PART- 1

Review Question: 1. Which features of organizations do managers need to know about to build and use information systems successfully? What is the impact of information system on organization? Ans: Define an organization: an organization in its simplest form is a person or group of people intentionally organized to accomplish an overall, common goal or set of goals. Business organizations can range in size from one person to tens of thousands. Comparison the technical definition of organization with the behavioral definition: Definitions of Attitude Definitions: of Attitude Social psychologists unfortunately do not agree on the precise definition of an attitude. In fact there are more than 100 different definitions of the concept. However one definition is more commonly accepted that attitude is how positive or negative favorable or unfavorable or pro or con a person feels toward an object. This definition views attitude as a feeling or an evaluation reaction to objects.

Help with Behavioral Training: I want to conduct a Behavioral Training for my existing organization. Unfortunately they are not willing to outsource the same. I would be glad if anyone helps me with the different modules needed for this training. Thanking you all in anticipation. Details of people who are members of association:

I am looking for Organization or Associations who have members of higher management as its members. The purpose to be associated with these organizations is to network and be informed of the various organizations and who head the various departments. Basically be a part of

Professional

organizations

of

higher

management

Role

of

HR

Department

in

Organizations:

I have a couple of questions for all the HR Professionals: Do organizations utilize their HR Department to its full potential? Do these organizations consider their HR department as one of the departments that help the organization to meet its over all Objective?

DISC

Profiling

To All The Group Members. Greetings from ITAP India ITAP India in association with Maximum Potential US are pleased to announce a 'Certified Behavioral Analyst Workshop in Hyderabad & Bangalore. The Certification Workshops will be held at Hotel Green Park Hyderabad 7th and 8th Marchnon residential. As you may be familiar DISC Profiles are the most profound instrument in terms of its ability to accurately determine Behavioral Styles and has been validated across the world with over 4 Million.

Emerging

Trends

in

Human

Resource

Management:

Human resource management if we see it from definition perspective it is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each others are met. If we see in practical situation the above definition its just one side of a coin which has limited HRM involvement but HRM today is a different story it have changed the way we work and also it helps an organization to survive in recessionary period. Managing and attracting the human resource in todays time is very difficult

Human

Resource

Renewal

We all have heard of Corporate Renewal. What comes to our mind immediately is the famous book with this title. As a subset theme we can contemplate on the HR renewal. In a superfast changing business world the process aggregate undergoes tumultuous morphing generating ever

changing process patterns in and outside the organization. This changing scenario places new demands on the HR profile and response from the organizations for achieving and sustaining excellence. Thus the skill sets and knowledge.

Definition

&

significance

of

Human

Resource

management

(HRM)

Definition & significance of Human Resource management HRM Personnel management is a continuous and never ending process. It aims at attaining the goals of organization individual and society in an integrated approach. Organization goals may include survival growth and development in addition to profitability productivity innovation excellence etc. Individual employee goals consist of job satisfaction job security high salary attractive fringe benefits challenging work pride status recognizes.

The

organization

is

People:

The organization is People The behavioral school emerged partly because the classical approach did not achieve sufficient production efficiency and workplace harmony. To managers frustration people did not always follow predicted or expected patterns of behavior. Thus there was increased interest in helping managers deal more effectively with the people side of their organizations. Several theorists tried to strengthen classical organization theory with the insights of sociology and psychology. Employee Referral Scheme:

I was going through the different websites today which gives detailed information about ERP in different industries and verticals. What I would like to know is that why do we only speak about ERP in IT firms? How about BPO s? Identify and describe the features of organization that help explain difference in organizations use of information system: In a world where the rate of change is increasing daily, your organization must change just as fast if it hopes to survive. As Peter Ducker concluded: "Every organization has to prepare for the abandonment of everything it does." Aren't you always asking yourself: How can we get

employees to change their behavior? To do things differently? To take chances? To implement new ideas, not just talk about them? Bellow are the most important area an organization can be beneficiary make themselves out of the box than others.

Dramatically improve or eliminate activities that are based on "the way we've always done it."

Empower employees at all levels to deal effectively with today's world, rather than continue to act consistently with a world that no longer exists.

Teach an entire organization how to quickly modify its culture to conform to changes in its environment.

Generate innovative solutions to problems involving marketing, advertising, process improvements, customer service, and the effective use of technology.

Help firms transform themselves from being a commodity/lowest price provider, to being a niche provider where they have no competitors.

Create a stimulating workplace that attracts talented new employees who are excited about contributing.

