Business Management Notes PDF

Lesson 1 Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) -private sector -annual sales turnover (total receipts of a business) is not more than 100 million and employment size not more than 200 workers Multi-National companies (MNC) -operates in at least one other country compared to its home country Volunteer W...

Lesson 1 Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) -private sector -annual sales turnover (total receipts of a business) is not more than 100 million and employment size not more than 200 workers Multi-National companies (MNC) -operates in at least one other country compared to its home country Volunteer Welfare Organisations (VWO) -Is a not-profit organisation that provide welfare service and/or services that benefit the community at large Public Sector -​ Government Ministries -​ Statuory Boards and -​ Organs of states Its roles: -​ Work with the elected Government to shape Singapore’s future, forge a common vision among singaporeans and transform the vision into a reality. Private Sector -​ A Enterprise for profit and not controlled by the State. -​  -​ Vision -​ Says what the organisation wishes to accomplish in a long-term future. -​ It inspires employees to be passionate in their work and give provides directions on what the company aims to achieve. Mission -A mission statement describes what business the organisation is in both now and projecting into the future. Values -describe the desired culture in the organisation. Strategy -​ Is the art and science of formulating,implementing and evaluating decisions that enable an organisation to achieve its objectives. Organisation Charts: Lesson 2 1)​Cost:  -​ Is the amount that the company has to pay for the goods/services it has received from another party such as employees and suppliers -​ Depreciation is the systematic allocation of the cost of an items that can be used for several years over its estimated useful life. Recurring cost and one-time cost Revenue Profit Growth Porter’s Generic Strategies: Cost Leadership Strategy -​ Target a large market size with the lowest cost in selling products/services at industry-average price or even lower. -​ When negotiating with external parties e.g suppliers, it will use its large size to bargain for the best deal such as lowest price.  Differentiation Strategy -​ The company can differentiate themselves that will lead customers thinking that it is unique. -​ Typically, the products/services are more expensive and customers are also willing to pay more for these unique products/services. Focus Strategy (Low Cost): -​ The company focuses on only a narrow segment of the market and achieve a low-cost advantage. Focus Strategy(Differentiation): -​ The company focuses on only a narrow segment of the market and make sure it provides unique products/services. SWOT Matrix Technique: -​ This strategies is a technique for matching internal and external factors affecting the company’s performance and generate strategies for different situations. -​ Internal factors: ‘Strength (S)’ and ‘Weakness (W)’ -​ External factors are ‘Opportunity(O)’ and Threat(T) Lesson 3 1.Performance measurement: -​ Is the process of collecting information to see the performance of an individual and organization. How to measure performance? -​ Key performance indicator is to measure the value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objective. -​ Examples of CEO KPI:  -​ Usually show as gauges (Green - Healthy, Red-Unhealthy) 2) Procurement: -​ Refers to all activities involved with obtaining items from suppliers. -​ Example: Liaising with suppliers such as to check quality of goods to be supplied.Verifying the goods delivered is as specified in the purchase. Logistics planning. -​ Key functions of the procurement: 1)Vendor management: -​ Evaluate and select vendor/Maintain strong supplier relationship 2) Sourcing: - Develop sourcing strategies to identify reliable suppliers and negotiate favorable terms and conditions with the vendors. -​ Modes of Procurement: 1)​Small value purchase( SVP) -less than $6,000 - commonly used for office suppliers, minor pairs or services. 2)​Invitation to Quote (ITQ): -​ $6,000 to $90,000 -​ A quotation notice is published on media platforms such as newspaper inviting suppliers to quote. -​ The buyer will decide on the best supplier based on criterion. 3)​Invitation to Tender (ITT) -is used for high value items above $90,000. - Stage 1: Interested suppliers will be shortlisted based on their capabilities. Stage 2: The shortlisted suppliers needs to submit their tenders. *Example: Casino. Many casino-setter(12) manage to be shortlisted for the exercise.(Stage 1) Only two manage to get in stage 2. One of the two manages to set up the casino mainly because the casino-setter manage to convince the government that they will not use government money for their operational cost in MBS. (Stage 2)  Procurement Job Roles: 4)​Segregation of duties: -Having more than one person required to complete a task. This prevent internal fraud and error. - Example: SLA $12 Million Fraud. —> Koh was the director while Lim was the procurement/verifying officer ( which was wrong, mainly because each person only can have one duty). Both of them conspired with external vendors to cheat SLA into paying for IT products/services that were not delivered.) How they get caught? Both of them bought luxurious item, and people get suspicious and decided to do background check and found out that they fraud. 