Laudon MIS PDF According to Laudon (2012), Executive support systems (ESS) help senior management make these

decisions. They address non-routine decisions requiring judgment, evaluation, and insight because there is no agreed-on procedure for arriving at a solution. ESS present graphs and data from many sources through an interface that is easy for senior managers to use. Often the information is delivered to senior executives through a portal, which uses a Web interface to present integrated personalized business content. ESS are designed to incorporate data about external events, such as new tax laws or competitors, but they also draw summarized information from internal MIS and DSS. They filter, compress, and track critical data, displaying the data of greatest importance to senior managers. Increasingly, such systems include business intelligence analytics for analyzing trends, forecasting, and drilling down to data at greater levels of detail. For example, the CEO of Leiner Health Products, one of the largest manufacturers of private-label vitamins and supplements in the United States, has an ESS that provides on his desktop a minute-to-minute view of the firms financial performance as measured by working capital, accounts receivable, accounts payable, cash flow, and inventory. The information is presented in the form of a digital dashboard, which displays on a single screen graphs and charts of key performance indicators for managing a company. Digital dashboards are becoming an increasingly popular tool for management decision makers. The Interactive Session on Organizations describes real-world examples of several types of systems we have just described that are used by a successful fast-food chain. Note the types of systems illustrated in this case and the role they play in improving business performance and competitiveness. C. Executive Information Systems d.PDF Introduction An Executive Information Systems (EIS) is a type of management information system intended to facilitate and support the information and decision making needs of senior executives by providing easy access to both internal and external information relevant to meeting the strategic goals of the organization. It is commonly considered as a specialized form of a Decision Support System (DSS) and otherwise referred to as an Executive Support System (ESS). EIS are targeted at management needs to quickly assess the status of a business or section of business. These packages are aimed firmly at the type of business user who needs instant and up to date understanding of critical business information to aid decision making. The idea behind an EIS is that information can be collated and displayed to the user without manipulation or further processing. The user can then quickly see the status of his chosen department or function, enabling them to concentrate on decision making. Generally an EIS is configured to display data such as order backlogs, open sales, purchase order backlogs, shipments, receipts and pending orders. This information can then be used to make executive decisions at a strategic level. The emphasis of the system as a whole is the easy to use interface and the integration with a variety of data sources. It offers strong reporting and data mining capabilities which can provide all the data the executive is likely to need. Traditionally the interface was menu driven with either reports, or text presentation. Newer systems, and especially the newer Business Intelligence systems, which are replacing EIS, have a dashboard or scorecard type display. The Role of ESS in the Organization Executives often face information overload and must be able to separate the chaff from the wheat in order to make the right decision. On the other hand, if the information they have is not detailed enough they may not be able to make the best decision. An ESS can supply the summarized

information executives need and yet provide the opportunity to drill down to more detail if necessary. As technology advances, ESS are able to link data from various sources both internal and external to provide the amount and kind of information executives find useful. As common software programs include more options and executives gain experience using these programs, they're turning to them as an easy way to manipulate information. Many executives are also turning to the Web to provide the flexibility they need. Rationale They provide executive information in a readily accessible, interactive format using graphics based queries on summarized and detailed data. They are also used to analyse, compare and highlight trends to help govern the strategic direction of a company. They are commonly integrated with operational systems, giving managers the facility to drill down to find out further information on a problem. It usually allows summary over the entire organisation and also allows drilling down to specific levels of detail. Thus they described as an MIS for executive use. They are designed to the individual to let chief executive officers of organisations tie in to all levels of the organisation. They are very expensive to run and require extensive staff support to operate. In recent years and in the USA, the term EIS has lost popularity in and the terms business intelligence and online analytical processing are often used for these types of applications. Executive Support Systems Characteristics. A number of definitions have been put forward to describe EISs. While a definition is useful, in a complex area such as EISs a better understanding is obtained by looking at their characteristics. Some of these are given below: Executive support systems are end-user computerised information systems operated directly by executive managers. They utilise newer computer technology in the form of data sources, hardware and programs, to place data in a common format, and provide fast and easy access to information. They integrate data from a variety of sources both internal and external to the organisation. They focus on helping executives assimilate information quickly to identify problems and opportunities. In other words, EISs help executives track their critical success factors. Each system is tailored to the needs and preferences of an individual user, and information is presented in a format which can most readily be interpreted. Although these characteristics apply to all EISs, each individual system can potentially differ in scope, nature, purpose and content, depending on the environment in which it is implemented. Advantages of Executive Information System As more executives come up through the ranks, they are more familiar with and rely more on technology to assist them with their jobs. Executive Support Systems don't provide executives with ready- made decisions. They provide the information that helps them make their decisions. Executives use that information, along with their experience, knowledge, education, and understanding of the corporation and the business environment as a whole, to make their decisions. Executives are more inclined to want summarized data rather than detailed data (even though the details must be available). ESS rely on graphic presentation of information because it's a much quicker way for busy executives to grasp summarized information It provides timely delivery of company summary information. It provides better understanding of information It filters data for management. It provides system for improvement in information tracking It offers efficiency to decision makers.

