Critical Thinking Chapter 4

An intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to share information, operational systems, or computing services within an organization.

Extranet is a form of a computer network that allows for safe access from the outside, it is mainly for business or educational purposes. For example, in a business-to-business example, the extranet is an extension of an organization's intranet that is extended to users outside the organization (partners, vendors, and suppliers), while isolated from other internet users. In contrast to this, a business-to-consumer (B2C) model involves known servers of one or more companies communicating with new consumer users. An extranet can be thought of as an area that provides access to needed services for channel partners, without allowing access to the entire organiztion's network.

BoardDome can use the intranet as a communication tool - to post weekly reports, memos, and goals. And thus, all the employees are on the same page.
Intranet eliminates the time of talking or sending emails one by one. It is great when you have to communicate with more than one person at the same time.

For the extranet, BoardDome's customers can log in to it and take account of their orders and communicate with the sales and service stuff. If they have any questions, they no longer need to call to the company and wait for a long time on phone. Suppliers can also use extranets to make online catalogs available to vendors.

Chapter 3 Excel

I personally think...

1. The first bar chart shows data clearly. However, it does not contain all the information.
2. The two dimensional line chart was the easiest one to be made among all three charts. Moreover, we can tell how the prices go from this chart and compare the prices just by looking at it.
3. The three dimensional column chart looks way too complicated. It is hard for people to read the data. I personally do not like looking at this kind of chart.

In conclusion, I like the two dimensional line chart the best out of the three charts due to the reasons above.

Excel (Chapter 2)

I took Accounting 211 in the first semester at Behrend so I am actually quite familiar with the income statement and balance sheet and stuff. I also took SCM 200 last semester, so that I did not have too much problem while doing the Excel assignment.

There was still something new I learned from this assignment - formating the workbook for printing. Turning off the gridlines was easy. However, it took me a while to set the page breaks. I got some help from my friend, Alvin, and eventually got it done.

I personally think the instruction for this assignment was not clear enough. For example, the ninth point on the first page said we had to break it into three pages. On the third page, it said we had to give page four and five as well. Moreover, It said the output requirements should be without formulas yet, the pictures shown below were with formulas. That was quite confusing.

Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet program. It allows us to setup charts and reports which makes it
powerful. We can also easily get the totals and figures. I have learned to use Excel for keeping track of my personal finances and I definitely love it because I can figure out how much I spend in a period of time without any difficulties.

Nowadays, the use of Excel is indispensable in financial modeling and analysis. It is used for data input, consumer data, and other types of analysis information that a business will keep track of. The functions and formulas in Excel help the financial analysts out and make their work easier. Excel helps organizing a company as well.

The Career that I am Interested In

I have not actually picked a specific major from Business Administration yet, but I am quite interested in Finance and Risk Management. However, I doubt myself if I could really handle Risk Management. So at this moment, I think I am going to pick Finance for now.

Financing provides entrepreneurs and businesses with advice and support to ensure they understand their options for getting the money to start, sustain and grow.

If I want to engage in the Finance field, a detailed  knowledge of economics, mathematics, and all applicable laws is essential. The minimum requirement is a bachelor's degree in finance or a related field. Having a master degree of course is even better. I can also earn a certificate from the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute.

I personally think information system is important not only to Finance, but to the whole Business field. The information comes from some transactions that have been processed by the companies. Investors will know how to allocate their assets over time and price assets based on the risk level.