5)​Procurement: Key Measurements 1.​Cost of running the procurement function/total procured items cost *100 2.​Cost of running the procurement function:  -Salary of procurement staff - Depreciation of the equipment - Company tries to minimise this KPL. 3. Cycle time: -​ No of hours to complete a procurement cycle. - Company tries to minimise this KPL. 6) Sales: -​ Is the communication between the company’s representatives and customers that leads to sales order. -​ -​ Prospect(Buyer)  -​ -​  1)​Sales Revenue: -​ The total sales made within a specified period of time. 2)​Customer Acquisition Cost: -It’s a measure of how much it costs to gain a new customer. 3)​Customer LifetimeValue: This metric estimates the total revenue a business can expect from a single customer account. Importance: Understanding CLV helps businesses make informed decisions about how much to invest in acquiring customers and improving customer retention Strategies. What strategies can businesses employ to increase customer Lifetime Value effectively? Instead of relying solely on discounts, businesses can focus on improving customer experience, personalization, loyalty programs, and upselling/cross-selling strategies. For example, offering personalized recommendations based on past purchases, providing exceptional customer service, creating a loyalty program with exclusive benefits, and showcasing the value of  premium products/services can all contribute to increasing Customer Lifetime Value effectively. What insights can businesses gain from calculating Customer Lifetime Value? Customer Lifetime Value helps businesses understand the revenue potential each customer brings over their entire relationship. It allows businesses to prioritize customer acquisition and retention strategies based on the most valuable customers. 4)​ Conversion Rate: -​ This metric shows how well a company is converting interest (leads) into actual sales and helps assess the effectiveness of marketing strategies. 5)​ Customer Churn rate: -Keeping churn low is crucial for maintaining a stable customer base and ensuring long-term profitability. - Customer churn rate means that employee left the company 6)​ Just-In-Time inventory Management -​ JIT inventory management aims to reduce inventory holding costs and improve cash flow by purchasing goods only when required. -​ By eliminating excess stockpiles, JIT enhances production flexibility and responsiveness to customer demand fluctuations. -​ JIT system strengthens relationships with suppliers, fostering collaboration and ensuring timely deliveries to support production schedules -​ Just In Time inventory ---> Maintaining low inventory levels, reducing storage costs and the risk of overstocking---> Materials are ordered and delivered as close as possible to the time they required---> reduce excess inventory -​ Lesson 4 1)​Accounting & Finance: -​ Is concerned with the recording and reporting of financial information to the internal management (manager, Executive officer of the company)and outsider( lenders,bank) -​ If wanna borrow money from the bank, the bank must look at your company’s finance. The higher the money that has borrowed , the higher the interest. 2)​Key Performance Indicators( KPI): 3)​Accounting and finance Job role: 4)​Inventory and Logistics: -Inventory is the stock of item used or produced by the company. -Logistics refers to the exchange of material/resources between an organisation and external entity. ​ Inbound: between the company and its suppliers ​ Outbound: between the company and its customers 5)​Phase of order processing: Order Processing - Managing and fulfilling customer orders through the supply chain. Order processing involves the activities related to receiving, recording, and fulfilling customer orders efficiently and accurately. This process typically includes order entry, order verification, inventory check, order fulfillment, and shipment tracking. Effective order processing is crucial for ensuring customer satisfaction, optimizing inventory levels, and maintaining smooth operations within the supply chain.  Inventory job role: 6)​Warehousing -​ Is a hub in a logistics network where goods are temporarily stored in the network. -​ Typical key measurements in warehousing are: 7)​Revenue centre and cost centre: -Revenue Centre- makes money for the company from product sales or service provided - Cost Centre - maintaining the company that does not produce direct profit and adds to the cost of running a company.  8)​Pivot table: -​ =VLOOKUP (B2:B68,Customer!A2:G68,2,FALSE) -​ B2:B68 - Value to search for, this is in customer columns -​ Customer! - refers to a different worksheet named ‘Customer’ -​ A2:G68 - All the cell -​ 2 - Column number within the Customer!A2:G68 range that Excel should return when it finds a match. -​ FALSE - This specifies an ‘Exact match’ for the lookup. -​ TRUE - is about the same name. -Remove extra space: -Calculate the average: 9)​Difference between logistics and procurement: -​ Logistics refers to the process of planning and implementing and controlling the movement and storage of good and service  -​ Procurement is the process of getting goods from the external supplier -​ you can think of procurement as focusing on getting what the company needs from suppliers and maintaining supplier relationships, while logistics focuses on how those goods are moved and managed throughout the supply chain once they’ve been acquired. 