The Jobel Consultancy Company specializes in helping organizations to benefit from the implementation of computerized information systems. On a typical client project, staff from Jobel Consultancy Company will review the use of Computerized information systems within an organization, identify how staff should be using the Computerized information systems, obtain the proposed Computerized information systems, and then ensure that the revised Computerized information systems meet the requirements of the users. As the newly – appointed experienced management accountant, your responsibilities include ensuring that the information systems of the company support its strategic direction and advising the Board of any changes that could be made to the overall company strategy. 

Prior to your appointment, the board recognized that growth in its existing market was limited and required some diversification to meet the consultancy’s objectives of sales and profit growth. An intranet has been established utilizing a package that provides databases for technical information bulletin boards, electronic mail, and customer contact information. The intranet is used by the management accountant frequently throughout the day, mainly to answer e-mails, but also to check information on the technical databases and bulletin boards. You also receive information from 

• Professional staff who visit client organizations in the form of verbal queries and written reports 

• Various journals specializing in Computerized information systems • Administration staff who produce client proposals for review prior to sending out consultants to potential clients 

• Telephone queries directly from clients regarding the status of different projects 

• The internet, where different client and competitor websites are reviewed on a daily basis by the management accountant Your first project is to provide a report to the board summarizing the company’s current strategic situation compared to its major competitors and suggesting alternative strategies for diversification 

Required: 

a. As a management accountant, it is important that you are able to focus on this project. Briefly explain the concept of Information Overload, then explain Four (4) machine learning barriers that will make it difficult for the management accountant to be able to adopt machine learning systems to overcome the problem of Information Overload. (10 marks) 

b. Evaluate Five (5) characteristics that should apply to the information being given to the management accountant to ensure that the information is quickly and accurately understood. (5 marks) [Total: 15 marks] II). 

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has changed the way business is conducted in every industry around the world. The adoption of AI not only helps businesses and organizations to save time and money but also facilitates the provision of quality insights and timely data for business process re-engineering, as well as supporting tasks such as business decision making, language translation, speech recognition, visual perception, and mechanical problem-solving. Doubtless, AI-enabled systems are the way businesses of today will stay competitive and attract the next generation of employees and customers. 

Discuss how AI-enabled systems may be employed to facilitate work in the following industries/businesses. Give practical examples to support your explanations. 

• Finance and Economics 

• Healthcare 

• Government 

• Audit 

• Law 

III). Accounting information system (AIS) is an integral part of the total management information system (MIS) of an organization. The AIS is usually manned by accounting and finance professionals who possess knowledge and competency in business MIS as a whole, and AIS in particular. As business continues to evolve, so do the roles of the accounting and finance professionals also continue to evolve. 

a. Discuss three (3) roles that accounting and finance professionals are required or expected to play in the everchanging information systems of a business. 

b. The AIS within an MIS may be run either manually or in an automated manner. A computerized AIS is an automated system for recording, summarizing, and analyzing large volumes of financial data into useful information and reports. Identify and briefly explain four (4) modules of a computerized AIS.

c. Explain three (5) salient features that have allowed the computerized AIS Tally ERP.9 to make inroads into the Ghanaian SME market.

IV). In today’s globalized and technologically inundated world, machines are gradually and systematically taking over most business functions that used to be carried out by humans. Machine learning-enabled programs have been designed which are able to learn, grow, and change by themselves when exposed to new data. They achieve this by utilizing algorithms that iteratively learn from data. E-commerce platforms today feature a simplistic recommendation engine (“also bought with this item”), with Amazon and Walmart using advanced retail analytics and product recommendations on a regular basis. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, also use machine learning for personalized content delivery, online advertising, and bidding. The ads that pop up in your Facebook feed are delivered using an ML algorithm that analyzes your preferences to match them with a marketer’s ad delivery settings. In spite of the above, fine attributes of Machine learning-enabled programs, some companies resort to the use of accounting software packages. 

a. Discuss five (5) practical considerations critical to the selection of accounting software packages in Ghana.

b. Outline five (5) obstacles to machine learning or the adoption of machine learning-enabled programs and systems by some businesses.