Database system benefits

Speaking 1 W h a t k i n d of d a t a d o c o m p a n i e s create, m a n i p u l a t e , s t o r e a n d retrieve?

Vocabulary 2 M a t c h t h e c o m p a n y d e p a r t m e n t 1-8 w i t h t h e t y p e of d a t a i t w o r k s w i t h a - h .
1 Finance a) d a t a a b o u t e m p l o y e e s , t r a i n i n g ,
r e c r u i t m e n t needs
2 Marketing b) data about p r o d u c t specification,
details a n d design
3 H u m a n resources c ) d a t a a b o u t profits, t a x , loans, shares
and cash
4 Customer relations d ) d a t a a b o u t v o l u m e of p r o d u c t s s o l d
e) d a t a a b o u t c u s t o m e r s , s a t i s f a c t i o n
5 Production surveys, promotions
f) d a t a a b o u t p r o d u c t a d v e r t i s e m e n t s
6 Technical s u p p o r t and competitors
g) d a t a a b o u t q u a n t i t y of p r o d u c t
7 Sales i n storage
h ) i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e H e l p Desk,
8 Stock m a n a g e m e n t s u p p o r t calls, m a n u a l s , p r o b l e m
reports

L o o k at t h e f o u r t y p e s of d a t a b e l o w f r o m P a r t y P l a n n e r L t d . W h a t d o y o u t h i n k
PartyPlanner L t d does? W h a t c o m p a n y d e p a r t m e n t s c a n y o u identify?

Personal data: Customer data: Product data: Technical data:

- CVs, job descriptions - customer contacts - inventory - contact to help desk
- employee personal data - satisfaction surveys - purchasing needs - helpdesk reports
- training - promotions - return products - troubleshooting manuals
- holiday - service reports

Speaking 4 W o r k i n s m a l l g r o u p s . Talk a b o u t t h e advantages a n d disadvantages of a

c o m p u t e r i s e d database. Present y o u r ideas t o t h e rest of t h e g r o u p .
Example: There are many advantages/disadvantages ....
 Business matters
Reading 1 Read p a r t of t h i s e m a i l f r o m t h e o w n e r of J u m b o B o o k Store. A n s w e r these
questions.
1 W h a t t y p e s of i n f o r m a t i o n does J u m b o B o o k Store c o m m u n i c a t e b e t w e e n
its employees?
2 H o w d o t h e e m p l o y e e s exchange i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e c o m p a n y ?
3 W h a t d o c u m e n t s does A m i k i prepare?
4 H o w m u c h t i m e does i t take t o c o m p i l e t h e data?
5 W h y do the customers complain?

H • E l

Let me give you some background to our company's setup.

Jumbo Book Store is a company based in Thailand. It has three book stores and a
warehouse next to one of the book shops. The store manager, Amiki Sukhon, finds it
very difficult to track sales because he uses handwritten sales reports that employees
prepare every day. The driver takes the reports and delivers them to the main office.
Every day it takes 5 to 6 hours to compile data about the sales. Based on these sales
reports, Amiki writes purchase orders for new books, sales figures for the owner and
customer information for the marketing department.
In addition, he often gets calls from customers complaining about poor information
about available books and stationary products in the warehouse.
Could you spend some time looking at how we can improve our processes?
Regards

Speaking 2 W o r k i n s m a l l g r o u p s . Prepare r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s u s i n g t h e p r o b l e m / s o l u t i o n
outline.

Problem/Solution Outline

Problem

Solutions

End Results

3 Present y o u r r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s t o a n o t h e r g r o u p .