Organizational Structure and Functional Information Systems
1.
The most common organizational structure is the functional structure. The evolution of the functional structure can be traced back in the 20th century when the advent of the large organization began emerging and scholars attempted to identify different types of structures that these organizations employed to execute their operations. The functional structure of the organization was established with the main aim to organize workers into various departments according to their functions. It, therefore, distributes specific individuals and places them in different departments according to their specializations (Gibson, 2010). Functional organizational structure entails processes that structure each department with roles according to the individuals or groups knowledge in the specific field. The functional unit always reports to a higher management who controls the functions that the groups are handling, the management is much like an oversight body that functions to maintain smooth operations in all the groups or individuals in the organization (Jones & Burger, 2011).
In the 21st century organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of functional organization structure and taking the approach to realize the objectives of the organization. The functional organizational structure allows the organization to group similar employees who have a similar area of specifications and skill set, therefore production and innovation in this kind of structure are made efficient hence there will be higher quality from individuals and groups who can contribute their ideas and have a common goal (Markovic, 2012). Additionally functional communication aids in effective communication, as explained earlier there is chain of command that exists in the functional type of management, this chain of command will not be possible if the communication between the manager and the employees is not effective and smooth, therefore communication with functional structure is made straightforward, the manager is able to communicate and give order to the employees in various departments, on the other hand, the employees are able to consult the management on various issues.
2.
Functional information system defines a system that is structured to provide an organization with detailed information for a specific type of activity or related group of activities, these specific types of activity n organizations might be categories according to the department, for instance, department of marketing, finance or management. Functional information systems are crucially essential to the organizations especially if the organization utilizes the functional organizational structure approach (Becker, Rosemann, & Von Uthmann, 2010). Firstly, decision making highly relies on functional information systems, this is because for any group or individual in the organization to make any decision they will require all the information from all the department, therefore the management can analyze the provided information from the systems to make final decisions, failure to have concrete information can lead to poor decisions (Laudon & Laudon, 2002).
Enterprise Information Systems
However, the main drawbacks of Functional organization structure include:
- System breakdowns – this is when the systems that feed the organization with important information failed to work, consequently interrupting smooth operations of the entire organization.
- Vulnerability – the advent of technological functional information systems has brought immense risks, hackers and fraudsters can compromise important information leading to the risk of losing customers and secret information.
3.
Enterprise information system involves enterprises laid down structures that provide information to the entire organization. The main aim of EIS is to enhance the functions and operations of the enterprise hence increase the business productivity (Recker, Rosemann, Indulska & Green, 2009).
The difference between enterprise information systems and functional information systems is that enterprise information systems are somewhat complex hence they deal with large volumes of data for the enterprise, additionally, Enterprise information systems can be employed in all the departments of the entire organizations while functional information systems can only be used in various departments. On the other hand, Functional information systems can only be used to manage and provide small volumes of data that is not very sensitive to the organization as compared to Enterprise information systems (Laudon & Laudon, 2002).
4.
The functional view involves various departments’ functions or rather operations that will do something, on the other hand, the process-oriented involves what functions need to be done. The functional view involves the intervention of various departments since the processes are performed by the experts who are professionals in their various fields. The functions might involve various departments such as the management, the sales department, the purchasing, and supply department to the production department. On the other hand, the process involves the processes order entry the buying of raw materials then manufacturing and delivering of products.
5.
There- way match process is a procedure used for processing vendor invoices to ensure that a certain payment is complete and accurate, the main aim of the procedure is to highlight any discrepancies in three important documents in the purchasing process , the documents include the order receipts, purchase orders, invoices, packing slips and other purchase and sales documents, the main importance of the procedure is to save businesses from overspending or paying for an item that they did not receive (Zur Muehlen & Recker, 2013).
The significance of using the three-way procedure is to ensure optimal vendor relations and save the business money, business money can be verified by maintaining documents and information additionally the professional orders respect the significance of purchase documents and invoices and create a relationship that maintains the business among the vendors and the businesses.
6.
Bill of material comprises of profound description that includes part names part numbers part revisions and the materials quantity required to build an assembly. Product routing on the other hands describes the processes and sequence of operations performed on the job from one machine to the other until the production of the product. The main aim for routing is to establish the specific path for the product, in most cases; an optimized supply chain requires a precise and constantly refined production routing.
Functional View and Process-oriented View
7.
The problems associated with manual paper-based processing are many. However, these problems have been solved by the automated processes. One of the major problems of this paper-based process is lost paperwork when paperwork lost important information can be lost and cost the entire organization, additionally; paper-based processes might pose risks of a high number of discrepancies and exception (Silver, 2011).
Most organizations have intervened with different methods to outsmart the traditional paper-based methods, these methods have been replaced by automated invoicing methods which save time and make every operation in the organizations efficient and reliable, and the advantages of the automated systems are increasingly getting noticed by big organizations hence they attract a customer base that develops a perfect customer relations.
