1. Define Management Information System. Also discuss various activities performed by MIS in an organization.

(MCA 2010-2011) OR Cant we do without MIS in business organizations? How did business organizations manage to survive and grow without MIS in the past? OR Discuss various activities performed by MIS in an organization? 2. What is the role of database in the MIS? Discuss in brief. (MCA 2010-2011) 3. Describe the MIS structure based on the organizational functions. (MCA 2010-2011) 4. Explain Online Analytical Processing in brief. (MCA 2010-2011) 5. What is understood by the term MIS? Discuss the functions and various characteristics of MIS. (MCA 2009-2010) 6. How can the structure of MIS be understood? Discuss the various approaches to understand its structure. (MCA 2009-2010) 7. Briefly describe the following terms: OLTP and EIS. (MCA 2009-2010) 8. What is the role of Information Resource Management in the MIS? Explain briefly. (MCA 20092010) 9. Differentiate between MIS and Electronic Data Processing (EDP). (MCA 2006-2007) 10.Why is the MIS developed as a federation of systems rather than as a single total system? (MCA 2006-2007) 11.Define management. Give various management functions at the various management levels. (MCA 2006-2007) 12.Describe the various parameters on which the organization is structured. (MCA 2006-2007) 13.Describe decision support system. (MCA 2006-2007) 14.How do the client, the decision maker and the designer interact in system design? (MCA 20052006) 15.What management activity modules might one find in a rather complete MIS? 2006) 16.Why has the transaction processing system not been considered as part of a MIS? (MCA 20052006) 17.Differentiate between management information and operational information with suitable example. (MCA 2005-2006) 18.Why does the organization structure differ from company to company? Even though they are in the same business and industry? (MCA 2005-2006) 19.List the different criteria which can be used in decision making. (MCA 2005-2006) 20.Differentiate between MIS and DSS. 21.Define management information system. Explain the concept of MIS. 22.Why is Information Resource Management a necessity? (MCA 2005-

23.Write a short note on end user computing. 24.What do you mean by the law of requisite variety? 25.What is need of information in a management process? 26. Discuss the information requirement for decision-making at strategic, tactical and technical levels with the help of examples? OR What categories of information are relevant to decision-making in business? Relate each category to the managerial level and an information system? 27. Write note on evolution of MIS? 28. What are characteristics of a good management information system? 29.Explain the concept of subsystems of MIS? 30. What is meant by conceptual design of MIS? Discuss various steps involved in the conceptual design of a system? OR Elaborate the concept and role of conceptual MIS designing. 31.Discuss role and importance of MIS? 32.Discuss how an organization gets benefited from the use of an MIS? 33. Describe the various considerations related to centralization and decentralization of MIS? 34. Write short notes on the following in 2-5 lines: Role of DSS in MIS 35. Write short notes on: a. Management of Information Resources b. Location of MIS in an organization? 36.What is meant by MIS strategic grid? 37.Discuss the concept of decision making process and give the brief description of different stages of the decision making process. (MCA 2010-2011) 38.How does the use of internet technologies by companies today support their business processes and activities? Discuss. (MCA 2010-2011) 39.Explain E-commerce in brief. (MCA 2010-2011) 40.Explain the following: a. Value Chain Concept (MCA 2009-10), (MCA 2010-11) b. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) (MCA 2010-11) 41.How does the use of the Internet, Intranets and Extranets by companies today support their business processes and activities? (MCA 2009-2010) 42.What is a decision support system? Discuss its components, characteristics and capabilities in brief. (MCA 2009-2010) 43.What strategic role can information play in Business Process Reengineering? Discuss in detail. (MCA 2009-2010)

Q1. Define Management Information System. Also discuss various activities performed by MIS in an organization. (MCA 2010-2011) OR Cant we do without MIS in business organizations? How did business organizations manage to survive and grow without MIS in the past? OR Discuss various activities performed by MIS in an organization? Ans MIS is very important in business organization. We can also say that we cannot do without MIS in business organization. 1. Management oriented: MIS is always management oriented and keeps view that every level of management gets the desired information. 2. Integrated: MIS is developed with an eye on its installation costs, its effectiveness, production capacity, stock levels, customer service and need of capital. As such it takes an integrated view of the whole organization. 3. For planning: Every business makes short term and long term planning based on past and present information. Thus a good information system gives the various relevant information regarding sales and production quantities, production methods, capital investments, stocks etc. With the help of this information, management can make future plans. 4. For control: An effective MIS helps management to know the deviations of actual performance from the pre set targets and the reasons there of. Then the management takes the step to check the unfavorable variations and control the working of the organization. 5. For increasing efficiency: MIS is important in increasing the efficiency of the employees. 6. Updated results: MIS helps the management in getting the updated results of the department and various decisions. 7. Highly computerized: Being highly computerized, MIS gives accurate information regarding various activities of the organization and brings out the fact and the present conditions of the various departments and divisions. 8. Fulfillment of statutory obligations: The information regarding business activities are important not only for planning, management and control but legally that information should also be given to shareholders and creditors who have stake in the firm. A good MIS helps the management in fulfilling its legal obligations. 9. Awareness and intelligence: MIS adds to the alertness, awareness and intelligence of managers by supplying information in the form of progress and review report of an ongoing activity. 10 Decision making: Another role of MIS is to provide only that much information as called for by the managers specifically for purposes of decision making. Before the availability of computers, all records, including accounts receivables, payables, inventory, payroll and the billing of customers were maintained by bookkeepers and clerks. Record keeping systems were very frequently large in size, inefficient and subject to human error. Q2. Differentiate between MIS and Electronic Data Processing (EDP). (MCA 2006-2007) Most organizations begin computerization of their functioning by setting up an Electronic Data Processing (EDP) department. EDP department caters to most of the clerical and supervisory type of applications related to record keeping, processing of voluminous data and generation of authentic and accurate reports for operational management. The computer applications related to clerical functioning have several advantages. These offer perceptible payoff in cost reduction by saving upon manpower and time resource. These offer control of huge data as well as improved accuracy of information. These serve as information source to operational management and assist in operational control and planning. These bring the first important step in office paperwork automation. Most of these applications can be upgraded to provide decision making information for all levels of management. For example: consider a typical EDP application for ledger accounting that consists of modules for data storage of accounts vouchers and generation of accounting reports such as ledgers, trial balance, profit and loss account etc. The primary objective of the application is book keeping. The utility of this application is to ease the clerical functions and assist in operational control. This application creates voluminous data store that can be utilized to derive information for tactical and strategic management. Analysis of revenue and expense periodically can yield information on general trends. These trends can be analyzed to establish standards for control. These standards for control can be built-in our information system in the form of budgets and projections. When the controls are incorporated in an EDP application these are upgraded to MIS applications. In case of ledger accounting system, addition of modules to generate a summarized report on performance analysis based on budget control or cash control lead its up-gradation to decision assisting application for operational-cum-tactical planning. Top management analyses the external information with respect to strategic planning. Besides ledger accounting, some of the typical areas in which EDP applications find its uses are payroll, inventory control, production, costing, purchase and logistics. All these applications can be upgraded to MIS. Furthermore, these applications can be integrated to share data and exchange information, hence achieving the main goal of MIS that is based on system approach.

MIS and End User Computing The widespread use of personal computers and computer-based workstations has brought with it the age of end-user computing. End-user computing is a generic term for any information-processing activity performed by direct end users who actually use terminals or microcomputers to access data and programs. The manager as end user may be provided with powerful software (like DBMS) for accessing data, developing models, and performing information processing directly. This has brought computing directly under the control of the end users and eliminates their dependence on the information systems specialist and the rigidities of predesigned procedures. They may now make ad hoc queries of information and analyze it in various ways. They may write programs, or may often use ready-made programs stored in the computer, using the computing power of a local PC or the mainframe to which it is connected. Users are provided with terminals or personal computers and powerful software for accessing data, developing models, and performing information processing directly. This development, made possible by the increasing power and decreasing cost of the technology, is a significant force for a change in the way information resources are organized, provides, and used. In many organizations, the MIS function is undergoing a transition from centralized control of information systems resources to toward provision of support to users who control their own development and operation of information systems. This brings in the issues of system support for end-user computing and of MIS management in the end-user environment. MIS and IRM Information has already been recognized as one of the crucial corporate resources. The significance of producing more information; information processing and making information available to users is being realized more and more in the recent years. Whether it is industry, commerce, banking, education, economics or tourism, information is needed everywhere. The investors need information on the financial health of the organization before extending any credit facility to the organization; the government agencies need information for national planning and industrial control. The organizations have long since realized the need for the availability of information resource for the interested groups as well as individuals on time. A significant part of an individuals working and personal time is spent on searching for, recording and absorbing information. Information is live as it is required to be updated all the time, and it is renewable. Information is substitutable and transportable and can be made to travel nearly at the speed of light in a communication networks. Today, information gets doubled in just five years. The exponential growth of information all around makes it necessary that it is properly collected, stored and retrieved in various fields so that it could be usefully exploited where and when needed. Information resources have to be managed and management of Information has emerged as a specialization in its own way. The management of information resource has also been subjected to a lot of thinking. Organizations have been made to think seriously about the growth and development of this function as an independent support function rather than as part of a major function, such as, finance and accounting. Serious thought has been given to the involvement of the users in the information processing activity as well as to the conversion of the function to a profit centre by developing and implementing change-out systems for the services rendered to the user groups. It would be proper if we recall the desired characteristics of information, i.e., accuracy, timeliness, objectivity, relevance, conciseness, etc. You will discover that some of these characteristics are also the desirable characteristics of a good, effective and efficient MIS. The process of developing an MIS is never ending as organizations strive to take advantage of new technology and methodology. Indeed, even the newly-emerging computer systems concept of information resource management (IRM) merely upgrades the computer system and its attendant information to the position of a resource that is to be husbanded and administered, much as are other organizational resources. IRM is an approach to management based on the concept that information is an organizational resource. Given that view, the task of the information system executive is to manage that resource. The scope of IRM includes data communications, word processing, and personal computers as well as well as traditional data processing. The IRM concept tends to emphasize the organizational effectiveness of the information system resource rather than the technical sophistication or efficiency of the hardware and software.

Data Processing vs. MIS Although Data Processing and Information Systems both refer to functions that take raw data and transform it into usable information, the usage of the terms is very different. Data Processing is the term generally used to describe what was done by large mainframe computers from the late 1940's until the early 1980's (and which continues to be done in most large organizations to a greater or lesser extent even today): large volumes of raw transaction data fed into programs that update a master file, with fixed-format reports written to paper. The term Information Systems refers to an expansion of this concept, where the raw data, previously copied manually from paper to punched cards, and later into data-entry terminals, is now fed into the system from a variety of sources, including ATMs, EFT, and direct customer entry through the Internet. The master file concept has been largely displaced by database management systems, and static reporting replaced or augmented by ad-hoc reporting and direct inquiry, including downloading of data by customers. The ubiquity of the Internet and the Personal Computer have been the driving force in the transformation of Data Processing to the more global concept of Information Systems.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM ( MIS) CONCEPT The concept of the MIS has evolved over a period of time comprising many different facets of the organizational function. MIS is a necessity of all the organizations. The initial concept of MIS was to process data from the organization and present it in the form of reports at regular intervals. It was more impersonal, requiring each individual to pick and choose the processed data and use it for his requirements. This concept was further modified when a distinction was made between data and information. The information is a product of an analysis of data. It was, therefore, demanded that the system concept be individual- oriented, as each individual may have a different orientation towards the information. This concept was further modified, that the system should present information in such a form and format that it creates an impact on its user, provoking a decision or an investigation. It was later realized then even though such an impact was a welcome modification, some sort of selective approach was necessary in the analysis and reporting. Hence, the concept of exception reporting was imbibed in MIS. Since the environment turns competitive and is ever changing, fixation of the norm for an exception becomes futile exercise at least for the people in the higher echelons of the organization. The concept was then evolved that the system should be capable of handling a need based exception reporting. This need maybe either of an individual or a group of people. This called for keeping all data together in such a form that it can be accessed by anybody and can be processed to suit his needs. The concept is that the data is one but it can be viewed by different individuals in different ways. This gave rise to the concept of DATABASE and the MIS based on the DATABASE proved much more effective. Over a period of time, when these conceptual developments were taking place, the concept of the end user computing using multiple databases emerged. This concept brought a fundamental change in MIS. The change was decentralization of the system and the user of the information becoming independent of computer professionals. When this becomes a reality, the concept of MIS changed to a decision making system. The concept of MIS in todays world is a system which handles the databases, provides computing facilities to the end user and gives a variety of decision making tools to the user of the system. The concept of MIS gives high regard to the individual and his ability to use information. An MIS gives information through data analysis. While analyzing the data, it relies on many academic disciplines. These include the theories, principles and concepts from the Management Science, Psychology and Human Behavior, making the MIS more effective and useful. These academic disciplines are used in designing the MIS, evolving the decision support tools for modeling and decision - making. The concept of MIS is a blend of principle, theories and practices of the Management, Information and System giving rise to single product known as the Management Information System (MIS). The MIS is a product of a multi- disciplinary approach to the business management. It is a product which needs to be kept under a constant review and modification to meet the corporate needs of the information. The MIS is for the people in the organization. The MIS is a dynamic concept subject to change, time and again, with a change in the business management process. The MIS model of the organization changes over time as the business passes through several phases of developmental growth cycle. It supports the management of the business in each phase by providing the information which is crucial in that phase.

