| Course | MT300 Management of Information Systems |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Systems inventory memo |
| Length | About 760 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT300 Unit 2
Fourteen Tools, Three Findings: An MT300 Unit 2 Systems Inventory Memo for an Event Rental Company
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT300: Management of Information Systems
Unit 2 Systems Inventory Memo
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Larkfield Event Rentals and its figures are composite; the frameworks and sources cited are real.
Memo
To: Owner, Larkfield Event Rentals From: Operations analyst Date: September 15 Subject: Inventory of the tools used from order to invoice
Purpose
This memo lists every tool staff use to take, fill and bill an order, and what each one replaced. It leaves out personal phones, except where crews use them to send damage photos to the office.
Findings
1. Every order sits in software the vendor no longer supports. The desktop rental package, bought in 2012, holds all reservations, availability and pick lists, and its vendor stopped issuing updates two years ago. (Rows 1, 5, 6.)
2. Customer records exist in three places with no agreed master. The rental package, the accounting file and the email marketing list each hold customer names and addresses, and none is updated from the others. (Rows 1, 9, 12.)
3. The crew schedule lives on one supervisor's laptop. It is rebuilt every Monday in a spreadsheet that no one else can open. (Row 14.)
Most of these tools were bought one at a time to fix one problem, which is exactly why none of them talk to each other.
Inventory
Each entry gives the tool's job, main users, annual cost, data held, what it replaced and what stops when it is down. Staff time is priced at loaded wage rates, because Laudon and Laudon (2022) treat the people and procedures around a system as part of its cost.
Sales and booking
1. Rental package. Takes orders, checks availability, prints pick lists. Office and sales. $1,900 support fee. Orders, customers, inventory. Replaced paper order books (2012). Down: no orders, no pick tickets.
2. Web inquiry form. Collects event requests. Customers, sales. $240. Names, dates, guest counts. Replaced phone-only inquiries. Down: leads wait for calls.
3. Shared inbox. Quotes and changes. Sales. $360. Correspondence. Replaced a fax line. Down: changes are missed.
4. Quote template. Word file for proposals. Sales. No fee; about two hours a week. Prices. Replaced handwritten quotes. Down: slower quotes.
Warehouse and delivery
5. Printed pick tickets. Load lists from the rental package. Warehouse. Paper and toner, $600. Item lists. Replaced a carbon-copy delivery pad. Down: trucks load from memory.
6. Availability calendar export. Weekly print for the warehouse wall. Warehouse lead. No fee. Dates and items. Replaced a wall calendar. Down: double-booking risk.
7. Whiteboard route plan. Daily routes. Dispatch. No fee; one hour a day in season. Stops and drivers. Replaced nothing. Down: drivers call the office.
8. Damage photo texts. Crews text photos to the office. Crew leaders. No fee. Photos. Replaced a notebook. Down: damage goes unbilled.
Money
9. Accounting package. Invoices, payables, payroll export. Office manager. $1,080. Customers, invoices. Replaced a bookkeeper's ledger. Down: invoices late.
10. Card terminal. Deposits and balances. Office. Processing fees. Card tokens only. Replaced checks by mail. Down: deposits by phone.
11. Deposit reconciliation sheet. Matches deposits to orders. Office manager. Nine hours a week at a loaded rate, about $11,000 a year. Order numbers and amounts. Replaced nothing. Down: errors go unseen.
12. Email marketing list. Seasonal promotions. Owner. $420. Customer emails. Replaced postcards. Down: no promotions.
People
13. Time clock app. Hours worked. All staff. $900. Hours. Replaced paper time cards. Down: payroll delayed.
14. Crew schedule spreadsheet. Weekly shifts. Supervisor. Four hours every Monday, about $5,200 a year. Names, shifts, phones. Replaced a wall calendar. Down: nobody knows who works Saturday.
What the Replaced Column Shows
Of the fourteen tools, eleven replaced a paper or manual method, and each was adopted to solve one problem at the time. None was chosen with the others in mind, which explains why customer data are typed three times and why the order record and the schedule never meet. Davis (1989) found that people adopt tools they see as useful and easy, and Larkfield's staff did exactly that, one tool at a time. DeLone and McLean (2003) count information quality among the dimensions of a system's success, and a customer typed three times into three tools is the opposite of information quality: by the end of a season, nobody can say which address is right.
