MI375: Chapter 2
Business processes
Flows of material, information, knowledge Sets of activities, steps May be tied to functional area or be cross-functional
To monitor the status of internal operations and the firm's relations with the external environment, managers need which of the following types of system?
TPS
E-business
Use of digital technology and Internet to drive major business processes
E-government
Using Internet technology to deliver information and services to citizens, employees, and businesses
An example of a remote, synchronous collaboration too
a Skype conference call using VOIP and webcams.
Using the Internet to buy or sell goods is called:
e-commerce
Enterprise Systems
Collect data from different firm functions and store data in single central data repository Resolve problems of fragmented data enable coordination of daily activities.
Extranets
Company websites accessible externally only to vendors and suppliers
Non-typical business problems with causes and effects that are rapidly changing are typically handled by which of the following types of information system?
DSS
Example of ESS
Digital dashboard with real-time view of firm's financial performance
What is the most important function of an enterprise application?
Enabling business functions and departments to share information
Which of the following systems is designed to support organization-wide process coordination and integration?
Enterprise applications
What are the four enterprise applications?
Enterprise systems Supply chain management systems Customer relationship management systems Knowledge management systems
How Information Technology Improves Business Processes
Increasing efficiency of existing processes: Automating steps that were manual Enabling entirely new processes
Intranets
Internal company websites accessible only by employees
An ESS supports which of the following?
Long-range planning activities of senior management
Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems
Manage firm's relationships with suppliers Share information about: Orders, production, inventory levels, delivery of products and services
Producing a bill of materials is a business process in which of the following functional areas?
Manufacturing and production
Examples of business processes
Manufacturing and production: assempling the product
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
Provide information to coordinate all of the business processes that deal with customers Helps firms identify, attract, and retain most profitable customers
What is the goal of SCM systems?
Right amount of products to destination with least amount of time and lowest cost
Management Information Systems (MIS)
Serve middle management Provide reports on firm's current performance, based on data from TPS Provide answers to routine questions with predefined procedure for answering them Typically have little analytic capability
Decision support systems (DSS)
Serve middle management Support non-routine decision making May use external information as well TPS / MIS data
Transaction processing systems (TPS)
Serve operational managers and staff Perform and record daily routine transactions necessary to conduct business Allow managers to monitor status of operations and relations with external environment Serve predefined, structured goals and decision making
E-commerce
Subset of e-business Buying and selling goods and services through Internet
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
Support processes for capturing and applying knowledge and expertise Collect internal knowledge and experience within firm and make it available to employees Link to external sources of knowledge
Executive Support Systems (ESS)
Support senior management Address nonroutine decisions Incorporate data about external events (e.g., new tax laws or competitors) as well as summarized information from internal MIS and DSS
Enterprise Applications
Systems for linking the enterprise Span functional areas Execute business processes across the firm Include all levels of management Four major applications
A(n) ________ is typically a major source of data for other systems.
TPS
If your main supplier was late in delivering goods, which type of system would you use to update your production schedule?
TPS
You have been hired by a non-profit agency to implement a system to handle their donations. The system must be able to handle and record telephone, SMS, and Internet donations, provide up-to-the-minute reports, and create highly customizable mailing lists. In addition, event fundraisers need to be able to quickly access a donor's information and history. Which of the following systems will best meet these needs?
TPS with DSS capabilities
The term management information systems refers to a specific category of information systems serving
middle management functions
The ________ function is responsible for identifying customers.
sales and marketing
Which level of the organization is an ESS specifically designed to serve?
senior managment
All of the following are reasons for the increased business focus on collaboration and teamwork, except for:
the need for more efficient work hierarchies.
Collaboration
working with others to achieve shared and explicit goals.
