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Conclusions

15 January, 2016 - 09:49

The M/S process is critical to revenue generation for the organization and as such is often a priority process for new technology integration. We have demonstrated one such system in this chapter. You should be aware that organizations have differing levels of technology integration in their business processes. As these levels of technology change, the business processes are altered accordingly. As the business process evolves, so also must the specific internal control procedures necessary to maintain the security and integrity of the process. Keep this in mind as you explore the alternative levels of technology integration presented in THE “ORDER-TO-CASH” PROCESS: PART II, REVENUE COLLECTION (RC)  and THE “PURCHASE-TO-PAY” (PTOP) PROCESS. Think about how the control systems change and how the controls in the M/S process would similarly change given similar technology-drivers for the business process.

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This chapter presented a Marketing and Sales process that relies on a knowledgeable salesperson for initiating orders. What’s in store for the future? Well, consider an Internet storefront (as discussed in E-Business). Buyers can send agents over the Internet to browse through electronic catalogs or Internet portals to compare prices and product specifications; and can make purchases at any hour. Consider that there are as many as 100 million people worldwide now using the Internet. In the United States alone, 10 million users have made at least one purchase over the Web. The much larger market supporting business-to-business orders is many times larger with an expected annual value of $7.29 trillion by 2004.1 Many firms such as General Electric and Dell Computer generate large portions of their revenue from their e-businesses.