College of Engineering, Science and Technology

School of Mathematical and Computing Sciences

Department of Computer Science & Information Systems

CIN 708 – Management Information System
Supplementary Paper – Semester 1 2020
Instructions
Read the following instructions before writing

1. Time Allowed: 1 hour and 30minutes with additional 5 minutes reading time.

2. All answers are to be written in the specified grid or allocated space.

3. Write your ID Number on all the sheets of paper.

4. All questions are compulsory.

Sections Question Marks

Section A: Short Answer 10 Questions 30

Section B: Case Study 10 Questions 20

Total   50

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Section A: Short Answer Question (25 marks)

1. Explain MIS and its role in a company and global business. [4 marks]
MIS stands for Management Information System and it plays a very Important role in a
company. It is responsible for every information that send to various department. It is
the Heart of the company that pumps the blood (Information) to various part of the
body (Department).
2. Given below is Porter’s Five Forces Model.

Explain Porter’s Five Forces Model using a business of your choice. [6 marks]

According to Porter’s Five Forces Model, there are 5 things that can usually affect or
threatens then life of a business. If and these are;
1. Buyer power is simply the ability of buyers that can easily affect the price of an item.
These may include the switching cost which allows customers to make reluctant
choices to switch to other products. As well as the loyalty program whereby,
customers have been rewarded on the cost of business they do in a particular
organization.
2. Supplier power is simply the supplier’s ability to influence the price they charge for
their suppliers. A supply chain includes the suppliers, company and the customers in
the processing of a product or raw material.
3. Threat of substitute products or services is excessive when there are many substitutes
to a product or service and is low when there are less substitutes.
4. Threat of new entrants is excessive when it is found easy for new competitors to enter
a market and is low when there is a barrier or significant entry.
5. Rivalry amongst the existing competitors is high when the competition is fierce in a
market and is low when the competitors are more complacent. Product
differentiation mainly occurs in a company which develops a unique differences in
the type of products or services with an intent to influence the demand.

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 3. Explain the importance of decision making for managers at each of the three
organizational levels. [3 marks]
Decision making skills are fundamental for all business experts, at each organization
level, who settle on choices that maintain the business. Firstly, operational level,
workers create, control, and keep up center business exercises required to run the
everyday tasks. Operational decisions are viewed as organized choices, which emerge in
circumstances where set up forms offer potential arrangements.

Secondly, the managerial level where representatives are persistently assessing the
organization tasks to sharpen the company's capacities to distinguish, adjust to, and
influence change. Administrative choices spread short-and medium-run plans,
timetables, and spending plans alongside arrangements, systems, and business targets
for the firm.

Finally, the strategic level is where supervisors build up the general business techniques,
objectives, and destinations as a feature of the organization's key arrangement. They
likewise screen the key execution of the association and its general course in the
political, monetary, and serious business condition. Key choices are profoundly
unstructured choices, happening in circumstances in which no methodology or rules
exist to manage chiefs toward the right decision. They are rare, critical, and ordinarily
identified with long haul business system.

4. Compare and Contrast As-Is and To-Be models.

The As-Is is how the process operates simply before amending it or making improvements
whereas the To-Be model states how the organizations process, culture and capabilities will
appear in future.

5. Discuss 2 benefits and 2 challenges associated with ebusinesses? [2 marks]

The term e-businesses stands for Electronic Business or also known as e-Commerce where
buying and selling of products is done online. The 2 benefits are;
1. It saves money that could be used for paying water bills and rent.
2. It takes away the location restriction thus covering a wide range of customers through
the use of internet.
The 2 challenges associated with e-businesses are;
1. Lacks Personal Touch as customers can only see but can’t feel or hold the product they
want to buy.
2. Security Issues is something customers also feared about because anyone create a scam
online in order to rob people.

6. Explain the ethical issues in the use of Information technology. [3marks]

Some of the major ethical issues faced by the use of information technology are;
Personal Privacy – it is an important aspect of ethical issues and information technology where
IT facilitates the users by having their own Hardware, operating system and software tools to

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access the service that are connected to each other and to the uses by a network. It is a major
challenge to IT society and organization to maintain the privacy and integrity of data.
Harmful Actions – In the computer ethics simply refers to the damage or negative
consequences to the IT such as a loss of relevant information, loss of ownership, loss of
property, destruction of property, destruction or alteration of files and program which drives a
serious loss of successes.

