ORQUIA, ANNDHREA S.

BSA 32

CHAPTER 7

ESSAY

1. List and explain the six basic files in the general ledger database.

The general ledger master file is the main file on the general ledger database. It is based
on the firm's chart of accounts. Each record is either a separate general ledger account (e.g.,
sales) or a control account (e.g., the accounts payable control) for one of the subsidiary ledgers.
The general ledger history file contains the same information for prior periods. The journal
voucher file contains all of the journal vouchers processed in the current period. The journal
voucher history file contains journal vouchers for past periods. The responsibility center file
contains the revenues, expenses, and other data for individual responsibility centers. The budget
master file contains budgeted amounts for responsibility centers.

2. Describe the three elements of problem structure. Contrast a structured problem to an

unstructured problem. Describe which levels of management typically deal with structured
problems and with unstructured problems.

Problem structure has three elements: (1) Data–the values used to represent factors that
are relevant to the problem; (2) Procedures–the sequence of steps or decision rules used in
solving the problem; and (3) Objectives–the results the decision maker desires to attain by
solving the problem. When all three elements of problem structure are known with certainty, the
problem is structured. In unstructured problems the data requirements are uncertain, and/or the
procedures are not specified, and/or the solution objectives have not been fully developed. In
general, structured problems are handled at the operations level and partially structured problems
are handled by operations, tactical, and strategic management. Usually, strategic management
handles unstructured problems

3. Many financial reports produced by organizations are nondiscretionary–publicly traded firms

have no choice but to prepare income statements, tax returns, etc. Management reporting is often
called discretionary reporting because it is not mandated, as is financial reporting. Is this a valid
statement? Why or why not?

It can be argued that an effective MRS is mandated by SOX legislation which requires
that all public companies monitor and report on the effectiveness of internal controls over
financial reporting. Management reporting has long been recognized as a critical element of an
organization's internal control structure. An MRS that directs management's attention to
problems on a timely basis promotes effective management and thus supports the organization's
business objectives.

4. There are two basic types of management reports–programmed and ad hoc. Describe each and
give examples.
 Programmed reports provide information to solve anticipated problems and make normal
decisions. They include scheduled reports such as daily sales reports and on-demand reports
generated by need such as inventory below reorder point (the report is generated when the
inventory level fall to reorder-the report is demanded by the system based on the previously set
inventory level). Ad hoc reports are the result of immediate need for information and may take
the form of database queries on sales of a particular item mentioned in a news report.

5. Describe at least three attributes of an effective report.

Effective reports tend to share several attributes: relevance–relevant data supports the manager’s
decision needs, summarization–data should be at the appropriate level of summarization for the
manager receiving it, exception orientation–this highlights what is not going as planned,
accuracy–is the freedom from material errors, completeness–with no key pieces of information
missing, timeliness–information that is reasonable complete and accurate in a reasonable time
frame is more valuable than perfect information too late, conciseness–conciseness is a counter
measure to information overload.

6. What is the implication for the Management Reporting System of an organization that
implements the formalization of tasks principle?

Management reports aim at informing managers of different aspects of the business, in

order to help them make better-informed decisions. They collect data from various departments
of the company tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and present them in an
understandable way. They basically show the worth of your business over a specific time period
by disclosing financial and operational information. Reporting for management provides insights
on how the company is doing, empowering decision-makers to find the right path to increase
operating efficiency and make pertinent decisions to remain competitive. In order to do so, many
companies use professional management reporting software.

7. Discuss inappropriate performance measures and how to avoid them.

Inappropriate measures will often lead managers to respond to situations incorrectly and
continue to reinforce undesirable behavior. For example, when manufacturing’s goal is to keep
absorbing overhead, the result is often bloated inventory and decreased customer service. If your
company has conflicting performance measures, you are certain to have differing values and
directions, many of which will be disconnected from the company’s strategy.
Managers must strive to direct all levels of their organization to focus on the right
priorities. World-class companies have learned (many the hard way) that effective performance
measurement that will drive improvement and continue to encourage the right response and
behavior requires linking strategy with day-to-day actions.
 CHAPTER 8

SHORT ANSWER

Use the following words to complete the sentences.

database administrator data dictionary

data redundancy index sequential access method
query language schema
sequential structure subschema

1. __Data Redundancy____ occurs when a specific file is reproduced for each user who needs access to the
file.