Retain the Most Valued Employees Accessible technology, which accommodates visual, hearing, mobility, learning, and language impairments, helps organizations retain talented employees who develop temporary or permanent disabilities, and those who develop impairments due to the natural aging process. Retaining employees helps eliminate the high cost of hiring and training replacements, and improves employee morale. Enhance Productivity for All Employees. By providing accessible technology, a business can facilitate collaboration and communication among all employees in an organizationwhether they have a disability or not. This results in greater overall organizational productivity. Accessible technology that is adjustable and meets the needs of a variety of employee needs increases productivity, job satisfaction, and employee morale. The range of definitions of

"accessible" varies from person to person, so when choosing technology, it is critical to consider the diverse needs and preferences of all employees, not just "special cases" flagged by human resources. For some, accessible technology simply means the ability to easily change font size, icon size, colors, sounds, and speed of the mouse cursor on their PCs. For others with more profound impairments, need to be added to computer systems to allow access. Reduce Costs. Accessible technology can help reduce costs of time lost and money spent when an employee develops a temporary disability. Providing accessible technology also allows an employee with a temporary disability to remain productive and up-to-date, and may prevent an organization from needing to hire a temporary replacement or letting the work pile up while a valued employee is recovering. Read a real-world example in: "Assistive Technology Reconnects Employees to the Workplace While Recovering from Temporary Disabilities." Enhance Collaboration and Communication. Accessible technology empowers employees including employees with and without disabilitiesto share documents, collaborate on projects, and communicate among team members. When all employees have the power to customize their computers to meet their individual needs, they can more easily communicate with one another. For example, employees who can modify the way information is presented to them visually, aurally, and tactilely (in the case of Braille output) can more fluidly communicate with coworkers. With productivity software, it's also easier to collaborate on projects. For a real-world example, see: "General Motors Provides Needed Assistive Technology to Help Employee Who is Blind Be More Effective in His Work." Recruit the Most Talented Minds An organization's public image plays a crucial role in its ability to recruit and retain talented employees. With a strong reputation and well-thought-out human resource practices, an organization can draw top talent to new positions and retain its most talented employees. Job candidates naturally evaluate the entire compensation package offered including human resource programs, work/life balance, community involvement, and the diversity of an organization and how it accommodates the diverse needs and styles of its workforce.

Attract New Customers Fostering a diverse workforcewhich includes people with disabilitiesenhances your ability to provide products and services that appeal to a broader range of customers. Having people with disabilities on staff helps your organization relate to its customers with disabilities. As the demand for accessible products grows, businesses that are already experienced with and attuned to the needs of customer segments with accessibility requirements are naturally in a stronger position. A diverse workforce gives businesses market insights they might not otherwise gain. In the end, a diverse workforce provides a competitive edge. Describe the major economic theories that help how information system affects organization: Investments to increase the level of explicit coordination with outside agents have generally resulted in increased risk to the firm; firms have traditionally avoided this increased risk by becoming vertically integrated or by underinvesting in coordination. This paper argues that information technology (IT) has the ability to lower coordination cost without increasing the associated transactions risk, leading to more outsourcing and less vertically integrated firms. Lower relationship-specificity of IT investments and a better monitoring capability imply that firms can more safely invest in information technology for interfirm coordination than in traditional investments for explicit coordination such as co-located facilities or specialized human resources; firms are therefore more likely to coordinate with suppliers without requiring ownership to reduce their risk. This enables them to benefit from production economies of large specialized suppliers. Moreover, rapid reduction in the cost of IT and reduction in the transactions risk of explicit coordination makes possible substantially more use of explicit coordination with suppliers. The resulting transaction economies of scale, learning curve effects, and other factors favor a move toward long-term relationships with a smaller set of suppliers. We call this combination--a move to more outsourcing, but from a reduced set of stable partnerships-the "move to the middle" hypothesis. Supply theory Demand theory

Information in organization and market place Institutional economics Transaction cost theory Agency theory Describe Behavioral theories that help explain how information system affects organization: Consumer Behavior with Information Technology he first major impact of information technology, as we think of it today, was the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, usually using technology like Electronic Data Interchange (EDI, introduced in the late 1970s) to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically.

Later, with the development of the internet, the effect of information technology on consumer behavior could be seen in the purchase of goods and services over the World Wide Web via secure servers with e-shopping carts and with electronic pay services, like credit card payment authorizations.

The Internet Boom:

"First we must confront the question of what happened during the late 1990s. Viewed from 2003, such an exercise is undoubtedly premature, and must be regarded as somewhat speculative. No doubt a clearer view will emerge as we gain more perspective on the period. But at least I will offer one approach to understanding what went on. I interpret the Internet boom of the late 1990s as an instance of what one might call ``combinatorial innovation.''

