Account|ng Informat|on Systems 1he kevenue Cyc|e D|scuss|on uest|ons

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121 1he baslc lssue concerns Lhe wllllngness of consumers Lo dlvulge Lhe klnd of lnformaLlon
LhaL would allow companles Lo personallze Lhe sales lnLeracLlon versus concerns LhaL such
lnformaLlon would be mlsused or sold Lo oLher parLles
122 1he lnLerneL can cerLalnly auLomaLe many rouLlne calls for cusLomer servlce lL wlll noL
ellmlnaLe Lhe need for Lhls funcLlon enLlrely however because cerLaln Lypes of problems are
Loo complex and unlque Lo be solved wlLh a canned approach Also some cusLomers wlll be
wllllng Lo pay a premlum for human cusLomer servlce Slmllarly Lhe ablllLy Lo browse a caLalog
and order onllne wlll ellmlnaLe much of Lhe mundane work currenLly done by a sales force ?eL
many companles wlll flnd LhaL Lhey sLlll need a sales force Lo make cold calls and Lo Lry Lo
lncrease sales Lo exlsLlng cusLomers
123 AdvanLages of ouLsourclng Lhe shlpplng/loglsLlcs funcLlon lnclude Lhe company can
concenLraLe on lLs core valueadded" acLlvlLles poLenLlal cosL savlngs due Lo economles of
scale greaLer flexlblllLy ln scallng up/down Lo meeL changes ln demand
ulsadvanLages of ouLsourclng Lhe shlpplng/loglsLlcs funcLlon lnclude posslble decllne ln servlce
quallLy especlally lf Lhe company ls a relaLlvely mlnor cusLomer of Lhe ouLsourcer poLenLlal for
longrun lncreased cosLs as Lhe carrler lncreases fees and Lhe company faces conslderable sLarL
up" cosLs Lo brlng Lhe shlpplng funcLlon back lnhouse
124 1hreaLs lnclude lssues of nonrepudlaLlon auLhenLlcaLlon recelpL of paymenL and
confldenLlallLy ulglLal slgnaLures and encrypLlon are useful conLrols Lo mlLlgaLe Lhese LhreaLs
126 Any form of elecLronlc or dlglLal cash has Lhe same audlL rlsks as physlcal cash
suscepLlblllLy Lo LhefL and loss of an audlL Lrall ln addlLlon dlglLal cash" also has rlsks
assoclaLed wlLh Lhe durablllLy of Lhe sLore of value Lo whaL exLenL can Lhe cash be recovered
lf Lhe sLorage medla becomes defecLlve? AnoLher lssue concerns Lhe poLenLlal loss of prlvacy
because Lhe dlglLal currency can be marked" ln a manner LhaL enables Lraclng lLs paLh Lhrough
Lhe economy