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Definition of A System: Information Systems and Audit

The document defines a system as an orderly arrangement of interrelated elements working collectively to achieve a common goal, providing examples like the human body and a business. It describes different types of systems including abstract, physical, open, closed, manual, automated, deterministic, and probabilistic systems. Key concepts discussed are that organizations are relatively open systems that interact with their environment while maintaining some closed aspects, and the concept of entropy relating to disorder in a system and the need for negative entropy inputs to maintain it.

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Sidd Kada
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82 views

Definition of A System: Information Systems and Audit

The document defines a system as an orderly arrangement of interrelated elements working collectively to achieve a common goal, providing examples like the human body and a business. It describes different types of systems including abstract, physical, open, closed, manual, automated, deterministic, and probabilistic systems. Key concepts discussed are that organizations are relatively open systems that interact with their environment while maintaining some closed aspects, and the concept of entropy relating to disorder in a system and the need for negative entropy inputs to maintain it.

Uploaded by

Sidd Kada
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Information Systems and Audit Definition of a System

The term system may be defined as an orderly arrangement of a set of interrelated and interdependent elements that operate collectively to accomplish some common purpose or goal. Thus, a system can be described by specifying its parts, the way in which they are related, and the goals which they are expected to achieve. Example Human body is a system, consisting of various parts such as head, heart, hands, legs and so on. The various body parts are related by means of connecting networks of blood vessels and nerves and the system has a main goal of living. A business is also a system where economic resources such as people, money, material, machines, etc are transformed by various organizational processes (such as production, marketing, finance etc.) into goods and services. A computer based information system is also a system which is a collection of people, hardware, software, data and procedures that interact to provide timely information to authorized people who need it.

Types of System

Information Systems and Audit

1 Abstract System also known as Conceptual System or Model. It is an orderly arrangement of interdependent ideas or constructs.

2 A physical system is a set of tangible elements which operate together to accomplish an objective. It is not a randomly assembled set of elements; it consists of elements, which can be identified as belonging together because of a common purpose, goal, or objective. Physical systems are more than conceptual construct; they display activity or behavior. The parts interact to achieve an objective.

1 For example, a system of theology is an

2 For example, a Computer system The equipment which

3 A system that interacts freely with its environment by taking input and returning output is termed as an Open System. With change of environment, an open system also changes to match itself with the environment. To do this, an open system will interact with elements that exist and influence from outside the boundary of the system. Also with change of environmental conditions, they adapt themselves to match the changes. 3 For example, the education system or any

4 A system that does not interact with the environment nor changes with the change in environment is termed as a Closed System. Such systems are insulated from the environment and are not affected with the changes in environment. Such closed systems will finally run down or become disorganized. This movement to disorder is termed on increase in entropy.

5 Manual Systems are the systems where data collection, manipulation, maintenance and final reporting are carried out absolutely by human efforts.

6 Automated Systems are the systems where computers or microprocessor s are used to carry out all the tasks mentioned above.

7 A deterministic system operates in a predictable manner wherein the interaction among the parts is known with certainty. If one has a description of the state of the system at a given point in time plus a description of its operation, the next state of the system may be given exactly, without error.

8 The probabilist ic system can be described in terms of probable behavior, but a certain degree of error is always attached to the prediction of what the system will do.

4 For example, consider a throwaway type sealed

7 An example is a correct computer

8 The average demand, average time for

Information Systems and Audit

orderly arrangement of ideas about God and the relationship of humans to God.

function, together to accomplish computer processing.

business process system will quickly change when the environment changes. Information systems are open systems because they accept inputs from environment and sends outputs to environment.

digital watch, which is a system, composed of a number of components that work in a cooperative fashion designed to perform some specific task. This watch is a closed system as it is completely isolated from its environment for its operation.

program, which performs exactly according to a set of instructions.

replenishment, etc, may be defined, but the exact value at any given time is not known. Another example is a set of instructions given to a human who, for a variety of reasons, may not follow the instructions exactly as given.

Information Systems and Audit


Relative open and closed systems Organizations are considered to be relatively open systems as they continuously interact with the external environment, by processes or transformation of inputs into useful output. However, organizations behave as a relatively closed system in certain respects so as to preserve their identity and autonomy. They may ignore many opportunities so as to maintain their core-competence.

Entropy Entropy is the quantitative measure of disorder in a system. Systems can run down and decay or can become disordered or disorganized. Presenting or offsetting an increase in entropy requires inputs of matter and energy to repair, replenish and maintain the system. This maintenance input is termed as Negative Entropy. Open systems require more negative entropy than relatively closed systems for keeping at a steady state. In general, the life cycle of a closed system is much shorter compared to that of an open system because it decays faster for not having any input/ interaction from environment. Example

Information Systems and Audit

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