1.​Human Resource & Administration: -​ Concerned with the issues of managing people in the organisation. -​ HR checks on applicant’s job history and check the past history on the applicant. -​ HR checks on social media of the applicants. If they found something unusual or illegal, they might reject the applicant from coming to work in the company KPI in HR management: HR JOB ROLES Information Technology: 1)​Is the used for storing,retrieving, and sending information 2)​Companies rely on IT for the purpose of data processing, fast communications and acquiring market intelligence. KPI of IT: - Job Roles in IT 2) Data Visualization: - Lesson 5 1.Order to cash Process( Definition): -​ It is a high-cost process in the company primarily because if there is a mismanagement of order to cash , it can cost 25% loss of revenue in the company. -​ 30% of the accounting department’s operating cost are spent on managing order to cash process -​ It is directly linked to customer satisfaction. 2. Order to cash Process : -​ Receiving and recording customer sales order via different channels -​ Checking customer credit ranking -​ Fufilling the order if the stocks are available. Otherwise manufacture or purchase from suppliers -​ Pick and pack the goods -​ Delivering the goods/services to the customer -​ Generating invoice, collecting payment and issuing receipt. -​ 3)​Pre-ordering activities: -​ Answer customer inquiries -​ Create Quotation -​ Several quotation maybe combined into one sales order (Sales order include order number, order date, customer information, Product detail) -​ Multiple orders can be generated from single quotation 4)​Order & Credit management: -​ Sales personnels check the availability of the stock with warehouse Department. -​ Sales personnels record and confirm the orders with the customers -​ Sales personnels verify the customer credit with Accounts Department. (This means that the sales personnel will check with the Accounts Department to see whether the customer did pay for their goods on time before approving the customer to pay later.) 5)​Shipping execution: -​ Convert the customer order to Delivery Order(DO) -​ Logistic and warehouse then notify customer of delivery details. -​ Pick and Pack the products for delivery to the customer. 6)​Cash management: -​ The Account department send customer the invoice to track the order and cash owned.( The cash owned refers to the debt from the user. For example: If the customer order product is 1000 dollar and has not paid yet, the invoice will show that the customer owned the company by 1000 dollar) -​ The Sales department may need to deal with dispute issues regarding the quantity and quality of the goods/services.-------> How this related to Cash Management? —--> These dispute can impact the cash flow into the business—--> For example, if the customer received a defected goods, they will report to the sales department which result in a delay in cash, and the company will not have enough money to pay for operating cost. -​ The Accounts department collect payment from the customer and issue receipt.  -​ -​ 7)​Data/ Information Flows Across Different Business Functions: -​ -​  -​ -​ Delivery notes—> A list of delivery details such as delivery number, Date of delivery and Sender information, Details of the goods -​ The purpose of the Delivery note is a proof of delivery and order verification. 8)​Information: -​ Why information is critical for business ? —-->Useful information can be obtained through processing raw data -​ Useful information can help business users by -​ Solve business problems and run day -to -day operations smoothly.---->Real time data enable to spot the issue quickly and tackle it—>It helps to optimize processes—--> Information on inefficiencies helps to streamline workflow. -​ Make better decisions for management—>Analysing trends helps to  make informed decision—--> Information of the market and competitor’s performance helps to make a better decision and a better risk management—> Performance tracker—->metric like revenue growth and employee productivity highlights areas need attention -​ Gain Strategic advantages over competitors -​ Understand the customer’s need, the market trend can helps business to outperform competitors—-> for example, the use of social media can help marketing the product which is a smart way to outform their competitors who are less tech-savvy. -​  -​ 9)​Information system: 10)​ Information and Business Decision Making: -​ Information exchanges with the external environment: -​ Gather intelligence information—-> This refers to the information that are gathered from the competitors or customers that affect the organization—-> For example, the business can gather customer’s feedback or even find out what is the competitor strategies to improve its strategies. -​ Provide public information—> Involves in sharing information with the public such as advertising the products to communicate the organization’s message, build trust or maintain transparency. -​ -​ Information exchanges within the organization: -​ Facilitate decision making—> This means using internal communication and information  sharing to help leaders or even team to make informed decision -​ Facilitate problem solving—> This refers to the use of information to tackle the problem collaboratively. 