HI5019 Strategic Information Systems for Business and Enterprise
ASSESSMENT DETAILS AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Trimester T1 2022 Unit Code HI5019 Unit Title Strategic Information Systems for Business and Enterprise Assessment Type Assessment 2: Group Assignment Assessment Title System Analysis and Selection Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) Students are required to: Critically evaluate the purpose and role of accounting information systems in today’s business environment (ULO 1),Evaluate systems development methodologies and the role of accountants in system development projects (ULO 3), andAppraise the risks inherent in computer-based systems/ERP, including the role of ethics and the various internal control processes that need to be in place (ULO 4). Weight 30% of the total assessments. Total Marks 30 Marks. Word limit Up to 2,500 words Due Date This written report is due in Week 11 on Friday, dated 3rd June 2022, at 11:59 pm (AEST). Late submission incurs a penalty of five per cent of the assessment per calendar day unless Student Services have granted an extension and/or special consideration before the assessment submission deadline. Group Formation and Submission Guidelines Group Formation: Please form the group by self-enrolling in Blackboard. There should be a maximum of 4 members in a group www.hndassignmenthelp.com for any issues with self-enrolling into groups. All work must be submitted on Blackboard in a single Word file by the due date, including the Assignment Cover Page .The students must work in a group of 1-4 students. However, there is no minimum limit for a group. In certain circumstances, a student can work in a Solo Group. The assignment must be in MS Word format, double spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of the page with appropriate section headings and page numbers. Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using Adapted Harvard Referencing style. Please see the section Assignment Design – Adapted Harvard Referencing Section below. Include a minimum of thirteen references, at least seven from peer-reviewed journals relevant to the unit.
Assignment Details
Part A. The Conversion Cycle. [Up to 500 words]
The Strategic Information System for Business and Enterprise HI5019 T1 2022 provide sufficient background knowledge to understand accounting information systems and analyse the transaction processing system. Based on the same strict assumption we apply in the HI5019 T1 2022 individual assignment, we assume that this knowledge enables you to start an accounting consultancy. You are passionate to provide consultancy services in your area. To pursue your passions, you started your consultancy services. Luckily, you got your first client, Mrs Maria, head of the accounting department of ERPGATO Manufacturing Limited (EML). She requested you to provide her with an expert opinion on the components of overhead and the logical cost driver. For this expert opinion, she forwarded you the following information.
For years, EML has allocated overhead based on total machine hours. A recent assessment of overhead costs has shown that these costs are now more than 45 per cent of the company’s total costs. Sara is specifically worried about this variance, and as a managing director, she is trying to control overhead better. For this purpose, the head of the management accountant adopted an activity-based costing system. Each cutting board goes through the five processes. These processes are elaborated on in the following paragraph.
To better control overhead, EML is adopting an activity-based costing system. Each cutting board goes through the following processes. The given data reveals that cutting is the first process. In this process, boards are selected from inventory and are cut to the required width and length. Imperfections in boards (such as knots or cracks) are identified and removed. The second process is assembly. In this process, cut wooden pieces are laid out on clamps, a layer of glue is applied to each piece, and then glued pieces are clamped together until the glue sets. The third process is shaping. Once the glue has been set, the boards are sent to the shaping process, where they are cut into specific shapes. After being shaped, the cutting boards must be sanded smooth. In this setting, sanding is the fourth process. The fifth process is finishing. In this process, sanded cutting boards receive a coat of mineral oil to help preserve the wood. The last process is packing. In the packing process, finished cutting boards are placed in boxes of 12. The boxes are sealed, addressed, and sent to one of the kitchen stores.
Required: Suggest the most suitable component of overhead for EML. Further, determine a logical cost driver for each process.
Part B. System Analysis and Selection Report. [Up to 2000 words]
Note: Part B is an independent part. Please do not relate it with Part A.
Background
You are running an Accounting Information System consultancy firm. One of your clients is currently evaluating its information systems. The managing director of your client thinks that they need to invest in an Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) system to support the growth of the business. During your first meeting, the managing director of your client requested you to evaluate their business and recommend ERP software.
Client/Company Selection
You must select a listed company of your choice (your firm’s client). The company chosen should be a manufacturing firm listed on either The Australian Stock Exchange or the Stock Exchange of your home country. The selected company is your firm’s client.
Note: Please choose the company that best suits the situation mentioned above while selecting the company for this assessment.
The framework of Analysis [Requirements]
The report should include the following components:
1. Background of the Selected Business
- Evaluate your client’s business process to identify potential weak internal controls and the risk associated with these potential weak controls. And recommend the control techniques that will reduce or eliminate the potential risks. [Hint: your response should be based on our discussion in interactive tutorials 4 to 6.]
