Assignment Submitted By:

BMIT 5103
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR MANAGERS
NOVEMBER 2016

PART 1: CENTRAL EXCHANGE LIMITED - (THE ORGANISATION)

Central Exchange Limited (CXL) is incorporated in Western Australia in 2007 with
Liaison/Commercial Office in Islamabad. Central Exchange Limited (CXL) is a private company
owned by Pakistan based Invertors with focus on projects in remote areas of Pakistan for social
and economic uplifting of these areas. CXL welcomes and prefer the native peoples of those
areas to work for its projects.
CXL is involved in Exploration of Coal & Metallic Minerals in Pakistan. In addition to own
exploration project, company also provides exploration services (i.e. Geological Studies,
Geophysical Studies & Exploratory Drilling etc.) to other junior exploration and mining
companies in Pakistan. CXL is a matrix type organization and have following departments:
1. Exploration Department
a. Mineral Exploration Unit
b. Coal Exploration Unit
2. Drilling Department
3. Geophysics Department
4. Business Development Department
5. Project Management Department
Following are the active projects of Central Exchange Limited (CXL):
1. Exploration of Metallic Minerals in District Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(Project is at Execution Stage)
2. Exploration of copper in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA)
(Project is at pre-feasibility stage)
3. Exploration of Coal in District Sahiwal, Punjab Province
(Project is at Execution Stage)
CXL is making a significant investment in mineral & coal sector of Pakistan and has a dynamic
team and field staff having professional exposure and expertise in coal and minerals exploration.
In addition to regular team members, a number of reputable local and international technical
consultants / subject matter experts (SMEs) are also part of CXLs projects.

CXL has following project offices in different areas of Pakistan to run and manage different
mineral exploration related projects.

Project Office Drosh(District Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province)

Project Office Upper Dir (District Upper Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province)
Project Office Sahiwal(District Shaiwal, Punjab Province)
Project Office Gilgit (District Gilgit, Gilgit Baltistan Province)

CXL also represents Pakistan Mineral Industry at International Exhibition & Forums such like
China Mining Congress & Expo, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)
Annual International Convention and Exhibition, Mines & Money Conference and Mining
Partnering Conference etc.
The Organization ideology is to progress as per International Best Practices with mutual benefits
of company as well as employees. As per the new vision provided by top management of the
company, CXL now always encourages and provides chances to fresh and inexperience youth to
learn and lead, as CXL would like to train the young generation from experience of seasoned
experienced personnel and equally want to equip the company with modern state of art
technologies.

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nThe above team is supported by Staff i.e. Project Staff,
Staff, Field Assistants, Geophysical Assistants and
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Office Staff.
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Organizational Structure of Central Exchange Limited

PART 2: EVOLUTION OF INFORMATION SYSTEM

If we look back into the history and the development of the Information Systems (IS) over the
past many years discloses from where the field took its start and how far it has arrived. We can
see that during this time, a new field has emerged with innovation in handling and manipulating
data digitally (i.e. data storage, data analysis, data manipulation, data transmission, data
conversions into information and reports etc.) to help in decision making and building systems to
link people, businesses, processes, companies, industries and markets.
DEFINITION:

COMPONENTS OF INFORMATION SYSTEM

Information system is an academic study of systems with a specific reference to information and
the complementary networks of hardware and software that people and organizations use to
collect, filter, process, create and also distribute data. (As per Wikipedia)
A combination of hardware, software, infrastructure and trained personnel organized to facilitate
planning, control, coordination, and decision making in an organization. (As per
Businessdirectory.com)
Information is derived from meaningful interpretation of data. Data consists of the raw facts
representing events occurring in the organization before they are organized into an
understandable and useful form for humans.
An Information System can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect
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(or retrieve), process, store and distribute information to support decision making and control in
an organization.
Another definition of an Information system (by Buckingham et al (1987b) is :
A system which assembles, stores, processes, and delivers information relevant to an
organization (or to a society), in such a way that the information is accessible and useful to those
who wish to use it, including managers, staff, clients and citizens.
HISTORY OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
The

