Strategic Information System: Analysis of Lion Company Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Lion Company's strategic information system. Part 1 examines the organizational structure of Lion Company, identifies operational problems stemming from an inefficient structure (including strategic management deficiencies, poor communication, reduced productivity, inefficient supply chain and human resource management), and proposes Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as the most suitable system acquisition method. It also includes a system flowchart of sales procedures and highlights control problems and potential fraud within the system. Part 2 delves into the adoption and development of accounting software, focusing on Xero, its market size, leaders in the market, and challenges faced by users, offering relevant suggestions for improvement. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications for Lion Company's strategic information system and financial processes.

Running head: STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Strategic Information System
Name of Student
Name of University
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
Part 1....................................................................................................................................2
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................2
2. The current organizational Structure...........................................................................2
3. Operational problems due to inefficient organizational structure...............................3
4. System Acquisition Method........................................................................................5
5. System flow chart of the Sales and procedures of Lion Company..............................6
6. Control problems in the System and Possible Frauds.................................................8
6.1. Frauds Possible within the organization...............................................................8
7. Conclusion...................................................................................................................8
Part 2....................................................................................................................................9
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................9
2. Development and Adoption of the accounting software packages..............................9
3. The Current market Size............................................................................................10
4. Identification of leaders in the Market.......................................................................10
5. Challenges encountered by the users and its relevant suggestions............................11
6. Conclusion.................................................................................................................12
References..........................................................................................................................13

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Part 1
1. Introduction
Organizational structure provides a clear picture of the activities and the hierarchy of the
organization. A proper organizational structure helps in managing the process of task allocation,
coordination between the tasks and task supervision, which helps in achieving the organizational
aim. A proper organizational structure helps in managing the information flow within the
organization (Christensen 2013). A proper and a flexible organizational structure help in
improving the communication flow among the staffs and employees thus managing the processes
and the workflow within the organization quite effectively. The organizational structure of the
Lion Company, the operational problems faced by the company, the most likely system
acquisition method and the control problems associated with the organization is elaborated in the
following paragraphs.
2. The current organizational Structure
Proper organizational structure helps in maintaining and managing the organizational aim
and further helps in understanding the functional requirements of the organization. Furthermore
it offers transparency in settling different issues associated with the organization. The current
organizational structure of Lion Company Australia is illustrated below-

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Figure 1: Organizational Structure
(Source: Lionco.com 2017)
3. Operational problems due to inefficient organizational structure
Operational problem may arise in an organization due to a number of reasons the major
reason being the lack of proper operational strategy. The major objective of the Lion Company
is keeping their customer base apart from increasing the market share and developing high
margin product and services (Domeika 2015). A well-managed operational system helps in
yielding maximum profit by providing quality materials and effective services. Lion Company
has faced different operational issue due to a complex organization structure that hampered the
organizational efficiency largely. The operational problems of Lion Company are elaborated
below-

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1) Absence of Strategic Management: developing a strategy and a proper plan for
managing, controlling and supervising different operations within an organization is very
essential. Lack of proper strategic management in Lion Company is a major reason of the control
problems associated with the organization. Moreover, a proper strategic management helps in
effective decision-making (Warren, Reeve and Duchac 2013). Absence of a proper strategic
management further affects the organization as it loses its sustainability in the target market due
to an ineffective organizational structure.
2) Poor Communication: One of the major operational issues associated with the Lion
Company is a poor communication structure. Poor communication may give rise to conflicts of
ideas and decision thus making the entire process quite complex. Conflict in decision-making
makes it difficult for the organization in achieving the functional benefits and maintaining the
sustainability in the target market (Kiani, Lamego and O'reilly 2014). One of the major concerns
in Lion Company is that, the communication path is not clearly defined due to which the low-
grade staffs cannot contribute to the process of decision-making.
3) Less Productivity: The major operational problem associated with Lion Company is
the reduced productivity, which is again an effect of poor organizational structure. This occurs
due to the poor management of the supply chain processes and the work flow within the
organization. The Companies organizational head should properly define the organizational goal
and the different functional areas of the organization (Lionco.com 2017). This will help in
increasing the productivity o f the organization, which may further help in gaining a competitive
advantage in the target market. Therefore, this aspect should be considered with the highest
priority in order to eliminate the operational problems associated with the Company.

