msc

1. We Are in the Information Age.
A Time When...
 Knowledge is power
 Knowledge workers outnumber all other
workers by a 4 to 1 margin
Introduction
A KNOWLEDGE WORKER works with
and produces information as a product. As
a knowledge worker, how do you work with
and produce information?
1-2

2. YOUR FOCUS IN THIS CHAPTER
 Management Information Systems & The
MIS Challenge
 Factors Shaping Business Today
 The Role of IT in the Information Age
 Information as a New Business Resource
 Your Role as a Knowledge Worker
Introduction
1-3

3. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEMS (MIS)...
deals with the planning for, development,
management, and use of information
technology tools to help people perform
all tasks related to information
processing and management.
Introduction
1-4

4. MIS Deals with Three Important
Organizational Resources:
1. Information
2. Information technology
3. People (the most important).
Introduction
Can you find those 3 resources for the
organizations in Photo Essay 1-1 on pages 6-7?
1-5

5. The MIS Challenge
All businesses must strive to meet The MIS
Challenge. The complete MIS Challenge is in
Figure 1.1 on page 5.
1-6
THE MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
CHALLENGE
 What businesses do
 Customer moment of value
 The role of information technology

6. WHAT DO BUSINESSES DO?
They service their customers.
Never forget the customer is number one.
The MIS Challenge
1-7

7. CUSTOMER MOMENT OF VALUE
is providing service...
The MIS Challenge
1.When the customer wants it (time)
2.Where the customer wants it (location)
3.How the customer wants it (form), and
4.Guaranteed to the customer (perfect
delivery)
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8. THE ROLE OF INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Information technology (IT) is a set of tools that
can help provide the right people with the
right information at the right time.
The MIS Challenge
REMEMBER: What you don’t know may put
you out of business.
1-9

9. Businesses Use Information
Technology in 3 Ways:
1. To support information-processing tasks.
2. As an enabler of innovation.
3. As a collapser of time and space.
Information Technology
1-22

10. TO SUPPORT INFORMATION-
PROCESSING TASKS
1. CAPTURING information - at its point of origin.
2. CONVEYING information - in its most useful form.
3. CREATING information - to obtain new
information.
4. CRADLING information - for use at a later time.
5. COMMUNICATING information - to other people
or another location.
Information Technology
1-23

11. AS AN ENABLER OF
INNOVATION
 IT is not innovation all by itself.
 IT, however, can enable innovation.
 FedEx used IT to build customer-oriented
tracking software.
Information Technology
What other examples of IT innovation can
you think of?
1-24

12. AS A COLLAPSER OF TIME AND
SPACE
 A typical CD-ROM can hold 650 million
characters of information. That’s:
– 325,000 pages of text, or
– 650 500-sheet reams of paper.
 In early 2000, the typical home computer
was capable of performing 500 million
instructions per second. How fast are they
today?
Information Technology
1-25

13. INFORMATION AS A NEW
BUSINESS RESOURCE
Information
Information is a key resource in The MIS
Challenge. But what is information?
DATA - are any raw facts or observations that
describe a particular phenomenon.
INFORMATION - is simply data that has a
particular meaning within a specific context.
1-26

14. DIMENSIONS OF INFORMATION -
DEFINING VALUE
 TIME DIMENSION - the “when” aspect of
information.
 CONTENT DIMENSION - the “what” aspect
of information.
 FORM DIMENSION - the “how” aspect of
information.
Information
You can determine the value of information by
evaluating its dimensions.
1-27

15. DIMENSIONS OF INFORMATION
 TIME - when
– Timeliness
– Currency
Information
 FORM - how
–Detail
–Presentation
 CONTENT- what
–Accuracy
–Relevance
–Completeness
1-28

16. Information Management
 An internal operation that arranges the
firm’s information resources to support
business performance and outcomes
 information managers are responsible for:
– generating information
– analyzing information
– dissemination of information to
facilitate the decision-making process

17. Data vs. Information
 data are raw facts and figures
 information is a meaningful and useful
interpretation of the data
 data are processed to become information
 example:
– data include raw data about clients’ purchases,
account balances
– information is a printout showing whose
accounts are up-to-date and whose are overdue

18. Converting Data to Information
Input (Data) Output
(Information)
Process
Text, format
commands
Text, images,
line work
Accounting
data
Sales, cost of
sales data
Word
processor
Page layout/
publishing
General ledger
program
Break-even
software
Finished
document
Financial
statements
Page proofs for
production
Break-even
analysis

