You are newly appointed as the head of the ordering of goods function at Moale Hardware (Pty) Ltd, a medium-sized hardware store. The company buys inventory from various suppliers and sells the goods at a competitive mark-up percentage. The floor manager daily monitors the inventory re-order levels and quantities and, at the end of each day, provides the ordering department with a list of items to be ordered.

You were appointed because orders were not initiated on time to maintain optimum conditions within the store. Furthermore, the record of accomplishment of suppliers was not adequately managed. Accordingly, the company's sales and profits started dropping and liquidity problems arose. Customers complained that they came from far away, but when they arrived at the store, the item they needed was out of stock. Some customers complained that the prices of the items were becoming too expensive. Customer services informed you that the tendency of goods returned by customers was increasing because the goods malfunctioned or became defective easily.

Your main function as the head of the ordering function is to rectify matters at Moale Hardware (Pty) Ltd. To achieve your goals, you structure your work as follows: You will first identify the documents that your department uses; thereafter, you will identify all the possible risks that your department faces; and finally, you want to design controls to mitigate these risks. Your mandate is to make Moale Hardware (Pty) Ltd profitable, competitive and efficient again.

Describe the control activities that should be implemented to mitigate the risks associated with the ordering of goods function.