SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DATABASE ENVIRONMENT - Database Design and Development: An Essential Guide for IT Professionals - page 79

HUMAN
RESOURCES
DEPT.

ACCOUNTING
DEPT.

INVENTORY
DEPT.

PRODUCTION
DEPT.

DATABASE
SYSTEM

MARKETING
DEPT.

SHIPPING
DEPT.

Figure 3-5 Information sharing among departments.

ascertains the appropriate shipping method, and determines prices and discounts.
The order entry clerk then records all the data about the order in the company's
database. Why must the data entered by the order entry clerk be shared with other
departments?

Effective Customer Service When the customer has a question regarding prices
or the status of the order, the order entry department has to provide answers. When
part of the order must be back ordered because of out-of-stock condition, the order
entry department ensures that the back-ordered items are shipped later. If the order
entry department is responsible for the complete processing of each order, why is
it necessary for order data to be shared with other departments? After all, does not
the order entry department carry out every process relating to orders? If so, what
use do other departments have for order data?
In today's business conditions, it is not entirely true that the order entry depart-
ment performs every process relating to orders. With strong emphasis on customer
service, many departments need to have information about orders. Modern busi-
nesses place a lot of importance to customer service—for very good reasons. Good
and prompt service to customers makes a company stand out among the competi-
tion. Consider order data against this business background. When a salesperson con-
tacts his or her customer, the salesperson needs information about what and how
much the customer had ordered, information about the status of all recent orders,
and information on when the back orders are likely to be fulfilled. If a customer
wants clarification on the prices and discounts of an order, the customer service
department needs access to order data to provide a proper response. The company
warehouse needs data about each order to prepare the shipments. Many depart-
ments need to share order information to offer unified service to every customer.

Data Recording and Data Usage Think about the core business of any organi-
zation. You know that each department in every division performs specific business
processes; all of these processes contribute to the overall core business. The diverse
processes—all together—make up the entire core business. To perform each of these
processes, users need information from the enterprise database.