Managing and Working in a Virtual team Case Study

Managing and Working in a Virtual team - Case Study Example gain and maintain the trust of his or her charges, they must understand that trust depends on reliability, in virtual relations because there is usually limited personal interaction between members of a team. This eliminates chances of meeting and evaluating an individual’s potential or level of reliability. The only means to achieve this is to make sure that, as a team leader, you show team members that you are a reliable person by delivering on your responsibilities in time and in a competent manner, which serves as an example to the rest of the team. This will demonstrate to the members the level of quality of work expected of them, and this makes the team members respect and trust their virtual team leader (Lepsinger & DeRosa, 2010). Team leaders should establish guidelines in communication, which account for the differences in time zones, cultural and geographical variations between members. They can also specify the type of medium to be used when communicating to help av oid incompatibility and confusion when a meeting is about to begin. When considering how to enhance communication efficiency in a virtual team, a leader can consider creating team agreements on how and when to communicate across different time zones, team leader visits to the different members which helps establish engagements and trust by meeting the team leader face to face. A leader in a globally diversified team should formalize roles and duties of each team member starting with their own because this is the only way to ensure that the members have a clearly defined direction, which removes ambiguity in the roles that each member plays (Lepsinger & DeRosa, 2010). Staff changes on a virtual team can happen at any stage in the execution of a project, and how fast and effectively a new member is recruited and integrated into the team determines the successful completion of the project (Lepsinger & DeRosa, 2010). Integrating a new member, in the team, requires that the individual be

Intergrated Project Deliver at Autodesk, Inc. Essay Example for Free

Intergrated Project Deliver at Autodesk, Inc. Essay When working at any company or organization, communication is the key issue in starting up a project. Whenever you being a project, the first step would how to communicate with the team member you will be working with. Bernstein and his team have completed an important project within the budget, timeline, and scope. In this paper, I will discuss the vision statement, and briefly discuss the following: * Generated for the project scope. * Examine how Phil Bernstein foster high levels of performance for the project * Illustrates the unsuccessful tactics to inspire the team to greater heights * Create my own approach to managing this project. Phil Bernstein is the project leader for IPD, and the construction project at AEC headquarters. Bernstein and his team shall develop, and implementing a shared vision that will help motivate, and inspire the team to work hard to make the project a success. The vision needs to include AEC’s communication for the workplace to demonstrating the importance of creativity and innovation. When starting the vision statement it should be simple, and expresses the aspirations and goals of a company or organization. When developing a vision statement this gives the members of the organization or project team the chance to come together to look at areas of expertise, and decide on the future of the project. The project is to use the Autodesk Inc. that produces software for architecture, engineering, and construction, to create a non-traditional office building using 3D technology. The project is to use the conduction of the new headquarters as an opportunity for its Solutions Division to combine the latest software capabilities into building information modeling with an emerging paradigm called integrated project delivery (Edmondson Rashid, 2009). The project will use the  IPD method to foster communication among all stakeholders during the early stages of the project. To foster higher levels of performance, Bernstein will ensure the project design qualities stayed supported with the project goals and budget constraints. This particular project is critical that no team member lag behind in providing the desired output. In the case study, it was demonstrated when the project management team has to make the choice to terminate a vendor who was working on the Customer Briefing Center ceiling. The vendor was initially hired because of the building information model capabilities and experience working on the bench mark projects. The team later learned that the vendor would not be able to build nor install the ceiling within the budget that was given for that portion of the project. The team came together and decided the issue and came to a conclusion to relieve the vendor of his duties. The team decided to hire another vendor to perform the duties. The vendor that the team hired lacked the technical skills that the previous one attained, but the new vendor would be able to deliver the project on time and within the budget. Being able to deliver on time and within budget is the ideal for majority of project done. Another example of fostering higher level performance is when the team members are able to communicate and set goals to meet the objectives of integrated project delivery. The managers should empower other team members with decision making responsibilities. It is not noted throughout the case that there are critical decision that must be made. The executives should feel confident that they hired the right people to make decisions and not be afraid to take the necessary risk to ensure the project stays on track. To ensure that integrated project delivery works effectively the project implementation team must have the right mind set. Illustrate his unsuccessful tactics to inspire the team to greater heights Bernstein illustrated unsuccessful tactics when there appeared to be trouble with the contingency. Bernstein decided that for all future projects he will not include any savings from the contingency as part of the compensation structure. According to the case study, it appeared that contingency was a bad idea, because it is not in sync with the integrated project delivery (Harvard Business School, p.70). Integrated project delivery is emerging as the way to organize project teams to achieve a lean construction at a time when the industry is searching for ways to eliminate  waste, cut costs, improve productivity, and create positive outcomes (Carbasho, 2008). The reason Bernstein wants to use this practice, because it generally fosters collaboration amongst the team by integrating all the stakeholders regardless of the