CMIS 562 Final Exam

Development of a request for proposal

- a summary of existing systems and applications - requirements for system performance and features - reliability, backup, in service requirements - the criteria that will be used to evaluate proposals timetable and budget constraints- how much you can spend

Business process management

- actively managing business processes, using a structured approach, may be ongoing, many include radical process reengineering - Business process management involves actively managing a company's business processes. This typically includes functions such as process modeling, redesign, and improvement. BPM evolved from the concept of "business process reengineering." When properly supported by management with realistic expectations and clear goals, BPM can be very beneficial. The basic steps of BPM include developing a vision, identifying the critical processes that are to be redesigned, understanding and measuring the existing processes, identifying ways that information systems can be used to improve processes, and designing and implementing the new processes.

important attributes of enterprise resource planning (the big 3)

- central information repository or common database - similar application interfaces or standardized modules - flow cross functional processes ERP systems have built in control systems - mirror organizational processes - support segregation of duties - monitor business activities ERP systems don't solve all compliance problems but they help a lot The ERP core components are internally focused, dealing with activities and processes within the organization. Financial management components support accounting, financial reporting, performance management, and corporate governance. Operations management components simplify, standardize, and automate business processes related to inbound and outbound logistics, product development, manufacturing, and sales and service. Human resource \management components support employee recruitment, assignment tracking, performance reviews, payroll, and regulatory requirements. ERP systems were designed for organizations needing to meet modern regulatory requirements; they have the functionality necessary to support the implementation and documentation of internal controls, procedures, and policies.

Types of Arguments

- types of arguments o faith- arguments based on beliefs about organizational strategy, competitive advantage, industry forces, customer perceptions, market share, etc. o fear- arguments based on the notion that if the system is not implemented, the firm will lose out on the competition, or worse quality business o fact-arguments based on data, quantitative analysis, and or indisputable factors o Arguments based on faith or fear can be the most compelling and can drive the decision to invest in an information system despite the lack of any hard data on system costs. Arguments based on faith should clearly describe the firm's mission and objectives, the strategy for achieving them, and the types of information systems that are needed. An argument based on fear may go something like this: "If we don't implement this enterprise resource planning system, we'll get killed by our competitors because they're all implementing these kinds of systems—we either do this or we die." Arguments based on fact involve rigorous cost-benefit analysis. The business case needs to have system costs and benefits at its heart. Costs and benefits can be tangible or intangible, with all tangible costs being rolled up using an approach of total cost of ownership.

Steps in the system development process

1. systems planning and selection 2. systems analysis 3. systems design 4. systems implementation in operation Systems development life cycle is a 4-step structured process. Note that this is a cyclical process. At any phase, you may return to an earlier phase. For example, during design there may be the recognition that more analysis is needed. Identify and select potential projects Projects critical to mission, goals, and objectives Selection process varies among organizations Formal information systems planning process Ad hoc process Differential focus of projects based on selection source Multi-criteria decision making (e.g. intangible benefits, risk, project size, and resource availability) System Analysis Requirements Model org data (ERD, data flow) Model processes & logic System Design Forms & reports Interfaces & dialogues (HCI) Databases & files Processing & logic System Implementation Programming & testing System conversion, documentation, training & support

Benefits of customer relationship management

24/7 365 operation- web based interfaces individualized service- learn how each customer defines a product and service quality improved information- integrate all information for all points of contact improved problem identification and resolution- improve record keeping and efficient methods of capturing customer complaints that help to identify and solve problems faster optimize processes- integrated information removes information handoffs improved integration- information from the customer relation management can be integrated with other systems to streamline business processes improve product development- tracking customer behavior overtime helps to identify future products and services offerings improve planning- provide mechanism for managing and scheduling sales followups

Business to business electronic commerce: exchanging data and supply networks

90% of all electric commerce in the United states, involve proprietary information, originally facilitated using electronic data interchange EDI prior to the Internet, now suppliers use web based electronic data interchange protocols companies also use extranets, portals and marketplaces to facilitate business to business electronic commerce Business‐to‐Business Electronic Commerce comprises the lions share of the Electronic Commerce market. This makes sense because businesses typically make multiple purchases from the same supplier over time. Automating the procurement process so these can be made electronically and automatically can result is significant procurement cost savings as well as reducing errors and related expenses. Supplier and Customer Portals are extranets a company sets up for either Suppliers or Customers that contain the communication tools and the proprietary information they need to interact with the company. Often set up when there is a large number of suppliers or customers to interact with and the cost of the portal is less than the cost of interacting with all the suppliers (or customers) without the functionality of the portal. Portals can also include value‐added services such as management tools for customers. B2B marketplaces are different from portals in that they are controlled by a third party and allow many suppliers and buyers to get together. For a smaller company that can't justify the expense of its own portal, B2B marketplaces are efficient ways to participate in the market. Although many B2B marketplaces are industry specific, some are very general, such as the Chinese export marketplace Alibaba.com

Business processes

A business process is a collection of link task which find their end in the delivery of a service or product to a client. It is a set of activities and tasks that once completed will accomplish an organizational goal. The process must involve clearly defined inputs in a single output. These inputs are made up of all the factors which contribute either directly or indirectly to the added value of a service or product documenting business processes involves describing what is done, why it is done, how is done, who or what that system does it, as well as how well it is done business processes may be structured or unstructured, depending on the extent to which the underlying steps are fixed and therefore automated or changeable enterprise systems are bundles of processes

What is a supply chain?

A collection of companies and processes involved in moving a product from the suppliers of raw materials to the suppliers of intermediate components to the final production and to the consumer Flows Upstream- from sources of RM and components Downstream- to customers Refer to as a chain but network is more accurate A supply chain is comprised of the companies that buy and sell goods to each other to create a product from raw materials. Because one company sells to the next, who then in turn sells to another, often with multiple links before an end product is developed, it is referred to as a chain. In reality, it typically looks more like a network with many suppliers feeding into each company

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A geographic information system (GIS) is a system for creating, storing, analyzing, and managing geographically referenced information • GIS benefits greatly from advances in machine learning, especially for recognizing and classifying geographical features Geographical data are often best represented on a map, which simplifies comprehension and allows users to focus on what the data mean, rather than putting data into specific context. GIS - Layering of geographically referenced information (e.g. customer dot mapping, trade area analysis, thematic mapping) Finding optimal location for a new store Identification of areas too wet to fertilize Locating target customers Infrastructure design

advanced analytics

Advanced analytics are designed to help users gain a deeper understanding of why things happen and then build predictive models to support decision making • Data science describes the advanced analytics field of study and practice • Advanced analytics are often used by business analysts to take decisions out of their hands, thus freeing up valuable resources The use of both structured and unstructured data are used to help predictive models that are used to project future events and decision making. Predictive models incorporate complex data mining algorithms to find patterns in massive data warehouses.

Intelligent Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the science of enabling information technologies to simulate human intelligence • Intelligent agent (also called a bot) is a program that works in the background to provide some service when a specific event occurs. - Examples include: • Apple's Siri • Amazon's Alexa • Machine Learning There are scientist who are warning against too much artificial intelligence. The fear is that as we progress further and further with AI that we will have robots "thinking" so intelligently that they could turn against us. It will be interesting to see what emerges with AI in the future. Artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms are one type of machine learning. An ANN is a network of processing elements (i.e., artificial "neurons") that work in parallel to complete a task, attempt to approximate the functioning of the human brain, and can learn by example. Typically, a neural network is trained by having it categorize a large database of past information (e.g., a database of handwritten digits) for common patterns, so as to infer rules.