11)​ Information and business decision: -​ A business decision is a selection among several courses of action—--> In a business, a decision is about choosing the best option among other option. For example, deciding whether to launch a product, expand to a new market will have different potential outcome. -​ Information helps to reduce the uncertainty. With better information, a decision maker is more certain about the outcome of the decision—--> There will be uncertainty such as whether the new product will receive a good amount of profit or bad response.. With the information being provided, the company can foresee bad circumstance and making choice that are less risky. The information can be sale trend, Successful company’s stories or trick to success. 12)​ Level of business management decisions: -​ Business management decisions are made of several levels in an organization -​ Strategic decision -​ Tactical decisions -​ Operational decison 1)​Strategic Decisions: -​ Made by top level managers, Involve setting organization policies, goals and long-term plans, They affect the organization for many years, They tend to be unstructured( unclear with no set rules) -​ Strategic decision tends to be complex, uncertain and usually don’t have routine solution -​ Strategic decision tends to be one-time situation that are new and unfamiliar. For example, entering a new market requires careful thoughts as it doesn’t have any experience to rely on. -​ Strategic decision require judgement and human intuition. Data and information can’t provide answer. Leader must use their creative  thinking and strategy to align with the long term and goal and vision. -​ 2)​Tactical decisions: -​ Made by middle-level managers. -​ Involve implementation of policies,goals and long-term plan. -​ They affect the organization for several months or a few years. -​ They tend to be semi structured. -​ For example, managers source and negotiate rental contracts for location to open 24-hour eatery chain. -​ Tactical decision is something like how to implement the strategy. For this case, negotiate rental contracts for location is a tactical decision as it support the strategic goal -​ Tactical decision helps to achieve the goal within the timeframe -​ Tactical decision is a mixture of both strategic decision and operational constraints( day-to day basis). 3)​Operational decision: -​ Made by lower-level managers. -​ Involve frequent day to day decisions needed in the operation of the organization. -​ They affect the organization of short period of time, such as several days or weeks.  -​ They tend to be very structured ( clear rules and information is unambiguous and easy to specify) -​ For example: Executives plan staff duty roster and order required stock to run the 24-hour eatery chain. 4)​Characteristics of info for management decisions: -​ Two characteristics of information needed for management decision making -​ Source of the information: -​ 1) Internal→ This means the information come from internal sources. For example:If a company is deciding how many workers they should hire, they can look at internal data such as sales trend and workload. -​ 2) External→ This means that the information comes from outside sources. For example, if the company is still deciding whether which location they should start a business in. They can look at the market trend, the venue of the location to see whether if it is crowded anot. -​ Degree of detail of information: -​ 1) Detailed—> Super specific details. For example, A factory manager deciding how to allocate resources for production would need detailed information, like the number of units  produced per hour or the cost of raw materials. -​ 2) Summarized.---> Used for decision that require big-picture perspective. -​ For example, A CEO deciding on the company’s overall strategy might rely on summarized information, like quarterly revenue trends or an executive summary of market analysis. 5)​How to use information to make decisions? 1) Structured decisions: -​ Apply solutions that are readily available from past experiences to solve structured problems -​ Structured problems are ones that are familiar, straightforward, and clear with respect to information need. -​ Best to applied to routine problems that can be anticipated. 2) Non-Structured decision: ​ These are the decisions made to address new, complex and unique problem without any specific solution. It is considered Non-structured because the problem is unusual and highly unexpected. ​ Commonly faced by higher-level management. ​ Lack of proper and clear information to fully understand the situation ​ So the decision maker must rely on their judgement and creativity. ​ ​ ​ Frequency of Decision means the number of time making decisions. ​ Which new product range should we bring into the market? → This means selecting a category of new product that ensure it align with the company goals and market trend “Increase the calcium product percentage in the health supplement product line in next 3 year.” → This means the company is deciding to focus on calcium products as part of its strategy for growth over the next few years.