QUESTION
1) Following is a database for products and sales for a wholesale power equipment company called Power Sales co.
Company: Power Sales Co
Database: SALES
Table 1: PRODUCTS
Product No Name Manufacturer Unit price
ww1 Electric drill Makita 124.95
ww5 Skill saw Philips 231.95
xy6 Screwdriver set Dexter 34.95
bb9 Fire extinguisher Waddell 50.00
Table 2: ORDERS
Customer Name Product No Units Ordered Order Date
McDowell’s ww1 50 18/Jan/18
McDowell’s xy6 125 19/Jan/18
McDowell’s bb9 250 19/Jan/18
Clearmont bb9 500 18/Jan/18
Clearmont ww1 75 19/Jan/18
SuperSave ww1 100 18/Jan/18
SuperSave ww5 56 19/Jan/18
a) From the above database, design formal reports, with appropriate headings, according to the requirements above. Each report will be on a new page and will contain some data from the above database in appropriate format.
i) Design the output (including layout and information details) for one (1) operational report* and one (1) managerial report*.
* In designing your reports focus on the characteristics of the report and the audience you are servicing. You may make assumptions on any additional data that may provide more meaningful information – so long as you state your assumptions.
ii) Describe (point form) each of the two types of reports in terms of how the information is used to support the decisions by each level of management.
b)Assume these reports (from (a) above) are used as input to an executive information system.
Provide examples of the types of decisions made by this level of management. What additional insights could be derived from this information at this strategic level of reporting? Consider both hard data and soft data. Explain clearly , using examples, what the specific hard data and soft data would be and how the data would be used.
Refer to Lecture Outline 3, slides 22 – 26, 27 – 37, and 38 – 45 for examples of reports
2) Now consider you are the business analyst for the HR Department of PowerSalesCo. You have been asked by the company CEO to review the Recruitment and Hiring process as part of the company’s Human Resources Information System (HRIS). The following detail process map and modeling diagram using Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) has been developed and documented by a third-party consultant. The processes include:
a) Advertise for the Position
b) Source and Screen Applicants
c) Hire the New Resource
i) Review all three processes of the Recruitment and Hiring (above) including the Detail Process Map for Recruiting and Hiring (See Page 5). Utilize the BPMN* template to map the processes as part of your analysis. Identify the specific tables in the HRIS DBMS that are impacted by the process step. Write a brief narrative using Business Process Narrative approach and annotate (by underlining) the key procedures as part of the current As Is process.
ii) Consider designing a new online Recruitment and Hiring program module as part of PowerSalesCo`s HRIS to reduce the number of process steps (hand-offs) required to: Advertise; Screen and Interview Applicants; and Hire New Resources. The proposed automated changes should address improvements across all three process areas as part of an overall solution. Refer to the following White Paper titled Talent Management Best Practices for an overview of future trends in Recruitment and Hiring systems.
Write an executive report, 1 – 1.5 pages, 12 pt font, normal margins, using Business Process Narrative approach, describe your recommended changes to the documented steps/ processes that could be improved through automation to meet the proposed solution and what would be the opportunities/ advantages to the business. Annotate (by underlining) the key automated procedures that you have introduced as part of your recommendations in your report. Be sure to cross-reference your improvements to the existing process steps as a way of showing and comparing the value-add.
Hint #1: Consider the number of steps and connection points with the different database tables that are used to update the information within each of the three main process areas. Is there any way that the processes could be reduced by having the system do more functional processing at certain key points in the
cycle – and thereby reduce the number of handoff/procedural steps within each process area?
Hint #2: Consider the relationship between the three main process areas. are there ways that the process steps/handoffs between the three main areas could be simplified?
* A Business Process Map Notation (BPMN) Organizer template has been provided for your analysis and
documentation of the key processes .
ANSWER
(a) (i) Operational Report
Product Supply and Demand
|
Product No |
Product Name |
Manufacturer |
Unit Price |
Customer |
Units Ordered |
Order Date |
|
ww1 |
Electric Drill |
Makita |
124.95 |
McDowell’s |
50 |
18/Jan/18 |
|
Supersave |
100 |
18//Jan/18 |
||||
|
Clearmont |
75 |
19/Jan/18 |
||||
|
ww5 |
Skill saw |
Philips |
231.95 |
Supersave |
56 |
19/Jan/18 |
|
xy6 |
Screwdriver Set |
Dexter |
34.95 |
McDowell’s |
125 |
19/Jan/18 |
|
bb9 |
Fire Extinguisher |
Waddell |
50.00 |
McDowell’s |
250 |
19/Jan/18 |
|
Clearmont |
500 |
18/Jan/18 |
System Layout
- We are assuming here that the products are available by the manufacturer and there is no time lag between the order placing and order reply
- Product code/no remains same for both the manufacturer and our company
- There is no manufacturing/processing breakdown and demand meets the supply
Managerial Report
Product Sales
|
Product No |
Product Name |
Unit Price |
Total Units Ordered |
Total Revenue generated |
Average Order Value |
|
ww1 |
Electric Drill |
124.95 |
225 |
28113.75 |
75 |
|
ww5 |
Skill saw |
231.95 |
56 |
12989.20 |
56 |
|
xy6 |
Screwdriver Set |
34.95 |
125 |
4368.75 |
125 |
|
bb9 |
Fire Extinguisher |
50.00 |
750 |
37500 |
375 |
|
Total |
1156 |
82971.70 |
|||
Customer segmentation
- We are assuming that there is no such customer segmentation based on the type of products sold
- Revenue contribution has been calculated for the overall products sold to a customer, irrespective of the order date or varying products
- Average Order Value has been calculated for all orders given in the case
(ii) The operational report can be used for following purposes –
- Identification of the supply and demand patterns of different products. This would be helpful for reducing the order waiting time if the demand pattern follows the same path and the efficiency of the overall process will be improved.