Disadvantages of Executive Information System Functions are limited, cannot perform complex calculations. Hard to quantify benefits and to justify implementation of an EIS. Executives may encounter information overload. System may become slow, large, and hard to manage. Difficult to keep current data. May lead to less reliable and insecure data. Small companies may encounter excessive costs for implementation. Highly skilled personnel requirement can not be fulfilled by the small business. Executive Information System Features EIS are intended as decision support tools for senior managers. Since these strategic decisions are based on a wide range of input information, they always need to be well integrated with operational systems in a business. Some important features of executive support system include the fact that: They provide summary information to monitoring of business performance. This is often achieved through measures known as critical success factors or key performance indicators (KPIs). These will be displayed in an easy-to-interpret form such as a graph showing their variation through time. If a KPI falls below a critical preset value, the system will notify the manager through a visible or audible warning. They are used mainly for strategic decision making, but may also provide features that relate to tactical decision making. They provide a drill-down feature which gives a manager the opportunity to find out more information necessary to take a decision or discover the source of a problem. E.g. a manager with multinational manufacturing problem might find from the EIS that a particular country is underperforming in production. He could drill down to see which particular factory was responsible for this. They provide analysis tools. They must be integrated with other facilities to help manage the solving of problems and the daily running of the business. These include electronic mail and scheduling and calendar facilities. They integrate data from a wide range of information sources, including company and external sources such as market and competitor. They have to be designed according to the needs of managers who do not use computers frequently. They should be intuitive and easy to learn. All these facilities require integration with operational data. Since this information is commonly stored in the ERP systems, these are often integrated with EIS or have EIS functions built in. Executive Information System and Business Planning- PDF Executive Information Systems (EIS) provide managers with a user customizable view of the enterprise from various financial and operational perspectives. An executive information system provides information about all the factors that influence the business activities of a company. It combines relevant data from external and internal sources and provides the user with important current data which can be analyzed quickly. The EIS is a system which is used to collect and evaluate information from different areas of a business and its environment. Among others, sources of this information can be the Financial Information System (meaning external accounting and cost accounting), the Human Resources Information System and the Logistics Information System. The information provided serves both management and the employees in Accounting.

An EIS has an individual database for the company, business or organization. Data is supplied to this database from various internal sub-information systems and external data. The data is structured heterogeneously, and therefore one can structure the database into separate EIS data areas for different business purposes. These data areas are may be referred to as aspects. Various aspects can be defined for the enterprise, for example, information on the financial situation, logistics, human resources, the market situation, and stock prices. For each aspect you can create reports to evaluate the data. One can either carry out your own basic evaluations in the EIS presentation or reporting system or analyze the data using certain report groups created specifically for the organizations requirements. http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk An Executive Information System (EIS) is a set of management tools supporting the information and decision-making needs of management by combining information available within the organisation with external information in an analytical framework. EIS are targeted at management needs to quickly assess the status of a business or section of business. These packages are aimed firmly at the type of business user who needs instant and up to date understanding of critical business information to aid decision making. The idea behind an EIS is that information can be collated and displayed to the user without manipulation or further processing. The user can then quickly see the status of his chosen department or function, enabling them to concentrate on decision making. Generally an EIS is configured to display data such as order backlogs, open sales, purchase order backlogs, shipments, receipts and pending orders. This information can then be used to make executive decisions at a strategic level. The emphasis of the system as a whole is the easy to use interface and the integration with a variety of data sources. It offers strong reporting and data mining capabilities which can provide all the data the executive is likely to need. Traditionally the interface was menu driven with either reports, or text presentation. Newer systems, and especially the newer Business Intelligence systems, which are replacing EIS, have a dashboard or scorecard type display. Before these systems became available, decision makers had to rely on disparate spreadsheets and reports which slowed down the decision making process. Now massive amounts of relevant information can be accessed in seconds. The two main aspects of an EIS system are integration and visualisation. The newest method of visualisation is the Dashboard and Scorecard. The Dashboard is one screen that presents key data and organisational information on an almost real time and integrated basis. The Scorecard is another one screen display with measurement metrics which can give a percentile view of whatever criteria the executive chooses. Behind these two front end screens can be an immense data processing infrastructure, or a couple of integrated databases, depending entirely on the organisation that is using the system. The backbone of the system is traditional server hardware and a fast network. The EIS software itself is run from here and presented to the executive over this network. The databases needs to be fully integrated into the system and have real-time connections both in and out. This information then needs to be collated, verified, processed and presented to the end user, so a real-time connection into the EIS core is necessary. Executive Information Systems come in two distinct types: ones that are data driven, and ones that are model driven. Data driven systems interface with databases and data warehouses. They collate information from different sources and presents them to the user in an integrated dashboard style screen. Model driven systems use forecasting, simulations and decision tree like processes to present the data. As with any emerging and progressive market, service providers are continually improving their

