CS507 Information System Short Notes
CS507 Information System Short Notes
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'MIS' is a planned system of collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of
information needed to carry out the functions of management. According to Phillip Kotler "A
marketing information system consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort,
analyse, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision
makers." (Kotler, Phillip and Keller, Kevin Lane; Marketing Management, Pearson Education,
12 Ed, 2006)
The terms MIS and information system are often confused. Information systems include
systems that are not intended for decision making. MIS is sometimes referred to, in a
restrictive sense, as information technology management. That area of study should not be
confused with computer science. IT service management is a practitioner-focused discipline.
MIS has also some differences with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as ERP
incorporates elements that are not necessarily focused on decision support. Definition:
Management Information Systems (MIS) is the term given to the discipline focused on the
integration of computer systems with the aims and objectives on an organisation.
The development and management of information technology tools assists executives and the
general workforce in performing any tasks related to the processing of information. MIS and
business systems are especially useful in the collation of business data and the production of
reports to be used as tools for decision making.
Applications of MIS
With computers being as ubiquitous as they are today, there's hardly any large business that does
not rely extensively on their IT systems.
However, there are several specific fields in which MIS has become invaluable.
* Strategy Support
While computers cannot create business strategies by themselves they can assist management in
understanding the effects of their strategies, and help enable effective decision-making.
MIS systems can be used to transform data into information useful for decision making.
Computers can provide financial statements and performance reports to assist in the planning,
monitoring and implementation of strategy.
MIS systems provide a valuable function in that they can collate into coherent reports
unmanageable volumes of data that would otherwise be broadly useless to decision makers. By
studying these reports decision-makers can identify patterns and trends that would have remained
unseen if the raw data were consulted manually.
MIS systems can also use these raw data to run simulations – hypothetical scenarios that answer
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a range of ‘what if’ questions regarding alterations in strategy. For instance, MIS systems can
provide predictions about the effect on sales that an alteration in price would have on a product.
These Decision Support Systems (DSS) enable more informed decision making within an
enterprise than would be possible without MIS systems
A DSS can take many different forms. In general, we can say that a DSS is a computerized
system used for supporting rather than automating decisions. A decision is a choice between
alternatives based on estimates of the values of those alternatives. Supporting a decision means
helping people working alone or in a group gather intelligence, generate alternatives and make
choices. Supporting the choice making process involves supporting the estimation, the evaluation
and/or the comparison of alternatives. In practice, references to DSS are usually references to
computer applications that perform such a supporting role.
Characteristics and Capabilities of DSS
Because there is no exact definition of DSS, there is obviously no agreement on the standard
characteristics and capabilities of DSS. Turban, E.,Aronson, J.E., and Liang, T.P. constitute an
ideal set of characteristics and capabilities of DSS. The key DSS characteristics and capabilities
are as follows:
A Strategic Information System (SIS) is a type of Information System that is aligned with
business strategy and structure. The alignment increases the capability to respond faster to
environmental changes and thus creates a competitive advantage. An early example was the
favorable position afforded American and United Airlines by their reservation systems, Sabre
and Apollo. Strategic Information System (SIS) is a system to manage information and assist in
strategic decision making. A strategic information system has been defined as, "The information
system to support or change enterprise's strategy." by Charles Wiseman (Strategy and Computers
1985).
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Lesson 1
SIR, PLZ TELL ME ABOUT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM.
A management information system (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business
covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management
accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide
strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that
they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the
organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information
management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision
Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information system.
Respected sir, Kindly explain the concept of tertiary sources by giving example as this
concept is still not very clear to me. Thanks
Works which list primary and secondary resources in a specific subject area. Materials in which
the information from secondary sources has been "digested”, reformatted and condensed, to put
it into a convenient, easy-to-read form.
No. management information system is important for all types of organization. An 'MIS' is a
planned system of the collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of
information needed to carry out the functions of management. A marketing information system
consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute
needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.
In a general sense, the term information system (IS) refers to a system of persons, data records
and activities that process the data and information in an organization, and it includes the
organization's manual and automated processes. In a narrow sense, the term information system
(or computer-based information system) refers to the specific application software that is used to
store data records in a computer system and automates some of the information-processing
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SIR KINDLY TELLS ME THE WHAT IS DATA AND HOW MANY TYPES OF
DATA??
Data refer to a collection of facts usually collected as the result of experience, observation or
experiment, or processes within a computer system, or a set of premises. This may consist of
numbers, words, or images, particularly as measurements or observations of a set of variables.
Data are often viewed as a lowest level of abstraction from which information and knowledge
are derived
Primary sources are original materials on which other research is based they are usually the first
formal appearance of results in the print or electronic literature (for example, the first publication
of the results of scientific investigations is a primary source.) Secondary sources describe,
interpret, analyze and evaluate the primary sources.
Secondary sources are less easily defined than primary sources. What some define as a
secondary source, others define as a tertiary source. Nor is it always easy to distinguish primary
from secondary sources.
For example,
• A newspaper article is a primary source if it reports events, but a secondary source if it
analyses and comments on those events.
Kindly give some examples of tertiary source vs. primary and secondary source in simple
wording. Further more definition of this source because i did not understand it clearly by
hand outs and lec.
With regards
Primary sources are original materials on which other research is based. They are usually the first
formal appearance of results in the print or electronic literature (for example, the first publication
of the results of scientific investigations is a primary source.)
Secondary Sources describe interprets, analyze and evaluate the primary sources. Secondary
sources are less easily defined than primary sources. What some define as a secondary source,
others define as a tertiary source. Nor is it always easy to distinguish primary from secondary
sources.
For example,
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Tertiary Sources are Materials in which the information from secondary sources has been
"digested" reformatted and condensed, to put it into a convenient, easy-to-read form. Sources
which are once removed in time from secondary sources are called tertiary sources.
The term tertiary source is a relative term. What is considered tertiary depends on what is
considered primary and secondary. A tertiary source may thus be understood as a selection,
distillation, summary or compilation of primary sources, secondary sources, or both.
Salam Sir i want to ask about the importance of the Information System in our life and in
the business organizations. What precautions are to be adopt in this topic.
In a general sense, the term information system (IS) refers to a system of persons, data records
and activities that process the data and information in an organization, and it includes the
organization's manual and automated processes. In a narrow sense, the term information system
(or computer-based information system) refers to the specific application software that is used to
store data records in a computer system and automates some of the information-processing
activities of the organization. Computer-based information systems are in the field of
information technology. The discipline of Business process modeling describes the business
processes supported by information systems.
Data is the only raw facts and figures, whereas the information is the processed or manipulated
form of that data.
Sir plz tell me why a well developed information system is crucial for the success of an
business enterprise?
Information system is very much important in our daily life, especially in decision making.
Without the availability of relevant information, we may take a decision which is wrong or not to
our benefit. For instance if the person does not have complete knowledge of facts he might not
be able to take the right decision.
can you tell me how can i use it for daily routine life?
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incorporating not only aspects of computer science, but often diverse fields such as cognitive
science, commerce, communications, law, library science, management, mathematics, public
policy, and the social sciences.
From the term changing needs we mean that the information requirements vary from business to
business and environment to environment. Different Organizations need information on the basis
of their working requirements to make. Changing needs help in decision making for the
management of the organizations. There are certain levels of management in every Industry.
Every level of management needs different type of information. Such as Lower level
management (supervisors) need detailed information whereas top level management requires
concise information to make the decision.
Lesson 2
A management information system (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business
covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management
accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide
strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that
they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the
organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information
management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision
Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems
How we can get the maximum quality of information from various sources?
Information quality (IQ) is a term to describe the quality of the content of information systems. It
is often defined as: "The fitness for use of the information provided." Although this is usable for
most everyday purposes, specialists often use more complex models for information quality.
Most information system practitioners use the term synonymously with data quality. However, as
many academics make a distinction between data and information, some will insist on a
distinction between data quality and information quality. Information quality assurance is
confidence that particular information meets some context specific quality requirements.