BI/BA and the Data Warehouse

BI applications base analyses on the single version of the truth by accessing multiple databases or using a data warehouse. • Data warehouse - organization‐wide in scope - Integrate multiple databases into a single repository - For direct querying, analysis, or processing - Used to put business information into decision makers' hands • Data mart - a data warehouse that is limited in scope - Customized for decision support of a particular end‐user group. - Popular for small and medium‐sized businesses and departments within larger organizations. • New ways - e.g. SAP HANA The purpose of an operational system is to make the company run. This involves transaction processing, and lots of updates to the database. Informational systems, on the other hand, involve almost no updates, but require complex queries in order to provide useful information to decision makers in the organization. The term BI refers to informational systems, whereas the term OLTP refers to operational systems. Building a data warehouse involves integrating data from multiple sources. Extracting is the process of obtaining the necessary data. Transformation is done to ensure that the data are in a common format and are free of errors. Finally, the extracted and transformed data are loaded into the warehouse for use by decision makers. Data Warehouses (1000s of gigabytes of data or larger) ‐Integrate data from multiple databases and other data sources ‐Contain historic as well as current data Data Marts (100s of gigabytes of data) ‐Mini data warehouse, limited in scope to organizational unit Master Data Management ‐Data deemed most important in the operation of a business ‐Shared among multiple organizational units OLTP databases are structured as relational data, with tables connected in relationships via primary and foreign keys. This facilitates data integrity when there are many updates and modifications of data. But they are not ideal for complex queries. OLAP databases (cubes) are structured multidimensionally, which makes it much easier to do complex queries. Thus, BI technologies tend to utilize cubes more than relational database structures.

Enterprise systems benefits and cost

Benefits- improved availability of information, increased organizational interaction, reduced manufacturing lead times, improved customer interaction, reduced operating expenses, reduced inventory, reduced information system costs, improved supplier integration, improved compliance Costs- traveling and training costs for personnel, ongoing customization integration costs, business process studies, project governance costs

Business Intelligence (BI)

Business Intelligence (BI) is the use of information systems to gather and analyze information from internal and external sources in order to make better business decisions. • Identify and react to various threats and opportunities • Integrated data help to monitor and fine‐tune business processes, and enable continuous planning External factors in the business environment, such as changes in consumer demand, competitive pressures, and changing regulations, can create both threats and opportunities to which businesses need to respond. The more rapidly businesses can recognize changes and move to account for them, the more competitive they will be in today's ever‐changing business environment. BI is used to integrate data from disconnected: Reports Databases Spreadsheets Integrated data helps to monitor and fine‐tune business processes BI can help with reacting to various threats and opportunities, including: Unstable markets Global threats Fierce competition Short product life cycles Increased regulation Wider choices for consumers Businesses were used to planning and executing in an annual cycle. Now businesses are changing to a continuous planning/execution model. This requires continuous monitoring to ensure organizations have the information to make ongoing, forward‐looking adjustments and updates to business plans.

Understanding Big Data

Businesses are dealing with the challenge of "Big Data" - High Volume • Unprecedented amounts of data - High Variety • Structured data • Unstructured data - High Velocity • Rapid processing to maximize value Big data represents a massive amount of data that organizations use to contribute to business success and meet the challenges of operating with their industry. Big data is characterized by volume, variety, and velocity. Organizations face unprecedented volumes of information, both structured and unstructured, which require rapid processing and analysis to maximize its value.

Ethical concerns with CRM

CRM systems may facilitate coercive sales practices, systems made categorize customers in ways customers take offense to, personalized communication may be too personal CRM can provide companies with a great deal of information about their customers, some of which may be considered sensitive or private by those customers. Using this information to make a sale may result in the customer feeling intruded upon, or it could have a coercive effect. Either of these can create ethical issues, and they could also create negative publicity for a company.

Why outsourcing?

Cost and quality concerns- vendors have economies of scale and can develop better systems at a lower cost problems with IS performance- outsource vendors are more reliable and consistent supplier pressure- aggressive sales forces simplifying, downsizing, and reengineering- companies retreating to core competencies, outsourcing functions not core to value creation financial factors- an arm's length relationship with vendors can create more efficient use, IT assets can be liquidated organizational culture- internal policies may block IT from moving forward internal irritants- if the IS staff and users are not interacting well together removing that source of tension can be a relief Outsourcing systems development—Turning over responsibility for some or all of an organization's IS development and operations to an outside firm. Your IS solutions may be housed in their organization. Your applications may be run on their computers. They may develop systems to run on your existing computers (within your organization). There are many different reasons to outsource systems; often the driving factor is the limitations of the internal IT staff. Many companies aren't systems development companies and hence have limited resources and skillsets in that area. Beyond that, an organization may see outsourcing as an opportunity to streamline the business, remove liabilities, or eliminate ongoing problems.

Databases: providing inputs into business intelligence and advanced analytics

Data and knowledge are an organization's most valuable resource • Enabling interactive Web sites using databases: - E-commerce makes extensive use of databases - Product catalog data are stored in databases and available to users - Customer billing and shipping - E-commerce applications process millions of transactions per day Databases are essential for all elements of a business: maintaining customer records, supporting business processes, sales transactions, inventory management, and marketing. E‐commerce applications store their transaction information in databases. This can be later used in business intelligence (BI) applications to help analyze sales trends, customer satisfaction, and other key performance indicators of company health.

Databases: entering and Querying Data

Data in information systems and their underlying databases are typically managed through the use of forms. Forms can be used to enter new data, update or delete existing data, or create reports. The systems interact with the database by sending SQL commands to the DMBS, which then executes those commands to make the change or return the requested information.

Databases: tables and records

Databases are made up of one or more tables, where each table contains multiple records. The records are all of the same type; for example, they may be records of students. Typically we show each record on one row of the table, and each column in the table represents a different attribute, such as the student's street address. We generally assign a unique identifier to each record so we can readily reference it; in this case the identifier is ID Number.

Databases: Foundation Concepts

Databases are the digital equivalent of hierarchical paper‐based filing systems. Like an office filing system where file cabinets hold drawers, drawers hold folders, and folders hold individual items, databases are comprised of a database management system (DBMS) that equates to the paper filing system. The DBMS manages the database, which is a store of data, much like a file drawer may contain all the files on a specific topic.