- The system layout helps to segregate the products according to the customers’ need
- Order date has been recorded for keeping an eye on daily demand of products so that the company would be able to survive any sudden spike or fall in demand
- Predict the sales forecast for the different products and map it to the manufacturing process
The managerial report can be used by the middle level/tactical managers for various functions, some of which are-
- To sort out and segment customers based on the type and quantities of products
- Arrange different scheduling and planning for different categories of products based on their demand and unit price, for example fire extinguishers have a high average order demand and they need to be manufactured in bulk for meeting the demand
- To coordinate with the operations team and maintain a long-term relationship with the customers by providing them the products with best quality and minimum waiting time
- Identify the variations in the daily and weekly order pattern of products, if more data would be available
(b) The above reports can be provided as an input to an Executive Information System, which can be further used by Executive level managers. They basically work with the aggregate summaries of the past data. They design the organizational strategy and drive the planning for achieving future projections. They need to set long-term organizational goals and plan decisions for the organization.
The above reports also provide additional insights and information for the strategic level of reporting. For example, McDowell’s have been a valuable customer for the company as it is purchasing three products, even though the overall revenue generated is the least for them. Executive managers can see them as a potential high benefit customer provided that there lie the economies of scale, and they can ask the tactical managers to focus on selling in bulk to McDowell’s.
Other insights for soft data can be that the company has been contacting manufacturers for one type of product. They could also go for diversified manufacturers where they can purchase more items, giving them provisions for a discount based on high-purchasing of materials from the same manufacturer. The company can cross-sell their products to their existing customers and improve their dependency on bulk revenue generation customers.
The hard data in the report can be used for segmenting the products and performing long-term strategic planning for the relevant products. It will help in identifying the existing opportunity for the company with respect to their current demand and supply. Hard data will be used to see the average order value for the customers, and the percentage of revenue generated by them. The number of products sold has shown a slightly negative correlation with their unit price to the company. The customers have not shown enough patterns for classifying them into different segments.
2. (i) BPMN (Business Process Map Notation) Organizer for the Recruitment and Hiring
|
Activity |
Gateway (Decision) |
Swimlane |
Data Store |
|
Getting approval for new position |
Division Management decides if there is any new position available or not |
Hiring Manager, HR Manager, HR Assistant |
HRIS DBMS Application System for Recruitment |
|
Development of recruiting plan |
Acceptance of recruiting plan by Hiring Manager |
HR Assistant, Recruiter, Hiring Manager |
HRIS DBMS Application System for Recruitment |
|
Posting new position on internet |
Internal sites or external sites |
HR Assistant, Recruiter |
HRIS DBMS Application System for Vacancy Advertisement |
|
Screening and Interview of applicants |
Resumes shortlisting |
Hiring Manager, HR Assistance, Applicant |
Resume screening system and interview scheduling |
|
Background check of final applicants before hiring them |
Past records of individual for reference checks |
Hiring Manager, HR Assistant |
HRIS DBMS Application System for Reference Checks |
|
Entering the name and details of applicants in HR system |
Pre-paper work |
HR Assistant, Recruiter |
HRIS DBMS Application System for Applicant details extraction |
|
Acceptance of offer and confirmation of new hire |
Construction of mutually agreed package |
HR Manager, Recruiter, HR Assistant, Candidate |
HRIS DBMS Application System for the employee record |
A Business Process Map Notation Organizer provides the details about the activity processes and the associated stakeholders along with the database and systems availability. The whole process of recruitment and hiring could be summarized with the above given 6 activities, from getting approval for new position to the acceptance and mutual confirmation of new hire in the company. Posting new position on internet (both internal and external websites) has been a key process in the advertisement of hiring. Screening and Interview don’t require much help from the systems part of the technical part. Background Check is another key procedure that all companies do before hiring an applicant.
(ii) The new design of online Recruitment and Hiring program module for the PowerSales company has been described below. The whole recruitment process would still consist of a three step process – Advertise, Screen and Interview Applicants, and Hire New Resources. Some of the recommended changes in the process that could be improved through automation are as follows:
- The first step of identification of new position availability can be efficiently improved through automation. The existing HRIS DBMS system will contain all the data of existing employees. If any employee leaves/quits the company, the system will get updated and there would be a signal indicating less resources than required. This would ease the process of getting approval for new positions.
- The posting and advertising of new position can also be automated for online recruitment process. If there will be any low resource indication given by the resource allocation button, it will start displaying which role has been lacking resources and instantaneously, there will be automated advertisements getting posted on both company’s website and external website, the list of which will be provided to systems through relevant websites contents and keywords.
- Resume shortlisting can be automated for reducing the laborious work by Hiring Managers. They can put some filters on the months of work experience, drop year, graduation year, etc. Moreover, they can introduce systems which can identify the relevant keywords in a resume with the help of list of keywords stated for a particular role. Keyword-based resume shortlisting has been proved to be an effective process. This also reduces the time of hiring managers per every applicant.
- Taking a psychological based online written exam would be an effective way to see the alignment of applicants as compared to the organization and it will be helpful for identifying the favorable personalities for the online posted job. This type of test will have a defined algorithm with definite answers for questions.
The number of steps involved in the whole recruitment process can be efficiently minimized with the help of automation at certain places. This would have definite advantages to the business, whether be in terms of lesser resources needed, or the reduction of hiring time. The psychological test would reduce the man-hours time needed to test the HR based questions. Resume shortlisting would find out relevant keywords and therefore, reduces the efforts of Hiring manager while going through every profile. Posting on internet for new positions will reduce the overall time in reaching the applicants and getting approval for new positions.
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