INFT6500 Accounting Information System | Marias Aquarium Case Scenario
Maria’s Aquariums was set up by Maria Piscatore some 25 years ago. Maria was very interested in fish (both cold water and tropical) and she set up breeding facilies to pursue that interest. Inially she saw the work more as a hobby than as a business. However as me passed Maria began to produce many more and larger variees of aquarium fish and, somewhat to her surprise, people were interested in purchasing them. Inially she sold her fish direct from the hatchery on the Central Coast in NSW, but over me the business just grew and eventually it became not just the hatchery but also 3 retail outlets selling fish bred in the hatchery (as well a full range of aquarium supplies that she sourced from other wholesale outlets). The retail outlets are located in Gosford, Chatswood and Wollongong. The hatchery site now also includes the head office and a large warehouse to which the retail aquarium supplies (which are eventually be sold from the retail outlets) are delivered and stored.
Maria rered in 2012, the business is now run by her eldest son, Raymond. The business is relavely profitable but Raymond has come to realise that unless he takes steps to improve the efficiency of the current operaons that situaon will not connue. Raymond also hopes to expand the business. He has done some market research and believes that there would be good demand for addional retail outlets in Goulburn, Coffs Harbour and Canberra. (The hatchery could easily produce sufficient stock to supply the addional demand). In the medium term Raymond hopes to expand the business along the east coast of NSW and in the longer term naonally. BUT Raymond knows that his expansion plans will not work unl he first improves the way the business funcons at present
The me is right to look at how IT can support the exisng business AND enable his future business plans. This is why he wants your assistance! Currently, Raymond spends a poron of each week at each retail outlet (he needs to do this to monitor their operaons), some me ‘on the road’ vising the firms that supply the products sold in the shops and the remainder at the head office.Apart from addressing any issues you have idenfied above, Raymond would like to achieve the following:
- Ensuring repeat business from customers.
- Improved control over stock ordering and replenishment.
The ability to order combined stock from the head office rather than from individual stores is seen as essenal.
- Ability to quickly determine if a required item is in stock at any branch. And if necessary transfer that item to another store.
- Ability to generate an invoice completely from data held within the system.
- Improved payroll processing. Raymond would prefer a system that recorded the working hours daily and also supported staff being paid directly through his bank system.
- Price Book Fixed.
- Technology to support these changes.
- AND of course the systems must be “scalable” so that Raymond can expand his business consistent with his plans outlined abov
Answer:
Overview
This project depicts the importance of using the concept of Information and communication Technology for managing any business. It is expected that business related issues and the operation and functional issues that may simultaneously interrupt the success of the business can be completely mitigated with the help of ICT project management concept. In order to operate the business successfully, Maria Piscatore decided to developed a fish aquarium and due people started buying fish from her fishing hatchery. From the hatchery they started selling fish to the Central coast of New South Wales only however after her retirement her son Raymond is willing to expand their business throughout.
It can be said, that with the help of the Information and communication Technology (ICT) the business processing will become much efficient. However, in order to successfully expand the business it becomes mandatory for the project manager to enable the business plan and process successfully. Basically for expanding the business the project manager should make sure that all the
information are stored in a secure manner without any kind of interruptions. It is expected that Information Technology can support the business successfully. Raymond wills to treat the hatchery just as a normal wholesaling distributor. The business use manual stock management approach that include many issues and those issues can be completely resolved with the help of ICT project management approach.
Project scope
The scope of the project is to make sure that the service is repeatedly using by the buyers or the consumers. The stock ordering and the replenishment approach used by the hatchery is very weak and required to be improved sooner. Thus, the stock control system needs immediate improvement. Combined stock ordering approach from both the head office and individual store needs further improvement therefore it requires further improvement from the business perspectives. It may happen that all stocks are not available in all the stores but the consumers need it immediately therefore, they have to inform regarding the stocks to the consumers immediate after the request will be processed. The required item should be transferred to another store where the request has been processed by the consumer.
This information must be transmitted with the help of the application of the Information System (IS). The price of the selling products can also be updated quickly. While transferring data the company associates should make sure that none of the information are being leaked or accessed by any of the unwanted users. With the successful accomplishment of the process an invoice or feedback should also be generated by the system. The company also wishes to process payroll processing. The consumers will be able to buy their wish listed fish from the online services also. The existing payroll management system operated by the company is weaker and needs further improvement. In order to avoid process level issues the company is willing to design a system is such a way so that the daily time given by the workers to the company can be effectively recorded by the company owners. Based on the services served by the workers they will be paid directly from the bank through their accounting departments.
The price offered by the hatchery should make sure that the prices of the fishes are all fixed according to the fixed price book. Besides these, the main thing on which the company should focus on is the technology. The technology should support all the operational and functional activities actively. The other abilities operated by the company include scalability, reliability, flexibility, functionality etc. It is expected that if all these factors are properly incorporated to the Information System operated by Raymonds then it will be able to deliver the expectation of the company. This will help the company to maintain the business consistency and other abilities at the same time.
