Question 1

ABC was launched as a retail dive shop with 10 employees in Turkey by Mr Beans. As a small business owner, Beans wanted to offer the e-commerce capabilities of a large firm using a small company's budget. Within a year, he had installed an Ethernet LAN to connect three PCs, each of which served as a point-of-sale cash register and terminal. These PCs link to a Microsoft Access database where the firm's product catalogue and order information are stored. The PCs are also connected to a credit card verification system operated by their merchant bank.

ABC has also established a website with the goals of displaying and selling the company's products, providing diving news and information, and bringing together members of the diving community.

ABC has three laptops that its employees use to access the Internet and update the website.

a) Suggest the network topology and communication medium that is most likely to be used in ABC's LAN. Explain your view.

b) Identify the hardware devices, networking devices and telecommunications services you may expect to find on ABC's local area network. Briefly describe the purpose of each component you identify.

c) Would you recommend that ABC install a wireless network? Why or why not?

d) Describe two business-to-consumer e-commerce applications which could be supported by ABC's website.

Question 2

Books'n Things is a leading bookseller with 15 retail stores in Singapore. A single store can carry up to 60,000 titles, including single copies that can remain on the shelf for a year. Currently, the system that Book'n Things uses is only able to feed publishers with weekly reports, which doesn't allow Book'n Things management to see inventory trends over time. They would now like to provide publishers with a better way to track sales results and inventory status in real-time.

a) Use the process of strategic planning to create a mission statement, goal(s) and objective(s) for this information system.

b) Briefly describe three guidelines which Books'n Things should consider when designing the network and selecting the telecommunication service providers for this information system.

c) How might the Internet be used to implement the new system?

d) Would the sales and inventory tracking application help optimize the company's supply chain at the operational or at the strategic level? Explain your answer.