Hi5019 Strategic Information Systems- Acquisition Assessment Answers

Part 1

1. The current organizational structure
2. What operational problems (e.g., inefficiency, errors) do you think the organisation could experience because of this structure?
3. What is the most likely system acquisition method— commercial software, custom software, or ERP?
4. Describes and prepare a system flowchart of the sales procedures for the chosen organisation (company)
5. Identify any control problems in the system and what sorts of fraud are possible in this system?

Part 2

1. Development and adoption of the accounting software packages,
2. The current market size,
3. Identify the leaders in the market and what gives them the competitive advantage,
4. Identify the current gaps or challenges encountered by users or customers of accounting software/packages and make relevant suggestions or recommendations.

Answer:

Introduction

An organization is composed of numerous entities and departments. The functioning of a company is not run by a single module or a single department; however, a close knitted unit is necessary. Some such departments are absolutely necessary and some are included as add-ons in the company. Accounts department and activities come in the departments that are essential and mandatory. Organizations of the past and present have this department present in their units. Earlier, accounts department was identified by the presence of many paper documents in the form of accounting files which were difficult to manage. Nowadays, the number of files have only increased; however, there storage and management has changed with the use of IT tools and processes. There are integrated packages provided for banks, financial corporations and firms, stand-alone users etc. for accounts related activities.

Background of the Organization   

The buzzword in the present market is online shopping and retailing. Use and expansion of e-commerce has led to the emergence of many firms and companies with Woolworths Limited being one such unit. It deals in the area of online retailing by selling groceries to the people of Australia.

The owners of the company come at the top level in the organizational structure followed by the CEO and the Board of Directors. Thereafter, the managers and heads of the departments are placed and the respective teams are placed under each of these managers and leaders (Woolworths, 2017).

Issues with Current Organizational Structure 

The placement of entities has been done as per their authority and association with the organization. The owners of Woolworths have the highest authority in terms of decision making and their implementation and have therefore been placed at the top. The operational staff has a very limited role in terms of authority and has been placed at the last level. Due to this structure, there are occurrences wherein the resources do not contribute to the maximum of their abilities. The required integration among the resources is also believed to be missing (Henderson, 2004).

System Acquisition Techniques

There are in-house development processes that are used by many organizations for developing the software. There are also off-the-shelf processes such as packaged purchasing, custom software, and ready to use software and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages that can be acquired (Mallery, 2011). The last option of ERP will be apt for Woolworths as it will provide the connectivity between the modules, resources and departments (Yang & Tamir, 2015).

Sales Process: System Flowchart

                                                                                 Woolworths: Sales Process

The positive aspects that are associated with the sales process are that there is a phased approach that is used. This makes the activities and their execution simpler and easy to be done. However, there are problems in terms of flow of activities and their necessity as per the requirements of the organization. There are certain activities that are missing such as review, inspection and automation in many cases (Gulledge, 2002).

Control Issues & Frauds

Because of the lack of automation in the sales activities that are stated and discussed above, there are also many errors and deviations that take place. These deviations are in terms of the control issues as the manual control, management and monitoring is not easy to execute. There are issues with the evaluation scheme that is used due to which many of the internal employees take advantage and cause malicious activities in terms of information leakage and breach (Mohapatra & Patnaik, 2011).

Adoption & Development 

There has been a great degree of development that can be seen in the field of accounting and the development has been in adherence to the changes in the technology. Evolution in terms of technology is not hidden and the world has witnessed many advancements and developments as result (Seethamraju, 2012). There were lesser processes and requirements that were present earlier which could be completed through manual activities. However, with the passage of time the requirements and tasks increased and the use of automation and technology also began to be applied in the accounting field.

Accounts department and activities come in the departments that are essential and mandatory. Organizations of the past and present have this department present in their units. Earlier, accounts department was identified by the presence of many paper documents in the form of accounting files which were difficult to manage. Nowadays, the number of files have only increased; however, there storage and management has changed with the use of IT tools and processes. There are integrated packages provided for banks, financial corporations and firms, stand-alone users etc. for accounts related activities (James, 2016).

Market Size in Present Times 

Evolution in terms of technology is not hidden and the world has witnessed many advancements and developments as result. There were lesser processes and requirements that were present earlier which could be completed through manual activities. However, with the passage of time the requirements and tasks increased and the use of automation and technology also began to be applied in the accounting field (Afpbb, 2016). Because of the rise in demand of automation and automated packages, there are several vendors providing these services and there are also many accounting organizations that have been set up. Currently there are close to 11,220 firms working in this field comprising of close to 137,000 people. The expected growth therefore has been estimated to be in between 7-8% (Bankwest, 2015).

Accounting Packages 

Reckon

Developments, innovations and advancements are being done in technological field every day and the same has impacted the accounting practices and processes. There are packages that have been developed looking at the demand of the users and customers from the accounting firms and banks. These packages are designed keeping the basic and advanced requirements in consideration and can be easily acquired and installed so that the accounting services can be executed with each. One of the popular vendors providing excellent accounting software and package is Reckon.

• Customers have provided positive reviews for this software
• There have not been any security risks and market risks that have occurred in the past
• Integration of different modules and tasks can be conveniently done
• Operations can be streamlined and executed quickly (Carey, 2015).

MYOB Accounting Software

Evolutions, innovations and advancements are being done in technological field every day and the same has impacted the accounting practices and processes. There are packages that have been developed looking at the demand of the users and customers from the accounting firms and banks. These packages are designed keeping the basic and advanced requirements in consideration and can be easily acquired and installed so that the accounting services can be executed with each. One of the popular vendors providing excellent accounting software and package is MYOB.