levels. Bernstein understands that developing rapport early in the project will enhance the outcome. Bernstein also recognized that there was a problem with the contingency idea because the team wanted to ensure that if the project saved money they wanted to include it in the contingency compensation. The team wanted to include the money in the compensation package because at the end of the project the money can potentially be used as incentives, and could be divided among the team player. Bernstein decided that maintaining contingency within the compensation package was not worth the trouble, some members agreed with Bernstein while other believed if the scope of the contract was defined more accurately the contingency issue may not be problematic. Bernstein decision to keep the two funds separate created some conflict among the team. This type of decision and tension of maintaining a separate contingency was not favorable with the integrated project delivery approach to foster, nor promote open sharing of information. One member believed that having the members of the team mutually accountable is worth a whole lot more than the cost of sharing a few dollars (Edmondson Rashid, 2009). The approach that would be used to manage this project would be similar to the current approach. The integrated project delivery method would appear to be the most logical and cost effective. The idea of integrating all stakeholders at one time does not appear to be anything new that project managers have not used previously. Although there were barriers along the way, this approach seemed to work. The project finished on time and was recognized for its efforts by the American Institute of Architects (Edmondson Rashid, 2009). As a project manager the first collaboration and task amongst the team members would be to establish a vision statement, which involves creating a view of the desired results of your projects, which is normally shared by all stakeholders. Without a vision it would be difficult to continue on with the project of this size. The integrated approach focuses on what is commonly known as the core group of the project such as: the owner, contractor and architect/designer this type of approach can be applied well beyond three main stakeholders aforementioned. The use of the  major stakeholders is a reasonable approach however this approach will also include other important team members who will be as important to ensure the project’s success. By continuing to use the IPD approach shall allow the owners to openly share the project information. It will also streamline the project communication which allows them to effectively balance the project options to meet their business enterprise goals. By using the integrated delivery approach it will strengthen the project teams, and understanding the owner’s desired outcome. The IPD approach will include the contractors, one of the core members that will allow them to contribute their expertise in construction techniques early in the design process resulting in improving project quality and financial performance during the construction phrase. By using the contractors during the designing phase will help with pre-construction planning and understanding the design. As a project manager, one would realize that understanding the design is crucial for this project, because if something goes wrong it could be very costly. Using the architectures or designers as part of the process is another one of those early benefits such as accurate budget estimates to make informed design decision and the pre-construction resolution of design related issues resulting in improved quality and financial performance. They usually bring some of the same qualities as the contractor but from a different perspective. The IPD approach is the desired method that should be used because it’s known to be built on trust and early involvement by more parties. As we all have learned throughout this course, developing trust among the team members encourage people to focus on project outcomes versus individual goals. The project lifecycle will be included with the IPD approach as part of the standard procedures. Reference Carbasho, T. (2008). Integrated Project Delivery Improves Efficiency streamlines construction. Retrieved from htt://www.tradelineinc.com/reports/0A03D1C0-2B3B-B5252-85702EDF900F61 Edmondson, A.C. Rashid, F.(2009) Integrated Project Delivery at Autodesk, Inc. Boston: Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing. Lewis, J. (2003). Project leadership: Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill

Growth opportunities in detergent market

Growth opportunities in detergent market The case deals with Unilevers Home Care Cleaning range and is evaluating the growth opportunities in the marketing of detergents to around 48 million low income consumers living in the Northeast region of Brazil. Clearly, the aim of Unilever, like all profit making organizations, is to have a bigger piece of the pie. Its first step forward is to assess whether or not, its target market is lucrative enough. To do so we first understand the buying behaviour of the target users, analyse the current market scenario and Unilevers internal environment. The importance of knowing how people will behave is tantamount to knowing the secret of organisational success. The simplest description of consumer behaviour is the purchase and/or consumption decision of an individual and/or household who buy goods and services for personal consumption. In the case we analyse the behaviour of group of individuals in the Northeast of Brazil and the use of detergent and soap in order to evaluate whats not working for Unilevers growth in that market segment and decide the best positioning strategy to encourage increased consumption. Because we know comparatively little about human behaviour, we as marketers, tend to make some assumptions to know how consumers will react to what we do. The first one being, consumers go through a rational decision process when they buy. We assume the process to start with ignorance of the consumer and moving through awareness, information search, short listing alternatives and so on until the ultimate goal purchase is reached.. A distinction is further made between two types of products purchasing: high involvement and low involvement. Washing detergents are low involvement products where consumers may not go through the entire decision making process and either pick a brand out of compulsion, out of a desire to seek variety or because of their past preferences and experiences, or they may pick a brand due to some constraints such as income and amount allocation to household spending. Consumers put preferences and budgetary constraints together to determine their choices. The No rtheast Brazilian households are