7. Explain why would companies want to use cloud computing and virtualization.
[2 marks]
One thing that companies usually worries about in the use of technologies is what if the whole
things crashes. Thanks to cloud computing and virtualization, they can now store up their work
into the cloud and can be easily excess from another device.

8. What are the three forms of MIS infrastructures and what do they support? [4marks]
The 3 forms of MIS infrastructure are;
1. Supporting Operation: Information MIS – It identifies where and how important
information such as customer record is maintained and protected
2. Supporting Change: Agile – This includes the hardware, software and
telecommunication equipment that, when combined, provide the underlying foundation
support the organizations goals.
3. Supporting the Environment: Sustainable – Identifies ways in which a company can grow
in times of computing resources while simultaneously becoming less dependent on
Hardware and energy consumption.

9. Differentiate between Information security policies and Information security plan.

[2 marks]
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10. Why is it important for businesses to ensure backups are working and can be restored?
[2 mark]
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Section B: Case Study (20 marks)

Case study 1 [10 marks]

Isams- Web Based MIS for Entire School

iSAMS is the first management information system for schools that’s entirely web-based. Designed so
that all staff can use it to input data as well as extract it easily, iSAMS is not just for school secretaries or
senior management. It’s intended for all staff to use daily, allowing schools to capture, report and assess
more data than ever before. It allows staff members to access any information through a clear, intuitive
interface. Because it’s web-based, staff can access exactly the same information from home, or
anywhere else in the world, as they can in school. Its modular architecture allows schools to build their
own system and grow it to their exact needs. We understand each school set up is different for a reason
– that’s why iSAMS is so flexible. Whatever your school’s requirements, you can develop an individual
in-house system, while taking advantage of numerous useful standard features. Our MIS offers a
comprehensive set of modules to manage every aspect of administrative back-end tasks to ensure
an efficiently run school. Everything from admissions, accounting, pastoral, communication, HR, fee
billing and more. All the tools needed to help ensure the teacher’s day runs smoothly. A dashboard to
view the school timetable and daily bulletin noticeboard. Easily input pupil marks, write pupil reports
and track pupils’ progress along with awarding pupils. Using the iTeacher App to take registers quickly
and more. The Parent Portal and iParent App ensures that all parents and guardians are constantly
updated. It creates excellent communication, provides extensive information and gives them constant
peace of mind. Keep all your students informed and up to date. Using the Student Portal and iStudent
App students are able to view and print their timetable, see their teaching groups and read their own
reports and assessment data. They can also see their attendance and registration information and
details of detention or reward and conduct records, and check on their groups and events too.

Questions

1. Do you think it is a good idea for schools to have their own MIS? Explain your answer. [3 marks]

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 ______________________________________________________________________________
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2. How can MIS assist the following group of people:

i. Teachers-
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ii. Parents-
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iii. Students-
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iv. Administration-
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3. Do you think isams MIS system has been developed keeping in mind the technological trends and
sustainable MIS? Explain your answer. [3 marks]

___________________________________________________________________________________
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Case study 2 [10 marks]

Hacker Hunters
Hacker hunters are the new breed of crime fighter. They employ the same methodology used
to fight organized crime in the 1980s—informants and the cyberworld equivalent of wiretaps.
Daniel Larking, a 20-year veteran who runs the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, taps
online service providers to help track down criminal hackers. Leads supplied by the FBI and

