I had not experienced using a DSS before so I thought I would give one a trial run.
I decided to apply for a personal loan from my bank. It took less than 5 minutes to apply for a $5,000 loan for a holiday. The ease at which you can borrow money is almost terrifying.
I can see from using this DSS that it is created to make decision making by you and your bank a quick and easy process. The areas of my financial details relating to my bank account had been automatically inserted by the system to save time and hassle.
It also occurred to me that had I submitted the application, if it had been rejected, it would have been less disappointing to be rejected by a system than a person.
If I owned a business I would certainly like to know every item coming in and going out is being tracked, from the time you ‘buy it’ as inventory in the door, to on the floor production, through to the end destination of the customer. This all done in a timely and cost efficient way is vital to any business and a good supply chain management system is essential for this.
With most customers and suppliers being global tracking across many countries is a huge challenge and being effective with logistics is the key to success.
Technology has changed how customers deal with companies. Customers can now order via a website driving and initiating the supply chain process.
The Inventory
A CSM system can be configured to suit the particular industry of the business and streamline processes. The use of RF scanners, with wireless networks, bar coding and terminals is an efficient way of tracking inventory and where the product is in the production line. A centralised location of information keeps everyone involved ‘in the loop’ The added visibility of tracking inventory in ‘real time’ with immediate feedback, reduces costs associated with excess inventory being stored on shelves and alerts to any inventory shortfalls that may put production off track.
The Environment
A system where suppliers, manufacturers, logistics and retailers collaborate can have a huge impact on not only the top and bottom line but also on the environment. With each one working together through the system creating efficiencies unnecessary deliveries can be eliminated. This helps to reduce a companies carbon footprint and associated costs as well as the environment.
The amazing progress with smartphones and tablets that we find are embedded in our lifes comes at a cost.
It is the power of our private information that drives these devices. The more we look and buy via the Internet we more of our personal data is being captured by others. With google now consolidating their privacy polices and the combining of information from all its services our google experience is no longer a ‘individual’ one.
A few steps you can take are:
Go to your google account dashboard and disable your web history.
Go to googles ad preference page and opt-out of personalised advertising.
Use an alternative search engine such as bing or yahoo.
Ask yourself – do you want google to decide what you want and when they think you should want it?
Perhaps we are a few steps away from them using our bank account details, on our computers to purchase the items they think we should have based on their profile of us.
All though I initially found it awkward doing a blog I think it has been of great benefit to me, more so after Nadesa added the assessment exercises. The assignment I found interesting particularly when researching the retail industry and some of the websites that I came across. At one stage when I was trying to find out when the NZ$ was at its weakest I was on the Reserve Bank website. It gives you a table of what our overseas debt is and has been and during the election campaign it is sometimes hard to pick out what is fact and what is fiction but there it all is in black and white. I also realised doing the assignment how reliant on the effective management all the stakeholders in the business are. Overall I enjoyed doing the assignment although given all the hours and hours I spent on it came out relatively small.
Thanks Christine
PS: Hope everyone does well in the exam – good luck.
I found the class on flexible budgeting not too hard to grasp but on starting the assessment activity was initially thrown by it not containing a sales figure to work out the cost per unit. I ended up dividing the master budget figure by the budgeted output figure to find the individual costs per item then multiplied it by the actual output. I hope this is correct because that is the basis of the figures I submitted for the assessment. Please clarify if I have done this incorrectly. Overall I find management accounting easier than the financial.
I found the session on CVP analysis easier to understand than any of the others. I find that accounting on the surface is logical but the text book we have is not user-friendly, it tends to complicate it unnecessarily. It is confusing I think, because it mixes the information for many difficult levels. A book for beginners only accounting would be better. I do find that doing the exercises for homework is definitely beneficial and without that it would be harder to remember all that we learn. Doing an evening class and working is a bit difficult but hopefully I will get used to it by the next couple of semesters! Thanks for the opportunity to reflect on the class.
1.0 Last weeks class was interesting but I will definitely need to go over the ratios again before starting the assignment. It may be simple maths but if you don’t pick the correct figures from the financial reports you are stuffed! I do find the pace of the class a bit rushed and trying to write down what Nadesa is saying I find I am missing some things he is saying.
2.0 Ratio analysis does provide information about the health and fitness of a business as the data used is from the different sections that make up the financial statements. The analysis can identify areas where performance of the company has improved or deteriorated when compared to past years.
3.0 Ratio analysis is limited in that they only give a quick, first step indication of the performance of a company and further investigation would be needed to give a more in depth view of the performance. As an example any ratios derived from the balance sheet do not give a complete picture of the performance for the whole of the financial year as the balance sheet is just providing information as at that point in time.
christinemarshall 