Harvard travel agency

Read the case study below then answer the five questions at the end.

The Business

SunnySide Travel Agency is a locally owned and operated small business that provides the full spectrum of travel-related services, including itinerary consultation, fare research and negotiation, vacation package selection and creation, reservations and booking, travel insurances, and ticket/voucher printing.Two-thirds of SunnySide’s customers are individual travelers going on vacation, but 80% of SunnySide’s revenue comes from arranging travel for about three dozen local businesses.Arrangements for business travel are handled by email or telephone, using FedEx “Overnight Priority” service to deliver hardcopy itineraries, tickets, and other documents.Arrangement for pleasure travel are conducted in person at the SunnySide office, using the conference room to sell vacation packages; pleasure travelers pick up hardcopy documents and tickets at the travel agency office.

SunnySide operates out of a strip-mall office that is owned and run by a local property management company.All office furnishings (such as tables, desks, chairs, telephones, and storage cabinets) and all business equipment (such as fax and copy machines) are leased from a local office outlet (not the property company).All computer equipment (such as PCs, printers, and local routers) is owned by SunnySide, but computer-related services (including ISP connectivity) are provided by a local computer services provider.

SunnySide has an Owner/Manager, an Office Administrator, and a Systems Administrator.The 13 employees all work out in the office location and report directly to the Office Administrator.Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, and on Saturday from 8:00 am until noon.In addition to working regular office hours, employees take turns being “on call” during the hours that the office is closed; on-call hours are worked from the employee’s home, using remote access to connect to the office LAN.

The office runs a Local Area Network (LAN) for in-house applications, and for sharing storage and printing services.Accounting is done in-house using a suite of purchased accounting software that runs over the LAN.Applications include Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll (which has an incentive bonus module), Fixed Assets, and General Ledger.All checks – payroll, expense reimbursement, and incentive bonuses – are printed in-house, and are usually handed out to the employees, rather than mailed or auto-deposited.The LAN also has a purchased package for scheduling work coverage and for tracking work-hours.The LAN is connected via a high-speed link to the internet.Access to the travel broker and booking software is done through that internet connection.