(5) Two benefits of using enterprise systems (i) It promotes business process integration by solving the problem of fragmentation

of data in hundreds of separate systems The integration of the key business processes in an entire firm into a single software system enables information to flow seamlessly throughout the organizations collect data from various key business processes in manufacturing and production, finances and accounting, sales and marketing and human resources storing the data in a single central data repository. It is now possible for information that was previously fragmented in different systems to be shared across the firm and for different parts of the business to work more closely together

(ii) It improves organizational efficiency and business performance speed communication of information throughout the company , making it easier for businesses to coordinate their daily operations , giving companies the flexibility of respond to customer request increase accurate and on time, shipment s, minimize cost, increase customer satisfaction provide valuable information for improving management decision making provide company wide information to help managers analyze overall product profitability or cost structures

(6) Cross functional business processes within a firm Processes that cross functional areas : Essential processes such as creating a new product , creating a coordinated plan for an entire business and fulfilling customer orders usually span multiple functional areas. Seeing these processes from the view point of just one functional area is often misleading and contrary to the way today's business leaders want their organizations to be operated.

The use of cross functional business processes within a firm (i) Less unidirectional - decision making flowed in one direction. Overall corporate-level objectives drove strategic business unit (SBU ) objectives, and these in turn, drove functional level objectives. organizations have flatter structures, companies diversify less and functional departments have started to become less well-defined.

(ii) Greater scope of information - Cross-functional teams require a wide range of information to reach their decisions. They need to draw on information from all parts of an organization's information base. This includes information from all functional departments. Systems integration becomes important because it makes all information accessible through a single interface.

(iii) Greater depth of information - Cross-functional teams require information from all levels of management. The teams may have their origins in the perceived need to make primarily strategic decisions, tactical decisions, or operational decisions. Almost all self-directed teams will need information traditionally used in strategic, tactical, and operational decisions.

(iv) Greater range of users - Cross-functional teams consist of people from many parts of an organization. Information must take a form that all users understand. Modern organizations lack middle manager to combine , sort and prioritize the data Technical, financial, marketing, and all other types of definition must come in a form that all member of a cross-functional team can understand. This involves reducing the amount of specialized jargon

(v) Less teleological -business decision-making has become more with goal-oriented. Managers have come to view decision-making generally, and strategic thinking in particular, as a multi stage process that starts an assessment of the current situation, determines objectives, then determines how to reach these objectives. Many firms have started to opt for a less structured, more interactive approach. One way of implementing this involves using self-directed cross-functional teams. These teams use unstructured techniques and search for revolutionary competitive advantage ,