CMIS 351 Lesson 2 Study Questions
What is a business process? Give two examples of processes for functional areas of the business and one example of a cross-functional process.
Business processes are the ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce their valuable products or services. Business processes for the manufacturing and production area include product assembling, quality checking, and producing bills of materials. For the sales and marketing area, business processes include identifying customers, making customers aware of the product, and selling the product. For finance and accounting, business processes include paying creditors, creating financial statements, and managing cash accounts. For human resources, business processes include hiring employees, evaluating job performance of employees, and enrolling employees in benefits plans.
What are customer relationship management systems? How do they benefit businesses?
Customer relationship management is a business and technology discipline to coordinate all of the business processes for dealing with existing and potential customers. With the growth of the Web, potential customers can easily comparison shop for retail and wholesale goods and even raw materials, so better treatment of customers has become very important. Good CRM systems consolidate customer data from multiple sources and provide analytical tools for answering questions such as "What is the value of a particular customer to the firm over his/her lifetime?" CRM tools integrate the firm's customer-related processes and consolidate customer information from multiple communication channels so that the firm can show one coherent face to the customer.
What are the characteristics of DSS? How do they differ from those of MIS and ESS?
DSS provide sophisticated analytical models and data analysis tools to support semistructured and unstructured decision-making activities. DSS use data from TPS, MIS, and external sources, provide more analytical power than other systems, combine data, and are interactive. MIS do not have the analysis tools that DSS have and are used for more routine decision making than DSS. ESS support senior managers with unstructured strategic-level decision making. They may be less analytical than DSS with less use of models such as linear programming or forecasting. However, they often rely on external data and rely heavily on graphics.
What are the main characteristics of enterprise applications?
Enterprise applications span functional areas of the organization and focus on executing business processes across the firm and across managerial levels.
What are enterprise systems? How do they change the way an organization works?
Enterprise systems integrate the key business processes of an organization into a single software system. Data from various functional areas are maintained centrally where they can be accessed and used by other functions and cross-functional processes. This changes the workflow of an organization. Now information can seamlessly flow throughout the organization, improving coordination, efficiency, and decision making.
Identify the three levels of the organizational hierarchy. Which types of information systems serve each level?
From lowest to highest, the three levels of the organizational hierarchy and the types of information served at each level are operational level—transaction processing systems management level—decision-support systems and management information systems strategic level—executive support systems
What is IT governance?
IT governance specifies the strategies and policies for using information technology in an organization, and it specifies the decision rights and frameworks for accountability around information technology use.
How can information systems enhance business processes in organizations?
Information systems can enhance business processes through 1) automating existing manual processes 2) changing the flow of information in the firm to increase information reach, making previously sequential activities occur in parallel and eliminating delays 3) creating new business processes that enable entirely new business models
What are the benefits of intranets and extranets to the firm?
Intranets and extranets are used to increase integration and flow of information within the firm and with customers and suppliers.
What is the role of knowledge management systems in the enterprise?
Knowledge management systems codify knowledge and experience, make the collected knowledge and experience available when and where it is needed, and provide links to external sources of knowledge.
What are the characteristics of MIS? How do MIS differ from TPS? From DSS?
Management information systems (MIS) support the management level by providing routine summary reports and exception reports for various purposes, including planning, controlling, and decision making. Examples include sales and profit per customer and per region, relocation summary and analysis, inventory control, capital investment analysis, and even a report on students who were here in the autumn but did not return in the spring. MIS differ from TPS in that MIS deal with summarized and compressed data from the TPS; sometimes MIS deal with analysis of that summarized data. Decision-support systems provide material for analysis for the solution of semistructured problems, which often are unique or rapidly changing. Typically, they provide the ability to do "what if" analysis. While MIS have an internal orientation, DSS will often use data from external sources, as well as data from TPS and MIS. DSS supports "right now" analysis rather than the long-term structured analysis of MIS. MIS are generally not flexible and provide few analytical capabilities. In contrast, DSS are designed for analytical purposes and are flexible.
Identify three main ways of organizing the IT function.
Three ways of organizing the IT function in an organization are 1) within each functional area 2) as a separate department under central control 3) represented in each department but under central control
List and describe the information systems serving each of the major functional areas of a business.
Sales and marketing information systems help the firm identify customers for the organization's products and services. These systems help develop, promote, sell, and provide ongoing customer support for the firm's products and services. Specific sales and marketing information systems include order processing, pricing analysis, and sales trend forecasting. Manufacturing and production information systems provide information for planning, product development, production or service scheduling, and controlling the flow of products and services. Specific manufacturing and production information systems include machine control, production planning, and facilities location. Finance and accounting information systems track the organization's financial assets and fund flows. Financial and accounting systems include accounts receivable, budgeting, and profit planning. Human resources information systems maintain employee records; track employee skills, job performance, and training; and support planning for employee compensation, including pensions and benefits, legal and regulatory requirements, and career development. Systems include training and development, compensation analysis, and human resources planning.
Identify six collaboration and communication systems used in firms.
Six collaboration and communication tools identified in the text are 1)Internet-based collaboration environments 2) email and instant messaging 3) cell phones and smartphones 4) social networking 5) wikis 6) virtual worlds
What are supply chain management systems? How do they benefit businesses?
Supply chain management is the close linkage of activities involved in the processes of buying, making, and moving a product. The system should lower costs and streamline the user's business. Information systems make supply chain management more efficient by helping companies coordinate, schedule, and control procurement, production, inventory management, and delivery of products and services to customers. Information systems help organizations achieve efficiencies by automating parts of these processes or by helping organizations rethink and streamline these processes.
Identify and briefly describe the main roles in the IT department.
The main roles in an IT department include programmers, who write software and applications systems analysts, who serve as liaisons between the business groups and the IT department IS managers, who lead others in the IT department Chief Information Officer (CIO), often the head of the IT department Other roles may include Chief Security Officer (CSO), who is in charge of IS/IT security Chief Privacy Officer (CPO), who is responsible for compliance with privacy legislation Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO), who is responsible for knowledge management
List and briefly describe the major types of systems in organizations.
Transaction processing systems function at the operational level of the organization. Examples of transaction processing systems include order processing, material movement control, payroll, accounts payable, and employee recordkeeping. Management information systems provide managers with reports based primarily on data pulled from transaction processing systems, have an internal orientation, and have limited flexibility. Examples of management information systems include sales management, inventory control, annual budgeting, and relocation cost control. Decision-support systems also function at the management level and provide analytical models and data analysis tools to provide support for semistructured and unstructured decision-making activities. Examples of decision-support systems include sales region analysis, production scheduling, profitability analysis, and contract cost analysis. Executive support systems function at the strategic level, support unstructured decision making, and use advanced graphics and communications. Examples of executive support systems include five-year sales trend forecasting, five-year operating plan, profit planning, and personnel planning.