Q3. Discuss role and importance of MIS? Role, characteristics & goal of an efficient MIS in an organization can be summarized in the following statements: a) Information primarily geared to assist managerial decisional process & control. b) Information communication based on relevancy with respect to diverse needs of mgmt. at different levels. c) Timeliness of information (delayed information may be contrived or obsolete and therefore useless for decision making process) d) Information flow based on system approach linking diverse activities of diverse departments within an organization to exchange information. This approach obliterates data redundancy & inculcates efficient & cost effective usage of data storage. e) Flexibility in information system to incorporate future requirements of mgmt. on need basis. The need for computerized MIS assumes significance due to following factors: 1) In the absence of a computerized MIS, an organization fails to meet its commitments persistently because of inappropriate & delayed information that results in inappropriate decisions. 2) Manual information system are difficult to be maintained & results in tedious paper work, non-productive overtime costs in respect of clerical staff, backlogs & disjointedness in information flows. 3) Manual information deters the organization to furnish itself for the current/future competition, diversification

and/or expansion strategic plans because the management is engrossed in finding solutions to ever increasing operational problems. 4) Major advantages of MIS in an organization are improvement in mgmt. process with decisions based on facts rather than subjective approach or bureaucratic procedures. Benefits of MIS may not be qualified in terms of monetary gains but be explored radically. An efficient MIS obliterates the over dependency or indispensability of expertise of any particular executive in an organization. The unfair emphasis on procedures resulting in delayed & not always appropriate decisions is overridden by ready & mostly appropriate decisions. MIS supplants mgmt. by ready & mostly appropriate decisions. MIS supplants mgmt by activity with mgmt by results. The result orientation of mgmt process results in swift (past) accomplishment of mgmt. goals. Major impact of an efficient MIS is being felt on traditional pyramidal structure of an organization. This structure is flattening into a two tier system of analytical & operational levels.

Q4. Describe the various considerations related to centralization and decentralization of MIS? MIS has their own distinct styles; most of them fall between somewhere two extremes on a spectrum. One extreme is centralized management which designates staff position and departments in a strict vertical hierarchy and places control of the organization in a few hands. The other is decentralized management which delegates authority to lower level managers. Centralized management tends toward centralized control over information system and decentralized management is more likely to be comfortable with decentralized information system. Because of the influence of the organization overall management style on other systems, companies with centralized IS management tend to have centralized IS architecture and companies with decentralized IS management tend to have decentralized IS architecture. In a centralized architecture all application and data were usually stored on a companys single mainframe. The great advantage of a centralized architecture is that it allows top management and the IS department for high degree of control making it easy to 1. maintain standards of hardware software procedures and operations 2. control access to information. The main disadvantage of centralized system is its inflexibility. A centralized system is run so that it can be used by everyone. A decentralized architecture allows departments and remote sites a large degree of independence in organizing and utilizing there information system. In a decentralized model each unit within a organization has its own local IS department to establish an infrastructure and to select hardware and software to satisfy the specific information needs of that unit. Advantage of the centralized IS management. 1. Standardized hardware and software: centralized IS can establish corporate software and hardware standards which save time and money in purchasing and installation. 2. Ease of training : training is much more efficient and less expensive when an organization uses standardized hardware and software. 3. Common reporting system: centralized IS management can easily standardized reporting system and format across departments which many companies require foe accounting and tax reporting 4. Effective planning of shared system: large and complex system that are shared by several organization unit can best be developed by central IS department. 5. Easiest strategic planning : strategic IS planning considers an organizations entire IS resources 6. Efficient use of IS personnel: with the centralized IS department an organization is more likely to employ highly specialized IS professionals who are better qualified to develop information system 7. Tighter control by top management : a centralized IS management to maintain control over the vast resources spent on IS. Advantage of decentralized IS management 1. Better fit of ISs to business needs : the individual IS unit can use their familiarity with their departments information needs to develop systems that fit those needs more closely Q5. How can the structure of MIS be understood? Discuss various approaches to understand its structure? Structure of MIS is a difficult concept to understand because there is no accepted framework for describing management information system. Thus it is not simple to answer a question like what does a management information system look like? How can one describe its conceptual or physical structure? Structures, no doubt, determine the shape of entity. The question as to what does an entity look like, should ideally speaking, be answered by giving its outlining or structural specifications. Different approaches may be used while describing an entity. For example, a car may be used while describing its physical characteristics, i.e. its shape, color, seating capacity, doors etc in term of the component system such as chassis, engine, ignition system, etc. in term of it major use such as passenger car, sport car, etc. Each of these approaches would provide understanding to the person about the car. MIS structure may described by variety of different approaches, such as :1. Physical components. 2. Information system processing function. 3. Decision support. 4. Level of management activities. 5. Organizational functions.

1. PHYSICAL COMPONENTS :- Structure of MIS may be understood by looking at the physical component of the
information system in an organization. The physical component of an organizational information system may be hardware software, database and operating persons. It can be briefly described as :a. Hardware :- Hardware refers to the physical data processing equipment and peripheral devices. For example , CPU , monitor keyboard , printer , drive , tape etc b. Software :- software is a broad term given to the instruction or program that direct the operation of the hardware. Software could be of two type i.e. system software and application software. c. Database :- The database consists of all the data utilized by application software. Data stored in files. d. Procedure :- Formal operating procedures, which are required to operate a system, such as manuals, are also regarded as physical elements. e. Input and Output:- Various physical inputs and outputs from the information system, existing in the form like printout, report etc.

2. INFORMATION SYSTEM PROCESSING FUNCTIONS: Information system structure can also be understood in
term of its processing function The main processing functions of an information system are described below :(i) To Process transactions:- Information system process transactions where transaction may be defined as an activity taking place in an organization. For example, making a purchase or a sale or manufacturing a product. It may be within the organization or may be external in nature. (ii) To Maintain Master File :- Information system creates and maintain master file in an organization. For example, data processing to prepare an employ salary requires data item for the employ basic pay, allowance etc. (iii)To Produce Reports :- Reports are significant products of an information system. Many reports produce on a regular basis which is called scheduled reports. An information system also produces reports on adhoc requests. (iv) To process enquiries :- An information system is use to process enquiries. For processing such queries, the information system uses it databases. These may be regular enquiries with a predefine format

3. DECISION SUPPORT:- Decision varies with respect to the structure that can be provided for making them. A
highly structured decision in the form like printout, report etc can be preplanned or pre specified, whereas a highly unstructured decision cannot, A structure decision can be said to be programmable, in the sense that unambiguous rules can be specified in advanced. An unstructured decision is said to be nonprogrammable. The unstructured decision tends to occur with less frequency and tends to be non routine. Information system support will differ for the two types of decisions. Some decision fit easily into this classification, but many decisions are more or less structured and have some element that are programmable and some that are not. a. Structure Decision :-Decision that are repetitive, routine and have a definite procedure for handling them. b. Unstructured Decisions :- No routine decision in which the decision maker must provide judgment, evaluation, and insight into the problem definition; there is no agreed upon procedure for making such decision. c. Semi-Structure Decision :- Decision where only part of the problem has a clear cut answer provided by an accepted procedure .

4. LEVEL OF MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY:- Management information system support management activity. This means
that the structure of an information system can be classified in term of management planning and control activities. Hierarchy of Management activity :- The following categories of management planning and control were defined by Robert Anthony a. Strategic Planning :- Deals with long range consideration. The decisions to be are made concerned with the choice business directions. Product mix etc. b. Management Control :- It has a medium term planning horizon. It is reflected in the capital expenditure budget, the three year staffing planning, etc c. Operational Planning and Control :- It is related to short term decisions for current operation. Prcising, production levels etc. are a result of operational planning and control activities.

Q6. Write note on evolution of MIS? Information system is as old as recorded human history. In the third millennium BC, the earliest use of information system discovered was in a Sumerian temple. The Sumerians used clay tablets for recording receipts and issues of grain to individuals, out of temple grain store. The data storage requirement was little in those days. Information system had its fast growth in last few centuries. The industrial revolution gave it a big fillip. Thereafter, business started growing and along with growth, business complexity also increased. Civilized systems of state governance also required the business of keeping amounts and paying dues to state. More commercial legislations were evicted to bring control over business and industry. Accounting systems, organization size, development of computing technology among others have ensured the fast growth of information system in the recent until a few hundred years ago. All business was mostly local and small in operations. Data is used in the form of raw material and must be subjected to data manipulation or processing to produce useful information. An information system generates information using data. If the information system generates information useful for a manager in planning and control, the whole system is called Management Information System. Management information is reported on an exceptional basis for managerial decision- making or action. The evolution of MIS and its fast growth in the last few decades, can be attributed to the following factors: Growth of management theory and techniques. Growth of management accounting and its applications in business. Changes in the production and distribution methods and the consequent changes in the organizational structure. Development of management science. Introduction and the developments in information technology. By the mid 1960, most large firms had finally overcome the pain of implementing their first computer system. It had been a difficult task, for those organizations had accumulated huge volume of data and much effort was required to put the data in a form that was acceptable to computers. The firm had one point in their favor during those hard times: In performing data processing tasks the computer was applied in exactly the same way as the key driven and punched-card machine had been. The accounting information system task was well defined and affected primarily the firm accounting departments. Computer implementation consisted essentially of transforming the older routine into a computer form. The management information system is one of the five major Computer based information system. Its purpose is to meet the general information needs of all the managers in the firm or in some organizational subunit of the firm. Subunits can be based on functional area of managers levels. DEFINITION:Gorden B. Davis defines MIS as an integrated, user machine system for providing information to support operation, management and decision making function in an organization. The system utilizes computer hardware and software; manual procedure; and database. The fact that it is an integrated system does not mean that it is a single, monolithic structure; rather it means that the parts fit into an overall design. Q7. What are characteristics of a good management information system? The information systems are vital to company operation. The first step in understanding their potential impact on the business operation is to break through the semantic barriers. The pertinent characteristics of IS and the underlying guidelines of managing with information are described as below: Management oriented/directed: This is the most significant characteristic of managing with information. The system is designed from the top down. This does not mean that the system will be geared to providing information directly to top management; rather, it means that the system development starts from an appraisal of management needs and overall business objectives. A marketing information system is an example. Because of the management orientation of IS, it is imperative that management actively direct the system development efforts. Involvement is not enough. In terms of preceding examples, management must determine what sales information is necessary to improve its control of marketing operations. Management is responsible for setting system specifications, and it must play a major role in the subsequent tradeoff decisions that inevitably occur in system development. An important element of effective system planning is the process for determining the priority of application development. A company without a formal application approval cycle and a management steering committee to determine priorities will never develop an effective IS. Business Driven/Justified: A fundamental tenet of meaningful and successful IS is that it be driven by the business and not the way around. The plans of IS must be linked to the overall business plans of the enterprise. The strategies of the corporation must set the IS priorities. For example, if a major thrust of the organization is to compress the time to introduce new products, this sets the IS priority; if the major thrust is to improve customer service, this sets the IS priority; if the major thrust is to reduce cost, this sets the IS priority. The justification will be to make a significant contribution to achieving these business priorities.