Every now and then a technology, or set of technologies, comes along that offers a rich set of components that can be combined and recombined to create new products. The arrival of these components then sets off a technology boom as innovators work through the possibilities."

"The Internet for us was like air. It was there all the time you wouldn't notice it existed unless it was missing. But the Internet as a major social phenomenon didn't enter our radar until the advent of the World Wide Web, which was developed in Europe at CERN, beginning in 1989, by a team of physicists that included an alumnus of the Media Lab. That was what provoked the big change in the Internet. "

"Electronic commerce is fundamentally changing the way consumers shop and buy goods and services . Consumers have begun to learn how to act in an ever-changing electronic market environment. Like any diffusion of innovation, there is a learning curve for most consumers to behave in electronic commerce in a way they feel the most comfortable. For some consumers, shopping and buying online have become part of their daily lives, whereas others may consider it, without taking any action yet. What factors can explain the differences in online buying behavior among Internet users? Our purpose in this study is to identify what factors determine whether Internet users choose to buy or not buy online, and how frequently they make such purchases."

"The economic impact of the digital revolution is, in many ways, undeniable. Without the Internet, for example, globalization and outsourcing would not be nearly as viable as they are today. Nevertheless, computers are not a silver bullet magically solving all problems they are applied to. For example, it can be argued that the coming forth of desktop publishing in the mid 1980s actually slowed office workers down. Whereas previously, they could just jot a quick note on a piece of paper and maybe photocopy it to three or four co-workers, now people feel the need to have spell checked, grammatically correct and visually stunning memos! With the wide spread acceptance of presentation software, now people spend uncounted hours preparing presentations for a few co-workers, when a chat at a chalk board would have accomplished nearly the same thing a generation ago.

Several factors have a role in the success of any e-commerce venture.

They may include:

1.Providing value to customers. Vendors can achieve this by offering a product or product-line that attracts potential customers at a competitive price, as in non-electronic commerce. 2.Providing service and performance. Offering a responsive, user-friendly purchasing experience, just like a flesh-and-blood retailer, may go some way to achieving these goals. 3.Providing an attractive website. The tasteful use of colour, graphics, animation, photographs, fonts, and white-space percentage may aid success in this respect. 4.Providing an incentive for customers to buy and to return. Sales promotions to this end can involve coupons, special offers, and discounts. Cross-linked websites and advertising affiliate programs can also help. 5.Providing personal attention. Personalized web sites, purchase suggestions, and personalized special offers may go some of the way to substituting for the face-to-face human interaction found at a traditional point of sale. 6.Providing a sense of community. Chat rooms, discussion boards, soliciting customer input, loyalty schemes and affinity programs can help in this respect. 7.Providing reliability and security. Parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, and firewalls can enhance this requirement. 8.Providing a 360-degree view of the customer relationship, defined as ensuring that all employees, suppliers, and partners have a complete view, and the same view, of the customer. However, customers may not appreciate the big brother experience. 9.Owning the customer's total experience. E-tailers foster this by treating any contacts with a customer as part of a total experience,an experience that becomes synonymous with the brand. 10.Streamlining business processes, possibly through re-engineering and information technologies.

Describe why there considerable resistance to the introduction of information technology:

We rarely hear people talk about technology resistance anymore. Why is this? Has technology resistance disappeared? Is technology resistance so widespread that it doesnt rate comment any more? Or, has technology resistance become an obsolete concept? The answer depends on who you are and how you define technology resistance. If you are a technology marketer or an organization introducing a new technology, anyone who doesnt adopt can be viewed as a resister. But if you are a potential technology adopter, you may have many valid reasons for not adopting. Some people prefer to stay with their current way of doing things and, as long as they have a conventional option, they may have little incentive to change. Others cant afford the new technology or have no one to show them how to use it. Some people can only adopt a technology if they get a higher level of support than the introducing organization is capable of or willing to provide. And then, some will not change regardless of the incentive or pressure. Are all of these people technology resisters? If not all of them, which ones are true technology resisters? What do we call the others? What are the triggers that will get more people to adopt a technology?

Describe the impact of the internet and disruptive technology on organization: Internet Procurement cost reduction, Inventory reduction level, lowering cycle times, Improvement of customer support/service and the lowering of related costs, Diminishing sales and marketing expenditures, Emergence of more effective forms of work.