history

of

information

systems (IS) only span five

decades. Yet from its inception,
IS has done more to expand
business and industry into global
markets

than

any

other

convention in history. Today the

backbone of IS is known as the
World Wide Web, Internet, or
with a business a Local Area
Network (LAN), along with lists
of acronym buzz word; EDI,
EIS, ERP, SCM and host of
others to describe new ways in which IS can be employed to grow business.
Contrary to the speed of information today, just over forty years ago, the business climate in
United States was experiencing post-war growth much like it had never seen. Much of the
experience that grew the economy had been learned during World War Two in tooling up the
nations industries into producing an effective war machine. The field that developed out of this
push to win the war was Operations Research (OR). When the war end those involved with OR
were released from government work, thus unleashing an experienced and highly skilled field,
like no other in history, into business and industry, which launched the US into a era of
prosperity and growth that lasted over twenty-years. World War Two also saw the birth of the
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first practical computers or Turing Machines, which were responsible for cracking the German
codes and giving the allies advanced warning of enemy movements. By today's standards these
first practical computers were not that practical, half a million dollars and far less powerful than
a pocket calculator which today purchased for under ten dollars. However these first computers
gave Operations Researchers the power they needed to begin simulate larger and more
complicated systems which in business and industry help greatly to hone uses capital
expenditures into profitable ventures. This background from the early days of simulation, OR,
and new technologies birthed studies into the areas of what became known as Information
Systems.
The History of Information Systems in Business
Year
1970s

Main activities
Mainframe computers were used
Computers and data were centralized
Systems were tied to a few business functions: payroll,

Skills required
Programming in COBOL

inventory, billing
1980s

Main focus was to automate existing processes

PCs and LANs are installed
Departments set up own computer systems
End-user computing with Word Processors and Spreadsheets

PC support, basic
networking

makes departments less dependent on the IT department

1990s

Main focus is automating existing processes

Wide Area Networks (WANs) become corporate standards
Senior management looks for system integration and data
integration. No more stand-alone systems.

2000s

Network support,
systems integration,
database administration

Main focus is central control and corporate learning

Wide Area Networks expand via the Internet to include

Network support,

global enterprises and business partners supply chain and

systems integration

distribution
Senior management looks for data sharing across systems.
Main focus is efficiencies and speed in inventory,
manufacturing, distribution
WHEN AND HOW WERE THEY FIRST USED? FORMALIZED?

By the mid-sixties IS was already forging its way into business mainstream. While computers
remained out of reach for most businesses, telecommunications made its mark with the TELEX
machine. This step gave businesses the ability to communicate within its own organization
anywhere in the world at any time and effectively pass instructions and information.
The use of computer in business and industry usually started off in the accounting departments. It
was assumed that this area would know the most about using numerical machines and the lack of
understanding in how important databases could be other areas of the business. By this time a
number of business school began developing Management Information System (MIS) programs
to meet the growing need of IS managers.
During the seventies more upper management recognized the importance of IS and the flexibility
it was bring to business. The TELEX became the standard of information transfer and the
mainframe computer became the standard for database creation. As the need for organized and
easy access to data became apparent, information based businesses began moving the
mainframes from under the accounting management to its own department.
Basically an Information System handles the flow and maintenance of information that supports
a business or some other operation. It contains information about significant people, places and
things within the organization or in the environment surrounding it.
An information system is a human activity (social) system, which may or may not involve the
use of computer systems. Also, in addition to supporting decision-making, information systems
help workers and managers to analyze complex problems, to develop new products and to
integrate the various modules and departments. Moreover the 'transmission losses'n interdepartmental communication are reduced considerably leading to better coordination and
improved transparency (information sharing) within the organization as a whole.
Three activities provide the information that organizations need. These activities are Input,
Processing and Output. 'Input' consists of acquisition of the 'raw data', which is transformed into
more meaningful packets of 'Information' by means of 'Processing'. The processed information
now flows to the users or activities also called as 'Output'. The shortcomings are analyzed and
the information is sent back to the appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate
and refine the input. This is termed as 'feedback'.