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eBay helped Romanian police round up 11 members of a gang that set up fake eBay accounts
and auctioned off cell phones, laptops, and cameras they never intended to deliver.
The FBI unleashed Operation Firewall, targeting the ShadowCrew, a gang whose members were
schooled in identity theft, bank account pillage, and selling illegal goods on the Internet.
ShadowCrew's 4,000 gang members lived in a dozen countries and across the United States. For
months, agents had been watching their every move through a clandestine gateway into their
website, shadowcrew.com. One member turned informant and called a group meeting,
ensuring the members would be at home on their computers during a certain time, when the
Secret Service issued orders to move in on the gang. The move was synchronized around the
globe to prevent gang members from warning each other via instant messages. Twenty-eight
gang members in eight states and six countries were arrested, most still at their computers.
Authorities seized dozens of computers and found 1.7 million credit card numbers and more
than 18 million email accounts.
ShadowCrew's Operations
The alleged ringleaders of ShadowCrew included Andres Mantovani, 23, a part-time community
college student in Arizona, and David Appleyard, 45, a former New Jersey mortgage broker.
Mantovani and Appleyard allegedly were administrators in charge of running the website and
recruiting members. The site created a marketplace for more than 4,000 gang members who
bought and sold hot information and merchandise. The website was open for business 24 hours
a day, but since most of the members held jobs, the busiest time was from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on
Sundays. Hundreds of gang members would meet online to trade credit card information,
passports, and even equipment to make fake identity documents. Platinum credit cards cost
more than gold ones, and discounts were offered for package deals. One member known as
“Scarface” sold 115,695 stolen credit card numbers in a single trade. Overall, the gang made
more than $4 million in credit card purchases over two years. ShadowCrew was equivalent to
an eBay for the underworld. The site even posted crime tips on how to use stolen credit cards
and fake IDs at big retailers.
The gang stole credit card numbers and other valuable information through clever tricks. One
of the favorites was sending millions of phishing emails—messages that appeared to be from
legitimate companies such as Yahoo!—designed to steal passwords and credit card numbers.
The gang also hacked into corporate databases to steal account data. According to sources
familiar with the investigation, the gang cracked the networks of 12 unidentified companies
that were not even aware their systems had been breached.
Police Operations
Brian Nagel, an assistant director at the Secret Service, coordinated the effort to track the
ShadowCrew. Allies included Britain's national high-tech crimes unit, the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, and the Bulgarian Interior Ministry. Authorities turned one of the high-ranking
members of the gang into a snitch and had the man help the Secret Service set up a new
electronic doorway for ShadowCrew members to enter their website. The snitch spread the
word that the new gateway was a more secure way to the website. It was the first-ever tap of a
private computer network. “We became shadowcrew.com,” Nagel said. Mantovani and
Appleyard were slated for trial. Authorities anticipated making additional arrests. 19

Questions
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 1. What types of technology could big retailers use to prevent identity thieves from
purchasing merchandise?
The type of technology which the big retailers can use to protect the thieves from buying
merchandise is Authentication and authorization.
[2 marks]
.

2. What can organizations do to protect themselves from hackers looking to steal account
data?
Organizations should take hold on their information as well as their customers and employee’s
information in order to avoid identity theft. Each company will need to ensure that they have an
internal IT department that can manage or monitor the information security of this information
such as credit card numbers, emails and driver’s license
[3 marks]

3. Authorities frequently tap online service providers to track down hackers. Do you think it
is ethical for authorities to tap an online service provider and read people's email? Why or
why not?
I for one don't accept specialists ought to reserve the option to tap and read individuals' email to
find the programmers. I accept the security ought to be disregarded and if the specialists need to
glimpse inside individuals' information, messages, and so on., they ought to request authorization
first. Be that as it may, it is somewhat precarious when utilizing on the web administrations on
the grounds that a ton of times the online administrations have a protection strategy, which we
consent to have our own data perused. In any case, it's as yet not reasonable on the grounds that a
great deal of times organizations offers the online client's data to outsiders. Right now, clients
don't generally have a state since they are as yet going to utilize their online locales regardless of
whether their own data can be conceivably undermined
[2marks]

4. Do you think it was ethical for authorities to use one of the high-ranking officials to trap
other gang members? Why or why not?
In spite of the fact that it tends to be viewed as an infliction of privacy and an encroachment of
user’s rights, I do trust that it was a moral for specialists to utilize one of the high-positioning
individuals to trap other posse individuals since they had reasonable justification to do as such.
The posse individuals were cheating and taking not exclusively person's cash, yet their ways of
life also. I think the specialists were attempting to follow them down so they could keep them
from ceaselessly acting dishonest and taking from other guiltless web clients. Had the specialists
broken into client's PCs and followed individuals down with no earlier reasonable justification I
trust it would have been exploitative and an encroachment of the client's privileges, in any case,
that was not the situation in this particular circumstance.
[3 marks]

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