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4) Inefficient Supply Chain management: Productivity problem is further coupled with a
poor supply chain management. This major functional or operational issue, which is directly
linked with the organizational structure in the inefficient supply chain management (Gereffi and
Fernandez-Stark 2016). The inefficient organizational structure weakens all the relations within
an organization resulting in a poor supply chain management.
5) Inefficient human resource management: proper Human resource management is
necessary in managing the different work processes within the organization (Hendry 2012). HR
is essential for defining the roles of the employees according to their capabilities. An improper
human resource is a result of an improper organizational structure. Since the process flows
within the organization is not clearly defined due to an ineffective human resource management,
it results in an ineffective supply chain management and less productivity.
4. System Acquisition Method
The most likely system acquisition method is definitely the ERP or Enterprise resource
planning system. ERP can considerably helps in dealing with the operational problems faced by
Lion Company. Implementation of ERP not only automates the various process and the tasks
within an organization, but also helps in reducing the workload of the employees thus
eliminating the risk of human error (Wallace and Sheetz 2014). ERP helps in managing and
handling the different business operations within the organization with the involvement of
software. ERP software streamlines the processes and the different tasks, which include
managing the product development, sales and marketing. Many organizations have successfully
implemented the Enterprise resource planning software, which later proved to be an effective
decision by the organization (Leon 2014). Therefore, implementation of ERP by Lion Company

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would be a wise decision, would provide an effective solution to the organizational members,
and would further help the organization in achieving their set goals and target. Moreover, an
ERP helps in providing an effective communication associated with the culture and
organizational structure of Lion Company.
5. System flow chart of the Sales and procedures of Lion Company
The system flow chart, which is illustrated below is based on the different issues that are
mainly identified with the system architecture, based on the organizational structure of Lion
Company.

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Figure 2: Flow Chart representing sales of Lion Company
(Source: Lionco.com 2017)
6. Control problems in the System and Possible Frauds
The control issues associated with the Lion Company are mainly identified in the sales,
operations and the system of the company. The control problems identified are mainly due to the
poor organizational structure and operational management. The control problems associated with
the Lion Company are listed below-
1) Ineffective control process is the source of all the control problems associated with the
Lion Company. A number of false sales and purchase are example of the frauds due to an
ineffective control process (March 2013).
2) Lion Company has no proper compliance activity coupled with the lack of proper
control activity and formalization (Cummings and Worley 2014).
3) Another major control problem is the absence of proper monitoring and control of
processes and workflow associated with the supply chain management of Lion Company.
6.1. Frauds Possible within the organization
1. Fraud in sales and production
2. Fraud in supply chain management due to the absence of tracking the project progress
7. Conclusion

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Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that an inefficient
organizational structure may lead to a number of problems in an organization. Maintaining a
proper organizational structure is necessary in order to eliminate different operational and control
problems associated with the organization. The report discusses about the organization Lion
Company based on Australia. The different operational issues associated with the company are
discussed in the report and a proper system acquisition method, which is ERP, is discussed in the
report as well. Implementation of ERP may help the organization in managing the different sales
processes within the organization.
Part 2
1. Introduction
This part of the report discusses the different accounting software and the benefit of this
software in integrating the financial processes of the business. Accounting software helps in
recording and processing all the account related works and transactions and helps in tracking all
the financial issues and processes on basis of the organizational standard. The report elaborates
the feature of an accounting software Xero, that provides a cost-effective solution to the different
business processes in the organization (Murthy and Abeysekera 2015 ). The functionality of the
accounting software, the market size, leaders of the market and the challenges of using
accounting software is elaborated in the following paragraphs-
2. Development and Adoption of the accounting software packages
Adoption of accounting software has been proven beneficial to a number of
organizations. Accounting software helps in managing all the account related tasks within an
organization. Lion has been using accounting software to integrate its financial processes. Xero

