Finals Question # 5

Question:

1. Describe or define Virtual Office.

Answer:

A virtual office or V.O. is typically a managed telephone answering or email response service that receives and routes telephone or email messages on behalf of a small business and may provide some initial scripted response to a query.

Question:

2. Distinguish Virtual Office from MIS.

A virtual office or V.O. is typically a managed telephone answering or email response service that receives and routes telephone or email messages on behalf of a small business and may provide some initial scripted response to a query while MIS is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy

Question:

3. Illustrate (give examples) how Virtual Office can improve company's competitive advantage and organizational performance.

Answer:

Features:

Universal access - The user can access data in the same way at work, at home, on the road, in a meeting room at the hotel, etc..
Security - The data are no longer stored on the hard disk of a computer, which can be stolen, lost, be the target of a computer virus, etc.. In case of problems, the data are preserved.
Opening - While traditional software focus on an organization, the virtual office allows the inter-organization collaboration.
Location model - Instead of paying a license, the user pays a monthly or annual fee. Some publishers offer a free basic version.

Self-employed individuals operating as limited liability companies, or small businesses with only a few employees and little to no scope for having a receptionist or other customer service administrators, will often use this service - especially when starting up the business and wanting to create a presence as well as assure that all customer contact is captured. However some large Insurance businesses, with a high count of mobile employees, will have a sophisticated virtual office service that takes and routes calls and messages to employees - and may answer some initial inquiries on behalf of the business. In this latter sense, the virtual office complements working from home (aka "telecommuting") and other forms of remote working where having an office permanently available is not essential to operating a business.


Cite your reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_office
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_Information_System

Rejie G. Abayon

Posted by ROSILIE at 10:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: Finals Questions

Finals Question #4

Question:

1. Describe or define DSS.

Answer:

DSS - are a specific class of computerized information systems that supports business and organizational decision-making activities. A properly-designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.

Question:

2. Distinguish DSS from MIS.

DSS are a specific class of computerized information systems that supports business and organizational decision-making activities. A properly-designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions while MIS is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy.


Question:

3. Illustrate (give examples) how DSS can improve company's competitive advantage and organizational performance.

Anwer:

A specific example concerns the Canadian National Railway system, which tests its equipment on a regular basis using a decision support system. A problem faced by any railroad is worn-out or defective rails, which can result in hundreds of derailments per year. Under a DSS, CN managed to decrease the incidence of derailments at the same time other companies were experiencing an increase.

Cite your reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_support_system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_Information_System



Rejie Abayon - BSC-MA 3

Posted by ROSILIE at 10:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: Finals Questions

Finals Question #3

Identify and describe one company that adopts an MIS. Include in your discussion, how MIS helps and supports the company, its managers and other employees, in their problem solving and decision-making.

Do this in two paragraphs at least. COPYING OF TEXTS IS DEFINITELY NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Company name: MARITIME INDUSTRIAL SERVICES CO. LTD. INC.


Established in the Middle East since 1979, Maritime Industrial Services Co. Ltd. Inc. (MIS) enjoys continued success in the petroleum-related construction and services industry. As one of the leading contractors in the Middle East, providing a full line of engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, safety, operating, and maintenance services to the oil, gas, petrochemical, power generation, marine, and heavy industries, MIS recognizes client needs and aggressively develops quality, economical services and products to satisfy those needs. Our customer-driven approach to quality has proven successful, but more so, it is our ability to remain flexible in an ever changing market that enables us to expand our customer base and cultivate long-lasting, mutually beneficial customer relationships.

MIS really helps in this company with track record growth management. MIS also forges ahead in the Middle East and beyond, strengthening existing customer relationships, cultivating new ones, and targeting a broader international market.

Because of the MIS they can deliver what the customer wants, when the customer wants it, how the customer wants it, every time.

Above all MIS maintains a strong market position and remains poised for future growth.


Cite your reference.
http://www.miscoltd.com/

Posted by ROSILIE at 10:44 PM 0 comments
Labels: Finals Questions

Finals Question #2

A company may adopt specific computerized database system according to their unique needs after thorough MIS planning. However, it has to be noted that MIS if properly planned, and implemented, benefits can be immeasurable on the other hand, if this is misused, then it may mean information or financial losses and opportunity and resources wasted.

From this, answer the following.

Question:
1.0.a Research one international company from the Internet and describe their MIS strategic plan in 1-2 paragraphs.