• Provides accounting analysts and associated with real-time information
• Transactions remain safe due to protection mechanisms installed
• Network performance does not have a role to play in the performance of the package
• Ensures quality and legal compliance
• The package is agile and extremely flexible (Myob, 2016).

Xero

Transformations, innovations and advancements are being done in technological field every day and the same has impacted the accounting practices and processes. There are packages that have been developed looking at the demand of the users and customers from the accounting firms and banks. These packages are designed keeping the basic and advanced requirements in consideration and can be easily acquired and installed so that the accounting services can be executed with each. One of the popular vendors providing excellent accounting software and package is Xero.

• Operations at the back end are executed in flash of seconds
• Reconciliation and auditing activities can be accurately done
• Interface offered to the users is as per the responsive web design
• Other modules can be easily linked and integrated (Miller, 2016).

Saasu

Developments, innovations and advancements are being done in technological field every day and the same has impacted the accounting practices and processes. There are packages that have been developed looking at the demand of the users and customers from the accounting firms and banks. These packages are designed keeping the basic and advanced requirements in consideration and can be easily acquired and installed so that the accounting services can be executed with each. One of the popular vendors providing excellent accounting software and package is Saasu.

• Compatibility of the package is good
• The vendor has a good market reputation
• It offers the system quality as system supportability and adaptability
• Users can choose from the language options and currency options while using the package

Intuit QuickBooks

Innovations and advancements are being done in technological field every day and the same has impacted the accounting practices and processes. There are packages that have been developed looking at the demand of the users and customers from the accounting firms and banks. These packages are designed keeping the basic and advanced requirements in consideration and can be easily acquired and installed so that the accounting services can be executed with each. One of the popular vendors providing excellent accounting software and package is Intuit QuickBooks.

• Low on cost without missing out on any service or feature
• Performance of the package and customer reviews are excellent
• Database engine that is used is flexible and powerful
• It can also be accessed on mobile devices and platforms
• The package comes with a strong security framework for enhanced protection (Advisoryhq, 2015).

Cost of the Accounting Software Packages 

Cost Table (Advisoryhq, 2015)

Challenges faced by the users

• The users may become victims of security attacks and loopholes leading to the compromise on the privacy and security of their information.
• The vendors may not reveal all the costs and terms to the users leading to the presence of hidden costs (Crowder, 2016).
• The package may not have user manuals and certain functionalities may be complicated to understand without guidance.
• Maintenance activities may not be carried out regularly.

Conclusion

Accounts and related activities cannot be undone or eliminated from any organization. There are certain departments and activities that are mandatory and the accounts related activities come under this category. Woolworths is an Australian online retailer that also required accounting software package so that the state of the accounting services in the organization can be improved. There are several vendors and packages that are available and may be acquired by the organization such as MYOB, Reckon, Xero and many more. There shall be assessment of needs and requirements that shall be done as the first step followed by analysis of the vendors and their offerings. Security of the information and protection of its privacy shall be some of the elements that shall be considered while making the selection of the vendor for the accounting software.  

References

Advisoryhq. (2015). 5 Best Small Business Accounting Software in Australia. AdvisoryHQ. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.advisoryhq.com/articles/5-best-small-business-accounting-software-in-australia/

Afpbb. (2016). The Australian Accounting Industry. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.afpbb.net.au/Resources/TheAustralianAccountingIndustry.aspx

Bankwest. (2015). Accounting Services Industry Report. Bankwest.com.au. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.bankwest.com.au/cs/ContentServer%3Fpagename%3DFoundation/CS/Blob/Document%26id%3D1292539844555%26ext%3D.pdf+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in

Carey, M. (2015). Cloud Accounting Overview 2015: MYOB Essentials vs Xero vs Intuit QuickBooks Online vs Reckon One - Digital First. Digital First. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.digitalfirst.com/2015-overview-cloud-accounting-software/

Crowder, C. (2016). Disadvantages of Accounting Software. It Still Works. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://techin.oureverydaylife.com/disadvantages-accounting-software-1965.html

Gulledge, T. (2002). Business process management: public sector implications. Business Process Management Journal, 364-376.

Henderson, L. (2004). Encoding and decoding communication competencies in project management ? an exploratory study. International Journal Of Project Management, 469-476.

James, D. (2016). 7 accounting packages for Australian small businesses compared: including MYOB, QuickBooks Online, Reckon, Xero. BIT. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.bit.com.au/Review/344651,7-accounting-packages-for-australian-small-businesses-compared-including-myob-quickbooks-online-reckon-xero.aspx

Mallery, M. (2011). Project Management Portal (PMP) from the University of Washington Information Technology Wiki - https://wiki.cac.washington.edu/display/pmportal/Project+Management+Portal. Technical Services Quarterly, 28(3), 365-367. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07317131.2011.574546

Miller, K. (2016). Xero Review 2016 | Reviews, Ratings, Complaints, Comparisons. Merchant Maverick. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.merchantmaverick.com/reviews/xero-review/

Mohapatra, S., & Patnaik, A. (2011). Sustainability in HRIS implementation through effective project management. International Journal Of Project Organisation And Management, 78.

Myob. (2016). Online Accounting Software for Small Business | MYOB. Myob.com. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.myob.com/au/accounting-software/compare

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Seethamraju, R. (2012). Business process management: a missing link in business education. Business Process Management Journal, 532-547.

Woolworths. (2017). Woolworths Supermarket - Buy Groceries Online. Woolworths Online. Retrieved 26 April 2017, from https://www.woolworths.com.au/

Yang, Y., & Tamir, G. (2015). Offshore software project management: mapping project success factors, 111.