Business Intelligence tools

Decision Support Systems - Used to support decision making at all levels (managerial) in the organization - Decision‐making support for recurring problems - Interactive decision aid - What‐if analyses • Analyze results for hypothetical changes • Example: Microsoft Excel • Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) - Conducting complex, multi‐dimensional analyses of data stored that is optimized for retrieval usually using graphical software tools - Measures: Facts, numerical data that can be aggregated - Dimensions: Provides a way to summarized the data; organized hierarchically to enable drill‐down and roll‐up - Cubes: multidimensional structure of dimensions and measures - Slicing and Dicing: analyzing data on a subset of dimensions These are business intelligence tools used to help organizations make sense of the massive amounts of data they collect. Data organization is key to being able to quickly retrieve needed data to help make critical business decisions. An OLAP cube is a multidimensional database structured to support slicing, dicing, and drill‐down. Managers want to "drill down" to look at specific subsets of data to understand how business is currently performing. Subsets of data that analysis can be narrowed on are "dimensions," and the processes of narrowing down the data "slicing and dicing." 1. Ad hoc queries and reports: Scheduled, key‐indicator, exception, drill‐down reports 2. OLAP 3. Data mining 4. Text and Web Mining

Information Visualization (Digital Dashboards)

Digital dashboards are used to visually present key performance indicators (KPIs) • Data usually highly aggregate - quickly grasp analysis results of large data sets • Use a variety of design elements to present data in a user friendly way Information can be visualized through digital dashboards, which are similar to a car dashboard, only in this case they display the key performance indicators necessary to understand how the company is operating. Finally, geographic information systems show information in the context of space and geography

Data Mining

Discovering "hidden" predictive relationships in the data • Complicated algorithms run on large data warehouses • Types of data mining algorithms - Association discovery - Clustering - Classification - Text and Web content mining One application of association discovery is called "market basket analysis." This involves predicting which types of products will be likely to be bought by someone who purchased another product. Clustering involves finding "natural" groupings of data points based on similarity metrics. Classification involves trying to assign data into predefined categories. One application is determining high‐risk versus low‐risk loan applicants, based on previous experiences. Text mining draws patterns from unstructured data such as e‐mails, blogs, and other textual documents. Web content mining uses clickstream data and Web crawlers. Data Mining ‐ Patterns, trends, or rules (e.g. identify profitable customer segments, fraud detection) ‐ Predictive models should be tested against "fresh" data Data‐mining algorithms are run against large data warehouses ‐ Data reduction helps to reduce the complexity of data and speed up analysis Associative Discovery ‐ Technique used to find associations or correlations among sets of items ‐ Sequence Discovery (association discovery over time) Clustering ‐ Grouping of related records based on similar values for attributes ‐ Groups are not known beforehand (e.g., clustering frequent fliers based on segments flown) Classification ‐ Groups (classes) are known beforehand ‐ Records are segmented into the different groups

Achieving enterprise system success

ERP Recommendations - secure executive sponsorship, get help from outside experts, thoroughly trained users, take a multi-disciplinary approach to implementations, evolve the implementation - ERP installation is a complex and involved process. It needs top‐level support in the form of active executive sponsorship. The lack of executive support is believed to be the primary reason ERP installations fail. Beyond executive sponsorship: • Hiring experts who know how to implement ERP systems is very beneficial. Companies may only install an ERP system once a decade, whereas experts do it for a living, and thus they understand the unique challenge specific ERP systems may present. • Users need training before and after the implementation to ensure they can use it when deployed, and then as they become proficient, they can learn advanced features specific to their job functions. • When implementing an ERP system, it typically affects large portions of or the entire organization. Involving all the business functions affected helps ensure needs are met and buy‐in is achieved. Training is critical to ERP success but often poorly planned for and executed. ERP systems are more complex to use than stand‐alone systems, and users need to be prepared for that. Proper training not only shows users what to do, but can prepare them for expected hurdles like a temporary drop in productivity as they get up to speed and become proficient with the system

Choosing an enterprise resource planning system

ERP control - centralizer decentralized across business units - policies and procedures- do they need to be flexible? Do they need to be standardized? ERP Business Requirements - What modules are available? How well do they meet specific business needs? Configuration is critical - specifying the data to be in the underlying database - thousands of decisions related to business processes - companies need to understand how they do business to implementing configured their enterprise resource planning systems Choosing an ERP system is a difficult task that needs to take into account both business needs and system functionality. The system selected must support the business management practices of centralized or decentralized control, which often hinges on how much flexibility and independence individual business units have. In addition, each ERP system has different built‐in functionality that will meet business needs to varying extents. The ERP system selected should meet all the business needs, and should be particularly good at meeting the most critical business functions. ERP systems were designed for organizations needing to meet modern regulatory requirements; they have the functionality necessary to support the implementation and documentation of internal controls, procedures, and policies. All ERP systems require extensive configuration to map to a specific business. A company needs to understand its processes to make the thousands of necessary configuration decisions. Often, companies will hire outside experts to help them understand their own business and then implement the ERP based on this understanding.

Enabling business processes using enterprise resource planning core components

ERP system support core business processes assist with order to cash, procure to pay, make to stock, make to order, in other business processes often packaged industry specific enterprise resource planning versions - support industries specific core processes such as healthcare, automotive, construction, retail, specialized manufacturing industries - ERP systems often have versions tailored to individual industries, with customizations already integrated to support the core business processes as practiced in that specific industry. Implementing an industry‐specific ERP package, which includes all the core components that industry needs, can simplify and streamline ERP selection and implementation.

Thoroughly Train Users

ERP systems are complex from the user perspective as well with Training cause often poorly judged and when systems go live it takes employees time to regain productivity proper training can alleviate concerns, mitigate productivity laws, and set expectations Training is critical to ERP success but often poorly planned for and executed. ERP systems are more complex to use than stand‐alone systems, and users need to be prepared for that. Proper training not only shows users what to do, but it can prepare them for expected hurdles like a temporary drop in productivity as they get up to speed and become proficient with the system.

Get help from outside experts

ERP systems are very complex typically IS department's aren't familiar with new systems experts can help specify needs, select a suitable vendor, manage the implementation project, provide technical expertise ERP systems are typically very large and complex, and they may take years to master. By hiring experts to help select a vendor, then help manage the vendor and execute the installation, companies can leverage the knowledge of experts who do implementation for a living without having to develop the expertise in‐house.

Enterprise resource planning limitations

ERP systems often require organizations to change their business processes, once implemented a company is locked in, difficult and costly to make future changes, modifications require extra costly programming ERP systems, for all their benefits, are essentially focused on the internal workings of an organization. To achieve benefits in external functions such as supply chain management or customer relationship management, companies need to implement externally focused modules or systems designed to handle that aspect of the business.

Standalone, Legacy Systems

Each department has its own system- infrastructure specific, inefficient processes, potential for in accuracies, too many rocks in the river When organizations first started using information systems, they typically implemented proprietary systems from multiple vendors on a department‐by‐department or process‐by‐ process basis. This resulted in multiple information systems optimizing the practices of each department or process independent of the rest of the organization, with a marked lack of data flow between business departments or processes. This lack of continuous data flow created large inefficiencies. These older standalone systems are now typically referred to as legacy systems, reflecting their advancing age and lack of upgradability. Stand‐alone applications Not designed to communicate with other system Variety of computing hardware platforms Enable departments to conduct daily business activities Not helpful for other areas in the firm Proprietary systems From vendors Not designed to share with other vendors' systems Problem of knitting together (hodgepodge portfolio of discordant proprietary applications) Lack of integration

Ethical challenges of information systems

Ethics- the principles of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, used to make choices to guide their behaviors ethical dilemma- two or more opposing courses of action that support worthwhile values can occur when social and legal/political norms do not adequately meet the demands of new situations role of information systems- when an information system can be used intended or unintended consequences in ways other than originally planned that may undermine generally accepted moral and social values, in in ways that introduced the potential for conflicts in moral in value based decisions regarding the appropriateness of certain behaviors Computer literacy Necessary skill in today's world May be the difference between being employed or unemployed Many different jobs involve the use of computers Digital Divide ‐ Major ethical challenge New class system of power Power comes from knowledge The gap in the United States is shrinking Rural communities, the elderly, people with disabilities, and minorities lag behind national averages Widening gap between developed and developing countries

Secure Executive Sponsorship

Executive sponsorship is critical- primary reason for enterprise resource planning failure, critical for buying, dictates resource availability, necessary to authorize business improvements, key to removing obstacles Executive support and sponsorship is the most critical aspect of a successful ERP implementation. It dictates whether managers will prioritize the implementation and if the required resources will be available. When opportunities arise to make process changes and improve the business, these changes need authorization to be implemented. When unexpected roadblocks crop up, executive sponsorship can pave the way to success.

