Strategic Information System Report: Giant Eggplant Business

This report analyzes the strategic information system of Giant Eggplant, a company currently operating with manual business processes. It begins with an introduction to the company's manual operations, including sales, ordering, and inventory management, highlighting the inefficiencies and potential for errors. The report then presents data flow diagrams for both the revenue and expenditure cycles, illustrating the manual steps involved. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to identifying internal control weaknesses within Giant Eggplant's systems, such as the use of multiple manual registers, manual invoice generation, and manual cash handling, leading to potential risks of errors, loss, and inefficiencies. The report then recommends IT control processes, specifically the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, to automate processes, streamline operations, improve efficiency, and enhance customer relationships. The benefits of ERP, including streamlined operations and real-time information, and CRM, including improved customer interaction and increased revenue, are discussed. The report concludes by summarizing the weaknesses of the manual processes and emphasizing the importance of implementing IT controls to improve business performance and reduce errors.

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

1STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Data Flow diagram for Revenue cycle............................................................................................1
Data Flow Diagram for Expenditure cycle......................................................................................3
Internal Control Weaknesses in Giant Eggplant’s Systems............................................................3
IT Controls in Giant Eggplant’s Systems........................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................8

2STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Introduction
Giant Eggplant is handling a business that is handled manually by its currently employed
25 employees. All the business processes that are included in Eggplant are handled manually.
The sales that is included in the market is handled by registers. The registers are handled by the
sales staffs, store supervisor and finance clerk. The sales registers includes cash in term of coins
and floats that would be required by the sales staffs to take cash payment from the customers.
This sales process is handled manually and all other processes that are included in the market and
in the warehouse of Eggplant is handled manually by the employees working for the company.
The items that are bought from other suppliers are also ordered over phone or through email. No
automated process is followed in the system. There is revenue cycle and expenditure cycle
within the working process of the company that are handled manually by the system. There are
only two computer system that are used to update the stock and finance accordingly to update the
system.
This report explains all the weaknesses that Giant Eggplant includes in handling the
business process. This report shows the present data flow system that is included in the system.
The data flow diagram includes revenue cycle and expenditure cycle. As all the processes in the
system are handled manually, so there are internal weakness that are to be managed and those
internal weaknesses are explained in the system. This report also explains IT control processes
that can be implemented to handle the manually handled processes. IT control processes would
help to complete the work automatically resulting in less chance of making mistakes.
Data Flow diagram for Revenue cycle

3STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Figure 1: Data flow diagram of Revenue Cycle of Giant Eggplant
(Source: Created by Author)

4STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Data Flow Diagram for Expenditure cycle
Figure 2: Data flow diagram of Expenditure Cycle of Giant Eggplant
(Source: Created by Author)
Internal Control Weaknesses in Giant Eggplant’s Systems
The internal weaknesses that are included in the Giant Eggplant includes maintaining 5
different registers for the sales that are maintained by the sales staffs, finance clerk and store
supervisor. All registers are bought to and taken from finance clerk by the supervisor and are
given to the sales staffs. The registers includes cash so that the sales staffs can give the customers
change at the time. This might result in damage to the registers or misplacing the registers as it is
handled manually. Handling large number of files might lead to damage and misplacing the
document. Business loss is included in handling the sale process manually (Almotairi 2017).
This might result in information lack and misplacing the registers and in business loss.

5STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
As the sales process is also done manually, the invoices and the collection of money from
the customers is done manually. There is also a process credit card payment but the sales staff
has to enter the amount of the payment online. The invoice that is created manually might also be
mistaken by the staff and that might lead to business loss. Once the invoice is made, it is not
possible to change it. Manual process results in no changes that has already been made. Any
mistake in generating the invoice would result to complete disaster. The access time and the
generation of bill is also a time taking process in manual system (Kraljić and Kraljić 2017).
Entering all the purchase details manually is a time taken process and it is not possible to
organize the files as well as store them properly.
All the cash collected by the sales staff are sent to the finance clerk through store
supervisor and the cash and sales are counted manually and are entered in sales journals
manually. This process is also time taking and might lead to manual mistake. There is also no
security for the cash that are entered in the sales register and the cash that is send to the bank.
With the paper documents and the number of registers that are carried out also results in
increasing the cost of business processes. This manual process of manual sales register might
lead to human error and labor intensive (Ganesh and Mehta 2016). Continuous monitoring is
needed to complete the sales registering.
In the warehouse of Giant Eggplant, the stocks and the inventory are also checked
manually. The supplies that are needed from suppliers are ordered through email or via phone
manually. The payment invoice is first checked and payment to the suppliers are made through
cheque and those are sent to the suppliers through email. The general ledger and the cash
disbursement for the company is also done by the finance clerk manually. This leads to avoidable
errors that can be made by humans. The employees engaged in doing such work might commit

6STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
some errors and that light lead to a loss. Doing work manually includes low speed of work
completion and this would lead to customer dissatisfaction. The company might lose customers
and thus there would be loss in the profit of the company.
IT Controls in Giant Eggplant’s Systems
The suppliers and the stakeholders who are associated with the company would require
information regarding the organization along which they work and they all want those
information as soon as possible (Meidan et al. 2017). If the data in the organization are handled
manually, it is not possible for the employee to provide them with quick data or information as
they have to find all the documents manually. Manual process hampers the speed of working in
the system.
The IT business software that Giant Eggplant can use to handle its manual process is ERP
(Enterprise Resource planning) system, and CRM system. Implementing ERP includes installing
software, moving financial data that are in the system, configuring the users as well as the
processes as well as training to all the employees who would handle the system. The benefits that
ERP provides to the business is streamlining the operations, easy functionality, and the
information of the business can be seen real time (Skoumpopoulou and Franklin 2019). The best
ERP solution that is needed for Giant Eggplant is customized cloud based solution. With the
implementation of ERP in the system, the employees will be able ti define the scope of the
business in a streamlined way. The ERP enhance the way of handling the business process and
helps to make the business faster. This ERP solution also provides focused IT costs that can
improve the efficiency of the company. ERP helps to lessen the resources that are used in the
company and integrate the system (Pohludka and Štverková 2019). This IT system makes the

7STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
business process centralized and lessens the cost of handling the business with lessening the
maintenance cost of different resources that are used to maintain the systems. This system also
requires less training to the employees as all works are done automatically.
Another way to improve the business working and improving the sale of the company
includes implementing CRM (Customer relationship management) in the system. This process
includes CRM software that helps in managing present as well as potential customers who are
associated with the business (Mukerjee, Prasad and Rao 2017). CRM helps to increase the
customer interactions. The benefits that Giant Eggplant includes enhancing better relationship
with the customers and includes improved ability for cross selling. This includes knowing the
demand of the customer and producing products on the basis of customer demand. CRM
includes CRM collaboration and includes in improved efficiency that serves the clients. CRM
also helps if employees satisfaction as because they are involved in mitigating customer
problems and they feel like being engaged with the company.
The CRM software that would be used in Giant Eggplant would help to increase the
revenue as well as profitability of the organization. The clients or customers associated with the
business also would get their problem solved quickly with the involvement of CRM in the
business process. Implementation of CRM process in the working environment helps in cost
saving and also helps to lessen the time of handing the business (González-Benito, Venturini and
González-Benito 2017). Customers are the most valuable assets in an organization and solving
problem of the customer is to most important thing that the company should take care of. With
the implementation of CRM process, the relationship between the customer and the company.
Customers Relationship helps to complete the business process with their valuable feedback and
the organization can helps in improving the profit of the company.

8STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Conclusion
The manual process that is carried out in Giant Eggplant is easy and costs less. But with
the manual process there might be mistake and wide change in business profits. With the manual
processes that are carried out, the sales of the market is declining and the purchases for the resale
products in the market rose. The employees are not able to maintain the handle the business
process with the manual process as the business is growing and the number of customers are also
increasing making them difficult to handle. The revenue cycle and the expenditure cycle in the
company is not maintained properly and they are facing difficulty in handling the system. The
cash in the system are also managed by the sales staffs, store supervisor and finance clerk and all
the processes are handled manually. This might led to mistake in handling the cash for the
market. The above report explains all such internal weaknesses that are included in the business
process.
As per the report, the manual process that is carried out takes lot of space of storing the
information for the system. This also enhances the change of misplacing the data or documents
or even damage them permanently. In the manual process, changes are almost not possible to the
written document and the access time for previous data is much time taking. There is no security
in the manual process that carried out in the system and security for the documents is a costly
process.
So, to lessen the lack of security of the documents stored and to exclude the manual
mistakes that might, IT controls measures is to be implemented in working system of Giant
Eggplant. This report explains the weaknesses that can be controlled in the system and
sequentially the IT control measure that is used for developing the business process. The IT

9STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
control measures explained in the report helps to automate the working process and would help
to save a lot of time for the employees. The IT control explained in the report above will help the
business process fast and will help to increase the business profit.
Bibliography
Aleryani, A., 2016. Comparative Study between Data Flow Diagram and Use Case
Diagram. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications [online]. Saba
University, Yemen.
Almotairi, M.A., 2017. CRM Implementation in Saudi Banking Sector. International Business
Research, 10(1), pp.107-115.
Attong, M. and Metz, T., 2017. Change or die: The business process improvement manual.
Productivity Press.
Ganesh, L. and Mehta, A., 2016. Understanding cloud based ERP implementation in light of
conventional ERP implementation at Indian SMEs: A case study. Available at SSRN 2782244.
Gonella, M., Denis, D., Comeau, M. and Lauzier, M., 2018, July. Evaluating Training for
Manual Handling in the Workplace. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and
Ergonomics (pp. 16-26). Springer, Cham.
González-Benito, Ó., Venturini, W.T. and González-Benito, J., 2017. CRM technology:
implementation project and consulting services as determinants of success. International Journal
of Information Technology & Decision Making, 16(02), pp.421-441.

10STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Kraljić, T. and Kraljić, A., 2017, August. Process Driven ERP Implementation: Business Process
Management Approach to ERP Implementation. In International Conference on Business
Informatics Research (pp. 108-122). Springer, Cham.
Meidan, A., García-García, J.A., Escalona, M.J. and Ramos, I., 2017. A survey on business
processes management suites. Computer Standards & Interfaces, 51, pp.71-86.
Mukerjee, H.S., Prasad, U.D. and Rao, S.S., 2017. Defining success in CRM implementation
projects: An empirical study from the it consultants perspective. Parikalpana: KIIT Journal of
Management, 13(1), pp.116-125.
Pohludka, M. and Štverková, H., 2019. The best practice of CRM implementation for small-and
medium-sized enterprises. Administrative Sciences, 9(1), p.22.
Skoumpopoulou, D. and Franklin, B., 2019. Implementing a Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) System. In Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Digital
Marketing and Entrepreneurship (pp. 57-69). IGI Global.
Staudt, P., Fettke, P. and Loos, P., 2019, January. Enhancing Process Data in Manual Assembly
Workflows. In Business Process Management Workshops: BPM 2018 International Workshops,
Sydney, NSW, Australia, September 9-14, 2018, Revised Papers (Vol. 342, p. 269). Springer.