Integrated: Integration of information subsystems provides more meaningful management information. For example, in order to develop an effective production scheduling system, we must balance such factors as: (1) setup costs, (2) work force, (3) over time rates, (4) production capacity, (5) inventory levels, (6) capital requirements, and (7) customer service. A system that ignores one of these elements-inventory levels, for example-is not providing management with an optimal schedule. The cost of carrying excess inventory may more than offset the other benefits of the system. Integration, in the sense intended here, means taking a compressive view or a complete-picture look at the interlocking subsystems that operate within a company. Common Data flows: Because of the integration concept of IS, there is an opportunity to avoid duplication and redundancy in data gathering, storage, and dissemination. System designers are aware that a few key source documents account for much of the information flow and affect many functional areas. For example, customer orders are the basis for billing the customer for goods ordered, setting up the accounts receivable, initiating production activity, making sales analysis, forecasting sales, and so on. It is prudent to capture this data closest to the source where the event occurs and use it throughout the functional areas. This concept also holds in building and using master files and in providing reports. Heavy Planning Element: Complex, enterprise-wide information systems do not occur overnight; they take from three to five years to get fully established firmly with a company. Therefore, a heavy planning element must be present in IS development. Just as a civil engineer does not design a highway to handle todays traffic but to handle the traffic 10 to 20 years from now, so IS designer must have the future objectives and needs of the company firmly in mind. The designer must avoid the possibility of system obsolescence before the system gets into operation; needless to say, sound system planning is an essential ingredient in successful IS. Subsystem Concept: In tackling a project as broad and complex in scope as an enterprise-wide information system, on e must avoid losing sight of both the forest and the trees. Even though the system is viewed as a single entity, it must be broken down into digestible subsystems that can be implemented one at a time. The breakdown of IS into meaningful subsystems sets the stage for a prioritized implementation. Although the functional areas of sales-order processing, material control, and soon have been referred to as systems, in reality they are subsystems that, in turn, can be broken down into additional subsystems. Flexibility And Ease Of Use : Despite a careful analysis of future management information needs, it is impossible to predict what is desired three to five years hence. This is true in most industries, and especially in industries with rapid change patterns. It is native to think that anyone possesses the omniscience to predict the future. A feature that often goes with flexibility is ease of use. This means the incorporation of features that can make the system readily accessible to a wide range of users and easy to use once they are ready to try it. One of the major information system trends in broadening the bases of users, consist with evolving end-users languages and IS access methods. Data Base: Data base is the mortar that holds the functional systems together. Each system requires access to a master file of data covering inventory, personnel, vendors, customer, general ledger, work in progress, and so on. If the data is stored efficiently and with common usage in mind, one master file can provide the data needed by any of the functional systems. It seems logical to gather data once, properly validate it, and place it on a central storage medium that can be accessed by any system. However, it is not unusual to find a company with multiple data files, one serving one functional system and another serving another system. This is obviously not the most efficient to operate. Distributed Systems: The majority of companies implementing IS have a geographic network of sales offices, distribution points, manufacturing plants, divisions, subdivisions, and so on. Some of the entities are operated in a completely independent fashion and therefore may not be a part of integrated IS. More often than not, the remote sites do have a connection with each other and with a host operation. In order to create a effective IS without arbitrary geographic boundaries, some form of distributed systems (DS) is necessary. It means that two or more information subsystems in different locations act in a cooperative fashion- they share data over a network. DS can be thought of as the delivery system, placing information in the hands of those who need it when they need it. Information As a Resource: The information resource management (IRM) concept is an overriding philosophy. Pervading the entire organization must be the concept that information is a valuable resource, particularly in the management control and strategic planning areas, and must be properly managed. This is subtle but important change in thinking. It was common in the past to view data processing as an entity into itself doing its own thing. The new outlook is that IS is more than a support for the system; in many instances it is inextricably bound up in the business itself.

Q8. Explain the concept of subsystems of MIS? MIS has been introduced as a broad concept of referring to a federation of subsystems. Three approaches to defining the subsystems of an MIS are according to 1. Support of Decision Making 2. Managerial activity for which they are used 3. The organization functions which they support. A. Support of Decision Making: The characteristics of information system support for the levels of the hierarchy of management planning and control: (a)Information systems for operational control: Operational control is the process of ensuring that operational activities are carried out effectively and efficiently. Operational control makes use of reestablished procedures and decisions rules. A large percentage of the decisions are programmable. The procedures to follow generally cover short time periods. Individual transactions are often important, so that the operational system must be able to respond to both individual transactions and summaries of transactions. (b)Information system systems for management control: Management control information is required by managers of departments, profit centers, etc., to measure performance, decide on control actions, formulate new decision rules to be applied by operational personnel, and allocate resources. Summary information is needed: it must be processed so that trends may be observed, reasons for performance variances may be understood, and solutions may be suggested. (c)Information system for strategic planning: The purpose of strategic planning is to develop strategies by which an organization will be able to achieve its objectives. The time horizon for strategic planning tends to be fairly long, so that fundamentals shifts in the organization may be made. Strategic planning activities do not have to occur on a periodic, regular cycle as do management control activities. They can be somewhat irregular, although somewhat irregular, although some strategic planning may be scheduled into the yearly planning and budgeting cycle. Data requirements for strategic planning are generally for processed, summarized data from a variety of sources. B. Management information system based on Management activity: Management information systems support management activity. This means that the structure of an information system can be classified in terms of a hierarchy of management planning and control activities. The three levels of management activity can be differentiated on the basis of the planning horizon for each level: a. STRATEGIC PLANNING: Deals with long range considerations. The decisions to be made are concerned with the choice of business direction, market strategy, product mix, etc. b. MANAGEMENT CONTROL AND TACTICAL PLANNING: It has a medium-term planning horizon. It includes acquisition and organization of resources, structuring of work and acquisition and training of personnel. It is reflected in the capital expenditure budget, the three-year staffing plan, etc. c. OPERATIONAL PLANNING AND CONTROL: It is related to short-term decisions for current operations. Pricing, production levels, inventory levels, etc. are a result of operational planning and control activities. A particular manager may have responsibility for a mix of management activities, but proportions shift with management level. For instance, a shop floor-supervisor will spend most of his or time on operational planning and control. An executive vice-president will devote, by comparison, more time to strategic planning. Decisions vary as to the degree of structure within each level of management activity, although the majority of decisions at the operational control level are relatively structured and the majority of decisions at the strategic planning level are relatively unstructured. Structured decisions systems provide decisions rules and exception reports but are relatively inflexible as to content and format. Decisions Support System (DSS), on the other hand, are characterized flexible access to the database, a variety of flexible output formats, and a collection of decisions models. Such components are required to support the manager in the decisions-making process, rather than attempting to solutions or make decisions for the user. C. Management Information System Based on Organizational Function The structure of an information system can also be described in terms of the organizational functions which use information. There is no standard classification of functions, but a typical set of functions in a manufacturing organization includes production, sales marketing finance and accounting, logistics, personnel and information systems. Top management can also be considered as a separate function. Each of these functions has unique information needs and each requires information system support designed for it. An organization may not actually be organized along functional lines but in general the logical information system will follow functional lines. There will be application for transaction processing operational control, managerial control, and strategic planning.

1. Sales and Marketing Subsystems: The sales and marketing function generally includes all activities related to the 2.
promotion and sales of products or services. The transaction is sales orders, promotion orders, etc. Managerial control concerns comparisons of overall performance against a marketing plan. Production subsystems: The responsibilities of the production or manufacturing function include product engineering, planning of production facilities, scheduling and operation of production facilities employment and training of production personnel, and quality control and inspection. Typical transaction to be processed orders (based on an explosion of the sales orders and inventory requirements into component parts), assembly order, finished parts tickets, scarp tickets and time keeping tickets. Operational control requires detailed reports comparing actual performance to the production schedule and highlighting areas where bottleneck occur. Management control requires summary reports which compare overall planned or standard performance to actual performance for such classifications as cost per unit and labor used. Logistics subsystem: The logistics function encompasses such activities as purchasing, receiving, inventory control and distribution. The transaction to be processed include purchase requisitions, purchase orders ,manufacturing orders, receiving reports, tickets for inventory, shipping orders bills of lading. The operational control function uses information contained in reports such as past-due purchases, past due shipments to customers, out of-stock Items, overstocked items, inventory turnover reports; vendor performance summaries and shipper performance analysis. Managerial control information for logistics consists of overall comparisons between planned and actual inventory levels, costs for purchased items, stock outs, inventory turnover, etc. Personnel subsystem: The personnel subsystem includes hiring, training, record keeping, payment, and termination of personnel, The transaction result in documents describing employment requisitions, job description, job training specifications, personnel data, pay rate changes hours worked, paychecks, benefits, and termination notices. Operational control for personnel requires decision procedures for action such s hiring, training, termination, changing pay rates, and is using benefits. Management control of the personnel function is supported by reports and analysis showing the variances resulting from differences between planned and actual performance for such classifications as number of employees hired, cost of recruiting, composition of skills inventory, cost of training salary paid, distribution of wage rates, and conformance with government equal opportunity requirement. Finance and accounting subsystem: Finance and accounting are somewhat separate functions but are sufficiently related to be described together. Finance is responsible for ensuring adequate organizational financing at as a cost as possible. This function covers granting of credit to customers, collection processes, cash management, and financing arrangement .Accounting covers the classification of financial transactions and summarizations into the standard financial reports, the preparation of budgets, and classification and analysis of cost data. Budget and cost data are input for managerial control applications in all. Information processing subsystem: Information processing function is responsible for ensuring that the other functions are provided the necessary information processing services and resources. Typical transactions for information processing are requests for processing, request for corrections or changes in data and programs, reports of hardware and programs performance and project proposals. Operational control of information processing operations requires information on the daily schedules of jobs, error rates, and equipment failures, for new project development it requires daily or weekly schedules of programmer progress and test time. Strategic planning for information systems involves the organization of the function, the overall information system plan, selection of strategic uses of information and the general structures of the software environment. Top management: The top management function operates separately from the functional areas, but also includes the functional vice president acting in a top management capacity such as in management committees. The transactions processed by top management are primarily inquiries for information and support of decisions. The transaction documents, therefore, tend to be letters and memoranda. The information for operational control in the top management function includes meeting schedules, correspondence control files, and contact files. Strategic planning at the top management level requires a wide variety of summarized external and internal data .Information system support strategic planning may include ad-hoc retrieval of data, ad-hoc analysis, and decision support.