2. Systems Requirements
- Briefly discuss the software features and functionalities your client should consider supporting its business activities. [Hint: your response should be based on Section 1.1 above.]
3. Software Selection
- Compare and contrast the features and functionalities of three ERP software packages offered by the ERP vendors. [Hint. Try to apply the general functionalities and critical elements of ERP systems we discussed in the week ten interactive tutorial].
- In the end, identify the most suitable vendor and ERP software package for your client and explain why it is the best option.
Assignment Structure
The report should include the following components.
Holmes Institute Assignment Cover Sheet
The Holmes Institute Assignment Cover Sheet is available at the end of menu item Assessments on the Blackboard.
Table of Contents
This needs to show a logical listing of all the sub-headings of the report. Note this is excluded from the total word count.
Part A. Purchases and Cash Disbursement System
Do not include the executive summary and introduction here. You must answer three specific requirements given above in Part A’s “Required” section.
Part B. System Analysis and Selection Report. Executive Summary
The executive summary should be concise and not involve too much detail. It should make commentary on the main points only and follow the sequence of the report. Write the executive summary after the report is completed, and once you have an overview of the whole text.
Table of Contents
This needs to show a logical listing of all the sub-headings of the report’s contents. Note this is excluded from the total word count.
1. Introduction
Typically, the introduction is a short paragraph that includes background, scope and the main points raised in the order of importance. There should be a brief conclusion statement at the end of the introduction.
2. Main Body Paragraphs with Numbered Sub-headings
This section contains detailed information which elaborates on the main points raised in the introduction. Each paragraph should begin with an exact topic sentence, then supporting sentences with facts and evidence obtained from research and finish with a concluding sentence at the end.
3.Conclusion
This section contains a logical and coherent evaluation of the work you have performed during this assessment.
4. References
Please see the “Assessment Design – Adapted Harvard Referencing” section for the referencing guidelines.
5. Appendices
This section includes any additional explanatory information, which is supplementary and graphical to help communicate the main ideas made in the report. Refer to the appendices in the main body paragraphs as and where appropriate. (Note this is excluded from the total word count.)
Note: The report should be grounded on relevant literature, and all references must be cited appropriately and included in the reference list.
Assessment Design – Adapted Harvard Referencing
As a pilot program, Holmes implements a revised Harvard approach to referencing. The following guidelines apply:
- Reference sources in assignments are limited to sources that provide full-text access to the source’s content for lecturers and markers.
- The Reference list should be located on a separate page at the end of the essay and titled:
References.
- It should include the details of all the in-text citations, arranged A-Z alphabetically by author surname. In addition, it MUST consist of a hyperlink to the full text of the cited reference source.
For example;
Hawking P, McCarthy B, Stein A (2004), Second Wave ERP Education, Journal of Information Systems Education, Fall, http://jise.org/Volume15/n3/JISEv15n3p327.pdf
- All assignments will require additional in-text reference details, which will consist of the surname of the author/authors or name of the authoring body, year of publication, page number of content, the paragraph where the content can be found.
For example;
“The company decided to implement a enterprise wide data warehouse business intelligence strategies (Hawking et al, 2004, p3(4)).”
Non-Adherence to Referencing Guidelines
Where students do not follow the above guidelines:
- Students who submit assignments that do not comply with the guidelines will be asked to resubmit their assignments.
- As per the Student Handbook, late penalties will apply each day after the student/s have been notified of the resubmission requirements.
- Students who comply with guidelines and the citations are “fake” will be reported for academic misconduct.
