Understanding the Business Enterprise: Structure, Elements, and Environment
Concept of a Company
A company can be understood through several lenses:
The Firm as an Economic Unit of Production: Based on the theory of production economy, a company transforms inputs into outputs. It is the basic productive unit of the economy, as opposed to the family, which is a unit of consumption.
The Company as an Organization: The theory of organization and administration conceives the company as a particular kind of organization or human association. It is composed of a set of diverse factors
Database Concepts and Terminology: Key Definitions
Key Database Concepts and Terminology
What is Metadata?
Metadata is the term for data about data.
Structural Independence
Structural independence exists when it is possible to make changes in the file structure without affecting the application program’s ability to access the data.
Traditional File System Storage
A traditional file system was normally stored in a file cabinet.
Record Definition
A record consists of a set of one or more fields.
Data Integrity
Data integrity is defined as the condition in which
Read MorePerformance Management Tools: Balanced Scorecard, Ishikawa, Pareto, PRA, FMEA, FTA
Balanced Scorecard
The Balanced Scorecard is primarily a strategic tool meant to show how key performances should be connected to produce the final desired performance. It focuses on desired performances, i.e., what the organization should achieve, and looks at the organization as a bundle of processes.
- Financial Perspective (or the Final Performance): This represents the ultimate results desired by the firm. For most firms, the key priority is the maximization of profits. So: (i) processes should
Enterprise Application Integration: Streamlining Business Processes
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)
EAI solutions provide an integrated approach to connecting the different components of IT infrastructure—people, applications, platforms, and databases—to enable secure intra- and inter-enterprise collaboration. EAI solutions enable an organization to integrate business processes internally and externally with business partners to create dynamic environments that support current and evolving business requirements, thereby creating a global organization.
Read MoreEssential Business Documents: Purchase and Payment Records
Purchase Documents
These include order, delivery note, invoice, check, bill of exchange, and receipt.
Order
Definition: A document detailing the items that the customer demands and the conditions under which the purchase takes place.
Parts of an Order:
- Identification of the company engaged in the order
- Order number, place, and date of issue
- Identification of the company that made the order
- Conditions of the order
- Specification of merchandise
- Signature of the person formulating the order
- Registration of the
Market Research Process: From Analysis to Data Sources
Preliminary Studies
Preliminary studies lay the foundation for future work.
Situation Analysis
We analyzed the situation, handling all available information to obtain a complete picture of the organization regarding:
- The company and the sector: Its evolution, products, importance in the sector, past problems, provided solutions, etc.
- The market and customers: Analysis of the geographical distribution of the market, seasonal variations in sales, customer type, etc.
- Commercial organization: Distribution