---> This is a strategic decision because it has a long term impact, they have allocate significant resources such as money and time, “Procurement dept, source for 5 new suppliers on calcium”--> This align with the strategic decisions. Tactical decisions is all about determining the step and the action to execute the that strategy “Store manager to redesign the store layout for calcium products and provide brochures in monthly  promotion campaign —> This is day to day basis operation. Lesson 6 1)​Pragmatic definitions -​ describes how something is done in an organization by focusing on the practical aspects of operation. -​ It showcases the day-to-day steps involved, highlighting the sequence and responsibilities of team 2)​Traditional Definition: -​ Focuses on the systematic transformation of inputs into outputs. It emphasizes the logical order and structure of activities involved in converting resources to desired result -​ For example, let’s take baking a cake as an example. It has a recipe and a line of instruction for us to abide to. We will start with some raw materials (the input). And then we will have a set of steps in specific order to turn those materials into something new(the transformation). At the end, you will have the final product( the output). -​ So it focuses on how the process take the input and turn into output. 3)​Comprehensive Definition -​ Views a business process as a network of interconnected activities and buffers with defined boundaries. It utilizes resources to transform inputs into outputs that meets customer requirement. -​ For example, if i wanna make a sandwich, the input will be the ingredients, the series of steps that i make the sandwich is the activity in the  process. The buffers would be the waiting spots such as the places where you have to wait.Buffers are important because they allow the different activities in a process to happen at their own pace, without everything having to be perfectly synchronized. They help smooth out the flow of the process. The resources will be the utensils, the final sandwich is the output. The good customer review will be the customer requirement. 4)​Transformation Type: 5)​Analyze Characteristics of Business Process: -​ Purposeful Activities→ Each activity within a business process is designed to add value in  some way—> The goal is to transform inputs into desired output through a series of meaningful actions -​ Collaborative Nature—-> Can have multiple department working together.----> This collaborative aspect ensures the process benefits from diverse perspectives and capabilities -​ Cross-Functional—> An organization will have different department—> Business processes often involve activities and collaboration across these different functional area.--> For example, a new product development process would require input and participation from the engineering, marketing -​ External Driver→ refers to factors or influences that originate from outside the organization, which then impact and shape the design and execution of business process.---> For example, Customer demands→ The needs, preference and behaviours of customers are a major external driver. Processes must be designed to meet evolving customer requirement such as faster delivery 6)​Components of Process Architecture: Input and Output -​  -​ This is important because that is how to make up an output. The outputs can also be either tangible/ intangible 7)​Components of Process Architecture: Flow unit -​ Flow units are entities that move through a process, carrying information or material -​ -​ For example, In an online shopping process, a flow unit is an order that moves from selection to payment to delivery 8)​Components of Process Architecture: Network of Activities and Buffers -Activities → The steps transforming inputs - Buffers→ storage points that allow activities to operate independently - For example, in an order processing system, ‘ordering’ and ‘shipping’ are activities, while an ‘order queue is a buffers’  -​ ---> represent activity -​ ---> represent buffer How can businesses strategically implement buffers to optimize their production processes effectively? Your response could be improved by providing more specific examples of how IT tools can be used to strategically implement buffers in production processes. For instance, you could mention how real-time data analytics from IT tools can help businesses forecast demand accurately, leading to better inventory management and reduced lead times. 