Sales and Operations Planning Framework

Question: Discuss about the Sales and Operations Planning Framework. Answer: Introduction Accounting plays vital role in the recording, analyzing, and summarizing the financial transaction of the company. The report analyzes that organizational structure has great impact on the operation of the company. Thereby, this report assesses the operational problems going in Telstra by the help of organizational structure. Furthermore, this report discovers the software acquisition method used by Telstra. Along with this, it encompasses the sales flow chart of the Telstra. At the same time, it discusses the development and adoption of accounting software in Telstra. Apart from this, it identifies the software company taking competitive advantage in market of accounting software. The report also identifies different challenges and gaps in service of SAASU are being faced by the users. Eventually, it includes some recommendation to resolve the problems and challenges in SAASU accounting software. Current Organization Structure According to Harper (2015), the organizational structure is comprised of the responsibilities and roles to be assigned to the employees or staffs in the company. The effective organizational structure leads to the effective management of operation of the organizational activities. Every organization has to clearly define and assign the roles and responsibilities to staff for obtaining the objectives and goals. The organizational structure is mostly of two types, which are flat organizational structure and hierarchical or vertical organizational structure. The hierarchical structure is used by the Telstra as Telstra think that this structure helps in developing the better reporting and order relationship among staff. Along with this, as stated by Cummings and Worley (2014), hierarchical structure helps in developing effective communication system in the organization and improving the effectiveness of employees. The organizational structure of Telstra is given below: The above diagram is reflecting the organizational structure of Telstra. From the above diagram, it is clear that the Telstra has different business units. Thus, it can be said that the Telstra effectively measures the performance of employees working there with the help of this structure. Operational Problems According to Hajir, et al, (2015) this is the responsibility of the operational department to discover different operational risks in the organization. Generally, the ineffective structure of the organization causes operational problem in the organization. There are different operational problems or issues such as wastage, delay in accomplishment, quality issue, management and control issue, and work culture issue. In similar context, Telstra also suffers different operational problems when telecommunication activities are being operated. Such as, the president of the company is not able to manage production and operation of the company and if he is given responsibility of the management, then it is of course a risk. As stated by Burke and Noumair (2015), ineffective structure of the organization would cause conflicts between departments because ambiguity of the role and responsibility and reporting authority may cause confusion among employees. Thereby, it may lead to the disputes between superior and subordinate or managers and employees. Therefore, to resolve the conflicts, there should be an effective structure establishing effective relation, which can lead to the coordination and collaboration among departments. Apart from this, Uygun, et al., (2015) stated that customers are not enjoying the service of the company effectively as due to the network outstage of the company. This leads the dissatisfaction among the customers. The incongruence of services and technologies leads the Telstra to encounter the quality related issues. In the words of Palmer (2012), the efforts of the market department of the organization are not enough to patronize the customers. The marketing efforts may affect the growth the organization and service to customers. The communication may lead to the serious issues in the operational process of the organization. The poor communication may lead the stress between department that affects the growth and customer service of company. Therefore, organization should focus on the improving the communication system and removing the communication issues to ensure organizational effectiveness. In contrast to this, Holtzman and Anderberg, (2011) pointed out that ambiguous objective leads the confusion to management while taking decision. Thus, the there should be clear goals and objectives for the departments aligned with organizational objectives otherwise it may affect the sustainable growth the Telstra. The ambiguity of the goals and roles may lead the confusion among employees that can crea te stress at workplace. For instance, if there is no proper and effective response by the staff of the organization to customers regarding their complaints, it may put negative impact on the image of the company that will affect the competitiveness of the organization. Therefore, it can be said that above defined operational problems may influence the productivity, image, employees satisfaction, customers retention and customer service of the Telstra. Acquisition Methods of Telstra Congedo et al, (2016) found that ERP acquisition was used by Telstra for meeting its objective of improving the customer service and efficiency, maximize the return, improving productivity and others. Hence, Telstra went with SAP and Accenture for better management of its services. Along with this, The ERP method of acquisition is very effective for organization to resolve the business problems. Thus, Telstra possibly will give license to SAP solution (Telstra Connected Clouds, 2017). The ERP is deemed to be effective acquisition method in improving the organizational efficiency, customer service, security of data, and gathering information. In comparison to ERP, other methods requires skilled and experienced IT person for handling. It defiantly generates extra cost for the company. Along with this, Telstra should focus on reducing its cost and time in operation. There should be transparency of the operation so that customer can have the relevant information about the plans of compan y. Wang et al (2012), sale is an important activity of any organization for delivering the products or services. The sales flow chart shows the