low income groups and thus the price of the laundry soap, bleaching liquid and detergent powder is a primary criterion for evaluation of the brand of laundry products. The women in this region of Brazil tend to pick a particular brand based what others in their social group are using (as they often do their washing in a public laundry or by the river with a group of friends) and their own past experience and satisfaction. The second assumption is that consumers are brand loyal either loyal to your own brand or loyal to your rivals brand. A wall street journal (19th October 1989) published that 48% consumers remain loyal to the laundry detergent they are already using. To penetrate and gain additional market share, Unilever will have to offer some extra inducements to get the NE consumers hooked and divert their loyalty towards its brands. The stimulus response model (Exhibit 1), the starting point for understanding consumer behaviour, has been used to understand the Brazilian household behaviour towards washing detergent powders and soaps. The stimuli enter the consumers consciousness and the buyers characteristics and decision processes lead to certain purchase decisions. Our task, as marketers, would be to understand what happens in the consciousness of the north-eastern Brazilians between the arrival of stimuli and the purchase decision. Exhibit 1: Stimulus Response Model Source: Marketing Management, Kotler, 2003, p.184. The women in this region of Brazil tend to pick a particular brand based on the performance of the product on the six attributes cleanliness, whitening, productivity; fragrance and softness; ability to remove stains; ability to dissolve in water; packaging of the product; and the ability to keep colours from running out. Cultural factors Culture, subculture and social class are the fundamental determinants of a persons basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviour. Majority (39.8 million) of the north eastern population of Brazil ranges from grade D to E- of social class. Brazilians are concerned about their position in a social class, because no class interacts with another social class unless it is in a professional way. Since the past many years, the vast income social stature difference has been impressed in the society.  Still, the north easterners take great pride in how they look and present themselves in the society, despite their poverty and inability to purchase a variety of clothes. It is perceived to be the duty of the lady of the house to maintain cleanliness of clothes of her family, as it is seen as an indication of the dedication of the mother to her family. It is the reason why the north eastern women spend a long and laborious time at doing the laundry. They first scrub the clothes with a soap bar, then bleach those clothes to remove tough stains, and finally wash the clothes with detergent powder to add a pleasant fragrance. This is opposed to women in the south eastern region who just simply mix detergent powder and softener in a washing machine. Social factors Consumers behaviour is also influenced by social factors such as the consumers relation to small groups, family, and social roles. Women from the northeast of Brazil do their laundry at a public laundry or at a nearby river or pond along with their friends. It is the most pleasurable activity as they get to meet and chat in their social network. It is here that these women discuss matters of personal and home cleanliness such as which laundry detergents they use, how their experience has been, and likely word of mouth promotions take place. Personal factors The characteristics of the individual consumer such as his age, economic situation, occupation and lifestyle play an influential role as well in assessing consumer behaviour. Of the 48 million, 25.4 million people of the north eastern region of Brazil have an annual income of less than $1700. In Recife, for example, only 28% households own a washing machine. Thus, having a push strategy for a detergent powder isnt going to be fruitful. Even though the per capita income for the whole Brazil was $4,420, it wasnt quite reflective of the north-eastern region, where the per capita income was $2,250 only. This translates to the fact that even though a product may have the right and required attributes, if not appropriately priced, people of this region would not pick it up from the shelf since they are constrained by their incomes. Also, since the people from the low income group own less clothes, their washing needs are frequent, and hence, a product that would be a success would be one t hat is affordably cheap, available in bigger quantities (for example, saver price or additional 20% pack) and removes dirt well keeping the colour from running. Psychological factors An individuals buying choices are manipulated by four major psychological factors motivation, perception, learning and beliefs and attitudes. The low income consumers of the Northeast have developed six key attributes (Exhibit 2) which would determine their attitude towards the brand of detergent they chose to use for their laundry. For them, the ability of the detergent to clean and whiten the clothes with a small quantity of the product is the most important attribute. The NE women often associate a strong pleasant fragrance with softening power and gentleness to fabric and hands. The ability to remove stains without the use of a soap bar and bleach, and the ability of the detergent to dissolve in water without any residue on the fabric, are equally important attributes. Packaging and the running down of colour are the least important features. Ladies perceive doing their laundry as a leisure activity where they meet and natter with their friends. They discuss and learn from each others experiences of personal and household cleaning habits and products. Main brands / players Competition is important in influencing how successful an organization can be. Merely producing a good product which matches consumer requirements and provides satisfaction should not be the goal. A firm must competitively position itself in the minds of its customers so that its products stand out. Unilever was the first to introduce laundry detergents in Brazil with Omo, followed by Minerva, Campeiro, Skip, Rinso, Drive, Puro and Unox to name a few. Competitive challenges came from Procter Gamble, ASA, and other small Brazilian companies. Market leading brands from PG included Ace, Bold Pop. ASA contested with its Bem-te-vi laundry soap and Invicto detergent powder. Even though PG entered the Brazilian market 59 years after Unilever, it entered the market quiet swiftly by strategically acquiring an existing Brazilian company, Bombril and its three brands Quanto, Odd Fasses Pop. With in-depth RD and investment for manufacturing