9)​Identify Resources in Business Processes: Tangible Assets -​ Tangible Assets are physical resources used in business processes  -​ 10)​ Identify Resources in Business Processes: Human Resources -​ Human Resources are the people involved in executing business processes -​ 11)​ The importance of Business Process Management -​ Business Process management is crucial for overall success of an organization. It involves designing, managing, and improving business processes to achieve goals and customer satisfaction. -​ Operational Efficiency: BPM streamlines workflows, reduce waste and optimizes resource utilization  -​ Resources Allocation: It enables efficient allocation of personnel, technology, and other resources -​ Consistency and Compliance: BPM establishes standard procedures to ensure consistent processes. -​ Alignment with Organization Goals: BPM ensures processes support initiative and overall organizational objective -​ For example, A company implementing BPM for its customer onboarding process can reduce onboarding time from weeks to days, leading to increased customer satisfaction 12)​ Benefits of Business Process Management: Efficiency -​ Efficiency in business processes means minimizing waste and optimizing resource utilization -​ Business Process Management (BPM) achieves this by: -​ 1) Streamlining workflows: Reducing unnecessary steps -​ 2) Automating tasks: Reducing manual effort -​ 3) Enhancing collaboration: Improving team communication -​ 13)​ Understand Benefits of BPMC: -​ Competitiveness in business means an organization’s ability to outshine rivals in the market -​ BPM enhances competitiveness by: -​ 1) Optimizing efficiency: Reducing cost and increasing productivity -​ 2) Improving quality : Ensuring consistent and high-quality products or services -​ 3) Enhancing customer satisfaction: Providing seamless customer experiences -​ 4) Facilitating innovation: Adapting quickly to market changes. -​ 14)​ Understand benefits of BPM: Growth -​ Growth in business process refers to an organization’s ability to expand its operations while maintaining efficiency and quality -​ BPM supports growth by: -​ 1) Scalability ( Enabling processes to handle increased volume without compromising performance) -​ 2) Adaptability( Allowing processes to adjust to changing market demands) -​ For example, A nike shoes store experiencing high number of orders, they can adopt  scalability in order to overcome the large sum of orders. 15)​ IT and business processes -​ IT systems and tools can: -​ 1) Support Processes: IT automates and streamlines various process activities, reducing manual effort and improving efficiency. -​ 2) Enhance Process Visibility: IT provide data and analytics that give managers better visibility into how processes are performing. 16)​ Understand the Role of IT in supporting Business Processes: -​ 1) Automating Tasks: IT systems can automate manual steps, reducing errors and increasing efficiency. -​ 2) Managing data: IT tools centralize and organize data -​ 3) Optimizing workflows: IT allows for efficient sequence of activities, minimizing bottleneck 17)​ Analyze the impact of IT on Process Visbility: -​ Process visibility means having a clear understanding of how a business process operates. -​ IT tools(Oracle BPM Suite) greatly enhance visibility by tracking and displaying process data in real time. This enables managers to identify bottlenecks, monitor performance, and make informed decision.  -​ For example, an e-commerce company might use a system that shows the exact status of each order,revealing delays or efficiency issue. -​ Benefits of enhanced process visibility: 1)​Improved efficiency 2)​Fast problem-solving 3)​Optimized resource allocation 4)​Data-driven decision making(make an informed decisions based on the available process data) 18) Business Process Modelling Notation(BPMN): -​ Is a standardized method for modelling business processes using visual diagrams -​  -​ -​ The supplier is the pool, the manufacturing is the swimlane. 19) Define BPMN: Standardization and Maintenance -​ Is standardized language for visually representing business processes. -​ This ensures consistency and facilitates clear communication between technical and business stakeholders. 20) Purpose of BPMN: Communication and Training -​ The purpose of BPMN is to facilitate clear communication and training surrounding business process. -​ To grasp the steps and responsibilities instantly, unlike a lengthy paragraph. This ensures alignment and eliminates confusion.  -​ 21) Understand the key elements of BPMN: Pools and Lanes -​ Pools represent independent participants -​ Lanes separate specific roles or departments within each pool -​ -​ Customer is one pool without lanes while sales department pool has distinct lane for “Sales Management” and “Joan Doe” indicating their separate roles 22) Understand key elements of BPMN: Flow objects  -​ -​ -​ The image shows how these flow objects combine to create a process, as seen in steps like “Interview customer”( activity), “Legal entity or individual” (gateway), and “Business relation ended”(event) 23) Understand key Elements of BPMN: Connectors -​ Sequence Flows: Solid lines that indicate step-by-step order between activities within a lane -​ Message Flows: Dotted lines that show communication between pools  -​ 24) Examine Examples of BPMN Elements: Activities -​ -​  -​ Package goods is the simple Task, “Decide if Normal Post” is the sub-process, and “Request Quotes from carriers” Is the Complex task 25) Examine Examples of BPMN Elements: Events: -​ -​ Consider consecutive processes A-B-C, where process A has a capacity of 20 units per hour, process B has a capacity of 25 units per hour, and process C has a capacity of 30 units per hour. Where would an operations manager, with some understanding of TOC, want any buffer inventory? in front of process A. in front of process B. in front of process C. inventory should not exist anywhere. The answer will be A. Because A is the bottleneck. Bottleneck never runs out of material to process.If process A stops, the entire system’s output is affected because no downstream process can work without input from A. In a business process, resources are ________. people or computer applications that are assigned to roles In a business process, resources are people or computer applications that are assigned to roles because resources are the entities that perform or support tasks to achieve specific business objectives. Why? 1.