IS-344

Computing Applications in Business

Spring 2015
WEEK 4

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Agenda
Review
Discussion Questions
Week 4 Lecture
Final Project Update
Break
Teams Case Presentations

Week

Topic

#1 Jan 26
#2 Feb 2

Course
Schedule

IS 344
Reading

Assignment Due

Course Introduction
Business Functions & Processes
Development of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Chapter 1
Chapter 2

Discussion Questions

#3 Feb 9

Marketing Information Systems and the Sales Order Process

Chapter 3

#4 Feb 16

Customer Information Systems Cust Relationship

Management
Production and Supply Chain Management

Chapter 3

Discussion Questions
Team Case Study
Discussion Questions

Chapter 4

Discussion Questions

(on line class)

#5 Feb 23

Post company background

#6 Mar 2

Accounting in ERP Systems

Chapter 5

#7 Mar 9

Human Resources Processes in ERP

Chapter 6

Discussion Questions
Team Case Study
Discussion Questions

Current Status Draft

#8 Mar 16
#9 Mar 23

SPRING BREAK
No Class
Process Modeling, Process Improvements in ERP systems

Chapter 7

#10 Mar 30
#11 Apr 6

Enterprise Architecture Implementing an ERP system

Business Intelligence

Chapter 7
Chapter 8

Discussion Questions
Exam (3/27)
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
Team Case Study

Future State Model Draft

#12 Apr 13
#13 Apr 20

Mobile Computing
Social Media
Cloud Computing

Chapter 8

Discussion Questions

Chapter 8

Quiz

Implementation Plan Draft

#14 Apr 27
#15- May 4

IT Security, Controls, Governance

Course Summary

Final Project Presentations

Final Project Presentations

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Review

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Chapter Three:
Marketing Information
Systems and the Sales
Order Process

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Problems with Fitter Snackers Sales Process

Figure 3-1 The sales process

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Sales and Distribution in ERP

ERP systems can minimize data entry errors and provide
accurate information in real time to all users
ERP systems can track all transactions (such as invoices,
packing lists, RMA numbers, and payments) involved in the
sales order
SAP ERP Sales and Distribution module treats the sales order
process as a cycle of events:

Pre-sales activities
Sales order processing
Inventory sourcing
Delivery
Billing
Payment
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Pre-Sales Activities
Customers can get pricing information about the
companys products:
Through an inquiry or a price quotation

Marketing activities such as tracking customer contacts,

including sales calls, visits, and mailings
Company can maintain data about customers and
generate mailing lists based on specific customer
characteristics

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Sales Order Processing

Sales order processing: series of activities that must take
place to record a sales order
Sales order can start from a quotation or inquiry
generated in the pre-sales step
Information collected from the customer to support the
quotation is immediately included in sales order
Critical steps in sales order processing:
Recording the items to be purchased
Determining the selling price
Recording the order quantities
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Sales Order Processing (contd.)

Users can define various pricing alternatives in the SAP
ERP system
SAP ERP system checks the Accounts Receivable tables
in the SAP ERP database to confirm the customers
available credit
If customer has sufficient credit available
Order is completed

If customer does not have sufficient credit available

SAP ERP system prompts sales personnel to take one of the
possible appropriate actions
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Inventory Sourcing
Available-to-Promise (ATP) check
SAP ERP system checks companys inventory records and
production planning records to see whether:
Requested material is available
Requested material can be delivered on the date the customer desires

Includes expected shipping time

System can recommend an increase in planned

production if a shortfall is expected

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Delivery
Delivery in SAP ERP system
Releasing the documents that the warehouse uses to pick, pack,
and ship orders

Delivery process allows deliveries to be created so that

the warehouse and shipping activities are carried out
efficiently
Once the system has created documents for picking,
packing, and shipping, documents are transferred to
Materials Management module

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Billing
SAP ERP system creates an invoice by copying sales
order data into the invoice document
Accounting can print this document and mail it, fax it, or
transmit it electronically to the customer
Accounting records are updated at this point

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Payment
When the customer sends in a payment, it is
automatically processed by the SAP ERP system
Debits cash and credits (reduces) customers account

Timely recording of this transaction has an effect on the

timeliness and accuracy of any subsequent credit checks
for the customer

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Quiz
1. In the SAP ERP system, creating a(n) ____ means
releasing the documents that the warehouse uses to pick,
pack, and ship orders
Answer: delivery

2.
In the SAP ERP system, a range of information is
stored about each customer in multiple tables. These
data are referred to as ____.
Answer: customer master data

3. The SAP ERP system allows a company to define various

ways to group its customers and salespeople. These
groupings are called ____.
Answer: organizational structures

4. To accommodate the various ways that companies offer

price discounts, SAP has developed a control mechanism
it calls the ____.
Answer: condition technique

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Discussion Questions

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Discussion Question 1
Assume you are the marketing manager for
a large pet food company, such as Iams.
You need to launch a new marketing
campaign.
What social media channels would you use
for this campaign? How can CRM help your
new strategy?

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Discussion Question 2
A CIO of a major pharmaceutical company once
stated that the reason the corporation used ERP
systems could be summed up in one word:
control.
How does an ERP system give management
control?

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Discussion Question 3
Assume you are a new summer intern at Fitter
Snacker, working directly under the CIO. Your
first job is to write a memo describing the poor
information flow between three functional
areas in the company: Marketing and Sales,
Accounting and Finance, and Supply Chain
Management.
Focus on the lack of information flow to and
from Marketing and Sales, in particular.