Knowledge Management Systems

Explicit knowledge - Easily codified and documented • Tacit knowledge - Embedded in people's minds - Hard to get at - Important for best practices • Knowledge assets (Explicit and Tacit Knowledge) - Skills, routines, practices, principles, formulas, methods, heuristics, and intuitions - Used to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability Many potential benefits can come from organizations' effectively capturing and utilizing their tacit knowledge assets: • Enhanced innovation and creativity • Improved customer service, shorter product development, and streamlined operations • Enhanced employee retention • Improved organizational performance But, there are also challenges: • Getting employee buy‐in • Focusing too much on technology • Forgetting the goal • Dealing with knowledge overload and obsolescence

Green IT and Green IS

Green IT is mainly focused on energy efficiency and equipment utilization. It addresses issues such as: - Designing energy efficient chips and disk drives - Replacing personal computers with energy efficient thin clients - Use of virtualization software to run multiple operating systems on one server - Reducing the energy consumption of data centers - Using renewable energy sources to power data centers - Reducing electronic waste from obsolete computing equipment - Promoting telecommuting and remote computer administration to reduce transportation emissions Green IS refers to the design and implementation of information systems that contribute to sustainable business processes. Green IS helps an organization: - Reduce transportation costs with a fleet management system and dynamic routing of vehicles to avoid traffic congestion and minimize energy consumption - Support team work and meetings when employees are distributed throughout the world, to support collaboration, group document management, cooperative knowledge management, etc. - Track environmental information (such as toxicity, energy used, water used, etc.) about the creation of products, their components, and the fulfillment of services - Monitor a firm's operational emissions and waste products to manage them more effectively - Provides information to consumers so they can make green choices more conveniently and effectively

Evaluating project economics

Here is an example cost-benefit analysis for a project starting in 2014 and running through 2018, which is a reasonable time frame for an IS development project. Costs are divided into recurring and non-recurring, and benefits are shown here as recurring, with sales benefits growing slowly over time. The bottom line is the net of costs and benefits, and is suitable for a return on investment (ROI) or other financial analysis (BE, payback, NPV). Sometimes the justification for a system has more intangibles then tangibles, or a financial analysis doesn't paint a clear picture between alternatives. In these cases a weighted multicriteria analysis can be performed instead, showing which alternatives meet organizational goals and priorities more completely than others. Weights indicate the importance of each criterion. Because these can be subjective, they should be arrived at through extensive discussion among decision makers, including the analysis team, users, and managers.

tiered installation

Implementing ERP systems is a highly complex and risky undertaking. They are difficult to install, maintain, and upgrade. Perhaps an evolutionary approach is better and more flexible

Benefits of Effective Supply Chain Management

JIT eliminates large stocks of manufacturing supplies and associated storage, inventory, and handling costs. Can reduce manufacturing overhead, but does create the risk of stock‐outs. Keeping inventory is costly (storage, capital, missed production schedules). JIT optimizes ordering quantities. ‐ Parts and raw materials arrive when needed for production. ‐ As orders arriver in smaller quantities, but at higher frequency) investment in storage space and inventory is minimized. ‐ Requires tight cooperation between all partners in the supply network. VMI offloads inventory mgt to the vendor selling the inventory. Suppliers manage the companies inventory levels based on pre‐established service levels; monitors stock levels and sales data. Requires manufacturer (retailer) to share real‐time data. Benefits: Cost savings, Minimized stock‐out situations, Accurate forecasts, Reduced errors, Prioritized goods shipments Bullwhip ‐ Demand forecasting can create errors. When demand forecasts are being adjusted too rapidly within the supply chain, these errors can create an oscillation of large and small orders. This oscillation will not level out to a steady state, resulting in wildly varying demand within a distribution chain. As supply chains become global and products are sourced from countries with varying levels of quality standards, substandard parts can enter the supply chain without the knowledge of the downstream manufacturers, resulting in large product recalls or worse. Corp Social Responsibility Transparency and accountability within the supply chain helps save costs and create a good image. Product Recalls ‐ Good supply chain visibility allows companies to narrow down problems, recall only affected products, and take steps to ensure future quality. Sustainable Business Practices (ethical treatment of workers, Green): sourcing from suppliers not engaged in humane or sustainable practices, resulting in damage to the environment, workers, and the company's goodwill once the practice is discovered.

Presenting the Business Case

Know the audience- know who you are presenting to, what their background is, and what they care about convert benefits to monetary terms- show benefits as dollars per time period often annual devise proxy variables measure what is important to management- no management hot button issues and describe the system impacts them Although the financials may speak for themselves, it is still important to make the business case. • The first rule is know your audience—you don't want to talk above or below them, you want to know what they care about, you want to make sure you are presenting what they need to hear. • Once you know your audience, make sure you put everything into financial terms; translate benefits into a uniform measure such as an annual cost savings. This allows your audience to readily grasp what you are saying and compare it to other alternatives. • A proxy variable is a variable that is relevant to the audience if your normal metrics aren't. For example, if spending hours with the customer is important, you could translate hours saved planning each days sales stops to annual additional customer contact hours. • Finally, be sure to address any specifics that management considers key and would want to hear something about.

Making a successful business case

Making a successful business case identifying costs- Tangible costs- total cost of ownership o nonrecurring costs such as acquisition and recurring costs such as use and maintenance - identifying benefits o tangible benefits such as estimated sales gains and intangible benefits such as improved customer service

Databases: Advantages

Minimal data redundancy There is a single copy of the data Improved data consistency Eliminating redundancy improves consistency Increase security Simplifies enforcement of access restrictions Improved data quality- Centralized control, minimized redundancy, and improved data consistency enhance data quality Improved data accessibility and A centralized system makes it easier to deploy and control sharing access in or out of the organization Enforcement of standards Centralized data management standardizes rules Program‐data independence Easier to evolve and alter software to changing business needs when independent Increased productivity of Data standards make it easier to build and modify application development applications Reduced program maintenance Changes in data replicate seamlessly

Online Transaction Processing and BI/BA

Operational Systems - Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) - Systems that interact with customers and run a business in real time • Informational systems—systems designed to support decision making based on stable point‐in‐time or historical data. • Data from operational systems are inputs to BI applications. - Example: grocery checkout system data can be analyzed for spending patterns, effectiveness of sales promotions, or customer profiling. • Data Warehouses - Integrate data from multiple databases and other data sources - Contain historic as well as current data • Data Marts - Subset of a data warehouse, limited in scope OLTPs make the organization run. They include applications for order processing and sales, production, human resources operations such as payroll, and supply chain operations such as purchasing from vendors. All of this involves extensive updates to the database. Some of this data is particularly important for decision makers, and it is integrated into a common data warehouse. The warehouse is not updated frequently, but instead is used for providing quick access to aggregated and historical information. If a department manager, such as marketing, needs a subset of data from the data warehouse they might request the IT department to create a data mart with just the data they need from the data warehouse. Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) ‐Systems that interact with customers and run a business in real time ‐Immediate automated responses to the requests of users ‐Handles multiple concurrent transactions from customers ‐Fixed number of inputs per transaction ‐Receiving user information, processing orders, and generating sales receipts (e.g., e‐ Commerce applications)