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Q9. What is meant by conceptual design of MIS? Discuss various steps involved in the conceptual design of a system? MIS structure has been described in terms of support for decision making, management activity, and organizational functions. These three approaches will now be synthesized into a management information system structure. This is essentially a conceptual framework which allows one to describe an existing or planned information system. There is also a physical structure which defines the way an MIS is implemented. Conceptual structure: Conceptual structure of MIS is defined as a federation of functional subsystems, each of which is divided into four major information processing components: 1. Transaction processing 2. Operational control system support 3. Managerial control information system supports 4. Strategic planning information system support Each of the functional subsystems of the information system has some unique data files, which are used only by that subsystem. There are also files, which need to be accessed by more than one application and need to be available for general retrieval. These files are organized into a general database management system. A further amplification of the structure is the introduction of common software. In addition to application programs written especially for each subsystem, there are common applications, which serve multiple functions. Each subsystem has linkages to these common applications. There are also many analytical and decision models that can be used by many applications. The subsystem has unique programs and unique files for its basic activities. It shares the use of common application software, a model base, and a data base management system. The database management system controls all files in the common database, and may also be used for storage and retrieval of the files unique to a function. The combination of all subsystems forms the management system for the organization. Q10. Discuss role and importance of MIS? Role, characteristics & goal of an efficient MIS in an organization can be summarized in the following statements: a) Information primarily geared to assist managerial decisional process & control. b) Information communication based on relevancy with respect to diverse needs of mgmt. at different levels. c) Timeliness of information (delayed information may be contrived or obsolete and therefore useless for decision making process) d) Information flow based on system approach linking diverse activities of diverse departments within an organization to exchange information. This approach obliterates data redundancy & inculcates efficient & cost effective usage of data storage. e) Flexibility in information system to incorporate future requirements of mgmt. on need basis. The need for computerized MIS assumes significance due to following factors: 1) In the absence of a computerized MIS, an organization fails to meet its commitments persistently because of inappropriate & delayed information that results in inappropriate decisions. 2) Manual information system are difficult to be maintained & results in tedious paper work, non-productive overtime costs in respect of clerical staff, backlogs & disjointedness in information flows. 3) Manual information deters the organization to furnish itself for the current/future competition, diversification and/or expansion strategic plans because the management is engrossed in finding solutions to ever increasing operational problems. 4) Major advantages of MIS in an organization are improvement in mgmt. process with decisions based on facts rather than subjective approach or bureaucratic procedures. Benefits of MIS may not be qualified in terms of monetary gains but be explored radically. An efficient MIS obliterates the over dependency or indispensability of expertise of any particular executive in an organization. The unfair emphasis on procedures resulting in delayed & not always appropriate decisions is overridden by ready & mostly appropriate decisions. MIS supplants mgmt. by ready & mostly appropriate decisions. MIS supplants mgmt by activity with mgmt by results. The result orientation of mgmt process results in swift (past) accomplishment of mgmt. goals. Major impact of an efficient MIS is being felt on traditional pyramidal structure of an organization. This structure is flattening into a two tier system of analytical & operational levels.

Q11. Q12. Write short notes on the following in 2-5 lines: Role of DSS in MIS Decision support systems are a major category of management support systems. They are computer based information systems that provide interactive information support to managers during the decision-making process. Decision support systems use1. Analytical models 2. Specialized databases 3. A decision makers own insights and judgements 4. An interactive, computer-based modeling process to support the making of semistructured and unstructured decisions by individual managers. Decision Support System (DSS) DSS is an IS which assists in decision-making. An IS at management level of an organization that combines data, sophisticated analytical models, & user-friendly software to support semi-structured & unstructured decision-making. DSS tends to be used in planning, analyzing alternatives, and trial and error search for solutions. Generally operated through terminal based interactive dialogues with users. Incorporates variety of Decision-models and are capable of performing What-if analysis for managers. DSS is tailored to a specific task or special problem. DSS involves four basic types of analytical modeling activities like What-if Analysis, Sensitivity Analysis, Goal-seeking Analysis, and Optimization Analysis. Designed primarily to serve Management control level and strategic planning level managers. The three components of DSS are Database, Model Base and User Interface. Examples of DSS are Price & Route selection, Train Dispatching & Routing, Flight Scheduling, investment evaluation, Price, Advertising & Promotion strategies. A DSS is focused still higher in the organization with an emphasis on the following characteristics: *decision focused, aimed at top managers and executive decision makers; *emphasis on flexibility, adaptability, and quick response; *user initiated and controlled; and a support for the personal decision making styles of individual managers. Q13. Write short notes on: Management of Information Resources Management of information Resources is an emerging discipline that helps managers assess and exploit their information assets for business development. It draws on the techniques of information science (libraries) and information systems (IT related). It is an important foundation for knowledge management It deals systematically with explicit knowledge centers and often play an important part in introducing IRM into an organization. Q14. Write short notes on Location of MIS in an organization? An organization continuously exchanges information with the environment and is influenced by the changes in it. An organization is a socio-technical system whose subsystem are tasks, people, technology, culture; each having its own input and output satisfying first its own objectives. Location of MIS in an Organization: 1. In tall hierarchy with high degree of centralization The MIS give control information to the higher management where decision is concentrated. 2. If the system is structured on the functional basis where the functional head is the main decision maker and all the functions have equal role to play, then MIS has functional design with the information support to the functional head. 3. If the organization works on the standardized system where rules, polices, procedures have been laid down, then these become part of the MIS. The processing routine in the MIS incorporate these features as an integral part. 4. If the organization culture provides sufficient incentives for efficiency and result, the MIS should support this culture by providing such information, which will aid the promotion of efficiency. 5. The organization system is an open system and highlights the critical business, operational, technological and environmental changes to the concerned level in the organization. 6. Organization system has a dynamic role to play to meet the changing needs of a business, the MIS becomes a common support system for playing the dynamic role. When an organization is moving through the business phases of introduction, growth and decline, MIS provides an information support, relevant to that phase of the business cycle. 7. MIS plays a very important role in creating organization behavior, which in turn sets the goals for achievements.

5. What are the characteristics of MIS? How do MIS differ from TPS? From DSS? MIS supports the management level by providing routine summary reports and exception reports for various purposes, including planning, controlling, and decision making. Examples include sales and profit per customer and per region, relocation summary and analysis, inventory control, capital investment analysis, and even a report on students who were here in the autumn but did not to return in the spring. MIS differs from TPS in that MIS deals with summarized and compressed data from the TPS and sometimes analysis of that summarized data. Decision-support systems provide material for analysis for the solution of semi-structured problems, which often are unique or rapidly changing. Typically, they provide the ability to do what if analysis. While MIS have an internal orientation, DSS will often use data from external sources, as well as data from TPS and MIS. DSS supports right now analysis rather than the long-term structured analysis of MIS. MIS are generally not flexible and provide little analytical capabilities. In contrast, DSS are designed for analytical purposes and are flexible. 6. What are the characteristics of DSS? How do they differ from those of ESS? DSS provide sophisticated analytical models and data analysis tools to support semistructured and unstructured decisionmaking activities. DSS use data from TPS, MIS, and external sources, provide more analytical power than other systems, combine data, and are interactive. ESS support senior managers with unstructured strategic-level decision making. They may be less analytical than DSS with less use of models such as linear programming or forecasting. However, they often rely on external data and rely heavily on graphics. 66 Name the considerations related to centralization and decentralization of MIS? In the early years of computing the development of large frame computers and telecommunications networks and terminals caused a centralization of computer hardware and software, databases and information specialists at the corporate level of organization. Next the development of minicomputers and microcomputers accelerated a downsizing trend, which prompted a move back towards decentralization by many business firms. Distributed server /client network at the corporate, department, workgroup and different team levels came into being. This promoted a shift of databases and information specialists to some departments and the creation of information centers to support end user and workgroup computing. 68 What is system approach to MIS? System Approach: The approach of building information system is system approach. This approach is a valuable method of problem solving that takes into accounts the goals, environment, and internal workings of the system. The system approach to problem solving involves the following steps: 1. Define the problem. 2. Gather data describing the problem. 3. Identify alternatives. 4. Evaluate these alternatives. 5. Select and implement the best alternative. 6. Follow up to determine whether the solution is working. Relevance to system approach: The relevance to system approach has emerged because of to reasons: 1. The increased complexity of business. 2. The increased complexity of management. 1. The increased complexity of business This complexity can be attributed to four primary causes: 1. The technological revolution 2. Research and development 3. Product changes 4. The information explosion 5. Research and development 1. The technological revolution:

Now these days the transportation, manufacturing, communication, and agriculture are among the many industries undergoing the vast changes in its own right. The technological revolution is not a continuation of the industrial revolution .it is a vast and fundamental change in its own right, as advanced machination and automation techniques are adopted and improved across a board range of industries. Industries the technological changes will continue at an accelerated pace and in order to cope with these changes the manager of the future will requires large amounts of selective information for the complex tasks and decision ahead. Thus the technological revolution will require a managerial revolution. 2.research and development: Today the industries are expending a lot of money For research and development. Not only are products and supporting operations becoming more complex but the life cycle of products is also being shortened. All should be aware of the impact on their operations and should provide better planning, better management and better information to accommodate the effect. 3.product changes: Technological advances resulting partly from research and Development, partly from growing customer sophistication, has resulted in the third cause of complexity product changes. Today the modern organization is faced with the necessity to optimize return to optimize return from a given product in a much shorter time. 4.The information explosion: As a decision maker, the manager is essentially a processor of information. The modern manager knows that the ability to obtain, store, process, retrieve, and display the right information for the right decision is vital. Various estimates have been made concerning the information explosion. Increased complexity of management: There are four major developments that help us in improving the management process. These four developments are: 1. Information feedback system. 2. Decision making 3. Management science 4. The electronic computer. 1.Information feedback system: The concept of the information feedback system explains the goal-seeking, self concerning interplay between the parts of a system Whether the system is business, mechanical, or other wise, feedback systems are concerned with the way information is used for the purpose of the control and apply to engineering, biological; and many other types of system. Example of feedback system is the inventory control system, the economic control system, etc. all has a vital trait in common. 2.Decision Making: A development of extra ordinary importance to building a foundation for the system s approach is the recent notion of automating or programming decision. It is now a basic consideration of the management and information system design. If the decision can be based upon a policy, a rule, or a procedure, they are likely to be made better and more economically. 3.management Science: Closely allied to programmed decision rules are the techniques of management science .The various techniques of the management science is system simulation, Queuing, gambling, probability theory etc. A powerful tool of management science is simulation. The technique involves construction of the mathematical model of the system under study. The behavior of the model under manipulation simulates the behavior of the real system to the extent that the consequences of the different management policy. 4.the electronic computer: The fourth major development making the systems approach to management possible is the electronic digital computer, computers help in fast storage, processing and retrieval of information and the arithmetic computation required in many problem solving solution. The computer s capability to process and store information has outraced mans ability to design systems that adequately utilize this capability. The major changes that are occurring in progressive companies: 1. Management has become system oriented and sophisticated in management techniques. 2. Is planned for and made available to managers as need. 3. A system of information ties planning and control by managers to operational systems of implementation. 69 What do you mean by sub-system of MIS? MIS has several subsystems. Each has its own importance.