19. Information Systems (IS)
 an organized method of transforming
data into information that can be used
for decision making
 necessary to determine what information
is needed and how it will be produced
 must ensure that only those who are
supposed to have access to the
information can get a hold of it

20. New Options for Organizational
Design: The Networked Enterprise
 The structure of business organizations is
changing due to the information
technologies in use:
– Leaner organizations
– More flexible operations
– Increased collaboration (internal & external)
– Improved management processes

21. Types of Information Systems
 An information system
consists of many
different systems,
sharing information,
serving different levels
within the organization
 Systems can be
matched to users at
different levels in the
firm
Top Level: Strategic IS
Mid-Level: Management IS
Knowledge Workers:
Knowledge IS
First-Level: Operational IS
Matching Users to Systems

22. Transaction Processing Systems
(TPS)
 Applications of information
processing for basic day-to-
day business transactions
– Payroll
– Customer order-taking and
processing
– Customer billing
– Management reports

23. Other Information Systems
 Management Information Systems (MIS):
– Systems that support an organization’s managers by
providing daily reports, schedules, plans, and budgets
 Decision Support System (DSS):
– Computer systems used to help managers consider
alternatives when making decisions on complicated
problems
 Executive Support Systems (ESS):
– A quick-reference, easy-access application of
information systems specially designed for upper-level
management

24. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
 the programming and development of computers
to imitate human thought, learning, reasoning, and
intelligence
 artificial senses include vision, hearing, and
feeling, and facial recognition
 ability to process natural (not machine) languages
to respond to human voice commands
 includes robotics

25. Expert Systems
 a special form of artificial
intelligence that makes decisions or
aids employees with specific tasks,
using decision/processing rules
provided by area experts
 allows non-experts to arrive at a
solution to a problem simply by
using the software

26. The Elements of the Information
System
Hardware
Software
Control
Database
People
Telecommunications

27. Software
 programs that instruct the
computer what to do and how to
do it
 systems programs: tell the
computer what resources to use
and how to use them (only one
operating system per computer)
 application programs: process
data to meet the needs of users
(may be many in a computer)
 language program allows users to
write instructions for the
computer (e.g.: FORTRAN)
 object-oriented technology:
modern programming tools that
write code in small reusable
chunks (objects) that can be
inserted into programs as needed
 graphic user interface (GUI):
user-friendly computer displays
with icons for point-and-click ease
of use
 icons: small images on the
computer screen that represent
various applications

28. Control
 ensures computer is operating within
established parameters
 address: security and privacy issues, virus
protection, piracy protection, disaster recovery
 virus: harmful programs created and spread by
vandals seeking to disrupt computer operations
 piracy: illegal copying of programs that are
privately owned
 security: protection of programs or data from
unauthorized users (hackers) with electronic
firewalls

29. Processing Methods
 batch: data are combined into a
group that is processed all at once,
often after hours or overnight
 online: data are entered and
immediately processed (may be
required for very volatile data, such
as keeping track of credit card
balances)

30. Computer Applications
for Business
 word processing: sophisticated text editing and layout
programs to store, edit, and type letters, numbers, reports
(e.g.: Word, WordPerfect)
 spreadsheet: electronic spreadsheets allow manipulation
of financial information (e.g.: Excel, Quattro Pro, Lotus)
 database management: maintains and monitors the data
generated by a business (e.g.: DBase, Access, Paradox)
 graphics: high quality photographic layout, design and
drawing software (e.g.: Quark Xpress, Harvard Graphics,
PageMaker, CorelDraw)

31. Databases
A centralized collection of central data that can be
sorted and analyzed as required to meet highly
specialized information needs.
David McKay 14 Willow Cres., (000) 123-4567
Customer Record
Customer Fields
Susan Campbell
Michael Powell
Claire Matthews
Customer File
(Related Records)

32. System Architecture
 computers at different locations can function
independently but are interconnected as well to allow
information exchange as required
 wide area network (WAN): networks that cover a vast
geographic area
 local area network (LAN): a network that links a single
office environment, a single building, or a small
geographic area
 wide area networks may rely on telephone or satellite
transmission, while local area networks rely on hard
wiring (cable)

33. Client-Server Systems
 server: a component that can be shared by LAN
users
 client: PCs that are linked by means of a LAN
 the server may be a file server (sharing
programs and data) and/or a print server
(controlling all print jobs)
 Client-server network: a network composed of
both clients (users) and servers that allow clients
to access various services without costly and
unnecessary duplication