Green IT: the green Internet of Things

Past technologies have disrupted business and society for the past several decades Next up? Green IT (for green computing) refers to the practice of using computing resources more efficiently to reduce environmental impacts The Internet of Things (IoT) brings connectivity and IT to the forefront again poised to revolutionize business and society New technologies designed for low power consumption Now, a device just needs to be connected to the Internet to be able to collect and transmit sensory data Internet technologies have disrupted many businesses and social processes by changing the scope and scale of interactions between people

GISIT opportunities

Pollution prevention- flexible printing capabilities, automated energy conservation system, thin client, virtualization, telecommuting, electronic exchange of information, congestion systems product stewardship- recycling, reuse components, recycle computers, governmental policies, societal norms clean technology- paperless interaction, video conferencing, collaboration tools, open source, smart homes and appliances, E commerce versus traditional commerce

Richard Mason PAPA ethical concerns- privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility

Privacy- what information an individual should have to reveal to others in the workplace or through transaction Accuracy- are individuals able to access data collected about them, check for accuracy, and request correction of in accuracies? Property- company that maintains data slash database is kept on individuals, and can sell the information as long as it doesn't violate stated privacy policies when gathering the data Accessibility- company needs to ensure proper hiring, training, and supervision of employees who have access to the data and implement the necessary software and hardware security safeguards Richard Mason wrote a classic article in 1986 describing emerging concerns in four key areas, referred to by the acronym PAPA: Privacy Accuracy Property Accessibility Info to keep private: SSN, medical history, family history (profiling) U.S FTC Fair Information Practice Principles: notice/awareness, choice/consent, access/participation, integrity/security, enforcement/redress. Companies operating in the online world are not required by law to respect your privacy. In other words, a vendor can track what pages you look at, what products you examine in detail, which products you choose to buy, what method of payment you choose to use, and where you have the product delivered. After collecting all that information, unscrupulous vendors can sell it to others, resulting in more direct‐mail advertising, electronic spam in your e‐mail inbox, or calls from telemarketers. Is this ethical? Do we have any real privacy rights? Inaccurate Info - due to "bad" system or "bad" users Costs of inaccurate information (e.g. Banks, Hospitals) Example: a software error in a radiation therapy device caused massive overexposure, causing multiple deaths and injuries Information Property Informed consent and Opt‐in vs. Opt‐out Legal protection of intellectual property rights Data Privacy Statements ‐ Company w/ database of customer info (Legally owns it and is free to sell it; Cannot sell information it agreed not to share; Must insure proper data handling practices) Social networking complicates matters (complexity of privacy settings, friends tag you without your knowledge) Information Accessibility Who has the right to monitor the information? Example: e‐mail monitoring at the workplace by employers Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) offers far stronger support for voice mail than for e‐mail communications.

proposed evaluations

Proposal evaluation - proposals received from vendors evaluated based on the cost and benefits, often interpreted as functionality - total cost of ownership, system features compared to TFP system benefits based on system features system benchmarks that measure system features, system demonstrations, and other factors such as risk and vendor profile - usually more than one system will meet the criteria, determined the best fit - need to prioritize/rank the proposed systems o scoring system for the criteria, best ranking system is chosen such as weight scoring or checklist, there are numbers and then there are numbers o The evaluation of the proposal will involve looking at all the financials, but it will also involve comparing the proposed solution to the requested features and noting differences and capabilities. Some variations may be insignificant, whereas others could be deal-breakers. Finally, each proposal should be looked at in terms of risk—the probability that things won't work out, and the impact if that is the case. Never as "objective" as ratings on evaluation spreadsheet Vendor selection is a "subjective" and "political" process

Operational CRM

Salesforce automation SFA supports day-to-day Salesforce activities customer service and support CSS - automate service request, complaints catalog product returns, and information request enterprise marketing management EMM - improve the management of promotional campaigns Operational CRM is focused on the execution of customer relationship management. SFA automates paperwork functions, allowing more time to be spent with customers, reducing errors, and ensuring that leads are followed up. •Order processing and tracking •Account and contact management •Opportunity management •Sales and territory management •Customer history, preferences, (product and communication), and management •Sales forecasting and performance analysis Customer Service & Support •Customer interaction center (CIC) •Multiple communication channels (blogs, web, Facebook, phone, face‐to‐face, e‐mail, etc) •Low cost customer service anytime, anywhere through any communication channel (customer self service) Enterprise Marketing Management ‐ make sure the right message reaches the right people at the right time. •Customer lists need to be managed carefully •Individualized attention to each potential customer •Extensive analytical capabilities

social network analysis

Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a technique that maps people's contacts to discover connections or missing links within the organization Social network analysis is especially useful in finding contacts for people who don't collaborate together but should.

Databases: effective Management

The Data Model - What data will be captured - How the data will be represented • The Data Dictionary - Document of database metadata • Attribute name • Type of data • Valid values • Business rules When designing a database, it is important to first create a data model. The data model specifies what data will be in the database, and how they will be represented. This might include the length of name fields, for example. After the data model is complete a data dictionary is developed. The data dictionary specifies how the data will be implemented in the database. It also includes any business rules affecting the data, such as how the data will be validated to ensure consistency.

Managing complex supply networks

The supply network for the iPhone involves multiple suppliers around the world. This requires coordination to ensure that all the components are in supply at the assembly plants on an as‐needed basis. When unexpected interruptions occur, such as from an earthquake, the supply chain can cease to flow and manufacturing lines can come to a halt. Having transparency throughout the supply chain helps management know what is going on and, whenever possible, make adjustments for the unexpected.

IS development in action

There are a variety of sources for any new information system initiative a company is considering. Which one makes the most sense will depend on many factors, and a structured approach is necessary to ensure a suitable solution is found and implemented. Primary focus is on packaged solutions and software selection (vs. custom development) Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), packaged software (higher quality) No specific tailoring Less costly Faster to procure Customized software Developed in-house or contracted to a specialized vendor More expensive Customizability - Fit with business operations, culture, etc. Problem specificity - Company only pays for features actually needed Open Source software Program's source code is freely available for use and/or modification Free to use, but "Hidden" Support Costs Combining customized, off-the-shelf & OS software - various options

Decision-Making levels and BI/BA support

Types of Decisions Executive • Long-term strategic issues • Complex and non-routine problems • Unstructured decisions • Long-term ramifications Managerial • Semi structured • Monitor and control operational-level activities • Contained within business function • Moderately complex • Time horizon of days to months Operational • Day-to-day processes; customer interactions • Structured & Recurring • Often automated using IS BI Used to: Operational Optimize processes Understand causes of performance problems Managerial Performance analytics Forecasts Providing key performance indicators on dashboards Executive Obtain aggregate summaries of trends and projections Provide KPIs across the organization