Answer: Company Name: Honda Corporation -UK

MIS Strategic Plan:

Honda UK uses "Backstel System" in their IT system. The system is doing great in their business. But the company's Manager of Operations Support, Dave Jenner strategic plan is to improve the services that they offer and this was found from another supplier - Experian Payments UK Gateway.

Question:
1.0.b Discuss too the impact of this strategic plan on the company's management,
competitors, customers and the company as a whole.

Answer:

With the use of Experian Payments UK Gateway, Honda is getting more advantage over it's competitor by serving faster and no hassle and provide right information at the right time to it's customers as well as to it's employees and management.

Question
2.0.a Evaluate how can this strategic plan be applied to any local company in the Philippines.

Obviously this type of system can be applicable in the motor industry in the Philippines yet this system is just so sophisticated and very costly for this time. And the motor business in the Philippines is not as busy as in the UK. But if this will be applied in then it will be a very advantage of a certain company.

2.0.b Discuss too the possible effect on the company.

Answer:

This will shorten the process and the collection of payment will be faster and as a whole and it will impact on the profitability of the company.

3.0.a What is an Accounting Information System?

Answer:
-is the system of records a business keeps to maintain its accounting system. This includes the purchase, sales, and other financial processes of the business.

Question:

3.0.b Identify or list down different accounting information systems used.

Answer:
-purchase system
-sales system,
-payroll system
-and other financial processes of the business.

Question:
3.0.c What are the benefits by the management, users and customers derived from these AIS?

Answer:

-Speed
-Automatic document production
-Accuracy
-Up-to-date information
-Availability of information
-Management information
-Legibility
-Efficiency
-Staff motivation
-Cost savings
-Reduce frustration
-The ability to deal in multiple currencies easily

Question:
3.0.d Cite any threat or misuse of these AIS by a specific company. How were the threats addressed? What were the damages?

Answer:
There are serious attacks possible against our financial reporting system, financial markets, and economy. Scarce resources, including time and money, are being embezzled, misappropriated, or diverted. Investor confidence has been shaken and management has become pessimistic about the future. The government has responded with costly regulation and increased oversight of the executive management and the accounting profession. Information security is experiencing dramatically increased threats.


Include your reference.
http://www.tuition.com.hk/computerized-accounting.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5346/is_200705/ai_n21288682/

Due: Monday
Posted by ROSILIE at 11:14 PM 0 comments
Labels: Finals Questions

Finals Question#1

For those who are not working, research one company in the net who is using computerized database systems. Describe the use and/or nature of these systems and describe too the benefits/disadvantages from these systems. Include your reference.

Company name: San Miguel Corporation
Hyperion Enterprise 6.0 Networking Environment
Citrix® MetaFrame® Presentation Server running on two HP ML 570 servers
Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0 Terminal Server
128kbps leased line

Key Benefits:
-Extended key application access to partner company cost-effectively and without impacting performance.
-80 percent reduction in annual hardware investment costs.
-Enabled upgrading or installing applications in five minutes
-Slashed IT team’s travel requirements by 240 percent Applications Deployed
Quantum Treasury.

ADVANTAGE:
-stable
-robust
-easy to use
DISADVANTAGE:
-costly



Reference:
http://www.citrix.com/English/aboutCitrix/caseStudies/caseStudy.asp?storyID=13259

MIDTERM QUESTION #3

Internet if properly maximized can be used as a medium to the advantage of the company. However, risks and threats are there. Thus, research the following:

Question:
1. Identify the possible risk and threats (eg. virus) that can potentially attack a company with internet connection.

- Virus
- Hackers
- spam
- phishing
- spyware
- adware

2. Case Research and Analysis

Question:
2.1 Identify one company that had experienced an attacked from the internet.

Answer:
- MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Question:
2.2 Describe the attack.

Answer:
- The new virus, named Zindos, piggybacks on the success of the recent MyDoom.O virus. Zindos compromises computers infected with the earlier virus and is programmed to visit the Microsoft home page every 50 milliseconds.
- Zindos is spread from infected computer to infected computer, via a "back-door" in the MyDoom.O virus. That opening allows Zindos to bypass other virus protections and infect a computer. It then uses the comprised machine to attack the Microsoft site and search for other computers to infect.
- The virus affects Windows systems but not computers running the Linux or Apple operating systems.

Question:
2.3 Identify the damages done and the solutions adopted to reverse the damages and to protect the company from future threats.