Disruptive technology; Disruptive technologies are not always disruptive to customers, and often take a long time before they are significantly disruptive to established companies. They are often difficult to recognize. Indeed, as Christensen points out and studies have shown, it is often entirely rational for incumbent companies to ignore disruptive innovations, since they compare so badly with existing technologies or products, and the deceptively small market available for a disruptive innovation is often very small compared to the market for the established technology. Even if a disruptive innovation is recognized, existing businesses are often reluctant to take advantage of it, since it would involve competing with their existing (and more profitable) technological approach. Christensen recommends that existing firms watch for these innovations, invest in small firms that might adopt these innovations, and continue to push technological demands in their core market so that performance stays above what disruptive technologies can achieve. Disruptive technologies, too, can be subtly disruptive, rather than prominently so. Examples include digital photography (the sharp decline in consumer demand for common 35 mm print film has had a deleterious effect on free-riders such as slide and infrared film stocks, which are now more expensive to produce) and IP/Internet telephony, where the replacement technology does not, and sometimes cannot practically replace all of the non-obvious attributes of the older system

Question 3; How do the value chain and value web models help businesses identify opportunities for the strategic information system application? Define and describe value chain model:

Interlinked value-adding activities that convert inputs into outputs which, in turn, add to the bottom line and help create competitive advantage. A value chain typically consists of (1) inbound distribution or logistics, (2) manufacturing operations, (3) outbound distribution or logistics, (4) marketing and selling, and (5) after-sales service. These activities are supported by (6) purchasing or procurement, (7) research and development, (8) human resource development, (9) and corporate infrastructure.

Explain how the value chain model can be used to identify opportunities for information system: Includes research and development, process automation, and other technology development used to support the value-chain activities. The firm's value chain links to the value chains of upstream suppliers and downstream buyers. The result is a larger stream of activities known as the value system. The development of a competitive advantage depends not only on the firm-specific value chain, but also on the value system of which the firm is a part. BMW uses many information systems. Due to the limited size of this paper, only some of the information systems that provide the greatest value for BMW are identified. The BMW Group bundles its e-business activities in a new company named nexolab that was founded by the BMW IT subsidiary Softlab (Auto Intell, 2002). The e-business solutions range from strategy and process consulting to the development

of new systems and implementation concepts (Auto Intell, 2002). These e-business solutions include e-commerce, primarily in order to strengthen BMWs sales channel. The e-business solutions cover the entire value chain from the automotive suppliers and logistics service providers to the customer (Auto Intell, 2002). BMW also improved the infrastructure for its suppliers to enhance the production process. Using the most current Supply Chain Management (eSCM) technology components, BMW increased the availability of parts and its measurability within the production and delivery chain.

Define the value web and show how it is related to the value chain: Value web: The actual value of a company or an asset based on an underlying perception of its true value including. For call options, this is the difference between the underlying stock's price and the strike price How value web related to the value chain: If you think you can sell on Internet without the aid of an intermediary, let's get one thing clear: you're going to be disappointed. There are more intermediaries than in the real world. The idea of direct sales will probably be a mirage for the majority of cyber-salesmen! To be able to sell on Internet or in other virtual environments, we must analyse the added value chain, in order to find where to position yourself among the different companies which are increasing the value of a product on Internet. The commercial development of your business really depends of your ability to create and hold on to competitive advantages, which will make you an essential link in your chosen chain of value. Explain how the value web helps business indentify opportunities for strategic information system:

Inbound logistics -- fast, inexpensive, reliable connection to suppliers. Operations -- Intrafirm connectivity-- Lotus Notes like connectivity through the Web -customer participation, quicker response to changing needs.

Outbound logistics -- fast, inexpensive, reliable connection to suppliers.

Marketing and sales -- greatest value added in this area at present. Cost of advertising a product on the Web is just a fraction of the cost of a newspaper advertising[8]. Similar cost comparisons will hold for the cost of advertising the same product over TV/radio versus the Internet.

Service -- high impact, similar to that on marketing and sales.

The Internet also affects the Support activities like Corporate structure, Human resources, Technological development and Purchasing positively. Some examples of such positive impact of the Internet are:

Corporate structure -- flatter organizations, disappearing middle layer, whole organization becomes externally oriented.

Human resources -- Internet as a vast training and recruiting tool kit. Technological development -- faster, richer interaction with the rest of the world, sharing of information, software. Collaborative advantage.

Purchasing -- similar advantages as in marketing.

Besides the above visible effects of the Internet on the value-adding activities of a firm, the Internet offers many other significant benefits, namely:

unusual feed back, not only what consumers buy, but also what they don't buy, might buy.

timeliness of information put out by a firm. information updated frequently. Market niche coverage -- can be made very specific by targeting product promotion towards very specific target groups.