improvements, PG rebranded Quanto to Ace, and Odd Fases to Bold, which are now key competitors with Minerva and Campeiro. In terms of market share, for the laundry detergent powder segment, Omo is the market leader with a 52% share, Minerva Campeiro collectively account for 23% share, while Ace, Invicto other PG brands take a 22% share jointly and other Brazilian brands take a 3% share. Unilevers 75% market share compared with competitors 25% share in the laundry detergent segment indicates a strong penetrative strategy that gives Unilever the competitive edge. Market share in the laundry soap segment is not so pleasing. Little console is that PG did not manufacture laundry soap. But local Brazilian companies posed enough competition. Even though Minerva had a 19% market share in this segment, smaller Brazilian companies, enjoyed the rest of the 81%. In terms of pricing promotion strategies, Unilevers premium brand Omo was the highest priced (whole sale price) at $3/kg. None of the competitors came in this price range. Because of its strong power to remove stains with low quantity, it became a market pioneer. It used a very simple yet direct advertising message which said removes stains on pockets, cuffs collar, clearly attracting consumers for whom cleanliness was of highest importance. It was meant to target the high income group. Minerva (Unilever), Ace (PG) and Bold (PG) fell in the same price category and probably targeted the upper middle income group; while Campeiro (Unilever), Pop (PG) and Invicto (ASA) targeted the lower middle income group. Minerva attracted consumers for whom the fragrance and softness were of key importance with its advertising campaigns. Pop used a Bundle promotion and Contest Strategy it ran a contest offering 200 washing machines and gave away 2 copies of the Viva! Magazine with its purchase. Table 1 below gives details on the Pricing strategies followed by the main brands in the laundry detergent segment. SWOT Analysis An analysis of Unilevers internal environment (strength weaknesses) and its external environment (opportunities threats) is depicted in Exhibit 3. Exhibit 2 : SWOT Analysis Strategy Suggestion With the above mentioned scenario, Unilever faces the following choices to cater to the low income group of the North eastern region of Brazil : Extending Omo Rebranding Campeiro Launching a new product Customising a product from its international portfolio Brand extensions are only profitable if the existing brands equity is strong and positive and it is likely to transfer its benefits to the new extension. Brand extensions face a serious challenge if not recognised and met with positive action will probably lead to death of existing brands. Before considering extension of Omo, Unilever should be aware of the fact that consumers get puzzled by the variety of identical products and may end up buying a rival brand. Omo already has its niche market with its Price-Quality inference strategy. It enjoys a 52% market share in the detergent powder product line. Even though the low income group of the NE likes Omo, but to target that segment, Unilever would have to reduce the price drastically and lower its profit margins. This would cannibalise its high margin sales with low margin sales in the short term and in the long term Omo would lose its price premium and would create confusion in the minds of people. Radically changing Campeiro and rebranding it does seem like a good option Exhibit 4 details the strategy. But, the perception of its brand value is not strong or positive with consumers of detergent powder. It only has a 6% market share. One of the lucrative options is to launch a new brand. Exhibit 5 evaluates the strategies of introducing a new product altogether. Unilever can introduce a new product to replace /or supplement Minerva Campeiro in its existing markets, and to serve new market the NE region of Brazil. The issues with rebranding Campeiro, repositioning Minerva would also be resolved. But before deciding to establish a new product, Unilever has to layout the profile of the target market, understand the problems they face and group them into segments, evaluate competition, identify core competencies, identify areas where competitor is vulnerable and define a new value proposition for the new target market. Introducing a new brand would be to Unilevers advantage, as its entering a target market which it has not catered earlier in Brazil. Another worthwhile option is to introduce a customised version of an existing and successful brand from Unilevers international portfolio of detergent powder. But the brand would have to be carefully selected one that caters to a similar demographics and similar income group; one that has high success rate with the right marketing mix. For example, Active Wheel Unilevers brand in India targets the low income group, stresses that with this product people will need to put less efforts to do their laundry, promotes the whitening attribute, is the biggest laundry brand with sales revenue of  £21million 2007. The advantages of considering this option are various. The same ingredients and basic formula can be used. Similar pricing strategy. Customisation required only in language on the cardboard boxes. Meaning and content of advertisements can be the same, only changes required would be to fit the ad to local environment. Probability of success is higher, although it is not guarante ed that a brand that works in one region will work in the other too. Even if the rumours of reducing brand portfolio are true, this option would still be lucrative as no new brand is being introduced; alternatively, Unilever could completely drop Campeiro and reposition Minerva, along with introduction of a brand from its international portfolio. The growing size of typical supermarket retailers such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Grupo Pà £o de Aà §Ãƒ ºcar in Brazil has produced extra shelf space that has allowed and encouraged such proliferation. The US magazine Business Week publishes an annual survey of the Best New Products. From the 38 noted for the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, there were only 13 brand extensions and 3 genuine product innovations that were titled under the best new products over the 3 years. Ehrenberg (Repeat Buying, 1988) found that most buyers buy several brands over a period of time. They buy some brands more often than others and some not at all, but they mainly buy a large range of acceptable brands. The frequency with which they buy each brand varies from consumer to consumer but, on an average, it matches the brands overall market share. Unilevers forward strategy should not appear to make a distinct product without a real difference and that merely tries to differentiate the brand from competitors.

