MGTS1201 – Management Information Systems – Flashcards
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What is Information technology?
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Information technology relates to any computer-based technology that people use to work with information and to support the information and information processing needs of an organisation
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What do information systems do?
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Collect, process, store, analyse and disseminate information for a specific purpose.
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How does IT assist us?
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IT makes the world smaller, enabling more and more people to communicate, collaborate and compete.
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Why are mobile apps becoming more important?
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They are important to cover things beyond those encompassing business applications. They fill the gaps that need to be filled. Many opportunities emerge through mobile apps to connect and engage with customers.
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Why are businesses becoming more dependent on mobile apps?
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Companies like Australia Post have seen a significant decline in traditional business, however through mobile apps they can reconnect and capture lost customers and create a new market. - They enhance the manner in which they connect and interact with customers in relation to their services. - For example: Australia Post customers can now use the mobile app to send postcards or pay bills
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Other names for Information Systems Department?
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- MIS department -Information systems Department -Information Technology Department -Information Services Department
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What does the Information Systems Department do?
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Deal with planning for and the development, management and use of IT tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management.
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What is IT?
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IT relates to any computer-based tool that people use to work with information and to support the information and information-processing needs of an organisation
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Data Items
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Refer to an elementary description of things, events, activities and transactions that are recorded, classified and stores but are not organised to convey any specific meaning. - Can be numbers, letters, figures, sounds and images
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Information
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Refers to data that have been organised so that they have meaning and value to the recipient. - GPA coupled with a students name is information (a GPA on its own is just data)
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Knowledge
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Consists of data and / or information that have been organised and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumulated learning and expertise as they apply to a current business problem.
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Computer-based information system
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Is an information system that uses computer technology to perform some or all of its intended tasks.
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Information technology components
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-Hardware -Software -Database -Network -Procedures -Users
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Hardware
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Is a device such as a processor, monitor, keyboard, or printer. Together these devices accept data and information, process them and display them.
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Software
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Is a program or collection of programs that enable the hardware to process data.
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Database
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Is a collection of related files or tables containing data
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Network
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Is a connecting system (wireline or wireless) that permits different computers to share resources.
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Procedures
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Are a set of instructions about how to combine hardware, software, databases and networks in order to process information and generate the desired output.
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Users
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Are those individuals who use the hardware and software, interface with it or utilize its output.
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An Application ( Apps)
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Is a computer program designed to support a specific task or business process.
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Major capabilities of information systems
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- perform high-speed, high volume, numerical computations -provide fast, accurate communication ad collaboration within and among organisations -store huge amounts of information in an easy-to-access yet small space -allow quick and inexpensive access to vast amounts of information, worldwide -interpret vast amounts of data quickly and efficiently - Automate both semiautomatic business processes and manual tasks
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Functional Area
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Is within an organisation and has its own collection of application programs, or information systems. These functional area information systems ( FAISs) are supporting pillars for the information systems located at the top. -FAIS support particular functional areas within the organisations - Accounting IS, Finance IS etc.
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What are Enterprise resource planning systems (ERP)?
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They are cross-functional systems that are designed to correct a lack of communication among the FAISs. - Greatly increase organisation productivity.
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What does a transaction processing system (TPS) do?
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It supports the monitoring, collection, storage and processing of data from the organisation's basic business transactions, each of which generate data. - Collects data continuously - generally in real-time (as soon as the data is generated) - Think of a machine used to put through transactions at a supermarket
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Interorganisational information systems
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-Connect two or more organisations - Support many inter-organisational operations, of which supply chain management is the best known.
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Supply chain
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Is the flow of materials, information, money and services from suppliers of raw materials through factories and warehouses to the end customers.
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Electronic commerce (e-commerce) system
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Enables organisations to conduct transactions, called business-to-business electronic commerce and customers to conduct transactions with businesses, called business-to-consumer electronic commerce.
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Business intelligence systems
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Provide computer-based support for complex, non-routine decisions, primarily for middle managers and knowledge workers.
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Expert Systems
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Attempt to duplicate the work of human experts by applying reasoning capabilities, knowledge and expertise within a specific domain. - A navigation systems
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Dashboards
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Are a special form of IS that support all managers of the organisations. They provide rapid access to timely information and direct access to structured information in the form of reports.
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Types of organisational information systems
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-Functional area IS -Transaction processing system -Enterprise resource planning system -Office automation system -Management information system Decision support system Expert system Executive dashboard -Supply chain management system -Electronic commerce system
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How does IT impact organisations?