Subsystems: 1. Sales and marketing subsystem 2. Production subsystem. 3. Logistic subsystem. 4. Personnel subsystem. 5. Finance and accounting subsystem. 6. Information processing subsystem. 7. Top management subsystem. 1. Sales and marketing subsystem: The sales and marketing function generally includes all activities related to the promotion and sales of the products and services. The transactions are sales order, promotion order etc. the operational control activities includes the hiring and training of the sales force, the day to day scheduling of sales and promotion efforts, periodic analysis of the sales volume by region, product, customer, etc. managerial control concerns comparisons of the overall performance against a marketing plan. Strategic planning for the marketing function involves consideration of the new markets and marketing strategies. 2.production subsystem: The responsibility of the production functions includes product engineering, planning of production facilities, scheduling and operation of the production facilitates, employment and training of the production personnel, and quality control and inspection. The typical transactions to be processed are production orders; assembly orders scrap tickets, time keeping tickets. Operational control requires detailed reports comparing actual performance to the production schedule and highlighting areas where bottleneck occurs. 3.Logistic subsystem: The logistic subsystem encompasses such activities Such as purchasing, inventory control, distribution. The operational control function uses information contained in the reports such as past-due purchases,: past due shipments to customers, out-of stock items, overstocked items, inventory turnover reports, and shipper performance analyses. Managerial control information for logistics consists of the overall comparisons between planned and actual inventory level, cost of purchased items, stock outs etc. 4. Personnel subsystem: The personnel subsystem includes hiring, training record keeping payment, and termination of personnel. The transaction result in documents describing employment requiting, job descriptions, training specifications, personnel data. Operational control for personnel require decision procedures for action such as hiring, training, termination, changing reports and analysis showing the variances resulting from differences between planned and actual performance. 5.Information processing subsystem: the information processing functions is responsible for ensuring that the other functions are provided the necessary Information processing services and resources. Typical transactions for information processing are requests for corrections or changes in data and program, reports of hardware and program performance, are project proposals. Operational control information processing operation requires information on the daily schedule of jobs, error rates, and equipment failure; for new project development it requires daily or weakly schedules of the programmer progress and test time. 6.Finance and accounting subsystem: Finance and accounting are separate functions but are sufficiently related to be described together Finance is responsible for ensuring adequate organizational functioning at as low a cost. Accounting covers classification of the financial transactions and summarization into the standard financial reports. 7.Top management subsystem: The top management function operates separately from the functional areas, but also includes the functional vice presidents acting in a top management capacity such as in management committees. The transaction processed by top management are the primarily inquiries for information and support of decisions. The transaction documents, therefore, tends to be letters and memoranda. Managerial control by top management uses information

70 Discuss how an organization gets benefited from the use of an MIS? Benefits of MIS: MIS in organization: The organization continuously exchange information with the environment and is influenced by the changes in it. The organizations a socio-technical system whose subsystem are tasks , people ,technology, culture, each having its own input and output satisfying first its own objectives. MIS is designed, viewing the organization. MIS designed should give weight age to the human side of the organization and its culture. IS consider the subsystems .it means that the MIS helps the decision makers in taking decision. Benefits OF MIS In Organization: 1.in tall hierarchy with high degree of centralization The MIS give control information to the higher management where decision is concentrated. 2. If the system is structured on the functional basis where the functional head is the main decision maker and all the functions have equally role to play, then MIS has functional design with the information support to the functional head. 3.If the organization works on the standardized system where rules, polices, procedures have been laid down, then these become part of the MIS. The processing routine in the MIS incorporate these features as an integral part. 4.if the organization culture provides sufficient incentives for efficiency and result, the MIS should support this culture by providing such information, which will aid the promotion of efficiency. 5.the organization system is an open system and highlights the critical business, operational, technological and environmental changes to the concerned level in the organization. 6.organization system has a dynamic role to play to meet the changes needs of a business, the MIS becomes a common support system for playing the dynamic role. When an organization is moving through the business phases of introduction, growth and decline. MIS provides an information support, relevant to that phase of the business cycle. MIS plays a very important role in creating organization behavior which in turn sets the goals for achievements 72 Ans: How can an MIS affect the quality of a managers plan? Explain. MANAGERIAL ROLES are expectations of the activities that managers should perform in an organization. Mintzberg classified managerial activities into ten roles that fall into three categories: interpersonal, informational, and decisional. Information systems, if built properly, can support these diverse managerial roles in a number of ways. INFORMATIONAL ROLES: Managers act as the nerve centers of their organization, receiving the most concrete, up-to-date information and redistributing it to those who need to be aware of it. Managers are therefore disseminators and spokesperson for their organization. DECISIONAL ROLES: Managers make decisions. They act as entrepreneurs by initiating new kinds of activities; they handle disturbances arising in the organization; they allocate resources to staff members who need them; and they negotiate conflicts and mediate between conflicting groups in the organization. ACCOUNTS PLANNING: The accounting department creates, maintains, processes and retrieves quantitative data related to the amount of profit and loss, cash flow, inventory control, payroll, cost allocation, and expense classification. Plant managers seek information relevant to material, labor and overhead costs. Sales managers are anxious to know the amount of contribution margin of different products. FINANCE PLANNING: The finance department is in charge of activities related to borrowing, funding and ascertaining necessary liquidity. Therefore, data related to capital structure, the number of outstanding shareholders, the degree of leverage, and the maturity of debits and treasury stocks must be available. Data related to prime interest rates capital and each market condition must be constantly maintained. Top management seeks information relevant to decisions that would maximize the ultimate welfare of the outstanding shareholders. PRODUCTION: In this department, data must be maintained relative to utilization, scheduling priority, number of machines, equipments and facilities. Periodic reports are generated and provided to the plant managers to inform them of their production status. The control of manufacturing costs is a prime objective of the production department. Therefore, data concerning the physical flow of direct labour, and actual overhead costs are processed, maintained and transmitted to other responsibility centers involved in either the constant flow of input factors of production or the receipt of finished goods. The quality control

department must be furnished with periodic reports containing the number of units produced and number of production batches in order to determine the sample size for quality inspection. PURCHASING: The purchasing department is responsible for receiving a constant flow of raw materials, machinery, equipment and office supplies. Purchasing departments are interested in information relevant to such areas as sources of supplies, favourable bids, terms of delivery and quantity discounts. The accounts payable division needs documentary evidence supporting various supplier claims. Warehouse-keepers must be furnished with copies of purchase acquisition forms relating to the inflow of raw material and supplies. SALES: The sales department is the major revenue generating responsibility center where efforts are geared towards sound planning and control of sales. Data in the sales department are used to produce a flow of indicative information pertaining to regional and total sales forecasts, actual sales, and performance reports. Sales managers use periodic sales reports with breakdown sales by products in evaluating the contribution margin of each territory. The management must be given information on any significant deviations from pre-determined forecasts along with justification for these differences. The accounting department receives daily documentary evidences and information related to cash and credit sales. MARKET RESEARCH: The market research department gathers information pertaining to the firms market potential, consumer behavior and competitive circumstances. Management must be furnished with information pertinent to market strategy and trends. To illustrate, a manufacture has designed software for the users of a major hardware manufacturer. The firms ability to achieve its sales forecasts was greatly hindered when the marketing research department failed to predict and account for a major modification that took place in the hardware feature which made the firms products quite obsolete. 73 What are the characteristics of a computerized information system? Computer information systems are information systems that include a computer. A computer information system consists of peoples, procedures, data, programs, and computers. Programs are instructions for computers, just as procedures are instructions for people. Following are some of the characteristics of information system: DATA STORAGE: Firstly, the computer can serve several roles in the production of information. It can serve as a data storage and retrieval device. In this mode, the computer acts a data librarian. PROCESSED INFORMATION: Secondly, the computer can provide processing capabilities for the production of information. COMMUNICATION: Thirdly, the computer can serve as a communication device to obtain data or information from other computers. DESIRED INFORMATION : Fourthly, the computer can present information by producing tables, reports, charts, graphs and formatted documents. Computers and humans act as partners in an information system. Work that the humans would have to do in a manual system is delegated to the computer. To make this possible, human procedures are translated into computer programs. Computers can work at unbelievable speeds and at very high accuracies. 74 What are the different technologies included in MIS? List them and give the details of each with appropriate example? When applied to MIS, the word Technology should be interpreted, broadly to include a full range of technical tools including computer systems, communication systems, management service models and so on. Table shown below indicates the range of technology that has emerged to support MIS. The table is not exhaustive, but illustrates the wide variety of support tools at the disposal of todays systems managers. Gory and Morton coined the term Decision Support System (DSS) in their seminal article. Decision emphasizes decisionmaking in problem situations, not information processing, retrieval or reporting. Technological Building Blocks Relevance to the manager HARDWARE General purpose time sharing systems Permit easy access to substantial computer power. Graphic terminals Provide effective means for presenting large volumes of data in a meaningful format. Desk-top or Microcomputers Provide personalized, cheap and easily transported tools. Telecommunication networks Extend the computer to message sending and data sharing ; provide mutual access to information among decentralized units. SOFTWARE Database management systems Extend range of information that can be collected; Allow better access to existing data files; allow answers to relatively complex questions.

Specialized simulation and Application languages Reduce development time, especially for complex models and decision problems. Application packages Permit off-the-shelf installation of systems specially designed for particular type of application. HUMAN Technical intermediaries Help involvement with design process, formalizing of ideas and needs and evolving personalized system. Staff intermediaries Can act as interface between the manager and the system, translating questions, operating the system and providing the analysis. 75 Discuss the need of an information system in a business system with the help of specific example. Describe the importance of information system at different levels of managements? NEED OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN BUSINESS: Information systems have a vital role to play in the success of business and other organizations. It performs three major roles in an organization: Support of business operations. Support of management decision making. Support of strategic competitive advantage. Information systems perform operational and strategic support roles in business and other organizations. Figure given below provides a conceptual classification of information systems. It shows that some information systems can be classified conceptually as either operations or management information systems, while others perform a variety of functions. Information systems are categorized this way to spot light the major roles each plays in the operations, management and strategic success of an organization. There are as may ways to use information system in business as there are business activities to be performed, business problems to be solved, and business opportunities to be pursed .As a prospective managerial end user ,you should have a general understanding of the major ways information systems are used to support each of the functions of business .We will use the term business information systems to describe a variety of types of information systems that support a business function such as accounting ,finance ,marketing, or human resource management .Thus ,applications of information systems, marketing information systems ,human resource information systems and so on MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM MARKETING INFORMATION is one of the most important information systems to most business, yet it is most often the one overlooked. Few marketing executives use information effectively on their jobs; many of them rely on intuition as a basis for decisions The vast majority of firms tend to maintain information only about sales records or orders and shipments. What is needed is a system that will give marketing information to help them make better decisions The basic function of marketing is concerned with the planning promotion and sale of existing product in existing markets, and the development of new products and new markets to better serve present and potential customers .Computers have been a catalyst in the development of marketing information systems that integrate the information flows required by many marketing activities HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM ;( HRIS) The human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation, and development of the employees of an organization Origanally, business used computers based information system to: produce paychecks and payroll reports, maintain personal records, analyze the use of personnel in business operations Many firms have gone beyond these traditional functions and have developed human resource information systems that also support job placement employee benefits analysis training and development health ,safety, and security performance appraisals PRODUCTION / MANUFACTURING INFORMATION SYSTEM Manufacturing or production information system provides information on production/operation activities of an organization and thus facilitates the decision making process of production managers of an organization