products and offering new ways of doing business. Modern EIS systems can also present industry trend information and competitor behaviour trends if needed. They can filter and analyse data; create graphs, charts and scenario generations; and offer many other options for presenting data. There are a number of ways to link decision making to organisational performance. From a decision maker's perspective these tools provide an excellent way of viewing data. Outcomes displayed include single metrics, trend analyses, demographics, market shares and a myriad of other options. The simple interface makes it quick and easy to navigate and call the information required. For a system that seems to offer business so much, it is used by relatively few organisations. Current estimates indicate that as few as 10% of businesses use EIS systems. One of the reasons for this is the complexity of the system and support infrastructure. It is difficult to create such a system and populate it effectively. Combining all the necessary systems and data sources can be a daunting task, and seems to put many businesses off implementing it. The system vendors have addressed this issue by offering turnkey solutions for potential clients. Companies like Actuate and Oracle are both offering complete out of the box Executive Information Systems, and these aren't the only ones. Expense is also an issue. Once the initial cost is calculated, there is the additional cost of support infrastructure, training, and the means of making the company data meaningful to the system. Does EIS warrant all of this expense? Green King certainly thinks so. They installed a Cognos system in 2003 and their first few reports illustrated business opportunities in excess of 250,000. The AA is also using a Business Objects variant of an EIS system and they expect a return of 300% in three years. (Guardian 31/7/03) An effective Executive Information System isn't something you can just set up and leave it to do its work. Its success depends on the support and timely accurate data it gets to be able to provide something meaningful. It can provide the information executives need to make educated decisions quickly and effectively. An EIS can provide a competitive edge to business strategy that can pay for itself in a very short space of time. http://www.computerbusinessresearch.com Executive Information System is a management information system which supports, facilitates, and makes decisions for senior executives by providing easy access to both internal and external information. Executive Information System can also be considered a specialized form of a Decision Support System. The focus on Executive Information Systems is on easy to use user interfaces and graphical displays. The benefits of this is that they offer strong reports and drill down capabilities. Drill down capabilities are when you move from summary information to detailed data by focusing in on something. Executive Information Systems are important because they help top-level executives analyze, compare and highlight trends in important areas so they can monitor performance and identify opportunities and problems. Over recent years however, the popularity of Executive Information Systems has decreased due to Business Intelligence, analytic(s), and digital dashboards. Executive Information Systems were originally developed as mainframe computer based programs, where the purpose was to package a companys data and provide sales performance. The main objective behind Executive Information Systems was to highlight information to satisfy senior executives needs and not for the entire company. Today, Employees can use their personal computers and access the companys data and decide which data is best to use. Executive Information Systems is not only for executives now, but

for the entire company. The freedom with this allows everyone to access company data and share information with everyone in the company. The hardware for Executive Information Systems consists of four main components: Input data entry devices, the CPU, Data Storage Files, and Output devices. Input data entry devices allow executives to enter, verify, and update data immediately. The CPU (central processing unit) is the center point because it controls the other computer system components. Data Storage Files are for saving useful business information, and it allows for easy historical information lookup. Output Devices are visual or permanent records for the executive to save or read. Executive Information System products for networked work stations are becoming more easily available, because companies offer local area networks. Running EIS with these systems require less support and also save tons of money. There are also 4 main components for choosing the right software for Executive Information Systems. It is very important and main concern, because it measures how components integrate the data into one system. The first main software component is Text base software, and most common form of text is probably documents. The second component is Database, which reside on vendor-specific databases, and help executives access both internal and external data. The third component is Graphic Base, which can turn volumes of text into visual information so executives can use them. Examples of graphic base are: Time series charts, scatter diagrams, maps, motion detectors, sequence charts, and bar charts. The fourth and final component for software is Model Base. The Executive Information Systems models contain routine and special statistical, financial, and other quantitative analysis. Another difficult problem that executives face is choosing the right technical software packages. They have to make sure they are affordable, easy to use, make sure the package can run on existing hardware, and much more. The use interface is also very important to Executive Information Systems. It needs to be efficient to retrieve data for decision makers. There are many types of interfaces that can become available to the Executive Information Systems, so it is very important that the interface must fit with the decision makers style. Some of the interface styles are scheduled reports, questions and answers, menu driven, command language, natural language, and input and output. If the executive is not comfortable with the interface, the Executive Information System will not be fully utilized.

