2/3/2021 Management Information System: Chapter 1 - Discussion Question

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

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Chapter 1 - Discussion Question
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Blog Archive 1) How can information technology support a company’s business processes and
decision making and give it a competitive advantage? Give example to illustrate
▼ 2011 (44)
▼ your answer.
▼ July (11)
▼
► Jul 16 (1)
► In an organization number of transactions occurs every day. It’s almost
▼ Jul 21 (9)
▼ impossible to keep the record of these transactions manually. So in order to keep
Heidelberg, Honeywell, and Eaton: the systematic record of day to day transaction, considering the value of time, in
Using Informatio... the most accurate form, organizations use Information Technology. Use of
JetBlue and the Veterans information Technology has made a workplace more productive and scientific.
Administration: the criti... During the entire business process from dealing with supplier to reaching a
Sew what? Inc: the Role of costumer, information technology plays a very important role to make things
information Technology ... happen smoothly. Business decisions are based on the data’s and information
provided to decision makers and information technology ensures the accuracy and
Chapter 1 - Discussion Question
reliability of the information collected. In this competitive business environment
Chapter 2: Discussion questions
it’s very important that decisions taken are as per the scenario and in the favor of
GE, Dell, Intel, GM and others: organization considering the competitors around so here we can see the direct
Debating the compe...
impact of information technology in decision making. Through the use of
GE Energy and GE Healthcare: Using information technology, data’s and information are to be collected and are to be
Information Tec...
supplied to all the sectors of organization as per the importance. Decision making
IT Leaders: Reinventing IT as a department uses these data’s to evaluate the performance of organization and all
strategic Business... the plans and policies are made as per the information and data’s provided. If the
Wachovia and Others: Trading decision making department is provided the accurate data then the department
securities at the spe... takes the appropriate policy and plans as per the need of the situation. When the
decisions are taken, through the use of information technology they can be
► Jul 22 (1)
►
implemented effectively and also it becomes easy to control the decision, since
► November (12)
► outcomes of decision can be monitored systematically. This way efficiency of the
► December (21)
► decision becomes more. When your decisions are appropriate and efficient, you
can be able to face the competition with appropriate strategies to win the war.
► 2016 (2)
►
2) How does the use of internet, Intranets and extranets by companies today
support their business processes and activities?

Directly or indirectly organizations have been using intranets and extranets in

order to support their business activities since so long. Intranet is the
communication network inside the organization, which provides information about
what is happening inside the organization. Its about knowing yourself.Extarnet is
about communication network among various stakeholders who are not exactly in
the organization but are related to....... click below to read all answers.
organization in some ways. Extranet provides information about suppliers,
customers and competitors which facilitates the process of planning and decision
making. Organizations used to decide and perform as per the information
collected through these two different networks. And now, past 10 years internet
has been one of the most important sources of information for the organization to
operate in this global environment. Internet has made it possible to know about
everything going around the globe, sitting in the couch. Internet has made the
business easier. Websites, blogs, email and many more, collecting information
was never so easy before. Today to know about Microsoft Inc. you shouldn’t visit
America. Besides, because of use of internet we are able to know about what are
the recent business trends, what are our competitors doing ,where’s our business
heading and lot more so that we can manage and plan our activities as per all
these things. Organizations are using internet in their every aspect, from
production to promotion.
3) Refer to the real world case on sew what? In the chapter. In the company’s early
years, Megan Duckett lost a major contract because a prospective client said that
without a web site, her business “lacked credibility.”Does this hold true today for
all business? Why or why not?

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Business is not just about buying and selling of a product. Moreover it’s about
trust. Costumer should be able to trust you if you are to sell your product.
Costumer trusts you as per the information you provide about yourself and the
way you show responsibility towards them. If your company has a website, it
shows that you are up-to-date with changing time and you are responsible
towards your costumer so that you are considering the convenience of your
costumer .This sense of responsibility can be the basis of trust among you and
your costumer resulting the business relation among the parties.
Today people have many choices. They have many options to go for. The only
reason they will choose you from the many is the trust they have in you. The
more they know about you, more it becomes easy for them to trust you. So,
definitely in today’s complex business environment it matters a lot to have
credibility in order to be successful. If people don’t know about you they won’t be
able to trust you. Also Internet is very convenient that a costumer can use it from
anywhere to get the detail information. So in order to explain yourself and be
familiar to people along with moving with people’s perception and changing
technological advances, it is important to have website today in all business.