Text Mining

Use of analytical techniques to extract information from textual documents. • Textual documents include: Letters, e‐mails, customer calls, internal communications, blog posts, wikis, web pages, marketing materials, patent filings, etc. • Text mining systems analyze a document's linguistic structures and key words. Web content mining refers to extracting textual information from Web documents after-which text mining is used to apply analytical techniques to produce useful reports The Internet contains a wealth of valuable information, such as customer product reviews, that is typically unstructured and difficult to analyze. The process of gathering and processing this unstructured data is called "text mining the Internet," and companies that are effective at performing it can assess customer sentiment and increase customer satisfaction. The tools used for information and knowledge discovery can be embedded into a broad range of managerial, executive, and functional area information systems, as well as into decision support and intelligence systems. Results from these analyses can be provided on digital dashboards, paper reports, Web portals, e‐mail alerts (using monitoring or data mining agents), and mobile devices, as well as used by a variety of other information systems

Visual Analytics

Visual analytics is the combination of various analysis techniques and interactive visualization to solve complex problems Geographical data are often best represented on a map, which simplifies comprehension and allows users to focus on what the data mean, rather than putting data into specific context. Interpreting complex output from BI systems is challenging Visual analytics combines various analysis techniques and interactive visualization Combination of Human intelligence and reasoning capabilities Technology's retrieval and analysis capabilities Helps to make sense of large data sets, "noisy" data or unexpected patterns

Enhancing organizational Decision Making

Why Organizations Need BI and Advanced Analytics • Databases: Providing Inputs into Business Intelligence and Advanced Analytics Business intelligence, advanced analytics, business analytics Looking back and answering important questions require analyzing data of past and current transactions to understand what happened - Business Intelligence (BI) refers to tools and techniques for analyzing and visualizing past data - Advanced analytics refers to tools and techniques used to understand why something happened, predict future outcomes, or discover hidden patterns in large data sets - Business Analytics is used as an umbrella term for all these concepts • All types of organizations use BA to address challenging questions More and more organizations today are relying on business intelligence and advanced analytics to help manage their businesses. This provides better insights on what makes their companies tick as well as understanding their past performance. All of this is possible because these businesses are data‐driven organizations.

Analytical CRM

analyzing customer behavior and perceptions in order to provide the business intelligence necessary to identify new opportunities and to provide superior customer service customize marketing such as upsell, cross-sell to retain customers key analytical technologies- data mining, decision support, and other business intelligence technologies continuous data collection analysis is necessary as well as merging customers' online identities by email, social media etc. Analytical CRM is closely tied to business intelligence and uses business intelligence tools to identify new business, sales, and marketing opportunities. Digital dashboards allow managers to rapidly see the status of key performance indicators (KPIs) and evaluate CRM performance metrics. Often digital dashboards provide extensive functionality, such as the ability to click on a chart or graph and "drill down" to see more detailed information. Customers often have multiple online accounts, both e‐mail and social media. Identity management helps companies integrate these so a clear and complete picture of the customer emerges from the data.

Intellectual property

copying digital music is almost effortless, in many non-western societies using someone else's work is considered praise for the creator, and using another's work without purchase or attribution has significant legal and ethical ramifications Intellectual property is creating new ethical challenges, as digital media can be copied endlessly with no loss of quality. However, many of the individuals who create intellectual property have a legal right to be the sole source for sales and are compensated for their creative work by receiving payment for each copy sold. This creates an ethical dilemma for individuals who own copies of the work and feel they should be able to use it as they see fit, including the duplication of it for a friend

Social media monitoring

customers used Facebook and Twitter to comment on products and services, monitoring social media conversations helps to understand public perceptions analytical CRM applications include Microsoft social networking accelerator, Google alerts, Dell social media listening command center Social media monitoring is the process of identifying and assessing the volume and sentiment of what is being said about a company, individual, product, or brand. To collect this information, organizations utilize a variety of tools to track and aggregate social media content from blogs, wikis, news sites, microblogs such as Twitter, social networking sites like Facebook, video-/photo-sharing Web sites like YouTube and Flickr, forums, message boards, blogs, and user-generated content in general.

Optimizing the supply chain through supply chain management

demand planning and forecasting- forecast in plan anticipated demand for products safety stock planning- assign optimal safety and target stock levels distribution planning-optimize the allocation of available supply supply network collaboration- work with partners across the supply network materials management- ensure production materials are available manufacturing execution- support production processes order promising- provide answers to customer inquiries transportation execution- manage logistics warehouse management- support receiving, storing, picking up goods supply chain analytics- monitor key performance indicators radio frequency identification (RFID) - replaces bar codes, in as low as $0.10 extensible markup language - XML, much like HTML for websites creates a standard many businesses can use to help facilitate data exchange - RFID is an electronic radio equivalent of a bar code, without a bar code's need to be visible or clean in order to be read. RFID tags can range from fractions of an inch to much larger, and can include passive tags that generate power from the reader's radio signal to active tags that have internal batteries. Passive tags may only have a range of a few feet, whereas active tags may have a range of hundreds of feet. Extensible Markup (XML) allows creating documents consisting of customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations. Like HTML, XML also uses tags, but focuses on the content rather than the presentation. XML is customizable, and variations of XML have been developed. For example, Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an XML-based specification for publishing financial information. XBRL makes it easier for public and private companies to share information with each other, with industry analysts, and with shareholders.

Information systems and computer ethics

describe the moral issues and standards of conduct as they pertain to the use of information systems collecting and analyzing user data may have negative impacts such as social decay, increased consumerism, loss of privacy, intellectual property the need for a code of ethics IS Ethics are a critical part of managing information systems. The learning objective for this section is for you to be able to discuss the ethical concerns of information systems in general and particularly with respect to privacy and intellectual property. The definition of computer ethics is "describes the moral issues and standards of conduct as they pertain to the use of information systems." There is a growing concern in society about computer ethics, which is driven in part by growing concerns regarding individual privacy and how organizations will use the information they have lacking any code of conduct or effective regulation.

Criteria of corporate sustainability

eco efficiency- make the old, destructive system less so in therefore slows down the deterioration of nature with moral prescriptions and punitive demands eco equity- concerns the fair distribution of natural resources between current and future generations eco effectiveness- aims beyond merely reducing negative environmental impact by ending ecological degradation. Seeking an ultimate solution for ecological problems Eco‐efficient practices work within the same system that produces the environmental problem - consuming non‐renewable materials more productively does not help prevent the amount of nonrenewable natural resources from decreasing. Eco‐equity: Like eco‐efficiency, conformity to environmental standards can be superficial (Meyer and Rowan, 1977), such as ISO 14001 (an internationally accepted standard for an environmental management system) whose introduction seems to be motivated more by the concern for social legitimacy than by reason of economic efficiency (Boiral, 2007). Eco‐effectiveness: Oftentimes requires a shift of mindset and transformation of business models.

Take a multi-disciplinary approach to implementation

enterprise resource planning systems often affect the entire organization entire organization is a stakeholder and his involvement, failure to have representatives can result in unmet critical needs, the project team can cannot be experts in every aspect of user needs, department's may become hostile if left out of the implementation and needs assessment ERP systems affect entire organizations. To ensure that the needs of the organization are met, representation is needed from all affected parties. This can surface critical requirements, and it can also ensure that there is buy‐in and understanding of the system and the implementation goals.