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Customer Relationship Management

Definition
Customer Relationship Management is a business strategy
that aims to optimize customer interactions in order to
maximize the success of business.
CRM is an holistic approach of business management
basing on one data base. It integrates and optimizes all
customer processes in Marketing, Sales and Distribution,
Customer Service, Research and Development etc. on a
company wide level. The aim of CRM is to create benefits
for customers and suppliers regarding the life cycle of
business relations. This implies that CRM concepts must
emphasize permanent improvement of customer
processes and lifelong learning of a companys
employees
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SAP CRM as part of overall SAP Business

Suite

CRM is geared to support customer

processes

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CRM Analytics

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Core CRM Activities

One-to-one marketing
Sales force automation (SFA)
Sales campaign management
Marketing encyclopedias
Call center automation

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SAPs CRM Software

Examples of tools that provide CRM functionality within
the SAP ERP system
Contact management tool
To make sure that information about sales contacts is available
throughout the organization

Sales activity manager

Supports a strategic and organized approach to sales activity planning
and can help make sure that follow-up activities are accomplished

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SAPs CRM Software

Figure 3-13 SAP ERP contact manager

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SAPs CRM Software

Figure 3-14 SAP ERP sales activity manager

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SAPs CRM Software (contd.)

SAP ERP system processes business transactions and
provides much of the raw data for CRM
SAPs Business Warehouse: system for reporting and
analysis of transactional data
Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO): system that
supports efficient planning of the supply chain
SAPs view of CRM is to provide a set of tools to manage
the three basic task areas, or jobs:
Marketing, sales, and service

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CRM Architecture

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SAPs CRM Software (contd.)

Figure 3-15 SAP CRM system landscape

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SAPs CRM Software (contd.)

Four phases of the cultivation of customer relationship:

Prospecting
Acquiring
Servicing
Retaining

Contact Channels
Marketing and Campaign Management
Campaign Execution Activity Management
Campaign Analysis tool
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SAPs CRM Software (contd.)

Figure 3-16 Marketing and campaign planning

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The Benefits of CRM

Lower costs
Higher revenue
Improved strategy and performance measurement

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CRM vs ERP

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Chapter 3 Summary
Fitter Snackers unintegrated information systems are at
the root of an inefficient and costly sales order process
An ERP system such as SAP ERP treats a sale as a
sequence of related functions
Including: taking orders, setting prices, checking product
availability, checking the customers credit line, arranging for
delivery, billing the customer, and collecting payment
In SAP ERP, all these transactions, or documents, are
electronically linked

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Summary (contd.)
Installing an ERP system means making various
configuration decisions
Configuration decisions reflect managements view of how
transactions should be recorded and later used for decision
making

ERP systems central database contains:

Tables of master data: relatively permanent data about
customers, suppliers, material, and inventory
Transaction data tables: store relatively temporary data such as
sales orders and invoices

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Summary (contd.)
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems
Build on the organizational value that ERP provides
Specifically increase the flexibility of the companys common
database regarding customer service
Various kinds of CRM software are available
Can be installed in-house or on-demand

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Final Project overview

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Final Team Project

Each Team will prepare an Applied Case Project, consisting of a 1520 page paper and a presentation. The project is the development
of an Information Technology Plan for a small business, a nonprofit organization or a department within a larger organization.

Objective
Create a Computer Systems Information Technology Plan.
Each Team will select a small business, a non-profit organization
or a department within a larger organization to use as the subject
of the project and for which you will design an Information
Technology Plan. In making the selection, choose a subject whose
Information Technology Plan can be completed within the time
constraints of the course..
Once your group has selected the subject of the project, you need
to begin the analysis of the current goals, objectives and
operations of the business in preparation for the design of the
Information Technology Plan.
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Project Outline
The outline should be 2-3 pages and should contain a discussion of the current
operations, goals and objectives of the business being used as the subject of the
project.

Current Status Assessment

Write a 3-5 page Current Status Assessment. The paper should analyze the current
status of the use of information technology within your organization. The paper
should cover the following topics:

A description of the hardware in use within the organization. The description should
include the quantity and types of various hardware devices and who uses them.

A description of the software used within the organization. The description should include
the software products in use from operating systems to applications.

A description of the applications to which information technology is being applied. As far

as possible, an analysis should be made as to the perceived effectiveness of each
application.

An analysis of the information systems organization, including size of staff, skill levels and
primary responsibilities.

Any organizational issues impacting the use of information technology within the
organization.

Remember that the Current Status Assessment will also be incorporated into the
team final written report.
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The report will consist of the following sections:

An overview of the business and its goals and objectives.
An analysis of the ways in which information technology and computing
applications can support the business goals and objectives.
A Current Status Assessment of the information technology environment
including hardware, software, computing applications, information
systems, personnel and organizational structure.
A model of the Future information technology environment required to
achieve the business objectives, including hardware, software,
computing applications, information systems, personnel and
organizational structure.
A prioritized list of specific projects required to implement the
information technology model. Each project will contain information
regarding the project objectives, resource requirements, costs and
benefits, estimated time frames and potential risks.
An implementation plan including support requirements, management
tools and structure required to make the plan a reality.
A bibliography.

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Team Case Studies