Marking criteria | |
Marking criteria | Weighting in Total Grades |
Components of overhead and the logical cost drivers | 10% |
Evaluate the business processes of your client [according to section 1.1]. | 5% |
Outline the software features and functionalities your client should consider supporting its business activities. | 5% |
Compare and contrast the features/functionalities of three ERP software packages offered by the ERP vendors. | 4% |
Identify the most suitable vendor and ERP software package for your client and explain why it is the best option. | 4% |
Presentation and Research Quality | 2% |
TOTAL Weight | 30% |
Marking Rubric | |||||
Excellent | Very Good | Good | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory | |
(80-100%) | (70-79%) | (60-69%) | (50-59%) | (0-49%) | |
Components of overhead | An excellent | A very good discussion | A good discussion on the | An adequate discussion | Inappropriate discussion |
and the logical cost drivers. | discussion on the | on the components of | components of overhead | on the components of | on the components of |
(10 Marks) | components of | overhead and the logical | and the logical cost | overhead and the logical | overhead and the logical |
overhead and the | cost drivers. | drivers. | cost drivers. | cost drivers. | |
logical cost drivers. | |||||
Evaluate the business | Demonstrate an | Demonstrate a very good | Demonstrate a good | Demonstrate an | Unable to present a |
processes of your client | excellent | understanding of key | understanding of key | adequate understanding | proper discussion of key |
[according to section 1.1]. (5 | understanding of key | business processes for | business processes for | of key business processes | business processes for |
Marks) | business processes | your client in the | your client in the | for your client in the | your client. |
for your client in the | discussion. | discussion. | discussion. | ||
discussion. | |||||
Outline the software features | Present an excellent | Present a very good | Present a good | Present a discussion on | Unable to present a |
and functionalities your | discussion on the | discussion on the | discussion on accounting | accounting software | proper discussion on |
client should consider | features and | features and | software features and | features and | features and |
supporting its business | functionalities of | functionalities of | functionalities that your | functionalities that your | functionalities of |
activities. (5 Marks) | accounting software | accounting software that | client should consider | client should consider | accounting software that |
that your client | your client should | with minor errors or | with errors or omissions. | your client should | |
should consider. | consider. | omissions. | consider. | ||
Compare and contrast the features/functionalities of three ERP software packages offered by the ERP vendors. (4 Marks) | Present an excellent comparison of features and functionalities of three ERP software packages. | Present a very good comparison of features and functionalities of three ERP software packages. | Present a good comparison of features and functionalities of three ERP software packages with minor errors and/or omissions. | Present a reasonable comparison of features and functionalities of three ERP software packages with errors and omissions. | Unable to present a proper comparison of features and functionalities of three ERP software packages. |
Identify the most suitable | Propose a choice of | Propose a choice of ERP | Propose a choice of ERP | Propose a choice of ERP | Unable to propose a |
vendor and ERP software | ERP software | software package based | software package based | software package based | proper choice of ERP |
package for your client and | package based on | on strong arguments. | on reasonable | on weak or inadequate | software package or back |
explain why it is the best | very strong | arguments. | arguments. | the proposed choice with | |
option. | arguments. | a valid argument. |
(4 Marks) | |||||
Presentation and Research Quality. (2 Marks) | The report included all elements and is very well presented. | The report included all elements and is well presented. The writing flowed clearly, and sections were linked effectively. Referencing is of a high standard. English is used effectively with very few errors present. A broad range of quality peer-reviewed journal references and other sources is included and used effectively to support the discussion. | The report included all elements and is generally presented appropriately. | The report included most elements and is adequately presented. | The report lacked some elements and was poorly presented. |
The writing flowed clearly, and sections were linked very effectively. Referencing is exemplary. English is used very effectively and is error-free. | The writing flowed well in most cases, and sections are linked. Referencing is in accordance with guidelines. English is used effectively with few errors present. | Writing sometimes does not flow clearly, leaving the paper to seem disjointed in areas. Referencing is somewhat in accordance with guidelines. Basic English is used with some errors present. | Writing often does not flow clearly, leaving the paper to seem somewhat disjointed. Referencing is not entirely in accordance with relevant guidelines. Basic English is used with errors present. | ||
An extensive amount of high-quality evidence from peer- reviewed journal articles and other sources is included and used effectively to support the discussion. | An adequate range of peer-reviewed journal references is included and used to support the discussion. | An adequate range of peer-reviewed journal references is included and used to a basic extent to support the discussion. | Little or no peer- reviewed journal references are included, and these are rarely used to support discussion effectively. | ||
Total Marks (30 Marks) |
Academic Integrity
Holmes Institute is committed to ensuring and upholding Academic Integrity, as Academic Integrity is integral to maintaining academic quality and the reputation of Holmes’ graduates. Accordingly, all assessment tasks need to comply with academic integrity guidelines. Table 1 identifies the six categories of Academic Integrity breaches. If you have any questions about Academic Integrity issues related to your assessment tasks, please consult your lecturer or tutor for relevant referencing guidelines and support resources. Many of these resources can also be found through the Study Sills link on Blackboard.
Academic Integrity breaches are a serious offence punishable by penalties that may range from deduction of marks, failure of the assessment task or unit involved, suspension of course enrolment, or cancellation of course enrolment.
Table 1: Six categories of Academic Integrity breaches
Plagiarism | Reproducing the work of someone else without attribution. When a student submits their own work on multiple occasions this is known as self-plagiarism. |
Collusion | Working with one or more other individuals to complete an assignment, in a way that is not authorised. |
Copying | Reproducing and submitting the work of another student, with or without their knowledge. If a student fails to take reasonable precautions to prevent their own original work from being copied, this may also be considered an offence. |
Impersonation | Falsely presenting oneself, or engaging someone else to present as oneself, in an in-person examination. |
Contract cheating | Contracting a third party to complete an assessment task, generally in exchange for money or other manner of payment. |
Data fabrication and falsification | Manipulating or inventing data with the intent of supporting false conclusions, including manipulating images. |
Source: INQAAHE, 2020