Enterprise resource planning systems (ERP)

enterprise resource planning- applications that integrate business activities in core business processes across departmental boundaries - integrating legacy data to integrate applications

Basic premise of IS/IT in supply chain management

information quality- accuracy, stability, speed, breadth/depth as information quality goes up inventory goes down, customer service goes up and cost goes down leading to increased profits applies to physical, money and information flows, relevant to planning and execution cycle, and other operational and business impacts

The rise of enterprise systems: integrated, enterprise systems

integrated suite of business applications- all departments are integrated into one system, no duplication of data and more efficient, bundles of business processes internally focused ERP an externally focused (SCM, CRM) With the older stand alone systems information could not be aggregated without many hours of manual labor. The enterprise systems combined all departmental systems into one system where each piece of data is stored in only one place and data can be shared throughout the organization. Enterprise systems perform all the functions legacy systems used to perform, but with the added benefit of being integrated across the value chain with a consolidated database. This ensures that all departments and processes have access to both their internal information and the information of upstream and downstream processes and functions. This integrated approach streamlines operations across the entire value chain, eliminating road blocks and enhancing efficiency. Internally focused systems integrate and automate information flows between departments and processes, streamlining operations and facilitating smooth business operations. Internally focused - enterprise resource planning (ERP) Refer back to Porter's value chain Support functional areas, business processes, and decision making within an organization New information (value) is added at every step Externally focused interorganizational systems (IOS) systems used to improve communication and coordination with other businesses to create supply chains Coordinate business activities with customers, suppliers, business partners, and others who operate outside the organization Streamline the flow of information between companies Upstream information flow—information received from another company Downstream information flow—information produced by a company and sent to another organization

just in time production

inventory delivered just as it is needed, minimizes stock in handling cost, reduces remove obsolescence charges

Steps in External Acquisition

most competitive external acquisition processes have at least five steps 1. systems planning and selection 2. systems analysis 3. development of a request for proposal 4. proposal evaluation 5. vendor selection

Architecture of CRM system

operational CRM include Salesforce automation, customer service and support, enterprise marketing management analytical CRM includes data warehouses data mining and visualization call my business intelligence call at enterprise resource planning systems collaborative CRM includes methods and technologies to facilitate communication A complete CRM system includes not only the operational CRM, which manages customer interactions, but also analytical CRM, which is focused on having appropriate business intelligence, and collaborative CRM, which facilitates communication.

Managing the IS outsourcing relationship

outsource relationships take continuous management realistic, tangible measures of performance should be developed and tracked multiple levels of interaction based on the type of interaction such as operational and tactical or policy and relationship strategic, mutually beneficial partnership The outsourced IT relationship needs continuous monitoring and management. The company doing the outsourcing cannot simply let all its internal IT staff go and just assume the vendor will do "good" things. A solid CIO, working with the legal team and IT staff members, needs to manage the relationship.

Improving business processes through enterprise systems

package software (off the shelf software) - written by third party vendors for the needs of many users, may require significant configuration, designed in modules, designed around functions that are selected as needed, based on industry best practices, special functionality may require customizing vanilla version custom software- developed by contractors and designed for specific organizations Packaged software is preprogrammed software a business buys to meet business needs. Simple software is typically used as‐is, whereas complex or enterprise software requires configuring. When configuring alone won't meet a business's unique needs, either custom software can be written from scratch or an existing module can be customized by the software vendor. Customizing software typically entails significant cost, and often creates a version that cannot be upgraded without reprogramming the customizations. Hence, a cost‐benefit analysis needs to be performed before undertaking any customizations to ensure the value is really there. Implementing enterprise software provides an opportunity for organizations to migrate under‐performing processes to industry best practices, which are typically built into the software implementation. However, if an organization has unique practices that are superior to industry standard best practices, the enterprise software may be unable to support them without significant customization. An organization needs to understand how it is performing against industry benchmarks to know when it should adopt industry best practices and when it should keep unique business practices in place.

Developing a CRM strategy

policies and business processes reflected customers focus culture, customer service include quality, satisfaction, enhance customer experience, employee training for all employees from all areas, data collection analysis and sharing track all aspects of the customer experience Successful CRM strategies need to integrate the different facets of CRM functions. This includes consistent policies and business processes, employee training, customer service, and data collection and analysis. The closer an organization is to the end customer, the more important CRM becomes. Additionally, a successful CRM strategy must carefully consider the ethical and privacy concerns of customers' data. More than just software purchase and installation à Enterprise-wide changes Policies and procedures need to reflect customer-focused culture Customer Service Customer-focused measures of quality Process changes to enhance customer experience Training - EEs from all business areas must value customer service and satisfaction Data Collection & Analysis - All of customer experience must be tracked, analyzed & shared Benefits 1. Enables 24/7/365 operations 2. Individualized service 3. Improved information 4. Speeds up problem identification/resolution 5. Speeds up processes 6. Improved integration 7. Improved product development 8. Improved planning

Reasons for external acquisition

possible situations - situation one- limited information system staff - situation 2- information system staff has limited skillset - situation 3- information system staff is overworked - situation 4- problems with performance of information system staff when this is the case, there are two options- external acquisition of a prepackage system and outsourcing systems development There are many reasons to go outside a corporation for a system. Often the IS staff doesn't have the resources or expertise to attempt the systems development effort in-house. Systems development takes dedicated resources with the project management, system analyst, database design and management, systems architecture, programming, testing, and training skills necessary to make it a success. These skills are often specialized, and they may not exist or be available within the organization. Situation 1: limited IS staff Staff may be too small Staff may be occupied in other ways Staff not capable of developing the system without additional hiring Situation 2: IS staff has limited skill set Many organizations have outside groups manage their Web sites Take advantage of specialized skills Situation 3: IS staff is overworked Staff does not have time to work on all required systems Situation 4: problems with performance of IS staff Derailed IS departments Staff turnover Changing requirements Shifts in technology Budget constraints

Privacy

privacy on the web- who owns the computerized information about people? The answer is the company that maintains the database of customers is free to sell it within limits email privacy- legally there is no rights email privacy, electronic communications privacy act passed in 1986 protects phone conversations but not email protecting your privacy- The United States FTC fair information practice principles notice/awareness, choice/consent, access/participation, integrity/security, enforcement/redress Companies operating in the online world are not required by law to respect your privacy. In other words, a vendor can track what pages you look at, what products you examine in detail, which products you choose to buy, what method of payment you choose to use, and where you have the product delivered. After collecting all that information, unscrupulous vendors can sell it to others, resulting in more direct mail advertising, electronic spam in your e-mail inbox, or calls from telemarketers. Is this ethical? Do we have any real privacy rights?

corporate social responsibility

product recalls and sustainable business practices

other approaches to designing and building systems

prototyping- trial and error, works even when the desired endpoint is unknown, if there is a basis for determining when one prototype is better than another rapid application development and extreme programming The SDLC isn't always a practical approach to every problem. It requires the output be known up front, for example, and that isn't always possible. One alternative is prototyping, where after the analyst learns some core needs, a prototype is developed and evaluated. Good features are retained and problematic ones replaced with candidate alternatives. As prototypes are iterated the process will ideally converge on a working solution. There are also processes such as rapid application development and extreme programming, which are applicable to a limited set of situations

Evolve the Implementation

recent trend is to move away from large scale enterprise resource planning- using cloud based ERP allow scalability in agility for example Oracle NetSuite, Syspro, SAP business 1, Epicor, sage, Microsoft Dynamics 365 another trend is managing businesses in real time- take advantage of in memory computing and mobile access for example SAP HANA

reducing the bullwhip effect

ripple effects due to forecast errors, coordinated supply chain helps mitigate this

