Assignment 2 - MBUS107 Semester 2 2022 Page 1
Data Analyses and Databases (MBUS107)
Individual Assignment
Assignment Title: systems analysis, database design and modern ICT
applications
Assessment Weighting: 45% (25% for a business essay at Stage I and 20%
for a data modelling work document at Stage II)
Length of assignment paper: maximum 2,500 words for the business essay.
Due Date: by midnight Sunday 16/10/2022 for the business essay -
submission via Moodle.
by midnight Sunday 23/10/2022 for the work document -
submission via Moodle.
A. General Information about the assignment:
This assignment is to assess learning outcomes four, five and six of the unit. Students will be
asked to accomplish two-staged project simulating tasks, processes and challenges as would be
required from an accountant or an IS practitioner in the real business world. The project reflects
typical work in ERP and ICT applications for an enterprise. The scope of the project is set
based on the TCA10 Schedule in the 2021 CPA’s and CAANZ’s Accreditation Guidelines,
covering a field of practice interweaving themes of ERP, ICT, database, ethics and professional
skills. The deliverables are a business essay at Stage I and a data modelling work document at
Stage II.
Submission requirements
- Assignments must be submitted via the Moodle unit site through the ‘Assessments’ block.
- Keep a backup of your submission. If your assessment goes astray, for whatever reason,
you will be required to reproduce it.
- It is expected that all work submitted, will have been edited for spelling, grammar and
clarity.
- Students are expected to dig into the relevant literature to support their
ideas/arguments/findings in the assignment. When required, references are cited and
presented correctly in accordance with the Victoria university Harvard referencing style.
- The CIC’s policy for late submissions applies.
Assignment 2 - MBUS107 Semester 2 2022 Page 2 of 8
B. The project Stage I (25 marks, an essay required):
Budget Auto Parts (BAP) is a company wholesaling and distributing Japanese car parts and
accessories. The company has 90 employees and an annual turnover of about 60 million dollars.
BAP has 12 stores in five cities of Australia. Most of its stock are for cars that have been
produced in last ten years. The parts for older cars are supplied on customer orders BAP
operates its business in a highly competitive market. There are five larger companies and many
smaller businesses competing with BAP. New technologies such as electric and fuel
hybridisation, computer visioning and autonomous emergency braking are upgrading cars
rapidly, speeding up obsolescence of some BAP’s stock and making its prices volatile. The
company is using MYOB for accounting and financial reporting and Smart Store, an in-house
system, to administrate business operations. The two standalone systems had satisfied the
company’s information needs for a period of time; recently, however, they are causing
problems in many areas, exposing that they are unfit for competitions. For example, stock
values in Smart Store and in MYOB are updated at times that are not synchronised. The
discrepancies lead to incidences such as a sale is made with no profit, a price is quoted higher
than BAP’s competitors and a credit note is created wrongly in processing a warranty claim.
Ellen, BAP’s CEO, has recently approached you, the business administration manager. She is
interested in using an integrated system to address the current and potential issues associated
with standalone systems, and improve the company’s business operations overall. She
mentions two ERP systems, SAP and Oracle, and is seeking your advice about their suitability
if one was applied to BAP. As expected by Ellen, your advice will be addressing strategic,
analytical and implementation issues in a format of business essay for a presentation to the
Board of Directors. More specifically, your essay should be in about 2,500 words answering
questions in the following five dimensions:
1. What are the key issues that a car parts wholesale company has to address in order to compete
in the Australian market? How can an ERP system help address these issues?
2. Which system, SAP or Oracle, would you recommend BAP to use? Why?
3. What are the risks associated with implementation of the system? How can the risks be
controlled?
4. What modern ICTs, such as AI, Cloud computing, can be used to enhance the ERP system
so that BAP will continue to run the business successfully?
5. How can the sensitive data stored in the ERP system, such as the company’s financials,
customers list and business operation secrets, be protected from unauthorized access both
inside and outside the company? What are the salient issues in ethics and legal compliance that
are associated with applying modern ICTs to the ERP system? How can these issues be
addressed?