Manufacturing is another important functional area of an organization that is engaged in producing goods from raw materials .It is clear that manufacturing is not an activity fr every organization selling goods. Some of these organizations may only be in the business of trading ,i.e. buying goods from one organization and selling it to customers ;thus performing the function of either a retailer or a wholesaler .Such organizations are also called merchandising organization INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM ALL organizations need an efficient system to maintain and control the optimum level of investment in all types of inventories.Inventory refers to the stock of raw materials and finished goods available in the firm for production and sale .An inventory control system ensures that proper stock levels of each levels of each item are maintained . ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM: ACCOUNTING INFORMATION Systems are the oldest and most widely used information systems in business .They record and report business transaction and the other economics events. Accounting information system are based on double-entry book keeping concept, which is hundreds of years old, and other more recent accounting concepts such as responsibility accounting and profitability accounting. Computer based accounting systems records and reports the flow of funds through an organization on a historical basis and produce important financial statements such as balance sheets and income statements. 76 Discuss the corporate planning for MIS. Describe the growth of MIS in an organization with the help of suitable example? CORPORATE PLANNING: The organization must develop a technique for ensuring that most important systems are built first, that unnecessary systems are not built, and that end users have a full and meaningful role in determining which new systems will be built and how Figure shows the elements of a management structure for developing new systems. At the apex of this structure is the CORPORATE STRATEGIC PLANNING group and the information system steering committee. The CORPORATE STRATEGIC PLANNING GROUP is responsible for developing the strategic organizational plan. This plan may require the development of new systems. Ann important function of this committee then is to give overall strategic direction to the information systems area. A second less obvious function is to educate senior management about the systems area so that they understand how dependent the organization is on systems. Senior management provides overall strategic direction and, equally important, provides funding and strong support. The lack of senior management involvement or senior management inability to tie information systems to strategic business plans are probably among the most common causes of long-term strategic systems failure in organizations. The information systems steering committee is the senior management group with direct responsibility for systems development and operation. It is composed of division directors from the end-user and information systems area. The steering committee reviews and approves plans for systems in all divisions; seeks to develop common systems that can be shared; seeks to coordinate and integrate systems; sometimes becomes involved in selecting specific project alternatives; and approves training for new systems. Increasingly, the information systems steering committee is becoming a powerful gatekeeper of systems development. The next level of management, the project management team, is concerned with the management of specific projects. Generally, this is a small group of senior IS managers and end-users managers with responsibility for a single project. The project team is composed of the systems professionals (analysts and programmers) who are directly responsible for building the system. As previously indicated, ultimate end users ( e.g. the human resources department ) frequently have there own systems professionals who participates directly in the project. Indeed, many large organizations have created a new job title, business systems analyst, to identify, recruit, and reward systems personnel who work directly for user departments. This is quite a departure from the past, where the data processing department was the sole source of systems professionals. A typical project team consists of systems analysts, functional analysts (specialists from relevant business areas), application programmers, and perhaps database specialists. This team is responsible for most of the development activities. For certain applications, legal staff representatives and behavioral specialists may be consulted. Discussions with managers from both user areas and information systems will take place at key decision points. EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS HAS TURNED AS AN EXAMPLE Information system is as old as recorded human history. In the third millennium BC, the earliest use of information system discovered was in a Sumerian temple. The Sumerians used clay tablets for recording receipts and issues of grain to individuals, out of temple grain store. The data storage requirement was little in those days. Information system had its fast growth in last few centuries. The industrial revolution gave it a big fillip. Thereafter, business started growing and along with growth, business complexity also increased. Civilized systems of state governance also required the business of keeping amounts and paying dues to state. More commercial legislations were evicted to bring control over business and industry. Accounting systems, organization size, development of computing technology among

others have ensured the fast growth of information system in the recent until a few hundred years ago. All business was mostly local and small in operations. Data is used in the form of raw material and must be subjected to data manipulation or processing to produce useful information. An information system generates information using data. If the information system generates information useful for a manager in planning and control, the whole system is called Management Information System. Management information is reported on an exceptional basis for managerial decision- making or action. The evolution of MIS and its fast growth in the last few decades, can be attributed to the following factors: Growth of management theory and techniques. Growth of management accounting and its applications in business. Changes in the production and distribution methods and the consequent changes in the organizational structure. Development of management science. Introduction and the developments in information technology. 77 Discuss how an organization gets benefited from the use of an MIS? Ans.: The structure of an information system can also be described in terms of the organizational functions which use information. There are no standard classifications of functions, but a typical set of functions in a manufacturing organization includes production, sales and marketing finance and accounting, logistics, personnel and information systems. Top management can also be considered as a separate function. Each of these functions has unique information needs and each requires information system support designed for it. A Management information system (MIS) is essentially a federation of information systems that are designed to support the functional subsystems of the organization. Each functional system requires applications to perform all information processing related to the function ,although this may involve calling upon a database, a model base and some computer programs which are common to all functional subsystems. Within each functional subsystems. There will be applications for transaction processing, operational control, managerial control and strategic planning. 1. Sales and Marketing subsystem: The sales and marketing functional generally includes all activities related to the promotion and sales of products or services. The transactions are sales orders, promotion orders etc., the operational control activities include the hiring and training of the sales force, the day to day scheduling of sales and promotion efforts and periodic analysis of sales volumes by region, product, and customer etc. Information for managerial control may include data on customers, competitors, competitor products and sales force requirements. 2. Production Subsystem: The responsibilities of the production or manufacturing function include product engineering, planning of production facilities, scheduling and operation of production personnel, and quality control and inspection. Typical transactions to be processed are production orders, assembly order, finished parts tickets, scrap tickets and time keeping tickets. Operational control requires detailed reports comparing actual performance to the production schedule and highlighting areas where bottleneck occur. 3. Logistics subsystems: The logistics function encompasses such activities as purchasing receiving, inventory control and distribution. the transaction to be processed include purchase requisitions, purchase orders, manufacturing orders, receiving reports, ticket s for inventory, shipping orders and bills of lading. Managerial control information for logistics consists of overall comparisons between planned and actual inventory levels costs for purchased items, stock outs, inventory turnover etc. 4. Personnel subsystem: The personnel subsystem includes hiring, training, record keeping, payment, and termination of personnel. the transaction result in documents describing employment requisitions, job descriptions, training specifications, personnel data, pay rate changes, hours worked,paychecks,benefits and termination notices. Management control of personnel function is supported by reports and analysis showing the variances resulting from differences between planned and actual performance for such classification as number of employees hired, cost of recruiting, composition of skills inventory, cost of training, salary paid, distribution of wage rates, and conformance with government equal opportunity requirement. 5. Finance and Accounting subsystem: Finance and accounting are somewhat separate functions but are sufficiently related to be described together. Finance is responsible for ensuring adequate organizational financing at as low a cost as possible. This function covers granting of credit to customers, collection processes, cash management, and financing arrangements. Accounting covers the classification of financial transactions and summarization into standard financial reports. The management control level for

accounting and finance utilizes information on budgeted versus actual cost of financial resources, cost of processing accounting data and error rates. 6. Information processing subsystem: The information processing function is responsible for ensuring that the other functions are provided the necessary information processing services and resources. Typical transactions for information processing are requests for processing, requests for corrections or changes in data and programes, reports of hardware and program performance and project proposals. 78 Explain the advantages of computerized IS? Information System: An information system can be defined as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization. In addition to supporting decision making, coordination, and control, information system may also help managers and workers analyze problems, visualize complex subjects, and create new products. Information system contains information about significant people, places, and things within the organization or in the environment surrounding it. The Fundamental Roles of Computerized Information Systems Information Systems perform three vital roles in any type of organization: Support of business operations Support of managerial decision making Support of strategic competitive advantage. ADVANTAGES OF COMPUTERISED IS: Conceptually, MIS can exist without computers, but it is the power of the computer which makes MIS feasible. The concept of user-machine system implies that some tasks are best performed by humans, while others are best done by machines. The computer based user-machine characteristics of MIS affect the knowledge requirements of both system developer and system user. Following are some of the characteristics of computerized information system: DATA STORAGE: Firstly, the computer can serve several roles in the production of information. It can serve as a data storage and retrieval device. In this mode, the computer acts a data librarian. PROCESSED INFORMATION: Secondly, the computer can provide processing capabilities for the production of information. COMMUNICATION: Thirdly, the computer can serve as a communication device to obtain data or information from other computers. DESIRED INFORMATION: Fourthly, the computer can present information by producing tables, reports, charts, graphs and formatted documents. Computers and humans act as partners in an information system. Work that the humans would have to do in a manual system is delegated to the computer. To make this possible, human procedures are translated into computer programs. Computers can work at unbelievable speeds and at very high accuracies. 80 Define Expert System. Explain the structure and components of expert system? expert systems are related to knowledge-based decisions support systems that add a knowledge base to the database and model base of traditional decision support systems.however, unlike decision support systems, expert systems provide answers to questions in a very specific problem area by making humanlike interference about knowledge contained in a specialized knowledge base. They must be able to explain their reasoning process and conclusions to a user. So expert systems can provide decision support to managers in the form of advice from an expert consultant in a specific problem area. EXPERT SYSTEM: An expert system (ES) is a knowledge-intensive program that solves a problem by capturing the expertise of a human in limited domains of knowledge and experience. An ES can assist decision making by asking relevant questions and explaining the reasons for adopting certain actions. Some of the common characteristics of ES are the following: They perform some of the problem solving works of human. They represent knowledge in forms such as rules or frames. They interact with humans. They can consider multiple hypotheses simultaneously. The development of systems that process the knowledge of a true human expert has proven to be difficult and expensive. The

technology however, is useful in the solution of many smaller problems. The term expert system originated because it was aimed, initially, at replicating the abilities of true human experts. The goal was to create a system that would be able, for example, to diagnose human diseases as well as or better then a human expert. Many of the expert systems, we encounter in business will not have abilities of true human experts. ES employs human knowledge captured in a computer to solve problems that ordinarily require human expertise. These can be used by non-experts to improve their problem solving abilities. ES becomes a knowledgeable assistant to human experts. They are used to propagate search knowledge resources for improved consistent results. Such systems could work better than any single expert, in making judgments in a specific, usually narrow area of expertise, termed as DOMAIN. This possibility may have a significant impact on both on advisory professionals (financial analysts, lawyers, tax advisors etc.) and on organizations and management. STRUCTURE OF ES: Expert systems can be viewed as composed of two major parts: The development environment. The consultation environment. The ES development environment is used by the ES builder to build the components and introduce expert knowledge into the ES knowledge base. The consultation environment is used by non-expert to obtain the expert knowledge and advice. COMPONENTS OF EXPERT SYSTEM (ES): The following components exist in a sophisticated expert system: Knowledge acquisition. Knowledge base. Inference engine. Blackboard (workplace) User interface. Explanation (Justifier) Reasoning capability improvement (Knowledge refinement) Most existing expert systems do not contain the knowledge refinement component. There are very large variations in the content and capabilities of each component. 55 Discuss a Cybernetic System. Do you think MIS is an example of a Cybernetic System? Illustrate? CYBERNETICS Artificial Intelligence and cybernetics: Arent they the same thing? Or, isnt one about computers and the other about robots? The answer to these questions is emphatically, No. Researchers in Artificial Intelligence (AI) use computer technology to build intelligent machines; they consider implementation (that is, working examples) as the most important result. Practitioners of cybernetics use models of organizations, feedback, goals, and conversation to understand the capacity and limits of any system (technological, biological, or social); they consider powerful descriptions as the most important result. The field of AI first flourished in the 1960s as the concept of universal computation the cultural view of the brain as a computer, and the availability of digital computing machines came together to paint a future where computers were at least as smart as humans. The field of cybernetics came into being in the late 1940s when concepts of information, feedback, and regulation [Wiener 1948] were generalized from specific applications in engineering to systems in general, including systems of living organisms, abstract intelligent processes, and language. The lack of theories and methodological weakness have been pointed out as two distinct but related problems in empirical management information systems (MIS) research. Reinforcing the existing belief that too much attention has been devoted to what as opposed to why or when relationships exist, this paper focuses on a subset of model building and methodology issues involving the systematic discovery and representation of causal relationships. Our analysis of the existing empirical MIS literature reveals the need to build richer causal models, to increase the flexibility of model representation, to integrate the isolated worlds of pure latent and pure manifested variables, and to provide a tighter linkage between the exploratory and confirmatory research phases.Based on philosophy of science and advances in the fields of experimental economics and sociology, we propose a foundation for developing richer models by explicitly considering the exogeneity and endogeneity of constructs and a manipulative account of causality, and by recognizing the role of incentives, agent, and organizational characteristics in MIS models. Since richer models require more flexible tools and techniques, the paper describes the representational shortcomings and statistical pitfalls of factor-analytic methods commonly deployed in empirical research. We suggest that weak exploratory phase tools and approaches may allow violations of causal assumptions to pass undetected to the confirmatory phase. Since confirmatory tools like LISREL also make factor-analytic assumptions, these violations are not likely to be detected at the confirmatory phase either. We propose using TETRAD, a non-parametric tool, at the exploratory phase for its ability to accommodate a wide variety of causal