Project plan
For this particular case scenario the supportive mechanism that is needed to be implemented is the design and deployment of an Information System suing the concept of ICT. This project will be implemented following five basic phases such as initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control and closure. The details functions that will be operated in these five phase are as follows:
Initiation: This is the very first phase of this project that to be implemented. The outline structure of the Information System will be designed in this phase considering the main objectives of the Hatchery Company. The budget required for the successful accomplishment of the project is calculated in this phase (Banihashemi et al., 2017). In addition to this a complete feasibility study is also done to make ensure that whether the project will be successful from the business perspectives or not. If it is found that the business outcome will not be feasible then the project structure should be changed accordingly.
In this phase, the requirements of the project will be identified and the information will be gathered from the respective resources in this phase. Apart from this, the record keeping system that should be adopted and followed by the company is also structured in this phase. The team needed implementing this project is also assigned in this phase (Chih & Zwikael, 2015). Moreover, the ICT supportive system should be designed in such a way so that it can increase the overall business efficiency by reducing the operational faults. The three different operations serve by the company are stock management, office and the hatchery. The issues f manual stock management can be completely resolved with the design and implementation of the Information System (IS).
Planning phase: This is the second phase of ICT project management which is should be for the successful implementation of the project. In this phase a communication management plan, risk management plan, stock management plan, contingency and procurement management plan are designed (Muszynska et al., 2015). An accurate communication management plan is very much crucial for the project manager to use so that the project team members can freely convey their creatively and ides with the rest of the project team members. The procurement plan will also be designed in this phase to make sure that all the project criteria are being followed. The expected ability of the accounts department of the hatchery is also planned accordingly in this phase. The prototype of the Information System is outlined in this phase.
Execution: This is the third phase of the implementation of the Information System (IS). In this phase, the system will be tested through unit testing, integrated testing and acceptance testing. If the system meets all the criteria and accepted by the internal consumers through validation and verification then he system will be implemented.
Monitoring and control: As the system will be implemented it must be monitored and controlled by the project manager (Putra, Ahlan & Kartiwi, 2016). It is the responsibility of the project manager to monitor and control the progress of the project. It is expected that the business productivity and quality of the company will automatically improve through this approach. Proper security measures are also should be incorporated in terms of encryption, firewall technology to secure the financial records and the personnel details of the consumers of the company.
Closure: This is the last phase of ICT project management. Though, the project will be officially finished in this phase, but still the post project maintenance programs are also implemented in this phase (Silvius & Schipper, 2014). It is expected that with the successful design and implementation of the ICT based Information System project Raymonds will be able to meet the business objectives and can expand the Maria’s Aquarium business throughout along with competitive advantages.
References
Banihashemi, S., Hosseini, M. R., Golizadeh, H., & Sankaran, S. (2017). Critical success factors (CSFs) for integration of sustainability into construction project management practices in developing countries. International Journal of Project Management, 35(6), 1103-1119.
Blaskovics, B. (2016). The impact of project manager on project success—The case of ICT sector. Society and Economy in Central and Eastern Europe, 38(2), 261-281.
Braglia, M., & Frosolini, M. (2014). An integrated approach to implement project management information systems within the extended enterprise. International Journal of Project Management, 32(1), 18-29.
Chih, Y. Y., & Zwikael, O. (2015). Project benefit management: A conceptual framework of target benefit formulation. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 352-362.
Landaeta Olivo, J. F., García Guzmán, J., Colomo-Palacios, R., & Stantchev, V. (2016). IT innovation strategy: managing the implementation communication and its generated knowledge through the use of an ICT tool. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(3), 512-533.
Marcelino-Sádaba, S., Pérez-Ezcurdia, A., Lazcano, A. M. E., & Villanueva, P. (2014). Project risk management methodology for small firms. International journal of project management, 32(2), 327-340.
Muszynska, K., Dermol, V., Trunk, A., Ðakovic, G., & Smrkolj, M. (2015). Communication management in project teams–practices and patterns. Managing Intellectual Capital and Innovation for Sustainable and inclusive Society, 1359-1366.
Ojo, A. O., & Raman, M. (2015). Micro perceptive on absorptive capacity in joint ICT project teams in Malaysia. Library Review, 64(1/2), 162-178.
Putra, S. J., Ahlan, A. R., & Kartiwi, M. (2016). A Coherent Framework for Understanding the Success of an Information System Project. TELKOMNIKA (Telecommunication Computing Electronics and Control), 14(1), 302-308.
Silvius, A. J., & Schipper, R. P. (2014). Sustainability in project management: A literature review and impact analysis. Social Business, 4(1), 63-96.
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