Examples of 'Information Inputs' would be Transactions, events which would undergo

'processing' in the form of sorting, listing, merging and updating resulting in 'outputs' such as
detailed reports, lists and summaries. Another example would be in the manufacturing
environment with 'information inputs' such as design specs material requirements and the SOPs
(standard operating procedures). These would be 'processed' by the information system by
modeling and simulation techniques and would result in standard production models along with
the overall cost of the production process which is calculated by the information system from the
knowledge base containing material costs, hourly labor costs and other indirect costs. Hence
almost totally eliminating a distinct costing function in the scheme of things.

However an information system cannot just be broadly described as an Input-Process-output

mechanism in vacuum. It is required to provide major organizational solutions to challenges and
problems posed in the business environment. Hence a manager needs to be not just computerliterate but also have a good idea of the organizational structure and functions as a whole.
Also, at the heart of the issue Information systems should not be confused with information
technology. They exist independent of each other and irrespective of whether they are
implemented well. Information systems use computers (or Information Technology) as tools for
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the storing and rapid processing of information leading to analysis, decision-making and better
coordination and control. Hence information technology forms the basis of modern information
systems.
CLASSIFICATION BY ORGANIZATION LEVEL
The typical enterprise is organized hierarchically, with the clerical and office worker layer, the
operational layer, the managerial layer, the knowledge worker layer and finally the strategic
layer.
The Operational Level
-

Clerical workers constitute a large class of employee who support managers at all levels
of the company. Among clerical workers, those who use, manipulate, or disseminate
information are referred to as data workers. These employees include bookkeepers,
secretaries who work with word processors, and electronic file clerks.

Operational or first- line managers deal with the day-to day operations of the
organization, making routine decision, which deal in general with activities such as shortterm planning, organizing, and control.

The Knowledge-Work Level

They act as advisors and assistants to both top and middle management and are often subjectarea experts. Many of these professional workers are classified as knowledge workers, people
who create information and knowledge as part of their work and integrate it into the business.
The Management Level
Middle Management works at this level with data and information provided by advisors and
assistants to prepare reports and presentations for top-level management.
The Strategic Level
Top-level or strategic managers (the executive) make decisions that deal with situations that may
significantly change the manner in which business is done.

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TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

(Source: Management Information Systems, Laudon and laudon)
The six major types of information systems corresponding to each organizational level (the four
levels shown in figure above) are:
1. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS):
Serve the operational level of an organization. The System in which Computers crunched
numbers summarizing and organizing transactions and data in the accounting, finance, and
human resources areas.
2. Knowledge work systems (KWS)
These systems support the creating, gathering, organizing, integrating and disseminating of
organizational knowledge.

3. Office automation systems (OAS)

Serve the knowledge level of an organization. Such as word processing systems were developed
to support office and clerical workers.
4. Decision-support systems (DSS)
DSSs were developed to provide computer based support for complex, non-routine decision.
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5. Management information systems (MIS)

Serve the management level of the organization. These systems access, organize, summarize and
display information for supporting routine decision making in the functional areas.
6. Executive support systems (ESS)
Serve the strategic level of an organization.
In addition to these types, there are some more types as well (i.e. End- User Computing,
Intelligent Support System, Data Warehousing, Mobile Computing etc)
DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS:
Every company to start with, has an information system already in place, be it a file card and
pencil based system, a computerized system or an intermediate of the two. Hence the IS
development process involves work on an existing system - mapping the system, automating it
and making sure that it functions according to user requirements.
Hence in its first phase the process attempts to determine the scope and type of new system that
the user wants.
The next phase analyzes the above requirement in two parts to facilitate detailed verification and
validation before the system is actually designed and implemented.
PART 3: KEY PROBLEMS
Following are some of the key problems being faced by CXL in their exploration programs; we
will discuss each of them one by one by analyzing them in connection to their impact on
companys objectives and goals:
1) Disorganized Exploration Data
2) Breakdown due to consumable and spare unavailability / shortage
3) Resource Wastage & Poor Inventory Management
4) Poor Planning, Monitoring and Control Process
1) DISORGANIZED DATA
During different exploration activities, huge data is being collected in shape of topographic,
geological, geochemical, structural, geophysical, drilling data about the potential areas under