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

social media, mobile, bigdata, cloud computing, in the Internet of Things megatrends have changed how organizations interact with customers - customers have the power from transactions to relationships how many organizations focus on customer satisfaction customer relationship management- organization wide strategy, focuses on the downstream information flow, attract potential customers, create customer loyalty, portray a positive corporate image, monitor and analyze factors driving customer satisfaction Companies are constantly looking for opportunities to get new customers, keep current customers longer, and sell more products to their existing customers. CRM systems are designed to support these efforts. Best customer is the one you already have (acquisition costs, cross and up‐selling) - 50 to 100 times more to get customer to come back than to keep existing customer Customers are having an increased impact on the way organizations do business. With social media a customer can post either a negative post or a positive one. The old adage is that if an organization has a positive impact on you, then you will tell 10 friends; but, if an organization does wrong, you will tell 100 friends. Ethical concerns Can personalization get too personal? When customers feel that the system knows too much about them, personalization could backfire on a company

Supply chain management: planning and execution

supply chain plan involves developing resource plans to support production supply chain execution focuses on the efficient and effective flow of materials, information, and financial transaction SCP involves multiple SCM tools and modules working together to meet business needs and customer demand. The Supply Chain Plan starts with Demand Planning, and works backwards through the Distribution Plan, the Production Plan, and finally to the Sourcing Plan to determine what materials need to be sourced and when to ensure effective business operations. 1. Demand planning and forecasting ‐ Examination of historic data 2. Distribution planning ‐ Delivering products to consumers Warehousing, delivering, invoicing, and payment collection 3. Production scheduling ‐ Coordination of activities needed to create the product/service Optimization of the use of materials, equipment, and labor 4. Inventory planning ‐ Development of inventory estimates, determine optimal inventory levels, sourcing plan SCE focuses on the efficient and effective flow of materials, information, and financial transactions. Supply Chain Execution is the implementation of the Supply Chain Plan, and involves placing the orders, shipping the goods and materials, and paying for them. It also includes the information flows necessary to track and monitor the processes involved. 1. Product flow ‐ Flow of product from supplier to consumer, automation of product returns (RFID enabling technology) 2. Information flow ‐ Complete removal of paper documents, access to current information at all times (XML enabling technology) 3. Financial flow ‐ Automatic flow of payments; movement of financial assets through supply chain; Payment schedules, consignment, ownership; linkages to electronic banking and financial institutions

Supply chain visibility and analytics

supply chain visibility- product tracking, anticipating adverse impacts such as weather impacts in labor negotiations supply chain analytics- monitoring supply chain performance, identifying problem spots Supply chain visibility is the ability to track products as they move through the supply chain as well as external events that impact or might impact the supply chain. Supply chain analytics is the analysis and use of key performance indicators to facilitate more effective management and avoid ongoing problems such as suppliers that regularly miss delivery deadlines.

Collaborative CRM

systems for providing effective and efficient communication with the customer from the entire organization greater customer focus by understanding customer history and current needs lower communication barriers with personnel having complete customer information and use customer preferred communication methods increased information integration- personnel no prior and ongoing communication Collaborative CRM is focused on ensuring customer support personnel have the tools and information they need to effectively interact with the customer regardless of the last point of contact with the company. It provides customer support personnel with a history of customer interactions and ongoing communication, ensuring personnel have complete and accurate information and are able to readily address customer needs.

Business case objectives

the business case sells an investment - go to strong integrated set of arguments, show how an information system adds value to the organization, lays out the costs and benefits, used to make a go or no go decision, may be used to justify continued funding - the productivity paradox - A business case is, quite simply, a complete justification for making or continuing to make an investment in a new or ongoing information system. It demonstrates how the investment is justified and better than the possible alternatives. The Productivity Paradox stems from the difficulty many early professionals had showing that worker productivity, measured as worker output per employee hour, was increasing due to investments in information technologies. There are, however, many reasons for this apparent dilemma that have come to light since the initial research. • One problem has been in measurement. Companies typically focus on efficiency, or doing something with few resources, over effectiveness, or doing something well, and information systems sometimes increase effectiveness over efficiency. Hence businesses are doing things better, which can then impact competitiveness and product quality and lead to other changes, but initial efficiency measurements may show little or no improvement. • There is also a timing issue; many information systems take years to hit the bottom line, so any measurement immediately after implementation may show no, or even a negative, productivity impact. • Some industries have a limited size, so the first mover in the industry may get a bigger slice of the pie, but overall, it is a zero-sum game, so once everyone has implemented the new technology to catch up, overall it looks like there is no improvement across the industry. • Finally, some IS implementations are the result of mismanagement and aren't appropriate, so the investment actually has a negative return.

The need for a code of ethical conduct: computer ethics institute guidelines

the guidelines prohibit using a computer to harm others, interfering with other people's computer work, snooping in other people's files, using a computer to steal, using a computer to bear false witness, copyright or using proprietary software without paying for it, using other people's computer resources without authorization or compensation, appropriating other people's intellectual output the guidelines recommend thinking about social consequences of programs you write in systems you design and using a computer in ways that show consideration and respect for others A standard code of conduct removes ambiguity when situations come up that aren't necessarily illegal, but that have the potential to cause individuals or organizations significant harm. This is particularly true where regulations regarding the use of information systems are playing "catch‐up" to the existing capabilities, such as editing a photo, so it appears to represent something that wasn't in the original. The Computer Ethics Institute has created a widely quoted set of guidelines.

Supply chain management strategy- balance efficiency and effectiveness

trade offs supply chain efficiency minimizes costs but increase risk of stockouts and may sacrifice customer service supply chain effectiveness- maximizes likelihood of meeting objectives A supply chain strategy should be developed that mirrors the corporation's overall strategy. If the corporation is focused on customer service, then the company should ensure customer needs can always be met on a timely basis. If a company is focused on being the lowest‐cost provider, then the supply chain should push for cost reduction wherever possible, even though that increases the probability that sometimes the supply chain will not meet immediate customer needs. The trade‐offs between effectiveness and efficiency are shown here, where the more effective company will be better positioned to ensure delivery, while the more efficient company is taking every possible step to drive down operating and supply chain costs.

Organizations, Functions and Core Processes

traditional business functions- marketing and sales, supply chain management, accounting and finance, human resources not distinct independent silos, but instead highly interrelated business processes cross boundaries of business functions for example order to cash, procure to pay, make to stock/make to order Corporations are made up of different functional areas. These different functions need to work together to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. The order‐to‐cash process includes every aspect of receiving an order, fulfilling it, and receiving payment for the same. It involves multiple steps as well as multiple business functions to be completed successfully. The procure‐to‐pay process is the opposite of order‐to‐cash. It involves every step necessary to acquire the goods and materials necessary for the business to function. It also involves multiple business functions with a need to communicate throughout the process. The make‐to‐stock and make‐to‐order processes both involve the production of goods, but the make‐to‐order process is more complex, as it includes additional steps involving taking the order and then doing any design and engineering work required. The make‐to‐stock process is based on forecast or budgeted sales figures. REMEMBER the Value Chain Model

vendor managed inventory

vendors track usage and replenish supplies, reduces procurement and inventory replenish costs