process of selling of products or services of the company. It comprises of the process of development, coordination, and communication, problems solving, and preparing documentation of the company. Therefore, the flowchart of Telstra is given below: The above diagram of the sales flow chart of the Telstra reflects that company effectively provides different kinds of telecommunication services to customers. The sales flow chart can help the company in reducing the time and cost to minimum. As stated by Gelinas et al (2011), the sales flow chart can assist the company in dealing with sales people by establishing effective communication between them. The sales flow chart can help in discovering and eliminating the errors and issues in sales process of company. Along with this, sales flow chart can help in managing the sales operation of the company. In support of this, Hall, (2015) stated that sales flow chart shows the connectivity of sales department with others activities or departments in the organization. Hence, the sales flow chart of Telstra depicts how it creates values for its ultimate customers. Control and Fraud Problems in the System Elbashir et al, (2011) explained that control is the function of management in which the management ensures the activities of the organization are being operated as per the decided standards. The control is the process of comparing the actual performance of the company or activity with standards predefined for them. The issues may be internal and external that has to be controlled by every organization for ensuring uninterrupted operation. Telstra also faces internal problems in operation of telecommunication services and activities, for example; internal control system, cyber security, and ineffective operation due to lack of expertise. In the words of Subudhi and Panigrahi, (2015), if the system of control is ineffective in the organization may cause a fraud issues there. For instance, illegal use of telecommunication, network security, and infrastructure may cause fraud. The fraud may be due to change in technology, call transfer, wrong or falsified answer, and wrong use of the ai rtime. Development and Adoption of Accounting Software Packages As stated by Seethamraju (2015), the development and use of the software can aid the organization in solving the complex problems and saving the cost and time as well. There are different kinds of accounting software that can be used by the Australian large, medium, and small businesses for the effective management of finance. These soft wares include XERO, SAASU, and MYOB. Seethamraju, (2015) pointed out that SAASU was developed by Marc and Grant in the year 2000. It was fostered as model of service in its initial phase. SAASU was formed to assist in coding, linking with PayPal, automatic billing, forecasting of cash flow, accounting management, and maintaining the inventory. Australian companies started to use this with investment of $1 million. Halpert, (2011) stated that Telstra tends to adopt SAASU software, as it is very useful in providing cloud computing, professional services, accounting and reporting, maintaining inventory and customer data base. Thus, many Australian companies are using SAASU for making smooth their operation. SAASU software is able to record the transaction of $125 million from 80000 users. According to Lee et al (2013), SAASU is closely related to the approaches of the marketing and other systems. SAASU provides its service not only in Australia but in global market also to enjoy higher market share. The overall market size of SAASU is 17%. Furthermore, SAASU has more than 20000 clients in Australian market. Apart from this, Ma and Seidmann, (2015) found that around 20500 business customers are using the service of SAASU. Hence, the SAASU has clients such as Jims Franchise Group and McDonald. Tarkoma, (2010) pointed out different leaders in the market of accounting software package, which include XERO, SAASU, RECKON, MYOB, and QUICKBOOKS. Thus, there is stiff competition in market which provides opportunity of the accounting and financial services for startups at lower cost. However, SAASU can be effective to use by SMEs, as it provide detailed data of the different accounting that support effective decision making. It can provide effectiveness to the operation of the company. Millions of transaction take place throughout the year wroth of billions in dollar therefore SAASU is able to record the transaction worth of billions. Therefore, company enjoys leadership position in Asia-Pacific software accounting market based on excellence of its services. The free up gradation service of the software to clients provides the SAASU with competitive advantage in the market. According to Ram, et al (2014), the accuracy of the data, whenever and wherever it is accessed by users, also supports competitiveness of SAASU. This software can be used by large numbers of users simultaneously without realizing any issue. Along with this, the quality and integrity of the services according to global standards also provides the company with competitive advantage. Current Gaps and Challenges of SAASU Accounting Software and Recommendations SAASU is having good competitive advantage however some business users have realized service gap in the accounting software while executing business functions. Therefore, I want to recommend some ways to SAASU for improving its services. It should focus on retaining its employees. Along with this, Lewis, (2016) states that SAASU needs to motivate and train its employees for improving their performance and ensure they are satisfied at workplace. This will help in reducing the level of conflicts and executing changes. Apart from this, SAASU should employ strict policies, automatic data processing system, and emphasize on the review and supervision of the services. Conclusion From the above analysis, it can be said that Telstra uses hierarchical organizational structure in its operation. Different operational problems such as communication and departmental disputes are there in Telstra. Along with this, ERP acquisition method is used by Telstra for overwhelming the issues and improving the efficiency. Moreover, Telstra uses SAASU accounting software for effective management of accounting information. References: Burke, W. W., Noumair, D. A. (2015)Organization development: A process of learning and changing. FT Press. Congedo, M., Korczowski, L. and Delorme, A. 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