Study unit 11

Introduction to management Information System

- A MIS typically receives input from a TPS, aggregate it, then reports it in a format useful by middle management in running the business. - For this reason MIS is often classified by function or activity.

A Data warehouse is

- A cetral database for transactional- level data from more than one of the organization's transaction processing systems. - They are very large and require that the transaction records be converted to a standard format.

Data mart and Data warehouse

- A data mart is designed primarily to address a specific function or department's needs. - Whereas a data warehouse is generally meant to address the needs of the entire enterprise.

DSS and decision making

- DSS is an aid to decision making, not the automation of a decision process. - DSS doesn't automate decision. - It examines the relevant data and presents a manager with choices between alternative courses of actions.

A DSS has three basic components:

- Database - consisting raw data, relevant to decision - Model - set of equations,comparisons,graphs, assumptions,etc.,into which data will be fed. - Dialog - user interface that allows user to specify appropriate model & set of data.

Database administartors (DBAs) are

- Developing and maintaining the organization's databases - Establish controls to protect thier integrity.

Enterprise Resource Planning

- It is the latest phase in development of computerized systems for managing organizational resources. It is intended to integrate enterprise - wide information systems by creating one database linked to all of an organization's applications.

An Accounting Information System processes

- Routine, highly structured financial and transactional data relevant to managerial as well as financial accounting.

RSS, which stands for rich site summary or really simple syndication, allows

- The content of a website that changes often to be pulled and fed automatically to a user's computer. - This saves the user the need to constantly revisit the site to get the latest information.

Traditional Enterprise Resource Planning system is also called back-office functions

- The subsystems in a traditional ERP system are internal to the organization, hence they are often called back-office functions. - The information produced is principally intended for internal use.

Comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning system subsumes

- Traditional Management Information systems, including materials requirement planning, manufacturing resource planning, supply chain management, and customer relationship management.

An Accounting Information System is concerned with

- Transactions with external parties reflected in financial statements prepared in conformity with GAAP, and - The internal activities recorded in the cost accounting system and the preparation of related reports and analyses

Office Automation Systems includes

- Word processing - Spreadsheet - Digital document storage - Desktop publishing applications

Difference between data warehouse and transaction processing system

- a data warehouse is not used to carry on the enterprise's routine operations, however, it gets it input from the various TPSs in the organization. - a date warehouse is optimized for data retrieval and reporting. A TPS is optimized for data entry.

An interactive system is characterized by

- online entry and processing - Direct access, and - Time sharing

A data warehouse enables data mining, i.e.

- the search for unexpected relationship among data - Special software and large amount of processing power are needed for effective data mining.

Features or advantages of current generation of Enterprise Resource Planning system are

1) Addition of front- office functions 2) Provision of smooth interaction with the business processes of external parties 3) Integration with the firm's back - office functions

Two modes of tansaction processing

1) Batch Processing 2) Online Processing

Systems that support decision making

1) Data warehouse 2) Decision support system (DSS) 3) Expert system (ES) 4) Artificial intelligence (AI) 5) Business Intelligence (BI)

Systems that support routine processes are

1) Office Automation Systems (OASs) 2) Transaction Processing System (TPS) 3) Management Information System (MIS) a) Accounting Information System 4) Enterprise Resource Planning

Two broad categories of business information systems are

1) Systems that support routine processes 2) Systems that support decision making.

The advantage of AI in a business environment is that, relative to human experts, they

1) can work 24 hours a day 2) will not become ill, die, or be hired away 3) are extremely fast processors of data, especially if numerous rules must be evaluated.

An Expert System has three components

1) the Knowledge base 2) the Inference engine 3) the Dialog

Every data is a unique combination of

1) the relationship among the data (the schema), 2) the database management system (the software), and 3) the equipment on which the database is stored (the hardware)

A Data warehouse is strictly

A Query-and-reporting system

A data mart is a subset of

A data warehouse

Fuzzy logic systems are

A form of artificial intelligence that deal with imprecise data and problems that may have many solutions.

Difference between a management information system and transaction processing system

A management information system provides managers with the information they need for analysis, planning, control, and decision making. A transaction processing system supports the ongoing routine operations of an organization.

An Accounting Information System is a subsystem of

A management information system.

A transaction is

A single, discrete event that can be captured by an information system.

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) is

A technique where data warehouse can be accessed using analytical and graphics tools.

An Expert System is

An interactive system that attempts to imitate the reasoning of a human expert in a given field.

A Decision Support System (DSS) is

An interactive system that is useful in solving semistructured and unstructured problems, that is, those requiring a top management or middle management decision maker to exrcise judgement and to control the process.

Characteristics best describes DSS are

Analytic models - Specialized databases - Interactive computer- based modeling processes, and - The decision maker's own insights and judgments.

A Business Information Systems (BIS) is

Any combination of hardware, software, data, people, and procedures employed to pursue an organizational objective.

"Stakeholder" in business information systems refers to

Anyone in the organization who has a role in creating or using the documents and data stored on The computers or networks. Or those who affect, or are, affected by, the output of information system.