How the Greek Revered Their Gods :: Ancient Greece Greek History

How the Greek revered their gods In ancient times, the Greeks had absolute and undeniable respect for their gods. They demonstrated their admiration by putting in place many rituals and celebrations to reverence the gods that they loved and feared in order to ensure harmony with them. In particular, the focus will be on the religious beliefs of the Greeks, including prayer and sacrifice, as well as on festivals and the arts, such as the ancient Olympic games and theatre. These aspects of their culture made a significant contribution to their quality of life. Moreover, these topics will be examined in relation to the twelve Olympian gods and their associates. The ancient Greeks practiced a religion that was in effect, a building block to many ensuing pagan religions. This religion revolved around their reverence to the gods. Essentially, the Greeks worshipped numerous gods, making their religion polytheistic. They believed that exercising the opportunity to choose between a wide array of gods to worship offered them a great sense of freedom that they treasured. After all, the Greeks were known for their intellectual distinction of which their means of worship played a huge part. Each city-state, or polis, thus had an affiliated god who protected and guided its residents. Within a given polis, the belief in common gods unified the people. Ultimately, the Greeks yearned for this unity and order in the universe, which is a characteristic that is not unlike that of people today. It might seem contradictory that they believed in many gods and sought organization at the same time, for larger numbers are inherently unstable. But, to the god-fear ing Greeks, each god represented a different facet of life that together upheld an organized universe if each of these gods was properly appeased. To satisfy these gods, the Greeks participated in activities such as prayer and sacrifice and erected divine temples and centers for oracles in honor of specific gods. There is evidence of this institutionalization early on in the reign of the Olympian gods, thus forming the Olympian religion. The Olympian religion lacked the presence of true sentimentality, and the gods were not seen as forgiving or "flawless" as the Christian God is often portrayed. The Greek gods were portrayed as humans, which meant that they were not perfect. That is, the gods made mistakes, felt pain (e.g. Aphrodite in love with the mortal Adonis), and succumbed to anger and their tempers (e.

Sacred Scripture :: essays research papers

The term 'Scripture' refers to the sacred writing of the Old and New Testament. Sacred Scripture are the books which 'contain the truth of God?s revelation and were composed by human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit' (CCC 105). Sacred Scripture is one of the several names denoting the inspired writings which make up the Old and New Testament. The words of the Sacred Scriptures, 'for their part proclaim the works and bring light to the mystery they contain'. The term 'Tradition' refers to the living transmission of the Gospel in the Church. ?The oral preaching of the Apostles, and the written message of salvation under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are conserved and handed on as a deposit of faith through the apostolic succession in the Church? (CCC 77-78). Sacred or apostolic tradition consists of the teachings that the apostles passed on orally through their preaching. These teachings overlap with those contained in Scripture, but the mode of their transmission is different. However, Tradition generally refers to Christian teachings and practices outside of the Bible that are handed down from generation to generation. Sacred Scripture and Tradition consist of similar teachings, but these teachings are transmitted in different ways, Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit (CCC 81) while, Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit (CCC 81) Scripture and Tradition are related in Catholic Theology. They are connected to one another, ?Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single deposit of the Word of God? (CCC 97). ?Both the living Tradition and the written Scripture have their common source in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ? (CCC 75-82). Catholics view Scripture and Tradition as two sources of revelation. Revelation is the way in which God reveals his divine plan to all mankind, it is ?God?s communication of himself, by which he makes known the mystery of his divine plan? (CCC 50). God reveals himself through Sacred Scripture and Catholic Tradition. God revealed himself most fully through the Son (The Word), Jesus Christ, and there will be no further Revelation after him. However, through Scripture and Tradition, the mystery of God has been passed down through the ages.

My Life with Thoreau Essay example -- How Education Has Changed My Life

It was my high school teacher, Anna Shaughnessy, who introduced me to Henry David Thoreau. His Walden was not part of the course of study. She asked whether I knew of this Massachusetts writer. I didn't. Without scaring me off by proclaiming how great he was, she said he had lived and died in obscurity. But not like some romantic poet in a dusty garret. He had done all kinds of work for a living-been a schoolteacher, surveyor, pencil-maker, gardener, carpenter, mason, lecturer, naturalist, as well as keeper of a personal journal into which he wrote two million words. "Thoreau was born in 1817, about a hundred years before you," Miss Shaughnessey said. "But I think, when you read him, you'll find his ideas, his way of looking at life, will mean as much to you as if he were born yeste...