"Information quality" is a measure of the value which the information provides to the user of that
information. 'Quality' is subjective and the quality of information can vary among users and
among uses of the information
AOA! WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE B/W INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE & HOW
KNOWLEDGE IN ADDITION TO QUALITY INFORMATION HELP OUT IN
MAKING EFFICIENT DECISIONS??
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Knowledge is defined in the as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience
or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a
particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by
experience of a fact or situation. Philosophical debates in general start with Plato's formulation of
knowledge as "justified true belief"
Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings.
Generally speaking, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint,
communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern,
perception, and representation.
Difference between need and wants? how need convert into informations? Thanx
Need can be concluded as the basic necessaries of our life, whereas the wants are the extra
requirements to do anything. Information is required in day to day decision making. Without the
availability of right quantity of information at the right time, the process of decision making is
highly affected. For this reason various sources of information are used to extract information.
Lesson 3
What is the differecnce between Manufacturing Sector, Service Sector Trading sector?
The secondary sector of the economy is one of the three economic sectors, the others being the
tertiary sector and the primary sector (extraction such as mining, agriculture and fishing).
Sometimes an additional sector, the "quaternary sector", is defined for the sharing of information
(which normally belongs to the tertiary sector).
The secondary sector of the economy includes those economic sectors that create a finished,
usable product: manufacturing and construction
The tertiary sector of economy (also known as the service sector or the service industry) is one of
the three economic sectors, the others being the secondary sector (approximately manufacturing)
and the primary sector (extraction such as mining, agriculture and fishing). Sometimes an
additional sector, the "quaternary sector", is defined for the sharing of information (which
normally belongs to the tertiary sector).
MKIS is a type of Information System that helps the firm to achieve following objectives:
o Identification of customers for firm‘s products and services.
o Development of those products and services to meet customers’ needs
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CBIS (Computer based Information System) is an Information System that uses computer &
telecommunications technology to perform its intended tasks. In CBIS, Information technology
(IT) becomes a subset of the Information system.
Organizational culture is the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people
and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with
stakeholders outside the organization. Organizational values are beliefs and ideas about what
kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the appropriate kinds
or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals. From
organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines or expectations that prescribe
appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of
organizational members towards one another.
Culture is set of Fundamental Assumptions that exist and grow with the organization. It’s not
publicly announced but spoken about within the organization. It is a combination of implicit
values that keep the organization together. It is essential that the employees understand the
culture-What drives the organization.
The public sector is the part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of
goods and services by and for the government, whether national, regional or local/municipal.
Examples of public sector activity range from delivering social security, administering urban
planning and organizing national defenses
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy which is both run for private profit
and is not controlled by the state. By contrast, enterprises that are part of the state are part of the
public sector; private, non-profit organizations are regarded as part of the voluntary sector
The tertiary sector of economy (also known as the service sector or the service industry) is one of
the three economic sectors, the others being the secondary sector (approximately manufacturing)
and the primary sector (extraction such as mining, agriculture and fishing). Sometimes an
additional sector, the "quaternary sector", is defined for the sharing of information (which
normally belongs to the tertiary sector).
Hope you will fine tell me the difference of small and medium size organizations
Small organizations usually have simple management structure. The need invariably grows from
the limited scope and operations of management. Since tasks to be handled are usually limited
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and manageable, hence need for introducing more levels is not required. Since operations can be
managed at the top level by one or two members of the senior management, officers from the
lower level of management are not usually
involved in decision making. Hence the final decisions are centrally taken.Information flows and
formats are easy to define and change. Since information requirements are not
extensive, number of documents prepared and generated will also be few in number. Mostly the
interested party itself is running the business, hence the management is centralized to few people.
Examples of Information requirements of Small Organizations
• Day to day transactions
• Daily Sale
• Cash management
• Receivables and Payables
Medium Sized organizations are normally a family ownership run by brothers, father-son. There
are many organizations existing these days which are being run by the family members. The
prime concern may be the trust already fostered among the blood relations but this might give
rise to informal relationship among them. Since all critical managerial positions are usually
controlled by the family members, information is structured only to the extent of external
reporting. The level of reporting that could meet the information
needs of the clients is best suited for such an organization.Medium sized organizations are run
under direct supervision of the family members which rarely extends to segregation of duties and
delegation of authority.
• Centralized decision making
• above mentioned structure rarely changes with complexity and dynamism of environments.
aoa sir.how can big organization change the requirement of the information system?
Usually such organizations are characterized by large scale of operations. Various criteria can be
used for this purpose. With such large size of organizations, management structure needs to be
multi- tiered for efficient and strong control. This leads to formulation of many departments,
management levels, designations, promotional opportunities and salary increments.
With such a large structure, it is inevitable that the detailed planning should be made for proper
management control, for both short term and long term.
There are different information systems. Such as Geographic information systems (GIS) deal
with the storage of information about the Earth for automatic retrieval by a computer, in an
accurate manner appropriate to the information's purpose.
Geostatistics deal with quantitative data analysis, specifically the application of statistical
methodology to the exploration of geographic phenomena. Geostatistics is used extensively in a
variety of fields including: hydrology, geology, petroleum exploration, weather analysis, urban
planning, logistics, and epidemiology
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Does the small organization, is also characterise on the basis of No. of employees, total
assests, or value of transactions/ day or month? Pl. explain
All the organizations, whether small or large, are characterize by the principles of information
system. As all the organizations have number of employees and it has also assets. Therefore all
the rules and principles of business employ on all organizations.
Management information system (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business
covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management
accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide
strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that
they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the
organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information
management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision
Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems.
Electronics refers to the flow of charge (moving electrons) through nonmetal conductors (mainly
semiconductors), whereas electrical refers to the flow of charge through metal conductors. For
example, flow of charge through silicon, which is not a metal, would come under electronics;
whereas flow of charge through copper, which is a metal, would come under electrical. This
distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode. Until 1950 this
field was called "Radio techniques" because its principal application was the design and theory
of radio transmitters, receivers and vacuum tubes
A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. The first
devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (1940–1945), although the
computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed earlier. Early electronic
computers were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern
personal computers (PC).
sir plz tel me what is the role oof information system in our business environment ..can we
say that the pakistani markets are following it completely.if no then what should WE do
to compete other international markets
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Information systems play a vital role in every organization. Information system (IS) refers to a
system of persons, data records and activities that process the data and information in an
organization, and it includes the organization's manual and automated processes. In a narrow
sense, the term information system (or computer-based information system) refers to the specific
application software that is used to store data records in a computer system and automates some
of the information-processing activities of the organization. Computer-based information
systems are in the field of information technology. The discipline of Business process modeling
describes the business processes supported by information systems.
Lesson 4
Sir what is major difference b/w diagonal and lateral information? plz explain it in detail .
One can get information internally in diagonal and lateral way. In diagonal flow, information
is generated in some specific pattern, whereas in lateral information is generated on a random
pattern and scattered.
aoa sir in all the world no labour like Authoritative style.but when he become boss he used
this type management why ?
Decisions are made at the senior management level and than enforced on the lower levels. This
type of style centralizes all the decisions at the senior level.
There are five types of information: Facts, concepts, procedures, processes and principle. You
would learn about these in upcoming lectures.]
One can get information internally in diagonal and lateral way. In diagonal flow, information
is generated in some specific pattern, whereas in lateral information is generated on a random
pattern and scattered.
Lesson 5
These are casual rather than legal definitions. In magazines I've written for, the style was to use
"firm" for partnership-type companies: law firms, accounting firms, for example. Organization
tended to be nonprofit or professional groups, like associations. Company was a profit-making
enterprise, although the word "corporation" is used for publicly held companies
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sir tell me for keeping long term relationship whith cusotmer which environment shoud be
change
Businesses increasingly talk about fostering relationships with their customers. This is important
because some modern businesses have literally millions of customers. Hence keeping personal
touch with every individual customer is getting difficult to achieve.