The batch approach is suitable for

Applications that can be processed against the master file at intervals and involve large volumes of similar items, such as payroll, sales, inventory, and billing.

Storage

Before, during, and after processing, data must be temporarily or permanently stored, for example, in files or databases.

Batchand online processing modes

Can be used in combination in a single application.

A principal advantage of an ERP system is

Centralization of data.

Front office function of current generation of Enterprise Resource Planning system includes

Connecting the organization with customers, suppliers, owners, creditors, and strategic allies for an example, the members of a trading community or other business association.

A TPS is optimized for

Data Entry

An ERP system eliminates

Data redundancy.

A data warehouse is optimized for

Data retrieval and reporting

Applications programmers

Design, wirte, test, and document computer programs according to specifications provided by the end users.

The processing in Expert System is characterized by

Heuristics (self educating)

The four major tasks that any system must perform are

Input, transformation, output and storage.

Online processing mode is also called

Interactive processing.

Drill - down analysis

It is an important component of Online analytical processing.

The disadvantage of ERP are

Its extent and complexity, which make implementation difficult and costly.

Artificial Intelligence attempts to imitate human decision making, which hinges on the combination of

Knowledge and intuitions

Help desk personnel

Log problems reported by users, resolve minor difficulties, and forward more difficult problems to the appropriate person, such as a databasr administrator or the webmaster.

DSS assists middle- and upper level managers in

Long term, - Non routine, and - often unstructured decision making.

Librarians

Mainatin control over and accountability for documentation, programs, and data storage media.

Systems programmers

Maintain and fine- tune the operating systems on the organization's medium and large scake computers.

Network technicians

Maintain the bridges, hubs, routers, switches, cabling, and other devices that interconnect the organization's computers.

An ERP system is characterized by

One-time data updating for all organizational functions

A master file is

Permanent information that is updated for the effects of transactions

An Accounting Information System does not specifically use records based on

Predictive systems, which would be a feature of a decision support system.

Real- time processing involves

Processing an input record and receiving the output soon enough to affect a current decision making process.

Transformation

Raw materials or data are converted into knowledge useful for decision making.

Online processing is also called

Real- time processing or interactive processing.

Webmaster

Responsible for the content of the organozation's website.

Computer (console) operators

Responsible for the moment-to-moment running of the organization's medium and large scale computers, i.e., servers and mainframes.

Accounting Information system

Subsystem of MIS, Processes transactional data relevant to managerial & financial accounting, Supports operations by collecting historical data , Concerned with external parties & internal activities, Best suited with well defined reporting system

In traditional Enterprise Resource Planning system

Subsystems share data and coordinate thier activities.

Data warehouse is powerful tool for ad hoc queries

The ability of data warehouse to relate data from multiple systems makes it a very powerful tool for ad-hoc queries.

Batch processing is

The accumulation and grouping of transactions for processing on a delayed basis.

An advantage Enterprise Resource Planning is

The business process re-engineering needed for its implementation.

In online processing mode

The computer processes each transaction individually as the user enters it.

The IT function is merely

The custodian of the data

In an organizational sense, the "owners" of data are

The end user department

A data warehouse is generally meant to address

The needs of the entire enterprise.

Business Intelligence serves

The needs of top management for managerial control and strategic planning.

Input

The system must acquire or capture data from within or outside of the entity.

output

The ultimate purpose of the system is communication of results to internal or external users.

Transaction processing modes refers to

The way in which a system is updated with new data.

The advantage of Real- time processing over Batch processing is

Timeliness of information.

In batch processing mode

Transactions are accumulated and submitted to the computer as a single "batch".

Important use of an Expert System

Useful for addressing unstructured problems when there is a local shortage of human experts.

In an interactive (inquiry) system

Users employ interactive terminals to converse directly with the system.

Systems analyst

Uses his/her detailed knowledge of the organization's databases and applications programs to determine how an application should be designed to best serve the user's needs.

A commonly used measure of the activity in a master file during a specified time period is

Volatility

Data mining allows a user to discover

hidden relationshios, such as associations, sequences of events, classifications (descriptions of the groups to which the item belongs), or clusters (new groupings previously not known).

Typical appliactiona of data mining are

identification of potential customers and purchasing power

A wiki type of website allows

members of user a user community to share information about a particular knowledge area.

BI is

not a program for providing top management with advice and answers from a knowledge-based (expert) system.

User department should be able to access and alter

only the data pertaining to thier job duties.

An Accounting Information System is best suited to solve problems when

reporting requirements are well defined

Batch processing requires a lesser degree of control

than online real- time processing.

The first generation of business information systems served

the finance and accounting functions, since computing lends itself so readily to quantitative tasks.

A Transaction Processing System, captures

the fundamental data that reflect the economic life of an organization.

In Drill - down analysis

the user is first presented with the data at an aggregate level and then can display successive levels of details for a given date, region, product, etc. until finally reaching the original transaction.

Use of social networking site is

to disseminate information and gather customer feedback.