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- IT will reduce the number of middle managers - IT makes managers more productive and it increases the number of employees who can report to a single manager. - IT will change the manager's job - Changes the way managers make decisions - Provides near real-time information - therefore less time to make decisions but better information to base decisions on - IT will eliminate some jobs particularly if the financial climate is tough. -IT impacts employees at work - IT impacts employee's health and safety - IT provides opportunities for people with disabilities
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Why are information systems important to society?
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- IT affects our quality of life -Robot revolution on the way -Improvements in healthcare
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Competitive Advantage
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Is an advantage is some measure such as cost, quality, or speed that is not easily imitable by competitors; it leads to control of a market and to larger than average profits.
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Identify effective IT responses to different kinds of business pressures
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- Market Pressures: An example of a market pressure is powerful customers. Customer relationship management systems are effective IT responses that help companies achieve customer intimacy. - Technology pressures: An example of a technology pressure is information overload. Search engines and business intelligence applications enable managers to access, navigate and utilize vast amounts of information. - Societal / political / legal pressures: An example of this is social responsibility, such as the state of the physical environment. Green IT is one response that is intended to improve the environment.
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Porter's 5 competitive forces are
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- The threat of entry of new competitors -The bargaining power of suppliers -The bargaining power of customers - The treat of substitute products or services - The rivalry among existing firms in the industry
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5 strategies to combat Porter's five competitive forces
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- Cost leadership strategy: Produce products and or services at the lowest cost in the industry. - Differentiation strategy: Offer different products, services, or product features. - Innovation strategy: Introduce new products and services, or develop new ways to produce them. - Organisational effectiveness strategy: Improve the manner in which internal business processes are executed so that a firms performs similar activities better than its rivals. - Customer-orientation strategy: Concentrate on making customers happy.
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Describe the characteristics of effective business-IT alignment
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-Organisations view IT as a engine of innovation that continually transforms the business. -Organisations view customers and customers service as supremely important -Organisations rotate business and IT professionals across departments and job functions -Organisations provide clear, overarching goals for all employees -Organisations ensure that IT employees understand how the company makes (or loses) money. -Organisations create a vibrant and inclusive company culture.
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What are 3 common challenges in managing data?
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-Data is scattered throughout organisations and are collected by many individuals using various methods and devices. -Data comes from multiple sources -Information systems that support particular business processes impose unique requirements on data, which results in repetition and conflicts across an organisation.
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Discuss ways that common challenges in managing data can be addressed using data governance.
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One strategy for implementing data governance is master data management. Master data management provides companies with the ability to store, maintain, exchange and synchronize a consistent, accurate and timely 'single version the the truth' for the company's core master data. Master data management consistently manages data gathered from across an organisation, consistently manages data from multiple sources and consistently manages data across business processes in an organisation.
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Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of relational databases
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Relational databases allow people to compare information quickly by row or column. In addition, items are easy to retrieve by finding the point of intersection of a particular row and column.
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Explain the elements necessary to successfully implement and maintain data warehouses
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Link source systems that provide data to the warehouse or mart. Prepare the necessary data from the data warehouse using data integration technology and processes Decide on an appropriate architecture for storing data in the data warehouse or data mart Select the tools and applications for the variety of organisational users Ensure that the metadata, data quality and governance processes are in place to ensure that he data warehouse or mart meets its purpose.
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Benefits of Knowledge management
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Best practices are readily available to a wide range of employees Improved customer service more efficient product development
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Challenges of implementing knowledge management
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Employees must be willing to share their personal tacit knowledge Organisations must create a knowledge management culture that rewards employees who add their expertise to the knowledge base The knowledge base must be continually maintained and updated Companies must be willing to invest in the resources needed to carry out these operations.
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Data rot
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Data rot refers primarily to problems with the media on which the data are stored. Over time, temperature, humidity and exposure to light can cause physical problems with storage media and make it difficult to access the data. Finding the machine that data was stored on can be difficult.
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Data governance
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Is an approach to managing information across an entire organisation.
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Master data management
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is a process that spans all organisational business processes and applications. It provides companies with the ability to store, maintain, exchange and synchronize a consistent, accurate and timely 'single version of the truth' for the company's core master data.
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Master Data
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Are a set of core data, such as customer, product, employee, vendor, geographic location and so on, that span the entire enterprise information systems.