• Companies are clearly eager to nurture relationships with their customers. Businesses need to
understand the extent to which consumers want to engage with their brands. For some businesses
there is
hope you will fine tell me for maximum profit in future which environment should be
change
The information needs were and are always there. Information systems used to exist when
computerized environments were not available. Automation has enhanced the availability of
information. Every industry has its own departmental structure which gives rise to a different set
of sub-systems as part of the information system. Therefore environment change depends upon
the size, type and nature of the business industry
hope you will fine tell me the importance of change in legal environment
Rules and Policies and Legal Laws established by government effect the Business Environment
Change in tariff rate may increase or decrease operation of the business.
Lesson 6
What is main difference among the firm, corporation and listed companies
A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. It is a legal entity owned by
individual stockholders. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it
can be either a corporation sole (an office held by an individual natural person, which is a legal
entity separate from that person) or a corporation aggregate (involving more persons).
A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities
(stock, bonds, etc.) for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, but also
may include companies whose stock is traded over the counter (OTC) via market makers who
use non-exchange quotation services such as the OTCBB and the Pink Sheets.
The term "public company" may also refer to a government-owned corporation. This meaning of
a "public company" comes from the tradition of public ownership of assets and interests by and
for the people as a whole (public ownership), and is the less-common meaning in the United
States.
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Procedure is a set of instructions that performs a specific task; a subroutine or function. Where as
knowledge is familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study.
Lesson 7
Kindly elaborate open loop and closed loop system. i couldn’t understand it from lecture.
Briefly describe it?
Open loop systems is a control system that does not have a feedback loop and thus is not self-
correcting where as Close loop system is a control system with a feedback loop that is active
Hope you will fine what is most important component of systems
Lesson 8
CBIS is an Information System that uses computer & telecommunications technology to perform
its intended tasks. In CBIS, Information technology (IT) becomes a subset of the Information
system.
The attributes an Information System should have, to be worthy of being used by an organization
for meeting its information requirements. Although information requirements may vary from
organization to organization, however common premise is quite the same for many.
• Efficient Processing, including query time
• Large Storage Capacity
• Reduced information Load
• Cross-functional boundaries
• Competitive Tool
• Electronic Document Management/Paper Free environment
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linguistic expressions. One could, however, try to generalize Langefors' definition so as to cover
more recent developments
A Loop Management System (LMS) is a kind or a part of network management system which
purpose is maximization level of local loop control. Sometimes it is referred to as local loop
management (LLM) or copper loop management (CLM).
what is the quality of Purchase System & PLZ tell me sir what is Hire Purchases
System.What is main difference between Purshase System And Hire Purchases
System.what is its importance in our business organization.
Purchase System
A simple example can be given of a purchase and sales system. In a typical purchase system
information related to purchase of materials is kept, for instance,
· Orders for the purchase of various materials
· Status of deliveries received against specific orders
· Changes in the order quantity, time, day or other information
· Quality inspection reports and whether they need to be communicated to the supplier
· Updated status report of stock
· Issues made out of the stock
All and more of information are required to be linked and provided in an organized way.
Sir which loop system is good for accounting records of Plastic Company
Every system that is constructed is expected to generate some sort of output based upon the
information fed into it. The output is expected to be used to evaluate system performance –
whether the output complies with stated objectives of the system and generate instruction to
change input to improve/change output. In this manner the system helps in establishing/re-
defining:
The first issue therefore is to define the environment where the systems are required to be
operated and the second issue is to describe the system itself.
As there is no feedback required to keep the accounting record of the any organization, therefore
open system loop system‘ll be more feasible for such systems.
hope you will fine sir please tell me the difference of open loop system and close loop system
The determinant factor is in an open loop system is that the information from the system not used
for control purpose. This is done by using the output to generate feed back for control purposes.
• The output is not coupled to the input for measurement.
• Hence the components of open loop system do not include control and feedback mechanism
due to non-existence of internally defined objectives. That is,
Input
Process
Output
Example
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An information system that automatically generates report on regular basis and are not used to
monitor input or activities.
Feedback is an integral part of the closed loop system. The corrective action as a response to the
output requires two other components
· Control Mechanism – Variance Analysis
· Objectives – Predefined expected output from the system
Closed loop system is a system where part of the output is fed back to the system to initiate
control to change either the activities of the system or input of the system. In a closed-loop
decision environment, the impact of decisions can be measured very precisely. In a closed-loop
decision environment, management makes a decision, the computer system singles out exactly to
whom the decision applies and a direct action is taken as a result of the decision. The response to
the action can then be measured on a case-by-case basis. The results of the management decision
can be measured quickly and directly.
Lesson 9
The set of processes developed in an organization to create, gather, store, maintain and
apply the firm’s knowledge is called Knowledge Management. Hence the systems that aid in the
creation and integration of new knowledge in the organization are called knowledge systems.
Support System is a term used in Network Marketing to provide supporting tools and education
for distributors in establishing their business network. Support system carries very difficult task
to allow everyone from different backgrounds to form well established network with strong
foundation, both in quality and quantity.
Decision Support Systems (DSS) are a specific class of computerized information system that
supports business and organizational decision-making activities. A properly-designed DSS is an
interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information
from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business models to identify and solve
problems and make decisions.
Abstract: Background: It has long been argued that decision support systems are used to
simplify and support businesses. The creators of the Balanced Scorecard, Kaplan and Norton,
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have developed their own software application to facilitate and create a support to organizational
strategy work. The application is called the Executive Strategy Manager (ESM) and is an online
application aimed at helping organizations with their construction of, and reporting on, Balanced
Scorecards. The ESM software represents a modern Decision Support System (DSS) in this
thesis. Can a modern DSS help an organization with their Balanced Scorecard work by
preventing some of the most common pitfalls when working with the Balanced Scorecard?
Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to determine the impact a Balanced Scorecard Decision
Support System can have on the success rate of a Balanced Scorecard implementation and work.
Methodology: A case study has been conducted to study the ESM through interviews with users
of the ESM and the purveyor of the ESM. Conclusion: Through playing a crucial role in the
process of implementing the BSC and by that successfully preventing some of the most common
pitfalls, a modern DSS can increase the success rate of an organizations Balanced Scorecard
work.
The transfer system was created in order to control player movement between football clubs and
has existed since the late nineteenth century. During the negotiation of today’s transfer rules
FIFA, UEFA and the Commission found that a breach of contract during the season could upset
the balance of competition and therefore should be restricted
How MIs helps in middle level management (planning and controlling etc)
Management information system helps middle level management planning, controlling and
decision making. The data stored can be used or manipulated to produce differently defined
reports from pre-defined reports. It can be presented graphically or pictorially. The reports
generated by the MIS are used for analytical decision making by the management. The
application software can construct projections, build scenarios, do what if analysis to enable
better decision making.
For Example
MIS will use the TPS data to generate monthly and weekly summaries as per requirement
(product, customer and salesperson. Major purpose is report generation. We would discuss major
types of reports.
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• Periodic reports – daily, weekly, monthly, annually, format is predefined and structured for
convenience.
• Special – Management by Exception reports only when a special event occurs which needs to
be monitored. For instance
AOA! Define key difference b/w TPS & MIRS & is this possible to merge these two systems
into a single system?
A Transaction Processing System or Transaction Processing Monitor is a system that monitors
transaction programs (a special kind of program). The essence of a transaction program is that it
manages data that must be left in a consistent state. E.g. if an electronic payment is made, the
amount must be either both withdrawn from one account and added to the other, or none at all. In
case of a failure preventing transaction completion, the partially executed transaction must be
'rolled back' by the TPS.
MIRS (Management Information System) makes information available to relevant users by
producing pre-determined and pre-designed reports required by the management. Management
information system helps middle level management planning, controlling and decision making.
The data stored can be used or manipulated to produce differently defined reports from pre-
defined reports. It can be presented graphically or pictorially. The reports generated by the MIS
are used for analytical decision making by the management. The application software can
construct projections, build scenarios, do what if analysis to enable better decision making.
Lesson 10
As opposed to model driven DSS, these systems use large pools of data found in major
organizational systems. They help to extract information from the large quantities of data stored.
These systems rely on Data Warehouses created from Transaction Processing systems.