Sales and Inventory System of Graph Image Paint Center

I. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Inventory systems are tracking systems that inform the amount of raw materials, supplies or final products have readily available. Updated each time you sell an item or use raw materials to create and to know what you available for the following day or week. This type of system allows ordering products in advance, so you have everything you need at all times. 1. 2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM How can the proposed system monitor the sales inventory of the transaction * How can the proposed system provide an accurate sales computation * How can the proposed system make a better sales record for each order transaction 1. 3 SYSTEM OBJECTIVES * To develop a Sale and Inventory System for Graph Image Paint Center that will give solutions to the problems encountered in their manual business processes. * To avoid excess inventory and stock outs by using the sales inventory system * To produce appropriate reports of the sales 1. 4 SYSTEM SCOPE AND LIMITA TIONScope: * records the customers’ order transactions * generate the customers’ order transaction report. * view the previous sales record * can add, edit, search or delete orders to be delivered * print a receipt * can view inventory record in daily basis * determines the lead point of reorder Limitations: * limited in cash-based payment * doesn’t accept a credit card payment * cannot perform the crediting of the custom II. Company Background Graph Image Paint Center is located at Salcedo Rosario, Cavite that sells different kinds of paint and painting materials.The store is owned by Mr. Gary Palima and Armie Palima. The business operates every Mondays to Saturdays from 8am to 5pm. The company is doing their annual inventory manually. 2. 1 Organizational Chart Gary Palima Armie Palima OWNER Alice Saqui CASHIER Mark Villegas Salesman 2. 4 ORGANIZATIONAL FUNCTIONS 1. Manager * updates the records of the products * responsible for the entire paint products and ot her painting materials retailing and wholesaling business * in charge of annual inventory 2. Cashier * responsible for the monetary transactions * updates the transaction records in charge of receiving phone call orders from the customer 3. Sales Man * in charge of delivering the products to the customers * receives payment from the customers where the products were delivered 2. 3 SUPPLIERS * Davies Paints Philippines Inc. 1887 Mercedes Ave. , San Miguel Pasig City * Asian Coatings Philippines Inc. 48 Amang Ave. , Santolan Pasig City * Super Globe Inc. 08 Luis Street, Barangay San Miguel, Pasig City III. CURRENT SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION 3. 1 USER OVERVIEW OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM The existing system of Graph Image Paint Center is a manual sales and inventory transaction process.The process has its simple listing of transactions and issuing of receipts. Everything is manually operated. Their inventory is being checked every end of accounting period or in a Periodic basis. However, the syst em cannot easily search for a particular product if they wish to see the quantity available. Sales report is unsecured and not presentably recorded. All their products are just listed in and compiled in a clear book. If the records are lost, there is no backup storage that will recover their transactions. 3. 2 EXISTING FLOW PROCESS DIAGRAM STARTCustomer Order Yes Another Order? No Sell the Product? Cancel Order No Yes Prepare the Product B Payment from customer Another Order? No Yes Copy Information to Record Book All Payments Recorded? A No Customer Transaction Continuation D A Yes End of the Day? Daily Sales Report Compute for Daily Total Sales No D Yes End of the Week? Weekly Sales Report Compute for Weekly Total Sales D No Yes End of the Month? Monthly Sales Report Compute for Monthly Total Sales B D No END The start of the existing flow process transaction is from the selling of the product.There is a decision box that indicates the cancel order and preparation of the product. If there is another order then the transaction is back to the customer’s order. If no, then the customers pay and the information are copied in the information record book. Then another decision box will ask if all the payments are recorded. If no, then it is back to copying information to record book. Then the information is saved at the customer’s transaction. If yes, there are decision boxes that will ask if what mode of report view will be, if it is daily, weekly and monthly. If es, the cashier will compute for the daily total sales. Then daily sales report will be generated and ends the process. 3. 3 EXISTING CONTEXT DIAGRAM CUSTOMER Defective Payment Product Product Receipt New Replaced Inquiry of Order Product Customer’s Profile SALES AND INVENTORY DeliveryReceipt Manual Sales and Inventory Report Shipment Purchase Manager SUPPLIERS Order Payment The figure shows the existing Context Diagram of Graphic Image Paint Center that focuses on their sales and i nventory system. The researcher’s chose that aspect because of the manual operating and checking of their sales and inventory. All of the records and information about their business are ecorded in an excel sheet and record books. The context diagram shows how their business flows between customers, suppliers and the owner. The transactions are made personally like shipping of the products, payment, reports, and customer orders and inquiry. 3. 4 EXISTING TOP-LEVEL DIAGRAM SALES Checking of products availability INVENTORY MANAGEMENT Order Point Payment Deliver Issue finalproducts bill & receipts Customer Shipment of Products Payment SUPPLIER Purchase Order The figure shows the existing Top Level diagram of Graphic Image Paint Center that focuses on sales and inventory system.Payment and ordering of products are done personally. Checking of product availability is done manually through physical counting that links the sales and inventory management. IV. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Th e existing system has shown that the un-automated sales and inventory structure hinders the fast and smooth flow of sales and inventory reports. It also indicates that the transactions are time consuming and are written in a record book which are unsecured and can be lost. The store is currently managing their inventories in a periodic way in which it is being checked at the end of each accounting period in a quarterly manner. . 1 SYSTEMS COMPONENTS FOR IMPROVEMENT The researchers have managed to improve the system by installing an automated sales and inventory system that will cater to the needs of the store to be able for them to handle inventory management at ease. The proposed system is made through Microsoft Access which is easy to operate and user friendly. In the proposed system, the inventory checking is being done through perpetual way that updates inventory accounts after each purchase or sale. V. SYSTEM DESIGN 5. 1 OVERVIEW OF PROPOSED SYSTEM The proposed system will prov ide the needs of Graph Image Paint Center.The system has initial customer profile that needs to save the customer’s name in order to save the transaction. The system now looks for the product that is being asked then the item will be shown with unit and price. The system can search and add another product if the customer wishes to buy one or more products at the store. Then the total amount is shown with the number of units bought by the customer. Receipt is issued with the total amount of products purchased. The cashier now will be able to generate sales report based on the order transactions and inventory updates. 5. PROPOSED FLOW PROCESS DIAGRAM: STORE INVENTORY START PRODUCTS B A SUFFICIENT STOCKS ADD PRODUCTTS NO NO ADD PRODUCT TO ORDER LIST SEARCH PRODUCT YES YES ALL STOCKS CHECKED NO ADD NEW PRODUCTS A YES ADD AGAIN YES CHECK ORDER SLIP /LIST NO B PRINT ORDER SLIP/LIST GENERATE REPORTS END The start of the proposed flow process diagram of store inventory is from the da ta of the products then a decision box for adding a product. If no, then search a product then search a product. again, a decision box for â€Å"sufficient stocks†. if no, then add product to order list. If yes then a decision box for â€Å"all stocks checked†. f no, then it will go back again at the search product. If yes, then it will show the checked order slip list. Then goes to print order slip/list. Then it will generate reports. After generating reports, that will be the end of the process. PROPOSED FLOW PROCESS DIAGRAM Sales START Z Start order transaction Yes A No Generate reports? Yes B No Customer Module? C Yes No END A Enter Product Name to Search Engine Cancel Transaction Yes No Yes No Yes Customer Order Z Continuation D Another Order? Found Product? Another Order? No Payment for the Ordered Product Calculate the Total AmountReceipt and Change Sales Record D CONTINUATION: B Sales Record E Daily Sales Report Daily Sales Report? Yes Create daily sales report Sales Record E No Weekly Sales Report Weekly Sales Report? Yes Create weekly transaction report No Sales Record E Monthly Sales Report? Monthly Sales Report Yes Create weekly transaction report No Z E C Z No Yes Add another Customer? Customer’s Contact No. Customer’s Address Customer’s Name CONTINUATION: Customer Record 5. 2 PROPOSED CONTEXT DIAGRAM CUSTOMER Product Payment Receipt New Replaced Product Defective ProductInquiry ofProduct SALES AND INVENTORY Customer’s Profile Delivery Receipt Copy of Automated Shipment Purchase Sales and Inventory SUPPLIERS Order Reports MANAGER Payment Purchase Order The figure shows the proposed context diagram of Graphic Image Paint Center. The proponents chose to improve the sales and inventory management for proper and safe recording of information and data with ease and effectiveness. The proposed system consists of automated sales and inventory reports and customer’s profile and transactions recording. 5. PR OPOSED TOP-LEVEL DIAGRAM SALES Automated checking of products availability INVENTORY MANAGEMENT Order Point payment Deliver Issue finalproducts Customer bills and receipts Shipment of Products Payment SUPPLIER Purchase Order The figure shows the proposed Top Level Diagram of Graphic Image Paint center that focuses on automation of sales and inventory management. The checking of the availability of the products are done automatically using a inventory system design software for easy tracking of products. 5. 4 LAYOUT DESIGN Fig. 5. 4. 1 Sales TransactionThe sales transaction is composed of customer’s name, the search engine for product category, product number, product, price, quantity, amount, total price purchased and the output transaction. The system has the â€Å"Add to Cart† command for additional product purchases. The â€Å"Add Quantity† is a command for adding the unit of the product. There is also the â€Å"Buy† and â€Å"Remove† selection in which the user can easily remove and approve the products that will not be purchased and will be acquired. There is also the â€Å"Previous Transactions† selection for easy tracking of customer’s transaction.Fig. 5. 4. 2 Payment The payment area of the system shows the total amount purchased, amount tendered, and the change is being calculated for faster computation. The â€Å"Purchase† command serves as the finish button transaction. Fig. 5. 4. 3 Daily Report of Sales The daily report part of the system shows the 24 hour transaction made. The date is being displayed as selected in â€Å"Display Report† command. The transaction number, product purchased, product price, quantity, total price and date purchased are displayed. The total profit Fig. 5. 4. 4 Weekly ReportThe weekly report part of the system is almost the same with the daily report display; the difference is it is viewed weekly from the chosen date to a specified date with 7 days range. Fig. 5. 4. 5 Monthly Report The monthly report of the system shows the monthly transaction of Graph Image Paint Center and has the same features with daily and weekly report system. Fig. 5. 4. 