Solution Manual for Concepts of Database Management 9th Edition by Starks

Chapter One: Introduction to Database Management

A Guide to this Instructor’s Manual:

Chapter Objectives

• Introduce Burk IT Solutions (BITS), the company that is used as the basis for many of the examples throughout the text
• Introduce basic database terminology
• Describe database management systems (DBMSs)
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of database processing
• Introduce Colonial Adventure Tours, the company that is used in a case that appears at the end of each chapter
• Introduce Sports Physical Therapy, the company that is used in another case that appears at the end of each chapter

• Describe the BITS company
• Use Figure 1-1 to illustrate the problems associated with using spreadsheets to maintain this data
  • Redundancy
  • Difficulty accessing related data
  • Limited security features
  • Multiple updates
  • Size limitations
• Define redundancy
  • Duplication of data or the storing of the same data in more than one place
• Use the embedded Q & A on page 2 to discuss the problems redundancy causes
  • Wastes space
  • Makes changes more cumbersome
  • Can lead to inconsistencies
• Use Figure 1-2 to introduce the type of data that BITS must be able to store and retrieve
  • Point out that the amounts in the Total column in Figure 1-2 are not stored in the database but are calculated

1. Group Activities: Place students in groups and distribute order forms from local companies and/or retail stores. Ask the groups to determine the data the company must store and the data that is calculated.
2. Class Discussion: Ask students what other types of data a service providers such as BITSwould need to maintain.
3. Critical Thinking: BITS needs to maintain data on the consultants and what each one specializes in. Should BITS store this data in a spreadsheet? Why or why not?

• Define entity
  • Person, place, object, event, or idea for which you want to store and process data
• Define attribute
  • Characteristic or property of an entity
  • Also called a field or column in many database systems
• Use Figure 1-3 to point out the Consultant and Client entity and the attributes for each entity
• Define relationship
  • An association between entities
• Define one-to-many relationship
  • Each rep is associated with many customers, but each customer is associated with only one rep
• Use Figure 1-4 to explain the one-to-many relationship between consultants and clients
• Define data file
  • A file used to store data, such as a spreadsheet or word-processed document
• Define database
  • A structure that can store information about multiple types of entities, the attributes of those entities, and the relationships among the entities
• Point out the differences between a data file and a database
• Use Figure 1-5 to review the tables (entities) that make up the BITS database
  • Consultant, Client, Tasks, OrderLine, Work Orders
• Use Figure 1-6 to illustrate the problems with storing orders in the alternative table structure
• Review the embedded Q & As on pages 8 through 9
• Define entity-relationship (E-R)diagram
  • A visual way to represent a database
• Use Figure 1-7 to illustrate an E-R diagram and review the entities, attributes, and relationships in the BITS database

Solution Manual for Cost Management 8th Edition by Blocher

Description

Solution Manual for Principles of Supply Chain Management 5th Edition by Wisner

Discussion Questions

1. Define the term supply chain management in your own words, and list its most important activities.

2. Can a small business like a local sandwich or bicycle shop benefit from practicing supply chain management?What would they most likely concentrate on?

3. Describe and draw a supply chain for a bicycle repair shop and list the important supply chain members.

4. Can a bicycle repair shop have more than one supply chain? Explain.

5. What roles do “collaboration” and “trust” play in the practice of supply chain management?

6. Why don’t firms just become more vertically integrated (eg. buy out suppliers and customers), instead of trying to manage their supply chains?

7. What types of organizations would benefit the most from practicing supply chain management? What sorts of improvements could be expected?

8. What are the benefits of supply chain management?

9. Can nonprofit, educational, or government organizations benefit from supply chain management? How?

Solution Manual for Operations Management 6th CANADIAN Edition by Stevenson

1. Operations management is the management of processes (i.e., the sequence of activities and resources)that create goods and/or provide services.

2. Production/operations planner/scheduler/controller, demand planner (forecaster), quality specialist, logistics coordinator, purchasing agent/buyer, supply chain manager, materials planner, inventory clerk/manager, production/operations manager.

3. a.       Because a large % of a company’s expenses occur in the operations, e.g., purchasing materials and workforce salaries, more efficient operations can result in large increases in profits.
4. A number of management jobs are in OM.
5. Activities in all other areas of any organization are all interrelated with OM.
6. Operations innovations lead to the marketplace and strategic benefits.
7. The three major functions of organizations are operations, finance, and marketing. Operations is concerned with the creation of goods and services identified by marketing, finance is concerned with the provision of funds necessary for operations and investment of extra funds, and marketing is concerned with promoting and/or selling goods or services.
8. The operations function consists of all activities that are directly related to producing goods or providing services. It adds value during the transformation process (the difference between the cost of inputs and the price of outputs). An operations manager manages the transformation function.                                                             He/she is responsible for planning and using the resources (labor, machines, and materials). The kind of work that operations managers do varies from organization to organization (largely because of the different goods or services involved). For example, a store/restaurant manager is in effect an operations manager. See Figure 1-6 for examples of typical activities performed by operations managers.
9. Design decisions are usually strategic and long term (1–5 years or so ahead), whereas planning and control decisions are shorter term. In particular, planning decisions are tactical and medium-term (1–12 months or so ahead), and control decisions (including scheduling and execution) are short term (1–12 weeks or so ahead). Design involves decisions that relate to goods and service design, capacity, acquisition of equipment, the arrangement of departments, and location of facilities.Planning/control activities involve management of personnel, quality control/assurance, inventory planning and control, production planning, and scheduling.

Solution Manual for An Introduction to Management Science 15th Edition by Anderson

1. Develop a general understanding of the management science/operations research approach to decision making.

2. Realize that quantitative applications begin with a problem situation.

3. Obtain a brief introduction to quantitative techniques and their frequency of use in practice.

4. Understand that managerial problem situations have both quantitative and qualitative considerations that are important in the decision making process.

5. Learn about models in terms of what they are and why they are useful (the emphasis is on mathematical models).

6. Identify the step-by-step procedure that is used in most quantitative approaches to decision making.

7. Learn about basic models of cost, revenue, and profit and be able to compute the breakeven point.

8. Obtain an introduction to the use of computer software packages such as Microsoft Excel in applying quantitative methods to decision making.

9. Understand the following terms:

1. Management science and operations research, terms used almost interchangeably, are broad disciplines that employ scientific methodology in managerial decision making or problem solving. Drawing upon a variety of disciplines (behavioral, mathematical, etc.), management science and operations research combine quantitative and qualitative considerations in order to establish policies and decisions that are in the best interest of the organization.

2. Define the problem

3. See section 1.2.

4. A quantitative approach should be considered because the problem is large, complex, important, new and repetitive.

5. Models usually have time, cost, and risk advantages over experimenting with actual situations.

6. Model (a) may be quicker to formulate, easier to solve, and/or more easily understood.

7. Let d = distance

Solution Manual for Strategic Brand Management Building Measuring 4th edition