• They use following techniques for data analysis
• Online analytical processing, and
• Data mining
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Hope you will fine for what condition office automation systems requires
Office automation refers to the varied computer machinery and software used to digitally create,
collect, store, manipulate, and relay office information needed for accomplishing basic tasks and
goals. Raw data storage, electronic transfer, and the management of electronic business
information comprise the basic activities of an office automation system. Office automation
helps in optimizing or automating existing office procedures.
Explain: Imaging & Web publishing, Electronic calendars – manager’s appt. calendars,
Email, Audio & video conferencing.
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Calendaring software is software enabling users to use electronic versions of a variety of office
tools such as calendar, appointment book, address book and contact list. These tools are an
extension of many of the features provided by time management software such as desk accessory
packages and mainframe office automation systems.
Electronic mail, often abbreviated as e-mail or email, is any method of creating, transmitting, or
storing primarily text-based human communications with digital communications systems.
Historically, a variety of electronic mail system designs evolved that were often incompatible or
not interoperable.
Subsystem unit is the part of whole system. Such as in any Organization there are many
departments. i.e. Accounts department, purchasing department, sells department etc. There all
departments are subsystems of that organization.
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
The word Fuzzy literally means vague, blurred, hazy, and not clear. Real life problems may not
be solved by an optimized solution. Hence allowance needs to be made for any imperfections
which may be faced while finding a solution to a problem. Fuzzy logic is a form of algebra
employing a range of values from “true” to “false” that is used in decision-making with
imprecise data, as in artificial intelligence systems. It is a rule based technology that tolerates
imprecision by using non specific terms/ imprecise concepts like "slightly", "quite" and "very",
to solve problems. It is based on the Possibility theory, which is a mathematical theory for
dealing with certain types of uncertainty and is an alternative to probability theory.
Ideal Management in business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting
people together to accomplish desired goals. Management comprises planning, organizing,
staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or
entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the
deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources,
and natural resources
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SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying
the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors
that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective.
Marketing management often finds it necessary to invest in research to collect the data required
to perform accurate marketing analysis. Accordingly, management often conducts market
research (alternately marketing research) to obtain this information. Marketers employ a variety
of techniques to conduct market research, but some of the more common include:
Marketing managers may also design and oversee various environmental scanning and
competitive intelligence processes to help identify trends and inform the company's marketing
analysis.
MKIS helps organizations in efficient channel management. Following can be identified as some
of the benefits of MKIS.
1. Customer profiles need to be maintained focusing on their habits and spending patterns. MKIS
helps in maintaining these profiles.
2. Information on what competitors have been up to is also critical marketing information. This
should not be taken as espionage on competitors.
3. Forecasts of demand are also a critical part of marketing analysis. MKIS helps in achieving
this as well.
4. Field sales can also be monitored where sales agents are used to market products.
6. Dealers involved in sale of product can also be monitored to help enhance revenue.
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Lesson 13
Corporate finance is an area of finance dealing with the financial decisions corporations make
and the tools and analysis used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is
to maximize corporate value while managing the firm's financial risks. Although it is in principle
different from managerial finance which studies the financial decisions of all firms, rather than
corporations alone, the main concepts in the study of corporate finance are applicable to the
financial problems of all kinds of firms.
Cockpit crew includes only pilot and his co pilot. Whereas cabin crew department include all the
staff of the plane.
Corporate finance is an area of finance dealing with the financial decisions corporations make
and the tools and analysis used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is
to maximize corporate value while managing the firm's financial risks. Although it is in principle
different from managerial finance which studies the financial decisions of all firms, rather than
corporations alone, the main concepts in the study of corporate finance are applicable to the
financial problems of all kinds of firms.
Whereas Consumer banking or Retail banking refers to banking in which banking institutions
execute transactions directly with consumers, rather than corporations or other banks. Services
offered include: savings and checking accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards, credit
cards, and so forth.
hope you will fine tell me the difference of debit card and credit card
A debit card (also known as a bank card or check card) is a plastic card which provides an
alternative payment method to cash when making purchases. Functionally, it can be called an
electronic check, as the funds are withdrawn directly from either the bank account (often referred
to as a check card), or from the remaining balance on the card. In some cases, the cards are
designed exclusively for use on the Internet, and so there is no physical card
A credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of
the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's
promise to pay for these goods and services. The issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the
consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a
cash advance to the user
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Lesson 14
An accounting information system (AIS) is the system of records a business keeps maintaining
its accounting system. This includes the purchase, sales, and other financial processes of the
business. The purpose of an AIS is to accumulate data and provide decision makers (investors,
creditors, and managers) with information to make decision While this was previously a paper-
based process, most modern businesses now use accounting software such as UBS, MYOB etc.
Information System personnel need knowledge of database management and programming
language such as C, C++, JAVA and SQL as all software is basically built from platform or
database.
Lesson 15
2- Efficient Processing – data should not be kept unprocessed for long. Timely processing helps
in effective decision making.
3- Value driven – the information kept in a computerized system should add value to the user’s
knowledge.
4- Audience Centered – every one should receive that part of information that is relevant to the
user.
These are the characteristics of the information due to which we call any information as Ideal.
Lesson 16
1. Would u please explain with details the ERP and SAP? 2. MTTR, MTBF & Machine
down Time
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An ERP system has a service-oriented architecture with modular hardware and software units or
"services" that communicate on a local area network. The modular design allows a business to
add or reconfigure modules (perhaps from different vendors) while preserving data integrity in
one shared database that may be centralized or distributed.
The SAP ERP application is an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
manufactured by SAP AG that targets business software requirements of midsize and large
organizations in all industries and sectors. SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products.
SAP AG, the company that provides the enterprise resource planning solution has upgraded the
package and launched it as SAP ECC 6.0 in 2005.
Mean time to recovery (MTTR) is the average time that a device will take to recover from any
failure. Examples of such devices range from self-resetting fuses (where the MTTR would be
very short, probably seconds), up to whole systems which have to be repaired or replaced.
Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the arithmetic mean (average) time between failures of a
system. The MTBF is typically part of a model that assumes the failed system is immediately
repaired (zero elapsed time), as a part of a renewal process. This is in contrast to the mean time
to failure (MTTF), which measures average time between failures with the modeling assumption
that the failed system is not repaired.
How and when making process decion is to become ideal for any organization in direction
to achieving goals
Accurate, reliable and timely information is vital to effective decision making in almost every
aspect of business, whether it be undertaken by individuals, community organizations or
governments. Its is an essential component of any effort to persuade businesses to maked
different decisions from the ones which they might make in the absence of particular pieces of
information.
In the absence of accurate, reliable and timely information, people and organizations will make
bad decisions; they will be unable to help or persuade others to make better decisions; and no
one will be able to ascertain whether the decisions made by particular individuals or
organizations were the best ones that could have been made at the time.
In the business sector it is becoming increasingly common – some might say essential – to
extract and analyze minutely detailed information about customer behavior and about the
profitability of individual products or services, points of sale and business units or even
individual employees – in pursuit of goals such as market share, productivity or profit.
Lesson 17
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To follow the waterfall model, one proceeds from one phase to the next in a purely sequential
manner. For example, one first completes requirements specification, which is set in stone. When
the requirements are fully completed, one proceeds to design. The software in question is
designed and a blueprint is drawn for implementers (coders) to follow — this design should be a
plan for implementing the requirements given. When the design is fully completed, an
implementation of that design is made by coders. Towards the later stages of this implementation
phase, disparate software components produced are combined to introduce new functionality and
remove errors.
The iterative and incremental development is an essential part of the Rational Unified Process,
the Dynamic Systems Development Method, Extreme Programming and generally the agile
software development frameworks.
Lesson 18
Some prefer the waterfall model for its simple approach and argue that it is more disciplined.
Rather than what the waterfall adherent sees as chaos, the waterfall model provides a structured
approach; the model itself progresses linearly through discrete, easily understandable and
explainable phases and thus is easy to understand; it also provides easily mark able milestones in
the development process. It is perhaps for this reason that the waterfall model is used as a
beginning example of a development model in many software engineering texts and courses.
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Information sys structures and types are creating ambiguity plz explain
As new information technologies are developed, new categories emerge that can be used to
classify information systems. Some examples are:
Please clarify your question that what do u wants to ask by Information system Structures.