models. The findings are summarized within an integrated framework, which enhances the likelihood of discovering relationships through richer theoretical support and powerful exploratory analysis. Q2 What is system approach? Discuss with examples? The systems approach in business was an idea born in the decade of the 1960s. The notion was one of synergism-the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. The result was obtained by a team of 11 well-coached hockey players is greater than that achieved by 11 individual players doing their own thing. So an information system ought to be designed based on synergy of subsystems viz. human resource, production, marketing, sales, logistics, inventory control, manufacturing, legal, finance, accounting, customer care and service with interrelation amongst one another in order to achieve a net unified cohesive system which can: (i) Optimise the net results of the operations of an organization. (ii) Monitor the operational business plans and strategies in right earmest. (iii) Re-structure, re-orient, re-design, and re-engineer the business processes if need arises. The systems approach to problem-solving involves the following steps: 1. Define the problem 2. Gather data describing the problem 3. Identify alternative solutions 4. Evaluate these alternatives 5. Select and implement the best alternative 6. Follow up System approach applying to a problem that the microcomputer dealer might experience. 1. Define the problem: Defining the problem is the first step in systems approach, because if the wrong problem is identified, the entire effort to change the system will be off track. In this case, the owner is concerned about a fact that many of the salespeople are not meeting their quotas. He decides to start a systems study by collecting more information about the problem. 2. Gather data describing the problem: The owner may study the environment, current standards, management, input resources, and internal procedures to gain an understanding of the problem. The environment of the microcomputer dealer includes its vendors, customers, competitors, etc. The owner might learn that local competitors are selling comparable microcomputers at prices 10 percent less than the firm can offer. 3. Identify Alternative Solutions: Given the fact that competitors have dropped their prices on comparable microcomputers; the owner needs to identify some alternative responses. These responses may be following: Alternative 1: Investigate alternative manufacturers of microcomputers to obtain products at a lower cost per unit. Alternative 2: Decrease the cost of sales by introducing mail-order sales supported by marketing. Alternative 3: Differentiate the dealerships products by offering on-line diagnostic support services for machine failure, service response time within 5 hours and services checks. 4. Evaluate the Alternatives: The owner evaluates the extent to which each alternative enables the organization to achieve its objectives. As we saw, the owners objective was to increase the performance of sales personnel. Purchasing lower-cost products from the suppliers would enable the owner to cut price, but would create difficulty at the service end if these microcomputer products were less reliable. 5. Select and Implement the Best alternative: Suppose the owner decides to develop and implement a mail-order program to reduce the cost of sales overhead to smaller accounts and to enable sales personnel to focus on high-potential accounts. This new strategy would require the owner to recruit new customer service representatives. The owner would also have to develop and establish customer prospect databases, as well as a system for shipping merchandise, billing, and authorizing credit transactions. 6. Follow up to determine whether the solution is working: The last step is follow-up. In the case of the mail-order sales alternative, the owner needs to determine if the system is meeting its goals. If not, he has to make changes in management, standards, resources and procedures to achieve the objectives.

Q20. In what ways have the roles of information system in business expanded during the last 40 years? Information system performs three vital roles in any type of organization: (a) Support of business operations. (b) Support of managerial decision making. (c) Support of strategic competitive advantages.

Lets take a retail store as an example to illustrate this important point. As a consumer, you have to deal regularly with the information systems that support business operations at the many retail stores where you shop. For example, most retail stores now use computerbased information systems to help them record customer purchases, keep track of inventory, pay employees, buy new merchandise, and evaluate sales transistor operations would grind to a halt without the support of such information systems. Information systems also help store managers make better decisions and attempt to gain a strategic competitive advantage For example, decisions on what lines of merchandise need to be added or discontinued, or no what kind of investment they require, are typically made after analysis provided by computer based information systems . These not only support the decision making of store managers but also help them look for ways to gain an advantage over other retailers in the competition for customers. For example, store managers might make a decision to install computerized touchscreen catalog ordering systems in all of their stores, tied in with computer shopping network. This might lure customers away from other stores, based on the ease of ordering merchandise provided by such computerbased information systems. Thus, strategic information systems can help provide strategic products &services that give a business organization a comparative advantage over its competitors. The Winds of Change Todays managers need all the help they can get. Their firms are being buffeted on all sides by strong, frequently shifting winds of change. Organizations strategic objectives and their business processes are undergoing significant and volatile changes, placing great pressure on firms their managers. The shifting winds of change in todays business environment have made information systems and information technology vital components that help keep an enterprise on target to meet its business goals. Information technology has become an indispensable ingredient in several strategic thrusts that business have initiated to meet the challenge of change. These include globalization business process reengineering agile competition, and using information technology for competitive advantage. They are a major reason why todays business needs information technology. Globalization Many companies are in process of globalization that is becoming global enterprise. For example, businesses are expending into global markets for their products and services, using global production facilities to manufacture or assemble products, raising money in global capital markets, forming alliance with global partners, and battling with global competitor for customers from all over the globe. Managing and accomplishing these strategic changes would be impossible without the global computing and telecommunications networks that are the central nervous system of todays companies. Business Process Reengineering Business has used information technology for many years to automate tasksfrom automated book keeping automating manufacturing. More recently, business have used computer-based information systems to support the analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data in business decision making. However, business process reengineering is an example of how information technology is being used to restructure work by transformation business processes. A business process is any set of activities designed to produce a specified output for a customer or market. Competitive advantage : Using information technology for globalization and business process reengineering frequently results in the development of information systems that help give a company a competitive advantage in the market place. The strategic information systems use information technology to develop products, services, processes, and capabilities that give a business a strategic advantage over the competitive forces it faces in its industry. Information technology can be used to implement a variety of competitive strategies to confront these competitive forces. Describe the characteristics of MIS and explain how MIS differ from TPS and from DSS. Middle management needs systems to help with monitoring, controlling, decision making, and administrative activities. MIS provide middle managers with reports on the organizations current performance. This information is used to monitor and control the business and predict future performance. MIS summarize and report the companys basic operations using data supplied by TPSs. The basic transaction data from TPS are compressed and usually presented in reports that are produced on a regular schedule. MIS serve managers primarily interested in weekly, monthly, and yearly results, although some MIS enable managers to drill down to see daily or hourly data if required.

 MIS generally provide answers to routine questions that have been specified in advance and have a predefined procedure for answering them. MIS systems generally are not flexible and have little analytical capability. Most MIS use simple routines, such as summaries and comparisons, as opposed to sophisticated mathematical models or statistical techniques. MIS differs from TPS in that MIS deals with summarized and compressed data from the TPS.

While MIS have an internal orientation, DSS will often use data from external sources, as well as data from TPS and MIS. DSS supports what-if analyses rather than a long-term structured analysis of MIS. MIS are generally not flexible and provide little analytical capabilities. In contrast, DSS are designed for analytical purposes and are flexible. Describe the characteristics of DSS and explain how DSS differ from ESS. Decision-support systems (DSS) support nonroutine decision making for middle managers. DSS provide sophisticated analytical models and data analysis tools to support semistructured and unstructured decision-making activities. DSS use data from TPS, MIS, and external sources, in condensed form, allowing decision makers to perform what-if analysis. DSS focus on problems that are unique and rapidly changing; procedures for arriving at a solution may not be fully predefined. DSS are designed so that users can work with them directly; these systems include interactive, user-friendly software. Executive support systems help senior managers address strategic issues and long-term trends, both in the firm and in the external environment. ESS address nonroutine decisions requiring judgment, evaluation, and insight because there is no agreed-on procedure for arriving at a solution. ESS provide a generalized computing and communications capacity that can be applied to a changing array of problems. ESS are designed to incorporate data about external events, such as new tax laws or competitors, but they also draw summarized information from information from internal MIS and DSS. ESS are designed for ease-of-use and rely heavily on graphical presentations of data. Describe the relationship between TPS, MIS, DSS, and ESS. Ideally, all four systems use the same basic data. TPS are a major source of internal data for other systems, especially MIS and DSS. Internal data from TPS and MIS combine with external data to provide a source of analysis for DSS and ESS. All four systems are designed to give managers of all organizational levels and complete, consolidated view of the firm. 12. What is a strategic information system? What is the difference between a strategic information system and a strategiclevel system?

A strategic information system is a computer system at any organizational level that fundamentally changes the goals, operations, products, services, or environmental relationships of organizations, in effect changing the very nature of the firms business. In contrast, strategic-level systems provide long-term planning information to senior executives. Strategic information systems are more far-reaching and deeply rooted, and fundamentally transform the organization itself.

1. What are the advantages of using the Internet as the infrastructure for electronic commerce and electronic business? The Internet is an international network of networks connecting many millions of people from well over 100 countries. It is the largest information superhighway in the world. The Internet provides a universal and easy-to-use set of technologies and standards that can be adopted by all organizations, no matter what computer system or information technology platform they are using; provides a much lower cost and easier-to-use alternative for coordination activities than proprietary networks; reduces organizational transaction and agency costs; increases communication, including electronic mail, online forums, and chatting; provides access to increased information and information retrieval from many thousands of online databases around the world; and increases market potential with online offerings of information and products through the easy-to-use World Wide Web. 2. How is the Internet changing the economics of information and business models? The Internet radically reduces the cost of creating, sending, and storing information while making that information more widely available. The Internet reduces search costs, allowing customers to locate products, suppliers, prices, and delivery terms. The Internet enables companies to collect and analyze more detailed and accurate information about their customers, allowing these companies to better target market their products and services. The Internet shrinks information asymmetry and has transformed the richness and reach of information. It can help companies create and capture profits in new ways by adding extra value to existing products and services. It also provides the foundation for new products and services. 3. Name and describe six Internet business models for electronic commerce. Distinguish between a pure-play Internet business model and a clicks-and-mortar business model. Table 4-2 identifies eight Internet business models. These models are virtual storefront, information broker, transaction broker, online marketplace, content provider, online service provider, virtual community, and portal. Virtual storefronts sell physical products directly to consumers or individual businesses. Information brokers provide product, pricing, and availability information to individuals and businesses; they generate revenue from advertising or from directing buyers to sellers. The transaction broker saves users money and time by processing online sale transactions and generates a fee each time. The online marketplace provides a digital environment where buyers and sellers meet, search for and display products, and establish prices for those products; it can provide online auctions and reverse auctions. A content provider creates revenue by providing digital content, such as digital news, music, photos, or video over the Web. The online service provider provides online services for individuals and businesses and generates revenue from subscription or transaction fees and from advertising. The virtual community provides an online meeting place where people with similar interests can communicate and find useful information. The portal provides an initial point of entry to the Web along with specialized content and other services.

