QUESTION PAPER

Question Paper

Question Paper

1) What is the difference between a Traditional Organization structure and Virtual Organization structure? Explain in detail and provide examples of each.

The fundamental difference between virtual organization and traditional organization is that the traditional organization is based on a hierarchial structure in which authority is traditionally delegated in a vertical framework (Baldo, Rabelo & Vallejos, 2009). In essence, the power in the case of the traditional organization tends to concentrate as the hierachy moves towards the top. The current form of the traditional organization can be traced back to the early 19th century when mass production became a widely accepted and agressively prevailing concept.

Modern day business conduction demands the development and implementation of a business structure that is based on the usage of modern day information and communication technology. In essence, the virtual organization makes use of increased autonomy of decision-making power and a distribution of power that facilitates a faster decision making process so that strategies can be broken down to the tactical and operational level faster (Alawamleh & Popplewell, 2011). The modern day virtual organization rests on the development and extensive utilization of virtual teams. Virtual teams allow organizations to stimulate synergy by allowing geographically distant individuals to function in the form of teams.

2) Describe the term enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. What functions does such system perform? How can ERP help organizations to improve their business functions?

The first step in implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is to understand the definition, purpose, and functionality of ERP. Unfortunately, that task is not as easy as it sounds. ERP systems represent different things to different organizations, vendors, and individuals. Defining ERP is difficult because there are many variations of the term within the manufacturing literature. In addition, a wide variety of software companies advertise various versions of “ERP systems” with different modules and functionality configurations. To further complicate the matter, the concept of ERP is quickly merging with e-commerce, e-supply chain, and knowledge management (Morris & Venkatesh, 2010). In spite of these difficulties, an understanding of the various components of an ERP system is necessary for comprehending how to best teach the ERP system to executives, managers, office workers, and shop floor personnel. Employees must understand the nuances of ERP to adopt it quickly and integrate it into the organization. Without an understanding of the ERP system by the people in the organization, a successful implementation is difficult, perhaps impossible. One place to start is to look at a traditional definition of an ERP system.

ERP as a business management thinking, it is a new management model; and as a management tool, it is also a set of advanced computer management system. In less than 10 years, the short period of time, the mode of information systems were widely used in business managemen (Huang, Hsu & Chiau, 2011). ERP system implementation to a large extent changed the company's existing business processes, so that the internal control environment is very different from before, along ...