Lesson 19
Sir plz explain Entity Relationship Diagram in detail and its purpose
Diagrams created using this process are called entity-relationship diagrams, or ER diagrams or
ERDs for short.
There are several notations for data modeling. The actual model is frequently called "Entity
relationship model", because it depicts data in terms of the entities and relationships described in
the data. An entity-relationship model (ERM) is an abstract conceptual representation of
structured data. Entity-relationship modeling is a relational schema database modeling method,
used in software engineering to produce a type of conceptual data model (or semantic data
model) of a system, often a relational database, and its requirements in a top-down fashion.
These models are being used in the first stage of information system design during the
requirements analysis to describe information needs or the type of information that is to be stored
in a database. The data modeling technique can be used to describe any ontology (i.e. an
overview and classifications of used terms and their relationships) for a certain universe of
discourse i.e. area of interest
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Lesson 20
Lesson 21
In many fields, there is great uncertainty as to whether a new design will actually do what is
desired. New designs often have unexpected problems. A prototype is often used as part of the
product design process to allow engineers and designers the ability to explore design alternatives,
test theories and confirm performance prior to starting production of a new product. Engineers
use their experience to tailor the prototype according to the specific unknowns still present in the
intended design. For example, some prototypes are used to confirm and verify consumer interest
in a proposed design where as other prototypes will attempt to verify the performance or
suitability of a specific design approach.
Lesson 22
Define SPIR
Strategic Planning for Information Resources (SPIR). When a firm embraces SPIR the strategic
plans for information services and the firm are developed concurrently. Business strategy and IT
related strategy should go hand in hand. The IT related strategy should be driven by business
strategy and the former should support the achievement what’s being mentioned in the latter.
Any inconsistencies or deviations between the two should be removed and avoided. The
investment in IT is costly and inflexible. Such investment is also monitored and controlled by the
IT strategy. Hence any investment not supporting the business strategy would be futile
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plz explain the role of system analyst in the current situation in an organizations.
Systems analysts may act as liaisons between vendors and the organization they represent. They
may be responsible for developing cost analyses, design considerations, and implementation
time-lines. They may also be responsible for feasibility studies of a computer system before
making recommendations to senior management.
Dear sir plz expalin the system analysit who are they? with common examples
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Question 1: Compare the information requirement of small and large sized organizations with
the reference of a real time example.
Small organizations usually have simple management structure. The need invariably grows from
the limited scope and operations of management. Since tasks to be handled are usually limited
and manageable, hence need for introducing more levels is not required. Since operations can
be managed at the top level by one or two members of the senior management, officers from
the lower level of management are not usually involved in decision making. Hence the final
decisions are centrally taken.
Information flows and formats are easy to define and change. Since information requirements
are not extensive, number of documents prepared and generated will also be few in number.
Mostly the interested party itself is running the business, hence the management is centralized
to few people.
As size of the organization increases, the importance of planning for information also increases.
The planning on long-term basis also helps in monitoring of information against planning
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With large size of organizations, management structure needs to be multi- tiered for efficient
and strong control. This leads to formulation of many departments, management levels,
designations, promotional opportunities and salary increments. Usually such organizations are
characterized by large scale of operations. Various criteria can be used for this purpose like
number of employees, amount of turnover, number of branches, profit size, value of assets,
number of businesses the organization is working in
With such a large structure, it is inevitable that the detailed planning should be made for proper
management control, for both short term and long term.
Information requirements of Small Organizations can be day to day transactions, daily Sale,
cash management, receivables and Payables etc whereas in large organizations information
requirement can be categorized according to the nature of business. There can be different
business sectors in large organizations like manufacturing sector, service sector or trading
sector etc. Examples of information requirement of these sectors can be day to day costs,
production targets, quality of product in manufacturing sector, customer satisfaction, time
scheduling etc in service sector.
Question 2: Define the ideal information. Discuss its importance in decision making.
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Ideal Information:
Accurate, reliable and timely information is vital to effective decision making in almost
every aspect of business, whether it be undertaken by individuals, community
organizations or governments. Its is an essential component of any effort to persuade
businesses to maked different decisions from the ones which they might make in the
absence of particular pieces of information.
In the absence of accurate, reliable and timely information, people and organizations will
make bad decisions; they will be unable to help or persuade others to make better
decisions; and no one will be able to ascertain whether the decisions made by particular
individuals or organizations were the best ones that could have been made at the time.
In the business sector it is becoming increasingly common – some might say essential –
to extract and analyze minutely detailed information about customer behavior and about
the profitability of individual products or services, points of sale and business units or
even individual employees – in pursuit of goals such as market share, productivity or
profit.
Q1. Is CBIS cost-effective solution? Discuss it from the point of view of medium to
large level organizations. (1+4 marks)
Yes, as it helps to manage information requirements for organizations at low cost rate
1- Every transaction affects our records. CBIS helps in updating every change in less
time and with less effort.
2- CBIS enables instant access to data and decision making parameters by providing
larger storage capacity and fast search & access algorithms. This would save huge
amount of time and cost in long run for the organization.
3- Managers and staff members are usually faced with the problem of communication.
By implementing computerized solutions organizations save money on traditional
communication ways that are lengthy, time consuming and hard to manage. For
example simple email would save time and cost of typical mail system.
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4- Organization can save huge amount by providing paper free environment due to
CBIS.
Q2. Explain reliability factor of a Transaction processing system with a real time
example. (5 marks)
It is a complex E-Commerce solution for Internet users. A break down will disrupt online
transactions or even stop the business. It centralizes its whole business on transactions
done among the bidders, buyers and sellers. These transactions are of worth of millions
of dollars. System failures are crucial and complete avoidance is hard to achieve target
in real time. These failures can occur at any time for any reason, but if TPS are not
effectively developed to perform recovery process, business and its stakeholders are at
risk. E-bay user would likely to participate in the business if he or she is sure about the
reliability of the system. This makes backup and accurate recovery process crucial for
the system.
Q3. An airline maintains flights and reservation for various classes of society.
Describe major tasks that decision support system should perform for
management. (5 marks)
MIS DSS
1. MIS provides information on Helps in non routine decision making.
monitoring and controlling the
business.
2. Fixed and regular reports are Users are not linked with the structured
generated from data kept in Information flows.
TPS.
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Q.1 Identify the major deficiencies which an organization can face to meet its
organizational goals and objectives effectively and efficiently.
Answer.
Common deficiencies and reasons in an organization due to efficiency and out put of an
organization degraded are following:
1. Fuzzy Vision:
Corporate vision and mission don't inspire people; lack of strategic alignment;
people don't know where the organization is going and what it is trying to achieve
in the future.
2. Lack of Leadership Skills:
Fear of change; leaders lack entrepreneurial spirit; leadership style on the part of
management is either too directive or too hands-off; managers do not lead, they
just administrate and micromanage; weak leadership development program.
3. Discouraging Culture:
No shared values; lack of trust; blame culture; focus on problems, not
opportunities; people don't have fun at work; diversity is not celebrated; failures
are not tolerated; people lose confidence in their leaders and systems.
4. High Bureaucracy:
Bureaucratic organizational structures with too many layers; high boundaries
between management layers; slow decision making; too close monitoring of
things and subordinates; too many tools and documents discouraging creative
thinking; bureaucracy is tolerated.
5. Lack of Initiative:
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Poor motivation and encouragement; people do not feel their contributions make a
difference; management fails to engage the organization effectively; people work
defensively and not creatively, they do their job, and nothing more.
6. Poor Vertical Communication:
People have no clue of the big picture and do not feel that their contributions are
important; too much uncertainty; people don't know what top-managers are
thinking and planning.
7. Poor Cross-functional Collaboration:
Functional mindset; lack of cross-functional goals and cross-functional
collaboration spirit; functional, not enterprise-wide business process management;
no cross-functional management committees; lack of or powerless cross-
functional teams.
8. Poor Teamwork:
No organizational commitment to team culture; lack of shared and worthwhile
goals; weak team leaders; team members who don't want to play as part of a team
are tolerated; teams are too large; lack of shared rewards.