ICSA CHAP 1 PDF Xteristics EIS a is a cbis that serves the information need of top executives EIS enables users to extract summary data and model complex

EIS provides rapid access to timely information and direct access to management reports EIS is capable of accessing both internal and external data EIS provides extensive online analysis tools like trend analysis, market conditions etc EIS can easily be given a DSS support for decision making Has a Tool that provides Direct online access to relevant information (i.e. timely, accurate and actionable) in a useful and navigable format Requires limited time, limited keyboarding skills and little direct experience with computers Helps identify broad issues and locate root cause

http://cavenetworks.com/attachments/article/70/C.%20Executive%20Information%20Systems.p df http://www.computerbusinessresearch.com/Home/decision-making/executive-informationsystem http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/executive-information-systems.htm

Ad Hocsurvey_of_sysdev.PDF

The Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University2 points out that with Ad-hoc Process Models, process capability is unpredictable because the software process is constantly changed or modified as the work progresses. Schedules, budgets, functionality, and product quality are generally (inconsistent). Performance depends on the capabilities of individuals and varies with their innate skills, knowledge, and motivations. There are few stable software processes in evidence, and performance can be predicted only by individual rather than organizational capability. 3 Even in undisciplined organizations, however, some individual software projects produce excellent results. When such projects succeed, it is generally through the heroic efforts of a dedicated team, rather than through repeating the proven methods of an organization with a mature software process. In the absence of an organization-wide software process, repeating results depends entirely on having the same individuals available for the next project. Success that rests solely on the availability of specific individuals provides no basis for long-term productivity and quality improvement throughout an organization.4

The Waterfall Model The Waterfall Model is the earliest method of structured system development. Although it has come under attack in recent years for being too rigid and unrealistic when it comes to quickly meeting customers needs, the Waterfall Model is still widely used. It is attributed with providing the theoretical basis for other Process Models, because it most closely resembles a generic model for software development. Although the Waterfall Model has been used extensively over the years in the production of many quality systems, it is not without its problems. In recent years it has come under attack, due to its rigid design and inflexible procedure.

Iterative Development The problems with the Waterfall Model created a demand for a new method of developing systems which could provide faster results, require less up-front information, and offer greater flexibility. With Iterative Development, the project is divided into small parts. This allows the development team to demonstrate results earlier on in the process and obtain valuable feedback from system users. Often, each iteration is actually a mini-Waterfall process with the feedback from one phase providing vital information for the design of the next phase. In a variation of this model, the software products which are produced at the end of each step (or series of steps) can go into production immediately as incremental releases. Problems/Challenges associated with the Iterative Model While the Iterative Model addresses many of the problems associated with the Waterfall Model, it does present new challenges. The user community needs to be actively involved throughout the project. While this involvement is a positive for the project, it is demanding on the time of the staff and can add project delay. Communication and coordination skills take center stage in project development. Informal requests for improvement after each phase may lead to confusion -- a controlled mechanism for handling substantive requests needs to be developed. The Iterative Model can lead to scope creep, since user feedback following each phase may lead to increased customer demands. As users see the system develop, they may realize the potential of other system capabilities which would enhance their work.

Variations on Iterative Development A number of Process Models have evolved from the Iterative approach. All of these methods produce some demonstrable software product early on in the process in order to obtain valuable feedback from system users or other members of the project team. Several of these methods are described below. Prototyping

The Prototyping Model was developed on the assumption that it is often difficult to know all of your requirements at the beginning of a project. Typically, users know many of the objectives that they wish to address with a system, but they do not know all the nuances of the data, nor do they know the details of the system features and capabilities. The Prototyping Model allows for these conditions, and offers a development approach that yields results without first requiring all information up-front . When using the Prototyping Model, the developer builds a simplified version of the proposed system and presents it to the customer for consideration as part of the development process. The customer in turn provides feedback to the developer, who goes back to refine the system requirements to incorporate the additional information. Often, the prototype code is thrown away and entirely new programs are developed once requirements are identified. There are a few different approaches that may be followed when using the Prototyping Model: creation of the major user interfaces without any substantive coding in the background in order to give the users a feel for what the system will look like, development of an abbreviated version of the system that performs a limited subset of functions; development of a paper system (depicting proposed screens, reports, relationships etc.), or use of an existing system or system components to demonstrate some functions that will be included in the developed system.

