Management of Information System Essay

Supply chain management is the general, strategic interaction of the business functions within a particular firm and throughout businesses within the supply chain with the aim of improving the long-term performance of individual firm and the supply chain as a whole. The functions of logistics are key operating elements of a firm that need design and management agreeable with corporate strategy and changing competitive scenarios. The functions of purchasing focus on various processes such as contract writing, buying, demand planning, budgeting, supplier base and vendor management, and customer relationships. A firm may execute an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in order to automate its inventory management as well as sales and order process, including the related approval process. The ERP system is an extension of manufacturing resource planning and material requirements planning (MRP) systems, which link a firm’s demand side with its supply side by categorizing demand into requirements for components and parts. The ERP system provides a complete set of supply chain functionalities, including the planning and implementation of marketing activities, inventory and shop floor management and the potential of authorizing ordering and receiving to the end-user. It has also the capability of Internet integration and enterprise application integration through customized interfaces and XML. Customer relationship management analytics are capable of determining the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, projecting customer trends, identifying unprofitable clients, up-sell opportunities and clients who are likely to defect, measuring the effectiveness of incentive programs to meet overall sales goals, monitoring the performance of the sales staff, distributing resources in terms of customer needs and value, analyzing the cost-to-service ratio per client segment, and delivering the more suitable levels of customer service. Reference . Themistocleous, Marinos (2005). Enterprise Resource Planning and Enterprise Application Integration. United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing Limited.