Submission guidelines for part B:
- It is expected that at least 10 references are from credible sources that are typical academic
journals, textbooks and official releases (such as Google Scholar, ProQuest and EBSCO)
are used.
- CIC Higher Education Library can be accessed via
https://hed.ciclms.com/mod/page/view.php?id=29762
Assignment 2 - MBUS107 Semester 2 2022 Page 3 of 8
C. Stage II (20 marks, a work document required):
C.1 (10 marks):
This part continues the system development process to the stage of design. It is a technical part
for you to demonstrate how a relational database system is constructed conceptually. The
expectation is that you will analyse, build and document a module (sub-system) of a
hypothetical database system, based on the scenario given below:
• A friend of yours has opened Professional Electronics and Repairs (PEAR) to repair
smartphones, laptops, tablets, and MP3 players. She wants you to create a database to help her
run her business.
• When a customer brings a device to PEAR for repair, data must be recorded about the
customer, the device, and the repair. The customer’s name, address, and a contact phone
number must be recorded (if the customer has used the shop before, the information already in
the system for the customer is verified as being current). For the device to be repaired, the type
of device, model, and serial number are recorded (or verified if the device is already in the
system). Only customers who have brought devices into PEAR for repair will be included in
this system.
• Since a customer might sell an older device to someone else who then brings the device
to PEAR for repair, it is possible for a device to be brought in for repair by more than one
customer. However, each repair is associated with only one customer. When a customer
brings in a device to be fixed, it is referred to as a repair request, or just “repair,” for short. Each
repair request is given a reference number, which is recorded in the system along with the date
of the request, and a description of the problem(s) that the customer wants fixed. It is possible
for a device to be brought to the shop for repair many different times, and only devices that are
brought in for repair are recorded in the system. Each repair request is for the repair of one
and only one device. If a customer needs multiple devices fixed, then each device will require
its own repair request.
• There are a limited number of repair services that PEAR can perform. For each repair
service, there is a service ID number, description, and charge. “Charge” is how much the
customer is charged for the shop to perform the service, including any parts used. The actual
repair of a device is the performance of the services necessary to address the problems
described by the customer. Completing a repair request may require the performance of many
services. Each service can be performed many different times during the repair of different
devices, but each service will be performed only once during a given repair request.
• All repairs eventually require the performance of at least one service, but which services
will be required may not be known at the time the repair request is made. It is possible for
services to be available at PEAR but that have never been required in performing any repair.
• Some services involve only labor activities and no parts are required, but most services
require the replacement of one or more parts. The quantity of each part required in the
performance of each service should also be recorded. For each part, the part number, part
description, quantity in stock, and cost is recorded in the system. The cost indicated is the
amount that PEAR pays for the part. Some parts may be used in more than one service, but
each part is required for at least one service.
Required:
Create an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) to support the business operations as described
above.
Assignment 2 - MBUS107 Semester 2 2022 Page 4 of 8
C.2 (10 marks):
You choose one of the sample datasets that are provided by the lecturer (please refer to Moodle
for a number of datasets provided) and use Power BI to produce a visualised query report. If
you want to use software other than Power BI, it is possible but you need to get the lecturer’s
permission.
Required: Create a visualised report of an informative query (such as the total sale value within
a region, the inventory amount for a particular product and the factors affecting staff attrition)
that is enabled in the data. Provide a short description and analysis of the data presented.
Submission guidelines for parts C1 and C2:
- Both part C1 and C2 must be presented and submitted in a single word file.
- For C1, if you register and use Lucidchart
(https://lucid.app/users/login#/login?referredProduct=lucidchart, you are only required to
take a screenshot of your ERD and paste onto the submitted file. However, the screenshot
must show your name.
- For C2, if you register and use Power BI (Power BI Desktop), you are only required to
take a screenshot of your presentation (such as a graph) and paste onto the submitted file.
However, the screenshot must show your name. You must state the file name (if using a
file provided by the lecturer in your submission).
Assignment 2 - MBUS107 Semester 2 2022 Page 5
Assignment Marking Criteria: The following assignment criteria are designed to give the student a guide as to what markers are looking for in the assignment.