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investigation / exploration. Managements decisions whether to proceed with detailed

exploration or not are based on all collected exploration data.
Data analysis and extraction of useful information/reports out of explored data is always a great
challenge and time consuming task for middle management & relevant team. Top management
wants to see the information and reports based on different criteria to make strategic decisions.
The responsible team always has to repeat their work and analysis to fulfill every new criteria
defined by top management due to manual working system. As per desires of executives, the
data is plotted on maps manually and to meet each of the requirements, sometimes they have to
start from scratch to build a map or to summarized results / outcomes.
This problem is badly affecting CXLs projects and has very bad impact on the company as it is
adding to resource and time wastage, re-work and delays, wrong decision, which are ultimately
affecting CXLs objectives and goals.
2) BREAKDOWN DUE TO UNAVAILABILITY/SHORTAGE OF CONSUMABLES AND
SPARES
CXL often faces problem of breakdown during Exploratory Drilling for their projects as well for
their clients due to shortage/unavailability of spares and consumables at remote drill sites. This
problem always enhances the cost of drilling a hole as this idle time adds to site expenses
without giving any benefit in shape of drilling holes and recovering core.
When we analyze the reason, we came to know that the poor supply chain management is in
place in CXL. Most of the times, the drilling crew communicate their requirements verbally on
telephonic conversations. Also there is manual inventory management system is in place, which
has errors and poor control.
Again this key problem is a reason for additional cost and time wastage, which is ultimately
affecting the targets and goals.
3) RESOURCE WASTAGE & POOR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
As already discussed, Poor Inventory Management is in place and everything is being handled
manually without having any centralized control and monitoring. Due to poor check and balance,
every project has a major portion of cost due to resource wastage. Resource wastage and poor
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inventory management has also become reason for delay in completion of projects in addition to
adding cost.
Two of CXLs projects had been closed without completion due to long delay. One of the reasons
was non-availability of right items at right time. This is also one of the major problems which
need attention and CXL has to manage it to complete its projects in time and on budget.

4) POOR PLANNING, MONITORING AND CONTROL PROCESS

Most of the times, project planning is carried out verbally and recorded manually. Due to paper
based plans only, it is very difficult to track the changes and follow the plan. The assignment of
responsibilities and resources is also carried out verbally so performance evaluation and
monitoring is also difficult. The poor project planning, work assignments and resource allocation
leads the projects to delay and over budget. CXL also faces problems in individuals performance
appraisals.
PART 4: THREE TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEM
I suggest following three systems as solution for the above mentioned key problems as CXL:
1. Geographical Information System (GIS)
2. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
3. Project Management Information System (PMIS)
1) GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS):
Geographical Information System is the solution for handling large amount of exploration data.
It can easily handles & integrates different type of Exploration Data (i.e. Geological Data,
Satellite Imageries, Geological Maps, Geochemical Data in shape of excel sheets, Geochemical
Maps, Geophysical Data as well as images, Drilling data and mineral deposit information etc.)
and can also digitize and generate various types of maps (i.e. Geological Maps, Topographic
Maps, Geophysical Maps, Topographic Maps, Geochemical Samples Location Maps etc.). GIS
also helps in superimposing all data to determine the drill-hole positions based on Geological,
Geochemical and Geophysical Studies.

