Decision Support System Database Management

Question: Discuss about theDecision Support System for Database Management. Answer: Introduction Using the decision support system, sales trends are analysed to determine the future course of action. Information from the Database Management System (DBMS) has been imported into Microsoft excel and summarized as a report for easy viewing and future analysis. The items are sources from two suppliers located in Luxemberg and Tuvalu and the business is allowed to select from any of these on an ad-hoc basis depending on the exchange rate that is favourable to the business. The effect of discount can also be seen in the mode. Number of scenarios have also been created based on potential mark-up and freight options to determine the best combination for the business. (Ireton, 2009) A decision support system (DSS) is an application that helps organization make business decisions by analyzing the data and presenting it clearly to the management. (Delaney, 2010)It can analyze and present data of the following types: Revenues/Sales/Profit figures of different time-periods (week, month, year) Revenues/Sales/Profit figures using various policy assumptions (tax-rate, product portfolio etc) Different decision options, given the sales/profit numbers for each Inventory Management Decision Support System is appropriate for this project as the management needs to choose as to which option to choose among the various alternatives for mark-up type, freight type and exchange rate. Using scenario analysis, the profit and discount numbers can be generated for various scenarios and decisions can be taken based on the numbers for the particular scenarios. (Lin, 2016) Among mark-up types, Store is better than Supplier as the Total Profit for Store is higher than Supplier, keeping freight type and exchange rate constant. The number of discounts are also higher for Store. Hence the customer perception would also be positive in this kind of mark-up type. The customer will just see the final selling price of the item rather than worrying about the mark-up type of the item because this is what matters to the customers. The customer would definitely be interested in the fact if he is being provided a discount or not. Since a higher discount is being given when the mark-up type is store, it would be better from the customer perspective also The businesss profit would decrease if the plan to provide discounts is implemented. However, that can be compensated by the increase in sales because of positive customer perception Among Freight types, Nicolaus Copernicus Transport is better than Johannes Kepler Freight as the Total Profit for Nicolaus Copernicus Transport is higher than Johannes Kepler Freight, keeping mark-up type and exchange rate constant. The number of discounts is same for Nicolaus Copernicus Transport and Johannes Kepler Freight. Hence the customer perception would also be same in terms of freight type. The businesss profit would decrease if the cost of freight was transferred to the business instead of the customer. However, that can be compensated by the increase in sales because of positive customer perception Luxemberg (LU) would be better than TV for the business to import from as the Total Profit for LU is higher than TV, keeping mark-up type and freight type constant. The number of discounts are also higher for items imported from Luxemberg. Hence the customer perception would also be positive for these items. The following things should also be considered while importing from other countries(Practical Ecommerce, 2007): Total cost: The actual product cost is only a component of the total cost involved in importing a product. There are other costs also like import and custom duties, transportation, brokerage fees, payment bank services, insurance etc. Besides that, some items may require special care due to which these costs may differ for such products. Quality: The product quality needs to be addressed and is a factor while choosing the country of import. For eg. The products manufactured in China are considered not so good in quality. It also depends on the type of product as some countries are well known to manufacture some kind of products ( for eg. Cars in Germany). Returning the product to the country of origin may lead to huge costs. Defective products will then have to be sold at discount, leading to huge losses. Logistics: The chosen country of import should have good logistics capability so as to handle large shipments and deliver products speedily. This depends on the transport infrastructure airports and seaports, railway transportation etc. Regulations: Ease of doing business depend on the regulations by the government on import and export. There may be restriction placed on some products to enter a country due to different laws of the land. There also may be trade restrictions with some countries due to political reasons. Communication/IT infrastructure: The communication infrastructure should also be will developed in the country for easy tracking of the shipment. Considering all the available options, using a Store mark-up type, Johannes Kepler Freight type and importing the products from Luxemberg would be the best for business for Dr. Nikola Tesla.(Chan, 2016) References Chan, S. P., 2016, How once-secretive Luxembourg is vying for a slice of the City of London, Telegraph,viewed September 29, 2016 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/23/how-once-secretive-luxembourg-is-vying-for-a-slice-of-the-city-o/ Delaney, L., 2010, Factors to Consider When Choosing An Import Payment Method, The Balance, viewed September 29, 2016 https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-choose-an-import-payment-method-1953391 Ireton, S., 2009, 10 Factors to Consider When Sourcing Globally, JOC, viewed September 29, 2016 https://www.joc.com/content/10-factors-consider-when-sourcing-globally Lin, W. T., 2016, The complementarity and substitutability relationships between information technology and benefits and duration of unemployment, Elsevie, viewed September 29, 2016 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167923616301075 Practical Ecommerce, 2007, The Basics of Importing Products From Overseas, Practiical Ecommerce, viewed September 29, 2016 https://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/430-The-Basics-of-Importing-Products-From-Overseas