Criticisms of the Prototyping Model generally fall into the following categories: Prototyping can lead to false expectations. Prototyping often creates a situation where the customer mistakenly believes that the system is finished when in fact it is not. More specifically, when using the Prototyping Model, the pre-implementation versions of a system are really nothing more than one-dimensional structures. The necessary, behindthescenes work such as database normalization, documentation, testing, and reviews for efficiency have not been done. Thus the necessary underpinnings for the system are not in place. Prototyping can lead to poorly designed systems. Because the primary goal of Prototyping is rapid development, the design of the system can sometimes suffer because the system is built in a series of layers without a global consideration of the integration of all other components. While initial software development is often built to be a throwaway, attempting to retroactively produce a solid system design can sometimes be problematic. Variation of the Prototyping Model A popular variation of the Prototyping Model is called Rapid Application Development (RAD). RAD introduces strict time limits on each development phase and relies heavily on rapid application tools which allow for quick development.

The Exploratory Model In some situations it is very difficult, if not impossible, to identify any of the requirements for a system at the beginning of the project. Theoretical areas such as Artificial Intelligence are candidates for using the Exploratory Model, because much of the research in these areas is based on guess-work, estimation, and hypothesis. In these cases, an assumption is made as to how the system might work and then rapid iterations are used to quickly incorporate suggested changes and build a usable system. A distinguishing characteristic of the Exploratory Model is the absence

of precise specifications. Validation is based on adequacy of the end result and not on its adherence to pre-conceived requirements. The Spiral Model The Spiral Model was designed to include the best features from the Waterfall and Prototyping Models, and introduces a new component - risk-assessment. The term spiral is used to describe the process that is followed as the development of the system takes place. Similar to the Prototyping Model, an initial version of the system is developed, and then repetitively modified based on input received from customer evaluations. Unlike the Prototyping Model, however, the development of each version of the system is carefully designed using the steps involved in theWaterfall Model. With each iteration around the spiral (beginning at the center and working outward), progressively more complete versions of the system are built.6 Due to the relative newness of the Spiral Model, it is difficult to assess its strengths and weaknesses. However, the risk assessment component of the Spiral Model provides both developers and customers with a measuring tool that earlier Process Models do not have. The measurement of risk is a feature that occurs everyday in real-life situations, but (unfortunately) not as often in the system development industry. The practical nature of this tool helps to make the Spiral Model a more realistic Process Model than some of its predecessors. The Reuse Model The basic premise behind the Reuse Model is that systems should be built using existing components, as opposed to custom-building new components. The Reuse Model is clearly suited to Object-Oriented computing environments, which have become one of the premiere technologies in todays system development industry. Within the Reuse Model, libraries of software modules are maintained that can be copied for use in any system. These components are of two types: procedural modules and database modules. When building a new system, the developer will borrow a copy of a module from the system library and then plug it into a function or procedure. If the needed module is not available, the developer will build it, and store a copy in the system library for future usage. If the modules are well engineered, the developer with minimal changes can implement them. Creating and Combining Models In many cases, parts and procedures from various Process Models are integrated to support system development. This occurs because most models were designed to provide a framework for achieving success only under a certain set of circumstances. When the circumstances change beyond the limits of the model, the results from using it are no longer predictable. When this situation occurs it is sometimes necessary to alter the existing model to accommodate the change in circumstances, or adopt or combine different models to accommodate the new circumstances. The selection of an appropriate Process Model hinges primarily on two factors: organizational environment and the nature of the application. Frank Land, from the London School of Economics, suggests that suitable approaches to system analysis, design, development, and implementation be based on the relationship between the information system and its organizational environment.8 SUMMARY The evolution of system development Process Models has reflected the changing needs of computer customers. As customers demanded faster results, more involvement in the development process, and the inclusion of measures to determine risks and effectiveness, the methods for developing systems changed. In addition, the software and hardware tools used in the industry changed (and continue to change) substantially. Faster networks and hardware supported the use of smarter and faster operating systems that paved the way for new languages

and databases, and applications that were far more powerful than any predecessors. These rapid and numerous changes in the system development environment simultaneously spawned the development of more practical new Process Models and the demise of older models that were no longer useful.