Describe how the internet has changed competitive forces and competitive advantage: When we speak of the current Web, it should be pointed out that this is quite different from the Web that will exist in two or three years' time. For our part, we would hope that by that time-

Security protocols enabling (at least) electronic transactions based on existing credit cards will have become widespread.

The Web will be used widely as a tool for purchasing and seeking suppliers.

The conclusions of this article are based on these two principles. A delay in the commercial implementation of the Web could give rise to a general disillusionment and cooling-off of public interest. It is, therefore, important to take advantage of current enthusiasm to reach the greatest number of users. As a distribution channel, the Web may be characterized as follows:

It is a new channel that is not controlled by companies in any industry. Distribution costs are low. Its impact is limited (for the time being). Predictions are made, but its true impact is not really known.

It enables fast distribution of information products. The cost of changing prices or even commercialized products is very low, thus enabling a relatively quick product rotation.

PART- 2

Solve management Decision making problem? Question No:1 Ans: Macy,s Inc, through its subsidiaries , operates approximately 800 department store in the united states. Its retail stiore sell a range of merchandise, including men,s womens and children apparels accessories, cosmetics, home furnishing, and housewares. Senior management has decided that Macys needs to tailor merchandise more to local taste , that the color, size, brands, and styles of clothing and other merchandise should be based on the sales patterns in each individual Macys store. And this decision needs to be supported by the information technology to accomplish. And only information technology can make it happen by a rigorous implication of data based system and controlled by central authority. Time to time they will collect the data of individual customer and after acertain time frame they will figure out what actually different market place deman from them and keep recording all the information and tracking down the row they can help to improve the selling of merchandise more than that of now they doing. mprove customer satisfaction-and shareholder value-by giving customers what they want when they want and where they want it

Inventory is the largest financial asset in retailing. It's all about having the right product in the right store at the right time and at the right price. If you manage your inventory well, you can reduce capital costs and achieve higher inventory turns (Rate of Sale) which results in retail success. And merchandising-selecting inventory assortment, allocating it to stores, replenishing it efficiently, and creating an attractive and memorable shopping experience-is the heart of retailing. It determines retailing survival, and success. Question No. 2

Ans: Todays US Airways is the result of merger between US Airways and America West Airlines. Befor the merger, US Airways dated back to 1993 had very tradition business process. A lumbering bureaucracy and a rigid information system function that had been outstanding to electronic data system. the decisions two organization should consider before they merger are; -Both organization business processes should not be same -If one organization is stronger financial and human capacity other one should have the competency in technology. -Merger wills success if it can merger between the systems and if it easy to transform in to updated format. If any two of same kind organization follows aforementioned points when they think about merger, I think this organization will be able to bring about success. And more importantly every organization concern should be how they can make a stronger information system to opr]erate the business process,

PART- 3

Improving Decision Making; Using Web tools to Configure and Price an Automobile Ans: Sure I will purchase my car from carsdirect.com. I have gone through both of the web sites and found lots of interesting information which I was never known before. Like in the

crasdirect.com I have got to know many options and which really helpful to choose a car with in affordability. Any one can look for the car within his budget to buy a car. On the other hand ford in nice but there product produced a particular standard, there is no choice on budget. You have to buy what actually they already made up. Suggestion for improvement Carsdirect.ccom.: though there are lots of information over there but there might be a great problem like they may not be able to prompt up date as ford or other manufacturer do. So in this case they have to be conscious about that facet to capture all kind of customer. And one more important thing I have seen in ford web site, they depicted pro and cons of a car design but there is little lack in Carsdirect.

TOC Analysis: TotalTOC analysis by TOC analyzers may be divided into three stagesacidification, oxidation and detection and quantification. Out of all the components, accurate detection and quantification are considered the most vital. Here, we take a look at two methods used for detection in TOC analysis.

TOC Analyzers Common Methods of Detection

In modern TOC analyzers used for total organic carbon analysis, conductivity and non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) detection are the two most widely employed detection methods.

Conductivity
Conductivity detectors used by modern TOC analyzers are of two types: direct and membrane. Direct conductivity is known to be an inexpensive and uncomplicated method of measuring carbon dioxide content. There are several advantages to using a TOC analyzer, which utilizes this method, such as good oxidation of organics, no requirement of carrier gas, and good performance at the parts per billion (ppb) ranges. But, direct conductivity has a very limited analytical range. The use of membrane conductivity in TOC analyzers is similar to direct conductivity as far as the technology used in both is concerned. Although its more robust than direct, the time required for analysis by the TOC analyzer slows down the process. Sample conductivity is analyzed before and after oxidization in both methods. The difference between the measurements is related to the total organic carbon present in the sample.