​Roles Define Responsibilities: ○​ Roles specify what needs to be done in a process (e.g., approving a request, entering data). Resources (people or systems) are assigned to these roles based on their skills or capabilities. Process trigger is the event or action that initiates the process. The trigger is the event that starts the sequence of steps to fufill the customer order. Lesson 8: 1)​Data: -​ Raw facts 2)​Information: -​ Value-added data -​ Collection of facts organized in such a way that they have additional value beyond the value of the facts themselves. 3)​Process: -​ Set of logical related tasks performed to achieve a defined outcome Information System: -​ A set of electronic components that collect,analyze and disseminate data and information to meet an “objective”. -​ Contains information about an organization and its surrounding environment 5 Components of information systems: 1)​Hardware: -​ Consists of computer equipment used to perform input, processing, and output activities -​ Such as computers, keyboards,mouse  -​ Examples of input devices are keyboards, mice and other pointing devices and scanners -​ Examples of output devices are printers and computer screens. 2)​Software: -​ A set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do. -​ 3)​Databases: -​ An organized collection of facts and information. -​ An organization’s database can contain facts and information on customers, employees. 4)​People: -​ Most important element in most information systems -​ Business users who use this. Such as, cEO, Finance Dept, Sales Dept. 5)​Procedures: -​ Include the strategies, policies, methods and rules for using the IS. -​ Operating procedures are used to operate the system, data entry,  communication,maintenance, back up and error recovery Role of Information systems in Business. -​ Businesses invest heavily in Information Systems to achieve six strategic business goals -​ 1. Operational excellence: -​ To make the organization well-oiled to run smoothly with minimum waste and errors and improved efficiency -​ Hence Higher productivity and lower cost. -​ Operational excellence can achieved through: -​ 1) Increased competencies among employees with key skills -​ 2) Greater employee engagement and satisfaction -​ 3) Enhanced accountability by individual team members -​ 2) Customer and supplier relationship: -​ When a business really know its customers and serves them well, the customers generally respond by returning and purchasing more -​ Likewise with suppliers, the more a business engages its suppliers, the better the suppliers can provide vital input. This lowers costs -​ Lesson 9 1)​Qualitative data -​ Is a descriptive content -​ For example, warm, cold, thin, fats, good, bad 2)​Quantitative data: -​ Numerical content that an be counted or measure or apply mathematical formula on -​ For example, Quantity, Length, weight, Height, Age, Days, Hours -​ For example, Sum of quantity—> Weights of A - Weight of B 3)​Capturing Data-Manual(Using pen and paper) 4)​Capturing data using System: -​ One of the example will be Sales Data. Sales data usually record data on sales performance and includes customer purchase detail -​ Another example will be inventory data. It is data that related to inventory details including description, Quantities, Unit Cost. -​ Another example will be HR data. This contains data on personnel and employment detail. Other HR data includes: Leave applications, Claims applications, Payroll 5)​Information: -​ Is data that is shaped into a form relevant to people -​ Is organized and arranged which lead to meaningful interpretation and action. -​ Information supports the business decision making and cause of action such as replenish the stock once the inventory level runs below the threshold level  -​ Information illustrates how the business process is running, hence helps to improve the business process 6)​Role of Data and Information In business process: 7)​What Happens Without Information? -​ Do Not have a clear picture how business is doing -​ Unable to make informed business decisions for long-term planning and expansion. Competitors with better useful information will have the advantage over his business. 8)​PDPA and Spam Control: Lesson 11 1)​System -​ Is a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements or components( e.g people, processes, technology) that function together as a whole to accomplish a goal. -​ A system: -​ 1) Accepts input -​ 2) Processes input using people and technology -​ 3)Produces output 2)​Definition of Information System: -​ System is a group of interacting, interrelated or independent elements( e.g people,processes) that function together as a whole to accomplish a goal -​ Information: An organized, meaningful and useful interpretation of data.