A pure-play business model is based purely on the Internet. A clicks-and-mortar business model has a Web site that is an extension of a traditional bricks-and-mortar business. 4. Name and describe the various categories of electronic commerce. The three major types of electronic commerce are business-to-consumer (B2C), business-tobusiness (B2B), and consumer-to-consumer (C2C). Business-to-consumer involves retailing products and services to individual shoppers. Barnes&Nobel.com is an example of business-toconsumer electronic commerce. Business-to-business involves the sale of goods and services among businesses. Millpro.com provides business-to-business electronic commerce. Consumer-toconsumer involves consumers selling directly to consumers. An example of consumer-to-consumer electronic commerce is eBay.com. Electronic commerce transactions can also be classified based on the participants physical connections to the Web. Participants can use wired networks or mobile commerce. 5. How can the Internet facilitate sales and marketing to individual customers? Describe the role played by Web personalization. The Internet enables a company to create closer, cost-effective relationships with its customers. The company can use the Internet to provide information, service, support, and in many instances, the product over the Web. The Internet facilitates direct sales over the Web, interactive marketing and personalization, and customer self-service. The Internet digitally enables the firm. The firm can link to customers and suppliers so that electronic commerce, automating business-to-business transactions such as invoices, purchase orders, and sometimes payments (digital cash and electronic funds transfer) are economically and technically feasible. In many instances, the customer can purchase a product or service from a company's Web site. A Web site also allows potential customers to obtain information about the products, distributors, and service centers. The information about distributors allows a company to use the Web site to market, while avoiding channel conflict. A FAQ (frequently asked questions) list can allow support for the product without tying up phone lines with common, easily answered questions. Such FAQs can raise customer comfort with the product and the company. Web personalization directly tailors the Web content to the specific user and at a low cost. Personalization helps firms form a lasting relationship with an individual customer. 6. How can the Internet help provide customer service? Customer service starts with the ease customers have in researching products themselves, and then the ease of purchasing. Then, when the product has arrived (whether it is a digital product delivered over the Internet or a physical product delivered by mail or express delivery), the customer can obtain help on its usage over the Internet, often very easily. As was noted in question 5, FAQs provide support for easy questions, such as instructions for assembly or use of products or services. Answers to questions can be e-mailed from the Web site without making customers wait for telephone support. Many customers are happy with an answer even if it takes eight hours to receive, as long as they know they are going to get it. Further, with chat or Internet

telephony linked to the site, customers can talk to representatives. Many vendors, such as Dell, have people assigned to answer the questions or complaints of users. The Internet is also an easy, fast way to place orders because it reduces conversation, misunderstanding, errors, and time. 7. How can Internet technology support business-to-business electronic commerce? Business-to-business transactions can occur via a company's Web site, net marketplace, or private exchange. Web sites make it easy to sell and buy over the Internet, compare suppliers, products, and prices, and even find out how others feel about the product. Further, supply chain linkages through intranets and extranets can support JIT, reduce cycle times, and other practices of continuous improvement. Because of the ease and efficiencies brought by the Internet, businessto-business participants can save a significant amount of money and time. 8. What are Net marketplaces? Why do they represent an important business model for B2B ecommerce? How do they differ from private industrial networks? A net marketplace is a single digital marketplace based on Internet technology linking many buyers to many sellers. The net marketplace is an important business model for B2B e-commerce because some net marketplaces serve vertical markets for specific industries and other net marketplaces serve horizontal markets, selling goods that are available in many different industries. Also, net marketplaces can sell either direct goods or indirect goods. Net marketplaces are more transaction-oriented and less relationship-oriented than private industrial networks. 9. Name and describe the principal electronic payment systems used on the Internet. Table 4-3 summarizes the electronic payment systems. The electronic payment systems discussed in the chapter include digital credit card payment, digital wallet, accumulated balance payment, stored value payment systems, digital cash, peer-to-peer payment systems, digital checking, and electronic billing presentment and payment. Digital credit card payment systems provide secure services for credit card payments on the Internet and protect information transmitted among users, merchant sites, and processing banks. Digital wallets store credit card and owner identification information and provide these data automatically during electronic commerce purchase transactions. Accumulated balance payment systems accumulate micropayment purchases as a debit balance that must be paid periodically on credit card or telephone bills. Stored value payment systems enable customers to make instant online payments from a value stored in a digital account. A smart card is a credit-card-size plastic card that stores digital information and can be used for electronic payments. Digital cash is an electronic form of currency, moves outside the normal network of money, and is used for micropayments or larger purchases. A peer-to-peer payment system is an electronic payment system for people who want to send money to vendors or individuals who are not set up to accept credit card payments. A digital check is an electronic check with a secure digital signature. An electronic billing presentment and payment system is used to pay routine monthly bills; it allows users to view their bills electronically and pay them through electronic funds transfers from bank or credit card accounts. 10. Why are intranets so useful for electronic business?

Table 4-4 summarizes the organizational benefits of intranets. Intranet benefits include connectivity from most computing platforms, can be tied to internal corporate systems and core transaction databases, can create interactive applications with text, audio, and video, scalable to larger or smaller computing platforms as requirements change, easy-to-use, universal Web interface, low start-up costs, richer, more responsive information environment, and reduced information distribution costs. 11. How can intranets support organizational collaboration? Organizations are using intranets to create enterprise collaboration environments. Regardless of location, intranets allow organizational members to exchange ideas, share information, and work together on common projects and assignments. 12. Describe the uses of intranets for electronic business in sales and marketing, human resources, finance and accounting, and manufacturing. Tables 4-5 4-8 provide examples of how intranets are used in the functional areas. In sales and marketing, intranets help oversee and coordinate the activities of the sales force. The sales force can obtain updates on pricing, promotions, rebates and customers and information on competitors. The sales force can also access presentation and sales documents, which they can customize for specific customers. In the human resources area, intranets keep employees informed of company issues and policies, allow employees to access and update their personnel records, and take online competency tests. Further, job postings and internal job information can be made available to employees. Employees can enroll in health care, benefit plans, or company training seminars. In finance and accounting, intranets provide an online, integrated view of financial and accounting information in an easy-to-use format. In the manufacturing area, intranets integrate complex information across the plant floors or many plants, particularly in managing work flow and process control. 14. Describe the management challenges posed by electronic commerce and electronic business on the Internet. Electronic commerce and electronic business pose several management challenges, including inadequate security, given the sensitive and proprietary nature of information that people might want to communicate through the Net; electronic commerce and electronic business require careful orchestration of the firms divisions, production sites, and sales offices, as well as closer relationships with customers, suppliers, and other business partners in its network of value creation; technology problems, including the lack of standards, the growing need of bandwidth, inadequate telecommunications facilities in many less developed countries, and the abundance of data without the technical ability yet to search for and locate it quickly and easily; lack of clarity on many critical legal questions that affect the transmission of data nationally and internationally; unproven business models; and control and coordination problems, particularly in extranets and business-to-business sites. 10. What are the Internet and World Wide Web? How have they changed the role played by information systems in organizations? The Internet is an international network of hundreds of thousands of public and private networks with over 500 million people connected in over 200 countries working in science, education, government, and business. Individuals and

organizations use the Internet to exchange information and perform business transactions with other individuals and organizations around the globe. It should be noted that the digital firm uses the Internet as its primary technology platform. The World Wide Web is a system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a networked environment. The Web is a part of the Internet that provides a graphically-based system of pages for storing information on the Internet. The Internet and World Wide Web have had a tremendous impact on the role information systems play in organizations. The Internet and World Wide Web are responsible for the increased connectivity and collaboration within and outside the organization. The Internet, World Wide Web, and other technologies have led to the redesign and reshaping of organizations. The Internet and World Wide Web have helped transform the organization's structure, scope of operations, reporting and control mechanisms, work practices, work flows, and products and services. 13. What is the relationship between network revolution, the digital firm, electronic commerce, and electronic business? The Internet and other networks have made it possible for the firm to replace manual and paperbased processes with the electronic flow of information. This change can enable many companies ultimately to become digital firms. The digital firm uses the Internet and digital technology to expedite the exchange of information and facilitates communication and coordination both inside the organization and between the organization and its partners. Without this linkage of buyers and sellers through the networks and the Internet, there would be no way to transmit the many transactions of the electronic market, which would leave buyers and sellers to depend on paper transactions with their time delays, inaccuracies, and expenses. 14. What are interorganizational systems? Why are they becoming more important? How has Internet and Web technology affected these systems? Interorganizational systems automate the flow of information across organizational boundaries, linking a company to its customers, distributors, or suppliers, and sometimes even their competitors. Interorganizational systems allow companies to electronically conduct transactions with different companies. By electronically conducting transactions with other companies, the companies can respond more quickly to market demands and lower transaction costs. Moreover, the companies can work jointly and more quickly and fully with partners to design, produce, and sell products. This method can result in higher levels of efficiency, value to customers, and even result in a significant competitive advantage. The Web and the Internet can lower the cost for all those involved, even making it possible for small companies to participate where they might not if costs were higher. Also, many firms find their employees need little or no training to use the Internet and the Web.

List and describe the various types of collaboration and communication systems. In an increasingly globalized economy, more jobs are becoming interaction jobs. These kinds of jobs require face-to-face interaction with other employees, managers, vendors, and customers. They require systems that allow the interaction workers to communicate, collaborate and share ides. Enterprise-wide information systems businesses can use to support interaction jobs include:

 Internet-based collaboration environments like Lotus Notes, Groove, and WebEx provide online storage space for documents, team communications (separated from e-mail), calendars, and audio-visual tools members can use to meet face-to-face. E-mail and Instant Messaging (IM) are reliable methods for communicating whenever and wherever around the globe. Cell phones and wireless handhelds give professionals and other employees an easy way to talk with one another, with customers and vendors, and with managers. These devices have grown exponentially in sheer numbers and in applications available. Social networking is no longer just social. Businesses are realizing the value of providing easy ways for interaction workers to share ideas and collaborate with each other. Wikis are ideal tools for storing and sharing company knowledge and insights. They are often easier to use and cheaper than more proprietary knowledge management systems. They also provide a more dynamic and current repository of knowledge than other systems.

Explain how intranets and extranets help firms integrate information and business processes. Because intranets and extranets share the same technology and software platforms as the Internet, they are easy and inexpensive ways for companies to increase integration and expedite the flow of information within the company (intranets alone) and with customers and suppliers (extranets). They provide ways to distribute information and store corporate policies, programs, and data. Both types of nets can be customized by users and provide a single point of access to information from several different systems. Businesses can connect the nets to transaction processing systems easily and quickly. Interfaces between the nets and TPS, MIS, DSS, and ESS systems provide input and output for users.

1.What is the difference between e-business, e-commerce, and e-government? Distinguish between e-business and e-commerce. E-business refers to the use of digital technology and the Internet to execute a firms business processes. It includes internal business processes and processes for coordination with suppliers, customers, business partners, and government regulators. E-commerce is a narrower part of e-business dealing with the purchase and sale of goods and services over the Internet, including support activities such as marketing and customer support. Define and describe e-government. E-government refers to the application of the Internet and networking technologies to digitally enable government and public sector agencies relationships with citizens, businesses, and other governmental bodies. 2.What is the role of the information systems function in a business? Describe how the information systems function supports a business. The information systems departments is the formal organizational unit responsible for information technology services. The information systems department is responsible for maintaining the hardware, software, data storage, and networks that comprise the firms IT infrastructure.

Compare the roles played by programmers, systems analysts, information systems managers, the chief information officer (CIO), chief security officer (CSO), chief knowledge officer (CKO). Programmers are highly trained technical specialists who write the software instructions for computers. Systems analysts constitute the principal liaisons between the information systems groups and the rest of the organization. The systems analysts job is to translate business problems and requirements into information requirements and systems. Information systems managers lead teams of programmers and analysts, project managers, physical facility managers, telecommunications mangers, or database specialists. Chief information officer (CIO) is a senior manager who oversees the use of information technology in the firm. Chief security officer (CSO) is responsible for information systems security in the firm and has the principle responsibility for enforcing the firms information security policy. The CSO is responsible for educating and training users and IS specialists about security, keeping management aware of security threats and breakdowns, and maintaining the tools and policies chosen to implement security. Chief knowledge officer (CKO) helps design programs and systems to find new sources of knowledge or to make better use of existing knowledge in organizational and management processes. 16. How have the value chain and competitive forces models changed as a result of the Internet and the emergence of digital firms? Internet technology has enabled a firm to extend the concept of its value chain to include all of the firms suppliers and business partners into a single Web. The main reason for this is that the Internet greatly reduces the cost of connecting online with partners. This enables companies to work directly with companies around the world and with companies too small to build their own international network. The same is true with digital firms because they essentially exist mainly because they can operate over the Net. Similarly, because of the Internet and digital firms, corporations find it cheaper and easier to relate to suppliers and customers, enabling the company to meet the competitive problem identified using the competitive forces model. The competitive forces model has also changed in the Internet era because firms do not just compete with each other within the same industry, they compete as part of industry sets. 17. Why are strategic information systems difficult to build? Strategic information systems are difficult to build because they can entail massive sociotechnical changes within the organization. Organizational boundaries between the firm and its customers and suppliers and between departments within the organization usually must be broken down. New relationships among parts of the company and with customers and suppliers must be redefined. Sometimes entirely new organizational structures may need to be built (as with the Saturn division of General Motors). Also, resistance to such changes may exist because these changes impact responsibilities and jobs.