Answer:
- So far, the Microsoft web site appears to be unaffected by the attack. In a statement released on Wednesday, Microsoft said it had "taken steps" to ensure its Web site remains online.
- Computers users who suspect they might have a compromised machine can download a free removal tool from Symantec's web site.

References;

http://www.newsnet5.com/technology/3591836/detail.html

MIDTERM QUESTION #2

Question #1. Research 1 Philippine Company and 1 International company that have employed e-commerce.

Answer:
Metro Bank

Question #2. Describe how e-commerce operate in these companies.

Answer:

IBM Internet Security Systems will deploy the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) security solution that will require users to provide a second means of identification in order to obtain access to Metrobank's online banking service. Under the 2FA system the authentication process is getting more advanced while requiring a second means of identification through a security token. This protects clients against evolving online banking threats.

Question #3. Identify the benefits/ constraints/ derived by these companies from e-commerce.

Benefits:

- Advance identification through a security token.
- better customer service.

Constraints:

- Very Costly


References:

http://www.ecommerce-journal.com/news/12520_secure_e_banking_promoted_by_metrobank_and_ibm

Midterm Question #1

MNC's are complex organizations however, they dominate the worldwide market. Knowing the background and nature of MNC's, answer the following:

Question 1:Identify the benefits and disadvantages of MNC's.

Answer:

Advantages:

• Gaining a strong foothold into the international market



• Low-cost locations



• Cheaper labor costs



• Cheaper raw materials and distribution costs



• Taking advantage of the many tax breaks offered by foreign countries



• Access to new technologies and methods



• Availability of government grants

Disadvantages:

• Trade restrictions imposed at the government-level



• Taxes or tariffs imposed on imports from other countries



• Limited quantities (quotas) of imports



• Effective management of a globally dispersed organization

Question 2: Identify one MNC company and describe its operation.

Answer:

Amway Corporation. As one of the world’s largest direct-sales organizations, Amway has more than 3 million distributors who sell about 450 nutrition, cosmetic and home care products. The DeVos and Van Andel families own Amway and its parent company, Alticor. Richard DeVos Sr. and his wife have long been top campaign contributors, personally giving more than $760,000 in individual contributions during the 2000 election cycle alone, all to Republicans. Amway lobbies on tax issues and on free trade, as 70 percent of the company’s business is done overseas.

Question 3: Describe how the parent control/coordinates with its subsidiaries in other countries or region.

Answer:

Alticor Corporation has lot of subsidiaries including the Amway Corporation. To control the operation in supplying its subsidiaries around the globe. Alticor develop one company - Access Business Group. Access Business Group was formed to develop, manufacture, and distribute products for Alticor companies, as well as to develop and produce contract manufactured products. Due to this vast number of products, Access needed quick access to the thousands of documents they produced: designs, specifications, user manuals, and sales brochures.

Question 4: How is IT maximized or used by this MNC?

Answer:

ARMONK, NY - 16 Nov 2007: Amway Corporation has selected a virtualized IBM (NYSE: IBM) server infrastructure for a worldwide rollout of Oracle's enterprise resource planning applications, the company announced today. The decision to run the applications on hundreds of virtual servers -- rather than an equivalent number of physical boxes -- is expected to provide a significant savings in energy, software and labor costs, Amway said.

The Oracle e-Business Suite applications -- including order entry, financials and shipping -- will be deployed on multiple System p systems, with logical partitions ranging from three to thirty on any given frame. Running the AIX operating system, these machines will handle production, development, test, and quality assurance functions and will serve organizations throughout the company globally.
"The IBM System p servers will be vital to running Amway's business, as they enable our independent business owners to order and receive product," said Randy Gast, supervisor, server technology, Amway. "The System p virtualized platform has been rock-solid, secure and extremely flexible."
"The Amway solution demonstrates how IBM's leadership in virtualization technology through Advanced Power Virtualization is helping customers consolidate their data centers and reduce energy and maintenance expenses in the process," said Scott Handy, vice president of marketing and strategy, IBM Power Systems. "System p servers provide customers with the performance, high availability and scalability they need to run their businesses most efficiently."

Question 5: What were the weaknesses/problems encountered by this MNC from its environment and global setup?