4) Why do big companies still fail in their use of information technology? What
should they be doing differently?

When things are big it’s hard to organize them together and adjust all of it in one
single system. Same goes with big organizations. Every department is distinct
and they have their own distinct way of communicating, keeping records and
managing their data’s. Information technology is only effective if it’s managed to
use in a systematic way. Input should be accurate, uniform and in order to get
the accurate output. And in big organizations it’s almost impossible to make
everything uniform. Also in country like ours, where almost 60% of people are
unaware about information technology and IT is very recently brought into
practice, big organizations have been following the certain pattern of doing things
manually, and it’s hard to change the habit so old. Along with all these, Cost
factor at the beginning as well restricts the organizations to implement IT in their
business. Neglecting the information management system as well could be the
reason of organizations failure to make the best use of IT. The things these big
organizations needs to consider making the best of Information technology are as
follows:

*Big organizations should start with being more responsible and sensitive towards
data management issues.
*They should divide whole the organization into considerable units of similar
departments, which performs the functions in similar pattern so that it becomes
easy to implement information technology in work.
*Cost factor should be considered since it will be profitable in long run.
*They should be serious towards moving with time and living the people’s
expectations by increasing the quality of their product and services, from the
efficient utilization of information technology.

5) How can a manager demonstrate that he or she is a responsible end user of

information system? Give several examples.

Information’s are the basis of planning, organizing, controlling and decision

making to managers. The main motive of information system is to facilitate
management with effective decision making. Information system is the
storehouse of all the information’s arranged in systematic way which can be
retrieved easily at the time of need. Information system’s responsibility is to
provide accurate information whereas manager using that information is
responsible to make the best out of that information and decide in favor of the
information provided. Keeping the information for future reference and
maintaining its secrecy as per the need as well is the responsibility of manager
using it as end user. If I am the manager, I would be using information system to
know about everything I need to know, in order to perform my obligations. My
responsibility towards that information system I am using it would be,
*To maintain the system and watch out if everything is in order, so as to get
accurate information.
*To be responsible towards the information provided and use it in the best
possible way to formulate effective plans and policies.
*To maintain the secrecy of the information provided.
*To keep it properly for the future reference and evidence.
*To convey the information in logical way to whom it may concern.

6) Refer to the real world case on Jet blue and the VA in the chapter. How could a
process be designed such that these domino effects can be avoided or to some
extent controlled? Define your proposal.

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Technologies are boon to organizations if they are used and controlled properly
but if they are not looked after properly it can be the matter of failure and loss to
an organization. As in case of JetBlue and Veterans Administration, whole the
system was about to get down making the organization amputated. But we can’t
make the assumption of each and everything that may happen to the system and
get prepared for that. Accidents are inevitable; technologies we are using may
stop functioning any time. In such cases, there is nothing much we can do if we
don’t have a proper back up plan to handle such crisis.

The kind of situation faced by JetBlue and VA cannot totally be prevented but by
following a system of monitoring and control may be we could be more prepared
and confident to face such kind of situations. Technologies are machines and the
software we use in them are their brain, so in order to keep them fit and fine we
need to take very good care of them. Regular updates and checking the
functionality of machines is very important in order to avoid such accidents.
Monitoring the whole system and making a change whenever it requires it is one
of the most important steps in order to avoid such domino steps. Regular backup
practice in an identical and distinct system could be other options that whatever
happens in the interconnection data’s and information will be safe and can be
used later on. Bigger the interconnection, Harder it is to control it, so may be
maintaining a specific interconnection system, up to which it becomes easy to
control is much better.

7) What are some of the toughest management challenges in developing IT

solutions to solve business problems and meet new business opportunities?