8.
Made to Order is a process where a client orders a particular machine. When a consumer orders for an item the machine is programmed to respond to the customer’s request. The use of made to order purchasing processes is mainly used in fast foods and beverages. A customer can make a request according the specific thing he/she wants, in the recent decades the purchasing processes have extended to offering other goods such as clothes, shoes and accessories. On the other hand made-to-stock strategy defines products manufactured to be stored in a particular ware house for supply. The products are made to the forecasts and specifications of the consumers.
The benefits of made-to-order are molly enjoyed by the consumers hence the products are designed according to the customer’s preferences; however the business in addition enjoys the benefits of customer’s retention and customer satisfaction.
The advantages of stock to order is that the business will have ready products for the consumer, therefore if the consumer asks for the product at any time it is readily available.
Major disadvantages of made-to-order is that the manufacturers have low supply of products that are ready to sell, additionally the customers who have ordered customized products have to wait longer which might delineate customer satisfaction. Secondly there is more wastage experienced in made to order strategy.
The limitations of made to stock is that the strategy is not stable. This makes it hard for the consumer to predict which stock of products is available or not.
9.
The integration of economies and different markets globally defines globalization; the concept of globalization has increasingly gained more recognition following the advent of technology and communication. In large enterprises and small businesses globalization has had massive positive impacts, one of the major benefits organizations have enjoyed due to globalization is the removal of trade barriers, further globalization acknowledges the concept of competition in organizations which is considered a healthy aspect, organizations that exist in a competitive environment are able to create more innovative strategies and achieve their objectives (Giaglis, 2011).
The Three-Way Match Process
Most organizations have responded positively towards globalization. The organizations have therefore recognized the increased development in the global economy, in the 21st century organizations have acknowledged their urge and desire to explore new markets which is facilitated by globalization, by so doing the organizations will be able to expand internally and engage with different state governments as well as considering the inclusivity of diverse workplace and creating more employment opportunities.
10.
A product is considered to have several views when the product detail page is viewed many times by potential customers. The emergence of online marketing and online shopping platforms has brought about the adoption and the use of product views. The product views facilitate the use and importance of a product, when a product has many view s potential consumers especially the laggards will have the desire to look at the trending product and chances are they will make a purchase decision. The product detail page provides the customer with profound details of the product, such as the size, the colour and the design, therefore the customer will look at the product and choose to buy or not. (SAS/OR 9.22 user’s guide, 2010).
11.
Master data refers to the data that does not adjust or change. Master data maintains the same trend for a long time (Loshin, 2009).
Examples
- Material: XXM01 XXM02 XXM03.
- Vendor: Product 13, Product 14, Product 15
- Customer: Ref 001, Ref 002, Ref 003
Transactional data involves the transactions carried out by the Consumers and Vendors. Examples include; Purchases Orders, Sales receipts, Deliveries, and Invoices.
Organizational data gives the description of the central features of an organization. The internal characteristics and processes behave as corporate. Organization data act differently from economic and social context.
Examples
Re-ordering data, analyzing data, structured data, unstructured data and physical record data
12.
There are four common material types in SAP ERP, the material types include:
Raw materials (ROH) –these are materials that are used to make semi-refined goods. They directly come from the source thence considered raw.
Semi-finished goods (HALB) – These are goods produced from raw materials and are used to produce finished goods.
Finished Goods (FERT) – This are goods that are ready for consumption.
References
Becker, J., Rosemann, M., & Von Uthmann, C. (2010). Guidelines of business process modeling. In Business Process Management (pp. 30-49). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Giaglis, G. M. (2011). A taxonomy of business process modeling and information systems modeling techniques. International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems, 13(2), 209-228.
Gibson, V. (2010). Property portfolio dynamics: the flexible management of inflexible assets. Facilities, 18(3/4), 150-154..
Jones, P., & Burger, J. (2011). Configuring SAP ERP Financials and Controlling. Hoboken: Sybex [Imprint].
Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2002). Management information systems. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Loshin, D. (2009). Master data management. Amsterdam [u.a.]: Morgan Kaufmann OMG Press/
Markovic, I. (2012). U.S. Patent No. 8,326,795. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Recker, J., Rosemann, M., Indulska, M., & Green, P. (2009). Business process modeling-a comparative analysis. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(4), 1.
SAS Institute. (2010). SAS/OR 9.22 user’s guide. Cary, NC.Elsevier.
Silver, B. (2011). BPMN Method and Style, with BPMN Implementer’s Guide: A structured approach for business process modeling and implementation using BPMN 2.0 (p. 23). Aptos: Cody-Cassidy Press.
Zur Muehlen, M., & Recker, J. (2013). How much language is enough? Theoretical and practical use of the business process modeling notation. In Seminal Contributions to Information Systems Engineering (pp. 429-443). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
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