9. Poor Idea and Knowledge Management:
Cross-pollination of ideas is not facilitated; no idea management and knowledge
management strategies and systems; "know-it-all" attitude; "not invented here"
syndrome.
Q.2 How can you understand the business process within an organization? Discuss the
features of business process.
Answer.
A business process or business method is a collection of interrelated tasks, which solve
a particular issue. A business process is a collection of activities designed to produce a
specific output for a particular customer or market. It implies a strong emphasis on how
the work is done within and organization, in contrast to a product's focus on what. A
process is thus a specific ordering of work activities across time and place, with a
beginning, an end, and clearly defined inputs and outputs: a structure for action.
1. Large and complex, involving the end-to-end flow of materials, information and
business commitments.
2. Dynamic, responding to demands from customers and to changing market conditions.
3. Widely distributed and customized across boundaries within and between
businesses, often spanning multiple applications on disparate technology
platforms.
4. Long-running: a single instance of a process such as "order to cash" or "develop
product" may run for months or even years.
5. Automated: at least in part. Routine or mundane activities are performed by
computers wherever possible, for the sake of speed and reliability.
6. Both "business" and "technical" in nature: IT processes are a subset of business
processes and provide support to larger processes involving both people and
machines. End-to-end business processes depend on distributed computing
systems that are both transactional and collaborative. Process models may
therefore comprise network models, object models, control flows, message flows,
business rules, metrics, exceptions, transformations and assignments.
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1. For the purposes of discussing CRM, we need to think of the “customer” in the
broadest sense.
CRM helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the
behavior of customers and the value of those customers.
CRM Software
• Contact management
Contact management software stores, tracks and manages contacts, leads of an
enterprise.
• Lead management
Enterprise Lead management software enables an organization to manage, track and
forecast sales leads. Also helps understand and improve conversion rates.
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Customer Service
1) For the purposes of discussing CRM, we need to think of the “customer” in the
broadest sense. First, many customers want relationships with key suppliers. While
companies are using auctions and reverse auctions to purchase commodities, they are
choosing a few long-term suppliers for their unique requirements.
Second, customers want close relationships through which they can dialogue with
suppliers, for the purpose of detailing their customization desires.
Third, these dialogues create opportunities for astute suppliers to discover unmet
customer needs and requirements, and can then expand their offerings to include more
products and services. More importantly, however, these suppliers can create packages of
products and services that create value for customers. These packages or solutions make
the customer more effective, and the more effective the customer feels as a result, the
more the customer will dialogue with and use the supplier. A virtuous circle can result.
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flower-related sites and gardening portals, associated chat groups, and online forums.
Therefore, the company spent time establishing links and alliances with these other sites
to attract customers to its site. The company recognized early on that they did not seek a
technology solution, but rather a solution that provided a place for flower lovers to find
new and unique products. As a result, they have attracted customers from all over North
America and are making inroads into Asia.
They also have seen another significant benefit—their average order size has increased
by almost seven times. When people find their site and decide to place an order, orders
are large.The concept of community is also illustrated by the success of e-businesses like
EBay, where specialty products are auctioned as well as more common products.
People interested in antiques and collectibles have “gathered” at E-Bay to buy and sell.
Portals, those sites that act as anchors, start sites, or comprehensive market-oriented
locations have also discovered the power of community. A site like Agriplace.com is one
where those who are interested in agriculture can find just about everything related to this
industry. News, references, product information and the ability to buy and sell related
products are all available on the site.
3) It is important to find ways to add value to the relationship. Keep in mind that value is
in the mind of the customer. Find out what they perceive to be valuable by surveying
them either online, by phone, or by regular mail. Even though you are using online
techniques, do not forget the many other ways to connect with customers. One very
successful software company allows prospective customers to register at their web site,
download an industry related document, and then phones the prospect within two hours to
make sure they received the information successfully. This technique provides a further
opportunity to get to know the customer and build the relationship. Afterwards, the
company follows up with a letter.
Another way to add value is to produce newsletters that can be delivered online or by
mail. Newsletters can be related to product or service announcements and contain general
industry information. E-newsletters are simple and inexpensive to produce and deliver. A
good rule of thumb is to keep the newsletter small and to discuss only two or three
concepts.
As you build the relationship with your online customer you will be able to solicit and
build more profile information
4) As you build the relationship with your online customer you will be able to solicit and
build more profile information. It is easy to get customers to visit your website for the
first time. It is much more difficult to get them to return. You must create value for the
return visitor. Ensuring you have good content can do this.
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The Internet allows you to deliver customer service on a 24/7 basis. That’s not service on
the 7th and the 24th of the month—it is service 7 days per week, 24 hours per day. This is
a great opportunity because most of the service is “self-service” and does not require you
to have staff on duty all of the time. Online service can be as
simple as FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions), or as complex as interactive text, voice,
or video service delivered in real time.
The CRM software integrates all the forms of customer contact into a central history
database where they can be retrieved or viewed together. Using CRM software, a
customer issue can be tracked from the original point of contact through to resolution.
CRM call centers help companies realign their entire organization around customers. And
thus, is a strategic business initiative. Sales, Marketing and Service as well as other
groups are connected and coordinated through the CRM applications. Before a call is
made to the customer, all recent activity for that customer should be reviewed to be
informed of recent events. Then a sales strategy needs to plan based upon observed
opportunities. The use of CRM software in the call center allows the assignment of a
value to each customer if the culture supports that philosophy. With that feature, one can
choose how to interact with that customer.
CRM helps the company identify most valuable customers and understanding their
lifetime values. Using CRM, the call centers design the organization systems and service
to best meet the needs of customers and maximize their value. CRM is intended for long-
term relationship building. Besides capturing the different forms of customer interaction,
CRM allows you to capture and store all available customer information in the central
history database. This allows agents the ability to pull up a customer's entire history while
the two interact. Communication and service are more effective and efficient. Most CRM
products also track trends in purchasing and customer feedback.
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Q2- How an Information system can help to meet call center challenges?
Discuss Prototyping Model to share your views for the following points:
1. Introduction
In many instances the client only has a general view of what is expected from the
software product. In such a scenario where there is an absence of detailed information
regarding the input to the system, the processing needs and the output requirements, the
prototyping model may be employed. This model reflects an attempt to increase the
flexibility of the development process by allowing the client to interact and experiment
with a working representation of the product. The developmental process only continues
once the client is satisfied with the functioning of the prototype. At that stage the
developer determines the specifications of the client’s real needs.
Determine basic requirements including the input and output information desired.
Details, such as security, can typically be ignored.
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3. Review
The customers, including end-users, examine the prototype and provide feedback
on additions or changes.
Using the feedback both the specifications and the prototype can be improved.
Negotiation about what is within the scope of the contract/product may be
necessary. If changes are introduced then a repeat of steps #3 ands #4 may be
needed.
3) It has been argued that prototyping, in some form or another, should be used all the
time. However, prototyping is most beneficial in systems that will have many interactions
with the users.
It has been found that prototyping is very effective in the analysis and design of
on-line systems, especially for transaction processing, where the use of screen
dialogs is much more in evidence. The greater the interaction between the
computer and the user, the greater the benefit is that can be obtained from
building a quick system and letting the user play with it.
Systems with little user interaction, such as batch processing or systems that mostly do
calculations, benefit little from prototyping. Sometimes, the coding needed to perform the
system functions may be too intensive and the potential gains that prototyping could
provide are too small.
4) Efficiently using prototyping requires that an organization have proper tools and a staff
trained to use those tools. Tools used in prototyping can vary from individual tools like
4th generation programming languages used for rapid prototyping to complex integrated
CASE tools. 4th generation programming languages like Visual Basic are frequently used
since they are cheap, well known and relatively easy and fast to use. CASE tools, like the
Requirements Engineering Environment are often developed or selected by the military
or large organizations. Object oriented tools are also being developed like LYMB from
the GE Research and Development Center.
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Evaluate and compare the following System analysis and design methodologies:
¾ Organisational Process Modelling (OPM)
¾ Soft Systems Methodology (SSM).
¾ Unified Modelling Language (UML
¾ Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM)
OPM: The Organisation Process Modelling method deals with aspects of both hard and
soft systems.
