AIS in the Business World Starbucks If you're like the students in my accounting information systems courses, you've probably purchased coffee and snacks at a local Starbucks. Starbucks is a vast worldwide operation; according to the corporate Web site (www.starbucks.com), it has more than 18,000 stores in 62 countries. Its stock is publicly traded under the symbol SBUX. Through the Web site, prospective owners can apply to open a licensed Starbucks store. Menus include everything from traditional coffee to more exotic offerings like iced cinnamon dolce latte; various holidays have their own special offerings, too. To create value for its stakeholders, a typical Starbucks retail store would engage in activities like: 1. Purchasing capital equipment. 2. Buying inventory. 3. Making beverages on demand. 4. Selling those beverages to customers. 5. Paying employees. 6. Reporting financial results to the corporate office. To accomplish those activities, Starbucks needs an accounting information system. The purpose of this text is to help you understand how companies like Starbucks account for their various transactions-not just the debits and credits, but the documents, tools, and controls they use that ultimately produce general-purpose financial statements and other reports. Each chapter opens with a short vignette like this one, followed by some discussion questions to stimulate your thinking. Questions: 15 marks (5 each) 1. What are the elements of AIS generic structure? Discuss in detail with examples. 2. How do examples of those elements change for different businesses. Explain with examples. 3. Does the presence or absence of computers and other forms of information technology determine whether or not a business has an accounting information system? Explain with examples.