Tamarack Feed & Supply Company
A Narrative Primer for ITM 310
One fictional farm-and-hardware company, one year, twenty-four chapters. Each chapter is one MindTap module's glossary woven into a single story. Read in order, or jump to the module you're studying.
25 chapters · 561 terms · about 6.2 hours of reading
Start with chapter 1 → Glossary: every term, A–Z
Part 1 — Management Information Systems
Dana Okafor, business systems analyst, about a year into the job.
1 MIS 1 · Information Systems in Business The Count That Didn't Match The register says 112 bags, the pallet says 53, and Walt wants new software. 11 terms · ~12 min 2 MIS 2 · Computers and Their Business Applications The Server in the Feed Room The billing server is dying on invoice day, and the backups are on tape nobody has tested. 29 terms · ~15 min 3 MIS 3 · Data and Business Intelligence One Customer, Four Records A rancher gets four copies of the same mailer, and the fix runs straight through keys, models, and warehouses. 47 terms · ~22 min 4 MIS 4 · Personal, Legal, Ethical, and Organizational Issues The Video From the Kettle Falls Lot A cut-together video says Tamarack's feed killed cattle. It didn't. That turns out not to be enough. 18 terms · ~15 min 5 MIS 5 · Protecting Information Resources The Invoice That Changed Its Bank The seed supplier didn't change banks, but somebody already got paid once. 49 terms · ~25 min 6 MIS 6 · Global Information Systems The Rep Who Couldn't Say Yes The fencing rep who used to approve discounts on the phone now has to ask Saskatoon. 9 terms · ~10 min 7 MIS 7 · Enterprise Systems Chick Days Four hundred chicks arrive at the wrong store, and they can't wait. 21 terms · ~18 min 8 MIS 8 · Supporting Decisions and Processes Where the Twelfth Store Goes Walt wants store twelve in Sandpoint because of a napkin. The model has opinions. 16 terms · ~12 min 9 MIS 9 · Artificial Intelligence and Automation The Counter Assistant A new clerk sells cattle dewormer for a goat, and a vendor pitches an expert system. 22 terms · ~15 min 10 MIS 10 · Emerging Trends, Technologies, and Applications The Closet Gets Too Hot The server closet hits 97 degrees, and the trade show sells fourteen kinds of cloud. 42 terms · ~25 min
Part 2 — Excel and Business Intelligence
Eli Mendez, night-shift lead at the distribution center, taking an evening course that runs on SAM.
11 Excel 1 · Getting Started with Excel The Damage Log A damage claim and a first SAM Project, due the same Sunday night. 40 terms · ~18 min 12 Excel 2 · Formatting Workbook Text and Data The Board Packet Seven printed copies for a board that reads with a pen. 24 terms · ~12 min 13 Excel 3 · Performing Calculations with Formulas and Functions The Crew Bonus Walt promised the crew a bonus. Somebody has to calculate it, and one IFERROR hides a person. 46 terms · ~25 min 14 Excel 4 · Analyzing and Charting Financial Data Two Old Forklifts Making the case for two new forklifts with charts, a loan, and an honest axis. 35 terms · ~22 min 15 Excel 5 · Generating Reports from Multiple Worksheets and Workbooks Eleven Workbooks Eleven stores, eleven workbooks, one summary that only works when they're all open. 4 terms · ~8 min 16 Excel 6 · Managing Data with Data Tools The Returns Nobody Credited Three years of vendor returns, and some of them were never credited. 17 terms · ~12 min 17 Excel 7 · Summarizing Data with PivotTables Did the Coupon Work? Did the mineral coupon work? The first answer goes to Walt before the real one. 8 terms · ~8 min 18 Excel 8 · Performing What-If Analyses What Davenport Has to Sell The bank wants Davenport's break-even, and Solver wants more shelf space. 22 terms · ~18 min 19 Excel 9 · Exploring Financial Tools and Functions Hank's Year-End Four year-end questions from the controller, ending with how much propane to buy. 19 terms · ~15 min 20 Excel 10 · Analyzing Data with Business Intelligence Tools Davenport's First Month Davenport's first month on a KPI, two maps, and the wrong Republic. 8 terms · ~8 min 21 Excel 11 · Exploring PivotTable Design Eleven Packets, Then Twelve Twelve manager packets in four seconds, and one manager who didn't want hers compared. 11 terms · ~10 min 22 Excel 12 · Developing an Excel Application The Receiving App Rebuilding the damage log as an app the night clerks can't break, and the macros IT won't run. 9 terms · ~8 min 23 BI Tools · Power Query Fifteen-Minute Readings Nine hundred propane tanks report every fifteen minutes. A spreadsheet can't hold that. 13 terms · ~10 min 24 BI Tools · Introducing Power BI The Dashboard Ruth Could Share Five Monday workbooks become one shared report, for the people with licenses. 8 terms · ~8 min
Each chapter page has Previous / Next links and a link back here. Hover a highlighted term in any story for its course definition.