Re-answer of Management Information System mid-term exam

1. Six major objectives:

2. Operational Excellence : Walmart, McDonalds

3. New products, services, and business models : Apple’s iPad, Google’s Android OS, and Netflix

4. Customer and supplier intimacy : JCPenney’s information

5. Improved decision making : Verizon’s Web-based digital dashboard

6. Competitive advantage : Apple, Walmart, UPS

7. Survival : Toxic Substances Control Act, Sarbanes-Oxley Act

8. Characteristics of Decision Support System :

1. Facilitation. DSS facilitate and support specific decision-making activities and/or decision processes.

2. Interaction. DSS are computer-based systems designed for interactive use by decision makers or staff users who control the sequence of interaction and the operations performed.

3. Ancillary. DSS can support decision makers at any level in an organization. They are NOT intended to replace decision makers.

4. Repeated Use. DSS are intended for repeated use. A specific DSS may be used routinely or used as needed for ad hoc decision support tasks.

5. Task-oriented. DSS provide specific capabilities that support one or more tasks related to decision-making, including: intelligence and data analysis; identification and design of alternatives; choice among alternatives; and decision implementation.

6. Identifiable. DSS may be independent systems that collect or replicate data from other information systems OR subsystems of a larger, more integrated information system.

7. Decision Impact. DSS are intended to improve the accuracy, timeliness, quality and overall effectiveness of a specific decision or a set of related decisions.

Characteristics of Management Information System:

1. Management oriented

One important feature of MIS is that MIS is designed top-down. This means that the system is designed around the need felt by the management at different levels for information. The focus of the system is to satisfy the information needs of management.

1. Management directed

Since MIS is ‘for the’ management it is imperative that it also should have a very strong ‘by the’ management initiative. Management is involved in the designing process of MIS and also in its continuous review and up gradation to develop a good qualitative system. The system is structured as per directions factored by management. This helps in minimizing the gap between expectations of management form the system and the actual system.

1. Integrated

MIS is an integrated system. It is integrated with all operational and functional activities of management. This is an important characteristic and- requirement for a system to qualify as MIS. The reason for having an integrated system is that information in the managerial context for decision-making may be required from different areas from within the organization. If MIS remains a collection of isolated systems and each satisfying a small objective, then the integrated information need of managers will not be fulfiller. In order to provide a complete picture of the scenario, complete information is needed which only an integrated system can provide.

1. Common data flows

Through MIS the data being stored into the system, retrieved from the system, disseminated within the system or processed by the system can be handled in an integrated manner. The integrated approach towards data management will result in avoiding duplication of data, data redundancy and will help to simplify operations.

1. Strategic planning

MIS cannot be designed overnight. It requires very high degree of planning which goes into creating an effective organization. The reason for this kind of planning is to ensure that the MIS being built not only satisfies the information need of the managers today but can also serve the organization for the next five to ten years with modifications. Sometimes when the planning part is done away with, systems tend to perform well in the present but they tend to become obsolete with time. Planning helps to avoid this problem.

1. Bias towards centralization

MIS is required to give ‘one version of the truth’, i.e., it must supply the correct version of the latest information. There is a requirement for the data repository to be centralized. Centralized data management helps MIS to exercise version control as well as provide an integrated common view of data to the managers. In a non-centralized system, data will get entered, updated and deleted from the system from different locations. In such a case it becomes difficult to provide correct information to managers. For example, in a decentralized System if a person superannuates from an organization and his superannuating is only recorded in the human resource system but not communicated to the finance department system, then it is quite likely that his salary may be generated by the finance system for the next month. A centralized system where data in entered, updated and deleted from only one location does not suffer from such problems. In a centralized system, the superannuating employee’s details are deleted from the master file from which all departments’ access data, thereby eliminating the risk of generating his salary for the next month.

1. The value chain model:

· Inbound logistics – These are all the processes related to receiving, storing, and distributing inputs internally. Your supplier relationships are a key factor in creating value here.

· Operations – These are the transformation activities that change inputs into outputs that are sold to customers. Here, your operational systems create value.

· Outbound logistics – These activities deliver your product or service to your customer. These are things like collection, storage, and distribution systems, and they may be internal or external to your organization.

· Marketing and sales – These are the processes you use to persuade clients to purchase from you instead of your competitors. The benefits you offer, and how well you communicate them, are sources of value here.

· Service – These are the activities related to maintaining the value of your product or service to your customers, once it’s been purchased.

· Procurement (purchasing) – This is what the organization does to get the resources it needs to operate. This includes finding vendors and negotiating best prices.

· Human resource management – This is how well a company recruits, hires, trains, motivates, rewards, and retains its workers. People are a significant source of value, so businesses can create a clear advantage with good HR practices.

· Technological development – These activities relate to managing and processing information, as well as protecting a company’s knowledge base. Minimizing information technology costs, staying current with technological advances, and maintaining technical excellence are sources of value creation.

· Infrastructure – These are a company’s support systems, and the functions that allow it to maintain daily operations. Accounting, legal, administrative, and general management are examples of necessary infrastructure that businesses can use to their advantage.

1. Five steps in ethical analysis:

2. Identify and clearly describe the facts.

3. Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved.

4. Identify the stakeholders.

5. Identify the options that you can reasonably take.

6. Identify the potential consequences of your options.

7. Storage Area Network (SAN)

SAN is a high-speed network of storage devices that also connects those storage devices with servers. It provides block-level storage that can be accessed by the applications running on any networked servers. SAN storage devices can include tape libraries and disk-based devices, like RAID hardware

The main functions of a storage area network (SAN) includes the following:

· A high-speed network of storage devices.

· Connects the storage devices with servers.

· Can be accessed by applications on networked servers.

· Particularly helpful in backup and disaster recovery.

· Uses networking protocols to span longer distances geographically.

· SAN can also simplify some management tasks.

· Offers flexibility, availability and performance.

1. The use of a traditional approach to file processing encourages each functional area in a corporation to develop specialized applications. Each application requires a unique data file that is likely to be a subset of the master file. These subsets of the master file lead to data redundancy and inconsistency, processing inflexibility, and wasted storage resources.

2. Networking and Communication Trends Convergence:

Telephone networks and computer networks converging into single digital network using Internet standards.

1. CRM systems:

· Capture and integrate customer data from all over the organization

· Consolidate and analyze customer data

· Distribute customer information to various systems and customer touch points across enterprise

· Provide single enterprise view of customers

IT organization revolution, from call center to profit center:

IT organization is the department in a company that is tasked and responsible with estabelishing, monitoring
and mantaining information technology system and services. It also may tasked with strategic planning to ensure that all IT initiatives
support the goal of business that company have. IT organizatonal structures vary and can be up down or spread out decentralized. In Large companies
usually this department headed by a Chief Officer, smaller one may just IT director or Operations manager.

IT department can be the one that suck up company resources or the one that providing it as a profit maker, depends on the role
of the IT itself, if Initatives and service that IT serves adds up more potential resources, so its regarded as profit maker, and vice versa.

Find out about KPI Key Performance Indicator!

A Key Performance Indicator is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPIs at multiple levels to evaluate their success at reaching targets. High-level KPIs may focus on the overall performance of the enterprise, while low-level KPIs may focus on processes in departments such as sales, marketing or a call center.

Find about SOX!

Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Imposes responsibility on companies and their management to safeguard the accuracy and integrity of financial information that is used internally and released externally.