Hakim Bookstore Sdn. Bhd. (HBSB) is a medium-size bookstore owned
by Mr. Hakim. The HBSB involves in retailing, printing, publishing and distributing books in Penang. The HBSB adopts manual inventory management system since 2015, which assists in the process of ordering, storing and warehousing for HBSB's daily transactions. Lately, Mr. Hakim received many complaints from his staff, vendors and customers about the company's existing manual inventory management system. Among the complaints are the slow inventory response time, absence of backup solution, inaccuracy in the inventory record and inefficient stock-taking, which resulted in frequent out-of-stock problem, misplaced inventory, and lack of inventory optimisation. Considering the above-mentioned problems, Mr. Hakim decided to discuss the problems with an Information Technology (IT) consultant, Mr. Arif, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pro System Sdn. Bhd. During the discussion, Mr. Hakim requested to have an automated inventory management system that could eliminate manual errors, maintain accurate stock via real-time and maintain sufficient stock level. Consequently, Mr. Hakim decided to appoint Pro System Sdn. Bhd. as an external consultant because the HBSB has no expertise in IT. Taking Mr. Hakim's request into account, Mr. Arif, suggested to purchase a new computerised stock management system. This computerised system is an efficient inventory management system that manage the process of ordering, storing, warehousing, delivering and updating transactions automatically with high internal control features. However, Mr. Hakim found that the system is quite expensive and not user friendly. Nevertheless, Mr. Hakim decided to purchase the system without discussing with his management staff. This is because he thought that it is necessary to replace the existing system immediately to resolve the problems of inventory management system in the HBSB. In order to justify his action, Mr. Hakim explained to his management team: "Mr. Arif, the CEO of Pro System Sdn. Bhd. recommended that if we use stock management system, we will have a better inventory management system which will help to overcome our current problems. In addition, the new system offers internal control features in the inventory records. This will benefit our customer service and improve inventory management system efficiency". REQUIRED: (a) List TWO (2) possible costs that need to be identified in acquiring a new inventory management system. (2 Marks) (b) Discuss TWO (2) problems related to the new inventory management system in the HBSB. (4 Marks) (c) Discuss TWO (2) possible negative impacts from the purchase of the new inventory management system in the HBSB. (4 Marks) B. Dr. Aishah is an information technology (IT) consultant for system development. She is currently conducting a preliminary investigation of a new system development for Maju Sdn. Bhd. In order to streamline the project activities, she needs to make a PERT chart. The process begins with a system request which takes about five days to be completed. Then, on the next day, a project team needs to be formed by selecting qualified and committed team members. The establishment of project team requires five consecutive days. After that, the next process is to understand the problem of the current system, which takes about three days to be fulfilled. Later, the team starts to work on two tasks at once: define project scope task and determine project constraints task. The project scope has to be defined where a list of specific project goals, deliverables, tasks and costs need to be determined and documented. This activity needs to be completed within four days. At the same time, a project constraint also has to be defined within five days. As a result of the two concurrent activities (i.e. project scope and project constraint), only then, a fact-finding task can be conducted. This activity must be completed in four days. Subsequently, in order to ensure usability of the system, a usability analysis needs to be performed. This activity is believed to consume four days before proceed with feasibility evaluation activity that involves five consecutive days. Once the feasibility evaluation is completed, five days are needed to make a report. Finally, in a one-day workshop, the report is required to be presented to the Maju Sdn. Bhd. top management. REQUIRED: Develop a complete PERT chart for the above activities. (10 Marks)