SSADM: The Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method is a detailed method
covering almost every element of the information system
UML: The Unified Modelling Language is an expressive modelling language that covers
every aspects of the system development process .UML can be adapted with Business-
Oriented Software Engineering process (BOE Process) to cover more fully the modelling
of enterprises.
SSM: While mainly dealing with soft aspects, the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) also
deals with some aspects of hard systems. SSM supports activities and processes through
using a conceptual model to represent the activities of the root definition.
The different methodologies that are used for developing an information system deal
with the hard and soft systems aspects as follows.
Organisational Process Modelling (OPM) is a simple method, which handles
principally the interactions between agents as they achieve their goals for modelling the
organisational process. It deals with some aspects of the hard system approach and most
of the soft system issues. For the latter it uses some of the Soft Systems Methodology
(SSM) techniques to deal with the problem. The most serious omission from this method
is its lack of facilities for representing data structures.
Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) is a detailed method
which covers almost every element of the information system. It deals with every aspect
of the hard system issues but only some of the soft system issues. So, there is a trend in
the later versions of SSADM to use SSM in the early phases.
Unified Modelling Language (UML) is an expressive modelling language that covers
all hard aspects of the system development process. UML can be used with any object-
oriented development method, such as Unified Process which covers most of the hard
system aspects and also some soft system aspects. Unified Process does not support soft
aspects such as employee values.
Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) deals with some hard system aspects and all of the
soft system aspects. SSM does not support hard system aspects such as data structures,
events and the design of interfaces.
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It can be concluded that there is no methodology that covers all aspects fully.
Organisational Process Modelling (OPM) and Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) are
relatively strong on soft aspects and weak on hard aspects. Unified Modelling Language
(UML) and Unified Process are relatively strong on hard aspects and weak on soft
aspects. Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) is perhaps the most
comprehensive but some soft aspects are omitted.
Types:
NIDS:
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1. Switched networks
2. Encrypted networks
3. High-speed networks (anything over 100 Mbps)
Host-based intrusion detection is best suited to combat internal threats because of its
ability to monitor and respond to specific user actions and file accesses on the host. The
majority of computer threats come from within organizations, from many different
sources; disgruntled employees and corporate spies are just two examples.
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The competition between firms and individuals within a firm in a market economy is
compared so that it fulfills the requirements of high ethics, and it is one of the
fundamental sources of economic development.
Privacy
Privacy is the interest that individuals have in sustaining a 'personal space', free from
interference by other people and organizations. Privacy of the person is concerned with
the integrity of the individual's body. What information about one's self or one's
associations must a person disclose to others, under what circumstances? Collections of
information reveal intimate details about a person and can thereby deprive the person of
the opportunity to form certain professional and personal relationships. This is the
ultimate cost of an invasion of privacy.
Accuracy
It is the ability of a measurement to match the actual value of the quantity that is being
measured. We run the risk of creating and design information systems every time and
place information in databases which might be used to make decisions. So it is our
responsibility to be vigilant in the pursuit of accuracy in information. Who is
responsible for the validity, reliability and accuracy of information? Similarly, who is
to be detained responsible for errors in information and how is the injured party to be
made whole? Information systems must be accurate to avoid the indignities suffered.
Property
Property designates those things that are commonly recognized the information being
possessions of a person or group. Any individual item of information can be extremely
costly to produce in the first instance and posses by the owner. Most of the people of
the society face the question of intellectual property rights. There are significant
financial and ethical concerns contiguous these rights; concerns revolving around the
special attributes of information itself and the means by which it is transmitted.
Information systems should protect the sanctity of intellectual property to avoid the
indignities of unwitting "disemendment" of knowledge from individuals.
Accessibility
Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a system is usable
by as many people as possible. What information about one's self or one's associations
must a person disclose to others, under what circumstances and with what protections?
And information systems should be accessible to avoid the indignities of information
literacy and deprivation. Information systems should protect the capability of the fixed
conduit resource through which it is transmitted to avoid the indignities of "The
Tragedy of the Commons".
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1. How would you differentiate between open system and closed system?
The first issue is to define environment where the systems are required to be
operated and the second issue is to describe the system itself. For example,
Book Store
Open system – any and everyone is allowed to view and purchase the books
available.
School Library
Computer hardware
Databases
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Configuration
Design of OS
Documentation
Information Architecture is the “Blueprint” that provides the conceptual foundation for
building information infrastructure and specific applications that exists within the context
of information system design, in which information architecture refers to data modeling
and the analysis and design of the information in the system. The term information
architecture describes a specialized skill set which relates to the management of
information and employment of informational tools. Components:
Office Automation Systems Include formal and informal electronic systems primarily
concerned with the communication of information to and from persons both inside and
outside the firm. It supports data workers in an organization.
For Instance
Word processing
Desktop publishing
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Following are the common techniques through which a data warehouse can be used.
Decision support software that helps the user to analyze information which are
in form of summarized, multidimensional views and hierarchies. The term
online refers to the interactive querying facility provided to the user to minimize
response time. It enables users to drill down into large volume of data.
What are the various types of models used in Decision Support System? Explain
with examples.
Physical Models
Physical models are three dimensional representation of an entity (Object / Process) and
used in the business world include scale models of shopping centres and prototypes of
new automobiles.
Narrative Models
The spoken and written description model of an entity and used daily by managers
and surprisingly, these are seldom recognized as models.
Graphic Models
These models represent the entity in the form of graphs or pictorial presentations
and represents entity with an abstraction of lines, symbols or shapes. Graphic
models are used in business to communicate information.
Mathematical Models
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CRM is a business strategy that goes beyond increasing transaction volume and increases
profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction. To achieve CRM, a company wide set of
tools, technologies, and procedures promote the relationship with the customer to
increase sales. Maintains and enhances customer base
• Encourages customer loyalty
• Gaining more customers’ wallet-share
• The more effective a company's customer retention and defection management
strategy, the less they need to plug the gap with new customers.
• CRM help in establishing communication to encourage customers to share
information about their Habits, Tastes and preferences Interests in Co’s brand
extension initiatives.
What do you understand by inventory sub-system? Give critical aspects that the
subsystem is supposed to cover.
Information systems are designed and developed for both types of environments.
System analysis is done in both situations covering business processes and flow of
documents.
1. Logical access control issues in this No logical access control issues in this
environment environment
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What factors should be kept in mind while designing a well defined output?
Various considerations need to be kept in mind while defining parameters for desired
output. These should generally focus on:
a) Assuring purposeful output
b) Providing output as defined and required by users
c) Providing appropriate information
d) Assuring distribution of output as per client specified requirements.
e) Minimizing throughput time and Query time
f) Ensuring that output is available in client required mode.
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“The protection of the interests of those relying on information, and the information
systems and communications that delivers the information, from harm resulting from
failures of availability, confidentiality, and integrity.”
The security objective uses three terms
• Availability – information systems are available and usable when required;
• Confidentiality – data and information are disclosed only to those who have a right
to know it; and
• Integrity – data and information are protected against unauthorized modification
(integrity).
The relative priority and significance of availability, confidentiality, and integrity vary
according to the data within the information system and the business context in which it
is used.
The goal of this step is to analyze the controls that have been implemented or are planned
for implementation by the organizations to minimize or eliminate the likelihood of
occurrence of threat. To derive an overall likelihood rating that indicates the probability
that a potential vulnerability may be exercised within the construct of the associated
threat environment. Security controls encompass the use of technical and non-technical
methods. Technical methods are safeguards that are incorporated into computer
hardware, software and firmware such as controls mechanisms, identification and
authentication mechanisms, encryption methods, intrusion detection software, etc. Non
technical controls are management and operational controls such as security policies and
operational procedures and personnel, physical and environmental security. The control
categories for both technical and non technical control methods can be further classified
as either preventive or detective. These two sub-categories are explained as follows
1. Preventive controls inhibit attempts to violate security policy and include controls
as access control enforcement, encryption and authentication
2. Detective controls warn of violations or attempted violations of security policy
which include such controls as audit trails, intrusion detection methods.
