Seek using Excel

http://www.java2s.com/Tutorial/Microsoft-Office-Excel-2007/0200__Data-Analysis/CreateaWhatIfScenariowithGoalSeek.htm

3. Describe a business processes and their importance to an organisation.

A business process is standard activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer order or enrolling students. Their importance to an organisation is that they help to create small changes and improvements in the way operational tasks are currently completed.



4. Compare business process improvement and business process re-engineering.

BPI- Models based on improving current processes. It looks at ways to improve operational tasks into more effective an efficient ways. An example includes digitalising forms, which are easier to back up instead of  storing pages of papers away. BPI aims to make small improvements along the way, while measuring current processes.

Below is a link to an example of a BPI
http://www.competitivexpert.com/processmethodo.php

BP re-engineering: Usually sets out new standards for the industry while improving the experience for the company. This looks at ways to keep the business working well for its customers and it employees . It assumes that the current ways of carrying out tasks is not working well and therefore needs to be re-built from scratch.

Below is a link to an BP re-engineering example (on the left hand side of the page,click on the model to zoom in)
http://www.sofgen.com/services_implementation_business_process.aspx


5. Describe the importance of business process modelling (or mapping) and business process models

Business Process Modelling- Activity of creating flow charts that show the inputs, outputs and processes of each step involved with a chosen work process. Its importance is to show:
-Detailed processes involved within each step.
-Focuses on the process model interface.
-Focuses on describing the process model with accuracy.

  Below: An image of a Business process model for a car rental company

https://www.msu.edu/user/mccarth4/G&M-maintext.htm

Business Process Model- A graphical description of a process showing the stages of the process task showing graphic and text descriptions.  Its importance is to:
-Display process detail gradually and in controlled manner

-Encourages accuracy in describing the model using graphics.

Below: An image of a Business Process Model for a technology college

http://abtech.edu/sbc/tcc/process.asp