Answer:

Multi-level marketing in America is not new. Amway (Alticor) is one of the pioneering direct-selling companies started in 1959 in Ada, Michigan, USA. Founded by two bestfriend name Rich De Vos and Jay Van Andel. Inspite of the great success of this company still there are lot of critics they receive.Some commented that this company is a cult, scam and the like.

In United Kingdom, Amway UK is finding problem in commerce because the government won't allow its practices even though its there for quire a long time but still the company is trying to do the best things to protect it's independent business distributors and the proctection of it's name.

Cite your reference:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_multinational_businesses
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000111

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22629.wss

DUE: Wed.

Posted by ROSILIE at 10:31 PM 0 comments

Prelims Question 2

An organization may adopt a closed-system or open-system model. Answer the following:

Question #1. Discuss the pro's and con's of each model.

Answer:

Cost

Pros: Source codes are like keys to programmers. By exposing the source codes, programmers can improve, modify and tweak any part of the software. This could reduce development time that translates into lower costs. As OSS is freely distributed, programmers are also able to use this software for their benefits. From this aspect, OSS is free to the extent of having the source codes.

Cons: Although the source codes are provided, there are hidden costs that do not come with the software. Programmers will have to be familiar with integrating open source with other proprietary software. Middleware might be needed in many instances. This gives additional cost. Novice users are also unfamiliar with the bugs and fixes that often occur in OSS. They also need to pay for customer support service or even documentation and manuals.

Functionalities
Pros: The functionalities of OSS are beginning to rival that to commercial software. This is because the global community of programmers and users have a hand in improving the software. In some cases, the OSS offers more functionality.

Cons: Being free comes with hidden cost. In similar fashion, functionalities bring about bugs and usability issues. Users will find the software patches a hassle in OSS. Those who are familiar with commercial software like Microsoft may not get used to the user interface of Open Office. This involves re-learning new software and incurring switching cost.

Sustainability

Pros: One of the greatest things in OSS is the continuous contribution and effort from programmers. Bear in mind that these programmers are improving the software at their own time and cost. They are not being paid in anyway. It is their passion that drives the growth of the software like parents watching their children. Thus, the development of software will be moving at an amazing pace with a large community as compared to commercial software.

Cons: On the other hand, OSS faces major issues in backward compatibility, project management and customer support. Can OSS sustain and compete against commercial software? As most OSS grows from contributions from online community, resources are limited. There is also a need to manage the long-term vision of the software. Customers would demand support and help in using OSS.

OSS is a great threat to commercial software. Commercial software companies never expect that source codes would be freely distributed. Although OSS is "free", users expect more than just the source codes. Documentations, manuals and customer support could incur the additional cost. Switching cost will also comes in the form of training as most users are used to the functionalities of commercial software. Hence, new way has been introduced in the form of commercial open source to address the cons from OSS. In this way, consumers could have the best of both worlds.

Question #2. Cite a company that uses any of this model. Describe briefly how this chosen model affect the entire company.

Answer:

Company: Linux

Linux use open source system to streamline their operation especially in different places and it works great for them. It also brings the company a sense of security.

It made the company grow and faster in information gathering and more linkages developed.


Question #3. Evaluate how an environment affects the organization and its management. Discuss the pro's and con's of not responding to the demands of the environment.

Answer:

The key to successful internal control is having a control environment that sets a tone of integrity which influences the ethical and control consciousness of employees. Strong control environment supported by an ethical tone at the top is the cornerstone of a system of internal controls. Without consideration of the environment, any company may collapse in the future. Sometimes the environment dictates what style of management will be taken.

Therefore environment has the role on the rise and fall of organization and the management.

Pro's:

Responding to the demand of the environment does not guarantee to success of ones company sometimes it depends of the people it has and strategic style of the management.

Con's:

Environment is serving as the feedback instrument, management could gather enough information to analyze the demands of the stakeholders. Not responding to the environment in the long run could not compete with other companies who are up to date in short become obsolete

References: yahoo.com

Rejie G. Abayon



DUE: Friday

Posted by ROSILIE at 8:10 PM 0 comments

Prelim Question # 1

Question # 1 :

How do you perceive information as a resource of a company?

Answer:

Information Age was known during 20th Century this mark the shift from the traditional industry. Today skills and talents are not enough resources to become successful in different arena, you need to be informative. For business company information is treated as one of their important asset. It helps the managers in making wise decision and strategies for achieving their objectives and goals.

Surviving a business in a very competitive world and crisis acquiring the right information is the key to success because the more they are informative the more options you have.