Information technology is not something that we once implement and keep on

using it rest of our life. It’s a very dynamic field which keeps on changing. In
today’s era of technological advances where everyday new innovations come to
our knowledge it’s a challenge to move with it. *Management has a challenge to
find out the best technology in order to solve business problems. *There are
several technologies available so it’s very important to find out the most
appropriate technology for the organization as per the nature of work of the
organization.
*Everything comes with price and information technologies are one of the
expensive things to decide for. With the best product Management should also
consider the best price to pay for it as per the financial position of organization.
*Owning a best information technology is not enough. It’s very much important
to decide where to use it, how to use it, for what to use it and who to use it.
*Information technologies are a bit complicated to start and hard to understand
the functions first, so management should make the proper arrangement of
human resources to use it.
*Update is required in order to make it reliable so management should consider
about updating it as per the changing time.

8) Why are there so many conceptual classifications of information systems? Why

they are typically integrated in the information systems found in real world?

There is no any sure and certain way of information system which is perfect to
each and every kind of organizations. Different nature of organizations has
different ways of doing things and keeping the datas.As per the functions
performed in organization information’s are kept in different formats and order.
So there are different conceptual classifications of information systems which vary
as per the size, functions and structure of organization. These conceptual
information systems help the management of the organization to decide about
which system to follow in their organization, considering their functions, size and
structure.

These concepts of information systems are scientific and systematic as well as

effective to use, in order to manage the information’s available in the organization
for the future prospect. In real world organizations need to analyze and store
data’s and information in order to use them at the time of need so they typically
integrate these concepts of information system in their business so as to have
reliable and smooth information management system which is more favorable to
their kind of organization.

9) In what major ways have information systems in business changed during the
last 40 years? What is one major change you think will happen in the next 10
years?
It’s not been so long that information system has been so advanced. Before 40
years organizations were having the traditional way of managing information’s in
written formats, manually. Development of computers made a very remarkable
impact in managing information system. Mainframe computers were just in
existence but they were very expensive that every organization couldn’t afford it.

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Only big banks and corporate houses used to use computers in very limited
number. After that mini computers and microcomputers changed the definition of
information system and slowly computers became information systems. During
80s and 90s lowering cost of personal computers and their compatible size
changed the whole scenario and computers became the most important aspects
of organizations in order to manage the information system along with overall
performance of an organization. During 90s internet came into existence, which
included the whole world in a small box. After that there’s been no looking back.
Every year new technologies are discovered, facilitating the information system to
be more reliable, accurate and efficient.
I think in next 10 years computers would have artificial intelligence as well which
will allow them to think by themselves. Scientists are working on it so may be in a
very near future we would be able to communicate with computers in more
natural ways.

10) Refer to real world example of Hershey Foods in the chapter. Are the failure and
success described due to managerial or technological challenges? Explain.

Basically, failure or success of business cannot be attributed to only one aspect of

organization. Technological and managerial, both aspects of organization are
equally responsible for the position of organization. To be in particular in the real
world example of Hershey Foods, I think its technological challenge which is much
important than managerial challenge, they faced in order to grow up from an
organization to successful organization.

As mentioned in the example, during the initial phase ERP was not as efficient as
it is now. Lots of organizations were having problem with it because they didn’t
know how to use it. At beginning Hershey food as well had problem using
technology in its business as a result they were not doing well. Their failure could
be the result of their weak technological strategy. But later on, Hershey foods
found out the effectiveness of EPS modified it the way they needed and used it
efficiently by upgrading it which helped them to increase their productivity. They
deployed EPS in such an effective way that it reduced their cost, time of
processing and increased the quality of their products by 100%. All this became
possible because they Enhanced whole their system and made it more powerful
by including material management invoice verification along with credit
processing for distributors, bringing everything together in an organized schedule
which resulted in better functioning and cost savings. It was Information
Technology that changed whole the picture and helped them taste the success. So
this time as well it was technological opportunity which helped them rise.
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Posted by hamro at 10:27:00 AM

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3 comments:

Unknown April 7, 2014 at 3:41 AM

thanks for that
more help me this facilities
Reply

Unknown August 14, 2014 at 6:23 AM

Do you have all the answers to this book?
Reply

Shweta Babanagare September 18, 2017 at 7:38 AM

thnaks a lot.
Reply

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