487Information Flow along the Supply Chain
are Microsoft Access and Oracle (Rainer and Cegielski 2011). Accessibility to a database is
an important feature because many of today’s businesses are operating extensively with
electronic data; paper copies are rapidly disappearing.
Data Manipulation and Reporting
ERP is a suite of software modules designed to automate business processes by integrat-
ing information ows across functional departments within an organization. The sales
department executes customer acquisition and retention activities designed by the mar-
keting department. The credit department veries the credit line of customers before
allowing the sales department to sell products to target customers. The accounting
department accumulates ...