6 Inventory Record The inventory record system serves as the product storage management in which it shows the quantity available in the store. The critical quantity is included in order to monitor the order point of the store.The price of all the products is also shown. The â€Å"+† command indicates the adding of another product when there is a new product to be stored. The â€Å"X† indicates the removal of the product. The â€Å"paper and pen† box is a command that edits the product name and product number. Fig. 5. 4. 7 Customer’s Profile The Customer’s Info area indicates the customer’s name, customer’s address, and customer’s ID and contact number. The â€Å"X† it the edit command which manages the customer’s information. 5. 5 PROPOSED SYSTEM DATA DICTIONARY: Table 5. 5. 1: Sales Information Proposed System Data Dictionary| *Sales Information|Data Element Name| Type | Length| Valid Entries| Sample Data| | | | | | Customer_Name| Alpha-numeric| 30| any character (A-Z,0-9)| Juan dela Cruz|   |   |   |   | Juana Miller| Category| Alpha-numeric| 16| any character (A-Z,0-9)| Gloss Latex|   |   |   |   | Enamel| Product_Number| Numeric| 10| any number (0-9)| 1005| |   |   |   | 206| Product_Name| Alpha-numeric| 20| any character (A-Z,0-9)| Nation-Gallons|   |   |   |   | Davies-1/4 Liter| Price_per_Case| Currency| 12| Php| Php2,045. 00| |   |   |   | Php610. 00| Quantity| Numeric| 10| Php| 12| |   |   |   | 5| Total_Price| Currency| 12| Php| Php1,128. 00| |   |   |   | Php15,600. 0| The Table shows the Proposed System Data Dictionary of the Graph Image Paint Center, This consists of the Sales Information of the Retail Store. Data Element, Type, Length, Valid Ent ries and Sample Data. Data Element involves the names, category, number, quantity and price of the product that the Retail Store has. Table 5. 5. 2: Daily/Weekly/Monthly Report (Transactions) Proposed System Data Dictionary| *Daily/Weekly/Monthly Report (Transactions)| Data Element Name| Type | Length| Valid Entries| Sample Data| | | | | | Transaction_Date| Alpha-numeric| 13| Valid Dates| 20130101|   |   |   |   | 1-Jan-13|Transaction_Number| Numeric| 5| any number (0-9)| 32| |   |   |   | 15| Product_Name| Alpha-numeric| 20| any character (A-Z,0-9)| Nation-Gallons|   |   |   |   | Davies-1/4 Liter| Product_Price| Currency| 12| Php| Php2,045. 00| |   |   |   | Php610. 00| Quantity| Numeric| 10| any number (0-9)| 12| |   |   |   | 5| Total_Price| Currency| 12| Php| Php1,128. 00| |   |   |   | Php15,600. 00| Total_Sales| Currency| 12| Php| Php18,900. 00| |   |   |   | Php6,700. 00| The Daily/Weekly/Monthly Report Transactions of the Retail Store which is the Graph Image Paint Center is discussed in the table and also the proposed systems dictionary.The same concept is shown in the table. With Data Element, Type, Length, Valid Entries and Sample Data are the one being discussed. This Table gives summarization for the store to have easy and productive results. Table 5. 5. 3: Payment Information Proposed System Data Dictionary| *Payment Information| Data Element Name| Type | Length| Valid Entries| Sample Data| | | | | | Total_Due| Currency| 12| Php| Php6,500. 00| |   |   |   | Php15,250. 00| Amount_Tendered| Currency| 12| Php| Php7,000. 00| |   |   |   | Php15,500. 00| Change| Currency| 12| Php| Php500. 00| |   |   |   | Php250. 00|The Payment Information of the retail store, Graph Image Paint Center is given in the table shown below, this has the same content because this is a Proposed System Data Dictionary, This table discussed the Total Due, Amount Tendered and Change of the store. Table 5. 5. 4: C ustomer’s Profile Proposed System Data Dictionary| *Customer's Profile| Data Element Name| Type | Length| Valid Entries| Sample Data| | | | | | Customer's_ID| Numeric| 12| any number (0-9)| 23| |   |   |   | 32| Customer's_Name| Alpha_Numeric| 12| any character (A-Z,0-9)| Ana Gonzales|   |   |   |   | Juan dela Cruz|Customer's_Address| Alpha_Numeric| 12| Php| Lagundi, MorongRizal|   | |   |   | Pandacan, Manila| Contact_Number| Numeric| 15| any number (0-9)| 2345678|   |   |   |   | 9108766543| The Table shows the Customer’s Profile Proposed System Data Dictionary of Graph Image Paint Center. The Data Element Name shows the information about the customer, it discussed the names, contact numbers, customer’s ID and address. Table 5. 5. 5: Inventory Information Proposed System Data Dictionary| *Inventory Information| Data Element Name| Type | Length| Valid Entries| Sample Data| | | | | |Product_Number| Numeric| 10| any number (0-9)| 1005 | |   |   |   | 206| Product_Name| Alpha-numeric| 20| any character (A-Z,0-9)| Nation-Gallons|   |   |   |   | Davies-1/4 Liter| Quantity| Numeric| 10| any number (0-9)| 12| |   |   |   | 5| Critical_Quantity| Numeric| 10| any number (0-9)| 200|   |   |   |   | 150| Product_Price| Currency| 12| Php| Php2,045. 00| |   |   |   | Php610. 00| The proposed System Data Dictionary of an Inventory information is shown in the table and the data element name discussed all about the paint products of the retail store, which are the item number, name and quantity. . 6 PROPOSED SYSTEM SPECIFICATION The proposed system is being operated through Microsoft Access. Microsoft Access, also known as  Microsoft Office Access, is a  database management system  from  Microsoft  that combines the relational  Microsoft Jet Database Engine  with a  graphical user interface  and software-development tools. Microsoft Access stores data in its own format based on the Access Jet Database Engine. It can also import or link directly to  data  stored in other applications and databases.The proposed system is a combination of sales and inventory which are linked to one another to easily monitor transactions and manage products. 5. 6. 1 MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Operating System: Windows XP or higher Processor: Pentium IV or higher Memory: 1 gb RAM Video Card: 256 mb Application Needed: Microsoft Access VI. CONCLUSION Therefore, the proposed sales and inventory system for Graph Image Paint Center is fast and reliable. They can manage inventory in automated way which will lessen the hassle of recording it manually. It may help the user to easily search for a particular transaction for later viewing of reports.