Week 12, Chapter 10: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

Blog Questions

Explain the business value of integrating SCM, CRM and ERP systems

If you only take into account your department, there will be duplication of effort and more room for error. It saves time and resources by sharing the same data. ERP systems integrate all departments and functions throughout an organisation into a single IT system (or integrated set of IT systems) so that employees can make decisions by viewing enterprise-wide information on all business operations.

What is meant by “extended ERP”

Extended ERP takes into account external connections to other relations such as the supply chain and CRM rather than just the Core ERP components, which focus primarily on internal operations. Extended ERP component however focus on external operations and provides a more enterprise-wide view of data important to making informed business decisions.

Why it is important to have an enterprise-wide view of data

ERP systems collect data from across an organisation and correlate the data, generating an enterprise-wide view. The true benefit of an ERP system is its ability to take the many different forms of data from across the different organisational systems and correlate, aggregate, and provide an enterprise-wide view of organisational information.

What are some ways that different departments or even different organisations collaborate 
Through collaboration systems such as groupware enable, support, and facilitate internal and external team collaboration. People skills, or soft skills, in addition to business knowledge and analytical skills are important. Successful people rarely work in isolation.

What is Knowledge Management

Knowledge management involves capturing, classifying, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing information assets in a way that provides context for effective decisions and actions.

Knowledge management system support the capturing and use of an organisation’s “know-how”.