2. The conceptual view of the database is often called ___Schema_______.

3. The ___Query Language ___ allows users to retrieve and modify data easily.

4. The ___Database Administrator____ authorizes access to the database.

5. The __Data dictionary_______ describes every data element in the database.

6. What are the three data management problems caused by data redundancy?

Answer:
Insertion Anomaly – If a student detail has to be inserted whose course is not being decided yet then
insertion will not be possible till the time course is decided for student.
This problem happens when the insertion of a data record is not possible without adding some additional
unrelated data to the record.

Deletion Anomaly – If the details of students in this table is deleted then the details of college will also
get deleted which should not occur by common sense.
This anomaly happens when deletion of a data record results in losing some unrelated information that
was stored as part of the record that was deleted from a table.
It is not possible to delete some information without losing some other information in the table as well.

Updation Anomaly – Suppose if the rank of the college changes then changes will have to be all over the
database which will be time-consuming and computationally costly.

7. What is the relationship between a database table and a user view?

Answer: You share many relationships with members of your family. For instance, you and your mother
are related. You have only one mother, but she may have several children. You and your siblings are
related—you may have many brothers and sisters and, of course, they'll have many brothers and sisters as
well. If you're married, both you and your spouse have a spouse—each other—but only one at a time.
Database relationships are very similar in that they're associations between tables. There are three types of
relationships:
One-to-one: Both tables can have only one record on either side of the relationship. Each primary key
value relates to only one (or no) record in the related table. They're like spouses—you may or may not be
married, but if you are, both you and your spouse have only one spouse. Most one-to-one relationships
 are forced by business rules and don't flow naturally from the data. In the absence of such a rule, you can
usually combine both tables into one table without breaking any normalization rules.
One-to-many: The primary key table contains only one record that relates to none, one, or many records
in the related table. This relationship is similar to the one between you and a parent. You have only one
mother, but your mother may have several children.
Many-to-many: Each record in both tables can relate to any number of records (or no records) in the other
table. For instance, if you have several siblings, so do your siblings (have many siblings). Many-to-many
relationships require a third table, known as an associate or linking table, because relational systems can't
directly accommodate the relationship.

8. How does the database approach solve the problem of data redundancy?

Answer: Data Redundancy is not a problem with the database approach because individual data elements
need to be stored only once yet be available to multiple users.

9. Explain how linkages between relational tables are accomplished.

Answer: Tables that are logically related in the data model need to be physically linked. The degree of
association between the tables (i.e., 1:1, 1:M, or M:M) determines how the linking occurs. The key-
assignment rules for linking tables are discussed below. Where a true 1:1 association exists between
tables, either (or both) primary keys may be embedded as foreign keys in the related table.

10 Explain the purpose of an ER diagram in database design.

Answer: An entity relationship diagram gives a snapshot of how these entities relate to each other. You
could call it the blueprint that underpins your business architecture, offering a visual representation of the
relationships between different sets of data (entities).

In the diagram, entities are represented by boxes with lines linking them to various attributes,
which describe the entity’s qualities or characteristics.

Everything links up according to the relationships between the entities – or how they interact with
each other. Relationships are sometimes referred to as cardinalities, which describes the interactions
numerically – but let’s simply call them relationships.

11. Describe an environment in which a firm should use a partitioned database.

Answer: A data warehouse is a relational database that is designed for query and analysis rather than for
transaction processing. It usually contains historical data derived from transaction data, but can include
data from other sources. Data warehouses separate analysis workload from transaction workload and
enable an organization to consolidate data from several sources.

In addition to a relational database, a data warehouse environment can include an extraction,

transformation, and loading (ETL) solution, analytical processing and data mining capabilities, client
analysis tools, and other applications that manage the process of gathering data and delivering it to
business users.
12. What is a database lockout?

Answer: To achieve data currency, simultaneous access to individual data elements by multiple sites
needs to be prevented. The solution to this problem is to use a database lockout, which is a software
control that prevents multiple simultaneous access to data.

13. What is the partitioned database approach and what are its advantages?

Answer: The partitioned database approach splits the central database into segments or partitions that are
distributed to their primary users. The advantage of this approach are:
Storing dataat local sites increase user’s control.
Permitting local access to data and reducing the volume of data that must be transmitted between sites
improves transaction processing response time.

14. What is a replicated database and what are the advantages of this approach?

Answer: The entire database is replicated at each distributed site.

Replicated database are effective in companies where there exists high degree of data sharing but no
primary users. Since common data are replicated at each site, the data traffic between sites reduced
considerably.

The End!