Next Step
This memo recommends no product. Its purpose is to set the baseline that the business case in Unit 3 will measure against.
References
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
DeLone, W. H., & McLean, E. R. (2003). The DeLone and McLean model of information systems success: A ten-year update. Journal of Management Information Systems, 19(4), 9-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2003.11045748
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2022). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm (17th ed.). Pearson.
The Purdue Global MT300 Unit 2 instructions
In Unit 2 students prepare a memo inventorying the information systems one workplace uses. The memo should follow standard format, with a heading block and a short purpose statement saying what is covered and what is left out. Most prompts ask for each tool's job, users, cost, data held and what it replaced, presented as a table or structured list. Instructors expect findings that a manager could act on, placed before the inventory. Costs should include staff time where no invoice exists. The memo should explain why the tools look the way they do, often through the history of their adoption. A product recommendation is usually not expected yet, since later units handle the business case and comparison. Grouping tools by business area helps a reader find them quickly.
Inside the MT300 Unit 2 example
The sample opens with a standard heading block and a two-sentence purpose that excludes personal phones except for damage photos. Three numbered findings follow, each tied to inventory row numbers so the owner can check them. The inventory groups fourteen tools under sales and booking, warehouse and delivery, money and people, with the job, users, cost, data, replacement and failure effect for each. The Monday schedule rebuild and deposit reconciliation appear as costs in hours. A highlighted line explains that most tools were bought one at a time, which is why none share data. A section on the replaced column draws on Davis and on DeLone and McLean. The memo closes by stating that it sets the baseline for Unit 3.
Reading the MT300 Unit 2 grading rubric
Inventory memos are usually graded on completeness, organization, analysis and professional format. Graders look for every tool in the chosen process, including informal ones such as whiteboards and text messages. Each entry should carry the attributes the prompt names. Costs that include staff time show a fuller picture than license fees alone. Findings should be ranked by consequence and linked to evidence in the inventory. The memo should stay within scope and avoid recommending a product before the business case. Clear headings and a consistent structure for each entry make the memo usable. Course text and scholarly sources, cited in APA 7, back the analysis of why the systems look as they do. A purpose statement that names what is excluded prevents scope confusion.
MT300 Unit 2 help: mistakes that cost points
Inventory memos often list only the software with license fees and miss spreadsheets, whiteboards and paper forms that carry real work. Another common gap is leaving out what each tool replaced, which is where the memo's analysis usually lives. Findings are sometimes buried at the end or written as general observations. Costs in hours are frequently ignored. Some students jump ahead to recommending a product, which belongs to later units. Before drafting, walk through one order from first contact to final payment and write down every tool touched along the way. Then ask staff what each tool replaced. Bring that walk-through and the memo template, and the inventory can be organized for you.
Get an MT300 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Which workplace are you inventorying? Name it and share the Unit 2 prompt and rubric, and a memo of this shape, findings first and every tool traced to its predecessor, is written around it at no charge for a first sample. Expect it within 24-48h, laid out in whatever memo format your instructor specified. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT300 Unit 2 questions, answered
What counts as a tool in a systems inventory?
Anything staff rely on to record, move or find business information: packaged software, spreadsheets, shared inboxes, whiteboards and paper forms included. Leaving out informal tools is the usual omission, and it hides exactly the dependencies the memo exists to expose. Personal devices belong on the list where the business relies on them, as with crew phones used for delivery photos.
How are staff hours turned into a cost?
Multiply the hours a task takes each week by a loaded hourly rate, meaning wage plus an allowance for payroll taxes and benefits, then by fifty-two. Give the rate and explain its basis in a footnote. The figures need to be reasonable and visible rather than exact, so a reader can dispute a number instead of a guess.
Should the memo recommend replacing anything?
Usually not yet. The inventory assignment asks what exists and what it costs, and recommendations tend to belong to the business case that follows. A finding can say that a tool is unsupported or duplicated, which points toward a decision without making it. Check the prompt wording, though, because some sections do ask for one preliminary recommendation.
Where can I find a free MT300 Unit 2 sample paper?
The complete MT300 Unit 2 systems inventory memo is on this page, listing fourteen tools at an event rental company with three findings.
What are the three findings in the MT300 Unit 2 sample?
Unsupported software holds every order, customer records exist in three places and the crew schedule lives on one laptop.