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is an example of accounting software that seamlessly manages all the account related works in
the organization. Therefore, adoption of accounting packages may help in reducing the workload
within an organization (Von Der Emde et al. 2014).
3. The Current market Size
The accounting software that occupies a larger sector of the Australian target market is
Xero and MYOB. Xero has a greater competitive advantage and occupies a larger sector of
Australian target market as it provides a wide range of benefits and a cost effective solution.
Xero is chosen by most of the business organizations because it provides an effective solution to
all the issues related to the manual operation of work processes (Robey, Anderson and Raymond
2013). Xero has shown a considerable growth in its sales and services over the years by
providing different advantageous benefits to all its users and the clients.
Figure 3: Representing the growth of xero
(Source: Xero Accounting Software 2017)
4. Identification of leaders in the Market

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As discussed earlier, two accounting software that leads in the Australian target market
are Xero and MYOB. They offer a wide range of advantages by streamlining all the financial
processes within an organization and therefore, chosen by most of the users. The manual
operations of the different financial processes are automated quite effectively and therefore, the
demand of accounting software is increasing in the market considerably. The use of accounting
software eliminates the redundancy ad errors associated with the entry and managing the
database of the organization. The competitive advantages of these softwares are listed below-
1) The storage of the data in cloud helps in easy access and storage of the data in
accordance to the need of the client. The cloud based set up thus helps in maintaining the
competitive advantage in Australian target market.
2) A proper and speedy functional output is another important feature of this
organization. Xero accounting software is pro in delivering fast results and thus leading the
Australian target market.
3) Simple an easy to use interface and installation procedure of the software gives
competitive advantage to the software. The user interface of xero is simple and easy to operate,
which is one of the major reason of the popularity of this software.
5. Challenges encountered by the users and its relevant suggestions
Along with the wide range of benefits offered by the accounting software packages, there
are certain issues that need an immediate attention in order to retain the market position of the
software. The different challenges that a user of accounting software encounters are listed below-

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1) The accounting software is mainly based on cloud and therefore, the risk of security
concerns remain associated with the software. The cloud-based solution includes different
security issues with the system and the architecture of the organization (Mudge 2013).
2) The installation and the update procedures of accounting software is quite complex
and time consuming as well (Xero Accounting Software 2017).
3) Few operations of the software is quite complex.
The issues identified above should be fixed in order to retain the market position of the
software. The security issues can be fixed by implementing proper security control mechanism
and processes. The complexity can be reduced with further development and modernization of
the software.
6. Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that, Xero is a good accounting
software that provides effective business solution. Accounting software helps in managing the
financial transactions of the organization, thus helping the organization in eliminating any sorts
of error or fraud with the business processes. The report elaborates the advantages offered by the
accounting software Xero and the features of the software. The market leaders and the current
market size is discussed in the report followed by a brief description different challenges, an user
of an accounting software faces or might face.

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References
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Harvard Business Review Press.
Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage
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Domeika, P., 2015. Creation of the Information system of enterprise fixed asset
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Gereffi, G. and Fernandez-Stark, K., 2016. Global value chain analysis: a primer.
Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. Routledge.
Kiani, M.J.E., Lamego, M. and O'reilly, M., Masimo Corporation, 2014. Patient monitor capable
of accounting for environmental conditions. U.S. Patent 8,740,792.
Leon, A., 2014. Enterprise resource planning. McGraw-Hill Education.
Lionco.com. (2017). Welcome! | Lion. [online] Available at: https://www.lionco.com/ [Accessed
7 September 2017].
March, J.G. ed., 2013. Handbook of Organizations (RLE: Organizations) (Vol. 20). Routledge.
Mudge, J.C., 2013. Cloud computing-its development and security. Australian Journal of
Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 1(1).
Murthy, V. and Abeysekera, I., 2015. Corporate social reporting practices of top Indian software
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Robey, D., Anderson, C. and Raymond, B., 2013. Information technology, materiality, and
organizational change: A professional odyssey. Journal of the Association for Information
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