The analysis of a problem to determine how it can be solved effectively. The operational
(will it work?), economical (costs and benefits) and technical (can it be built?) aspects are
part of the study. Results of the study determine whether the solution should be
implemented.
Output:
A brief description of the proposed system and its characteristics.
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Process:
Analyze the proposed project and produce a written description.
Define and document possible types of systems.
Develop a statement of the probable types of system (centralized, decentralized,
mainframe, etc.).
Analyze the costs of similar systems.
Produce a rough estimate of the system size, costs, schedules, etc.
Define the benefits of the system. Include both quantitative and qualitative
measures.
Produce an estimate of the next life cycle stage.
Present feasibility document to clients for discussion.
Deliverables:
System description (as it is now)
Project team organization
Deliverables schedule
Basically we are studying Information Systems. You are required to study the following
Information Systems:
1. MIS.
2. DSS
3. Strategic Information System
First write a complete overview of Information System and then discuss the above IS that
one can easily understand the characteristics and differences between them.
'MIS' is a planned system of collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of
information needed to carry out the functions of management. According to Phillip Kotler "A marketing
information system consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyse, evaluate, and
distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers." (Kotler, Phillip and
Keller, Kevin Lane; Marketing Management, Pearson Education, 12 Ed, 2006)
The terms MIS and information system are often confused. Information systems include systems that are
not intended for decision making. MIS is sometimes referred to, in a restrictive sense, as information
technology management. That area of study should not be confused with computer science. IT service
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management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) as ERP incorporates elements that are not necessarily focused on decision
support. Definition: Management Information Systems (MIS) is the term given to the discipline focused
on the integration of computer systems with the aims and objectives on an organisation.
The development and management of information technology tools assists executives and the general
workforce in performing any tasks related to the processing of information. MIS and business systems are
especially useful in the collation of business data and the production of reports to be used as tools for
decision making.
Applications of MIS
With computers being as ubiquitous as they are today, there's hardly any large business that does not rely
extensively on their IT systems.
However, there are several specific fields in which MIS has become invaluable.
* Strategy Support
While computers cannot create business strategies by themselves they can assist management in
understanding the effects of their strategies, and help enable effective decision-making.
MIS systems can be used to transform data into information useful for decision making. Computers can
provide financial statements and performance reports to assist in the planning, monitoring and
implementation of strategy.
MIS systems provide a valuable function in that they can collate into coherent reports unmanageable
volumes of data that would otherwise be broadly useless to decision makers. By studying these reports
decision-makers can identify patterns and trends that would have remained unseen if the raw data were
consulted manually.
MIS systems can also use these raw data to run simulations – hypothetical scenarios that answer a range of
‘what if’ questions regarding alterations in strategy. For instance, MIS systems can provide predictions
about the effect on sales that an alteration in price would have on a product. These Decision Support
Systems (DSS) enable more informed decision making within an enterprise than would be possible without
MIS systems
A DSS can take many different forms. In general, we can say that a DSS is a computerized system used for
supporting rather than automating decisions. A decision is a choice between alternatives based on estimates
of the values of those alternatives. Supporting a decision means helping people working alone or in a group
gather intelligence, generate alternatives and make choices. Supporting the choice making process involves
supporting the estimation, the evaluation and/or the comparison of alternatives. In practice, references to
DSS are usually references to computer applications that perform such a supporting role.
Characteristics and Capabilities of DSS
Because there is no exact definition of DSS, there is obviously no agreement on the standard characteristics
and capabilities of DSS. Turban, E.,Aronson, J.E., and Liang, T.P. constitute an ideal set of characteristics
and capabilities of DSS. The key DSS characteristics and capabilities are as follows:
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A Strategic Information System (SIS) is a type of Information System that is aligned with business
strategy and structure. The alignment increases the capability to respond faster to environmental changes
and thus creates a competitive advantage. An early example was the favorable position afforded American
and United Airlines by their reservation systems, Sabre and Apollo. Strategic Information System (SIS) is a
system to manage information and assist in strategic decision making. A strategic information system has
been defined as, "The information system to support or change enterprise's strategy." by Charles Wiseman
(Strategy and Computers 1985).
• Data Processing (DP) [efficiency] — Improved efficiency by means of automating back office
data processing functions.
• Management Information Systems (MIS) [effectiveness] — Improved information flows and
transfers.
• Strategic Information System (SIS) [competitiveness] — Enhance competitiveness of the
organization through the application of IT to business processes. Davenport’s point of view is that
"Information is power and people are unlikely to give it away"
Data mining is becoming increasingly common in both the private and public
sectors. Discuss
1. DM is the process of sorting through large amounts of data and picking out
relevant information. It is usually used by business intelligence organizations, and
financial analysts, but is increasingly being used in the sciences to extract
information from the enormous data sets generated by modern experimental and
observational methods. It has been described as "the nontrivial extraction of
implicit, previously unknown, and potentially useful information from data" and
"the science of extracting useful information from large data sets or databases".
Data mining in relation to Enterprise Resource Planning is the statistical and
logical analysis of large sets of transaction data, looking for patterns that can aid
decision making
2. Uses may be in:
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1. Terrorism
2. Games
3. Business
Data mining is used for a variety of purposes in both the private and public sectors.
Industries such as banking, insurance, medicine, and retailing commonly use data mining
to reduce costs, enhance research, and increase sales. For example, the insurance and
banking industries use data mining applications to detect fraud and assist in risk
assessment (e.g., credit scoring). Using customer data collected over several years,
companies can develop models that predict whether a customer is a good credit risk, or
whether an accident claim may be fraudulent and should be investigated more closely.
The medical community sometimes uses data mining to help predict the effectiveness of
a procedure or medicine. Pharmaceutical firms use data mining of chemical compounds
and genetic material to help guide research on new treatments for diseases. Retailers can
use information collected through affinity programs (e.g., shoppers’ club cards, frequent
flyer points, contests) to assess the effectiveness of product selection and placement
decisions, coupon offers, and which products are often purchased together. Companies
such as telephone service providers and music clubs can use data mining to create a
“churn analysis,” to assess which customers are likely to remain as subscribers and which
ones are likely to switch to a competitor Recently, data mining has been increasingly
cited as an important tool for homeland security efforts. Some observers suggest that data
mining should be used as a means to identify terrorist activities, such as money transfers
and communications, and to identify and track individual terrorists themselves, such as
through travel and immigration records. Two initiatives that have attracted significant
attention include the now-discontinued Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) project13
conducted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the now-
canceled Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System
II (CAPPS II) that was being developed by the Transportation Security Administration
(TSA). CAPPS II is being replaced by a new program called Secure Flight.
3. Discuss the role of SDLC in System development. Also discuss and compare
different approaches i-e Water Fall vs Incremental
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) or sometimes just (SLC) is defined by the
U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) as a software development process, although it is also a
distinct process independent of software or other information technology considerations.
It is used by a systems analyst to develop an information system, including requirements,
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1. The existing system is evaluated. Deficiencies are identified. This can be done by
interviewing users of the system and consulting with support personnel.
2. The new system requirements are defined. In particular, the deficiencies in the
existing system must be addressed with specific proposals for improvement.
3. The proposed system is designed. Plans are laid out concerning the physical
construction, hardware, operating systems, programming, communications, and
security issues.
4. The new system is developed. The new components and programs must be
obtained and installed. Users of the system must be trained in its use, and all
aspects of performance must be tested. If necessary, adjustments must be made at
this stage.
5. The system is put into use. This can be done in various ways. The new system can
phased in, according to application or location, and the old system gradually
replaced. In some cases, it may be more cost-effective to shut down the old
system and implement the new system all at once.
6. Once the new system is up and running for a while, it should be exhaustively
evaluated. Maintenance must be kept up rigorously at all times. Users of the
system should be kept up-to-date concerning the latest modifications and
procedures
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In incremental models, software is built not written. Software is constructed step by step in the same
way a
building is constructed. The products is designed, implemented, integrated and tested as a series of
incremental builds, where a build consists of code pieces from various modules interacting together
to
provide a specific functional capability and testable as a whole. The waterfall model is a software
development model (a process for the creation of software) in which development is seen as flowing
steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the various phases
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