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GIS will also help top management to see the data in the shape of their required information,
maps and reports. GIS organizes the data in such a way that top management can read a map
with their required parameters to make decisions about further exploration strategies. GIS maps
also has table of contents that will allow responsible team to add information to a base-map of
real-world locations as per requirements from top management.
Maps digitized or generated in GIS are interactive and are very useful in presentations to
management. It has all customized settings like zoom in or out, different directions and rotation
of map. We can also change the type of the information contained in the map.
GIS will 100% resolve many problems at CXL during handling, processing, analyzing the data
and presenting information / reports to top management for strategic planning and decision
making.
2) ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) SYSTEM
ERP System consists of automated supply chain and procurement processes using Internet or
intranet based technologies and applications can be used at CXL to overcome and solve the
problems like Resource Wastage, Poor Inventory Management, shortage / unavailability of
consumables and spare. It will also help in planning, monitoring & control.
It allows for the automation of internal business processes to provide a platform that supports
procurement people globally to exchange information easily and efficiently, streamline the global
sourcing process; reduce time and cost without compromising standards and quality.
CXL can have following benefits from this system:

High Productivity
Increased Efficiency
Reduced downtime
Reduced Cost & Transaction Time
Minimum Inventory Costs
Efficient Inventory System
Easy Product Selection & Order Placing

3) PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (PMIS)

The Project Management Information System (PMIS) is an application / tool that can help CXL
project teams to plan, schedule, monitor and report on their projects efficiently. CXL can choose
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Microsoft Project or Oracle Primavera as a computer based PMIS to aid their project managers
in the planning and development of the projects at CXL. It will help project managers at CXL to
plan and schedule their projects and then during execution it will help in tracking, monitoring
and control. It will help in calculation of schedules, costs, expectations, and likely results.
Any PMIS tool cannot replace the expert judgment of the project manager and project team;
however, it will automate the planning process, which will organize the planning & monitoring
and provide better control on the processes. Using PMIS at CXL, the project managers can better
do the assignment of responsibilities and resource allocation. It will enhance the project
planning, work assignments and resource allocation which will leads to in-time and on-budget
completion of projects. It will also help in team performance appraisals.
PART 5: CONCLUSION
In fact the entire concept of Information systems development revolves around the users - their
needs, performance expectations, requirements and other specifications. If we review business
needs, project performance expectations and other requirements of CXL to match their strategic
business objectives and goals, we can conclude that there is an urgent need of existence of
proposed information systems i.e. Geographical Information System (GIS), Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) System and Project Information Management System (PIMS), to meet CXLs
business strategies and objectives.
These proposed systems will increase the chances of project completion successfully. It is very
essential for CXL that the databases satisfy the requirements of the different users; otherwise
they will continue with their own approach and CXL could not get the real essence & benefits of
information systems and thereby the purpose of the central database could become useless.
The key element in this concept of introducing three information systems is that each subsystem
utilizes the same database in the satisfaction of its information needs. This will yield an
additional significant advantage - the integration of departments and functions. Thus each
department, through its access and interface with the total information resources of the company,
gains a greater understanding and appreciation of how its actions and plans affect others
throughout the organization.

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An important question that can be raised is why it is important to analyze and design information
systems before you build them. Why can't you build the information systems directly? The main
reasons are:
1. It is important to build the information systems that the users really need. You dont know
what they really need if you dont start with some kind of analysis and design.
2. It is a waste of resources to build information systems without sufficiently good "blueprints"
because it takes more time and yields worse results if you dont have blueprints.
Analysis and design is performed to meet information needs. If it is required to arrive at models
that describe information systems that the users really need, then interest groups (or user groups)
generally have to participate in the work. Another reason for performing analysis and design is
that those who participate in such work learn much about the new information systems. To be
able to use information systems requires knowledge about how these systems work. Participating
in the analysis and design work is one way of obtaining such knowledge.
These proposed systems will improve the overall business productivity meeting the strategic
objectives and coals; saving costs and resources with better decision making.

REFERENCES
-

History of Information Systems in Business, Retrieved from

http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/wresch/311IShistory.htm
http://www.uh.edu/~mrana/try.htm#HIS

Rajiv D. Banker & Robert J. Kauffman The Evolution of Research on Information

Systems: A Fiftieth-Year Survey of the Literature in Management Science Retrieved from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?
doi=10.1.1.197.8403&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Wikipedia. (2015). Information System. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Information_system

Business Directory. Information System. Retrieved from

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http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/information-system.html

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