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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

TOTAL QUALITY WITH INFORMATION SYSTEM


The emergence of a global economy has stimulated worldwide interest in achieving quality. Companies can no longer be satisfied with producing goods and services that compete only with goods produced within their own country. Consumers can now select from a broad range of products and services produced anywhere in the world. Before examining how information systems can contribute to quality throughout the organization, we must first define the term quality. 

Traditional definitions for quality have focused upon the conformance to specifications (or the absence of variation from those specifications). With this definition, a producer can easily measure the quality of its products. Achieving quality under this definition requires three steps from the manufacturer: First, establish product specifications. Second, measure products as they are produced to determine whether or not they achieve the standards established in the specifications. Third, alter the manufacturing process whenever necessary to bring the products up to standard.  מצא מנעולן שרות 24 שעות

However, achieving quality is not quite that simple and direct. The definition of quality has been changing and broadening in recent years. Defining quality as conformances to specifications view it from a producer’s perspective only. Customers have a different perspective, being more concerned with value for their Rupees. They normally apply three criteria. First, customers are concerned with the quality of the physical product. They want to know if the product is durable, how safe it is, its reliability, its ease of use and installation, its stylishness, and how well the producer supports the product. Second, customers are concerned with the quality of service, by which they mean the accuracy and truthfulness of the advertising, the timeliness and accuracy of the billing process, responsiveness to warranties (implied as well as specified), and ongoing product support. Finally, customer concepts of quality include the psychological aspects: how well do the sales and support staff know their products, the courtesy and sensitivity of the staff, and even their neatness, the reputation of the product. For companies to compete globally, they need to include a customer perspective in any definition of quality. 

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OUTSOURCING INFORMATION SYSTEMS


If a firm does not want to use its own internal resources to build and operate information systems, it can hire an external organization that specializes in providing these services to do the work. The process of turning over an organization’s computer central operations, telecommunications networks, or applications development to external vendors of these services is called outsourcing.

Outsourcing information system is not a new phenomenon. Outsourcing options have existed since the dawn of data processing. As early as 1963, Petrot’s Electronic Data Systems (EDS) handled data processing services for Frito-Lay and Blue Cross. Activities such as software programming, operation of large computers, time-sharing and purchase of packaged software have to some extent been outsourced since the 1960s. 

Because information systems play such a large role in contemporary organizations, information technology now accounts for about half of most large firms’ capital expenditure. In firms where the cost of information systems function has risen rapidly, managers are seeking ways to control those costs and are treating information technology as a capital investment instead of an operating cost of the firm. One option for controlling these costs is to outsource. 

NowCerts.com It creates ACORD forms and applications, tracks commissions, provides loss runs, communicates with insureds, saves all of your agency document, allows your customers to access their policy information and issue certificates.

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Monday, March 31, 2014

EXECUTION SYSTEMS


The information system categories discussed so far (visit : http://www.management4all.org/2014/03/computer-based-information-systems.html) are primarily oriented toward planning and control activities or toward general office and communication activities. What about systems designed to directly support people doing the value added work that customers care about, such as practicing medicine, designing buildings, or selling investments? Some people call these systems “functional area systems”. Because there is no generally accepted term from information systems that support value added work, we will call them execution systems. These systems have become much more important in the last decade as advances in computer speed, memory capacity, and portability made it increasingly possible to use computerized systems directly while doing value added work. Such systems help plastic surgeons design operation and show the likely results to their patients, help lawyers find precedents relevant to lawsuits, and help maintenance engineers keep machines running. 

Expert systems are a type of execution system that has received attention as an offshoot of artificial intelligence research. An expert system supports the intellectual work of professionals engaged in design, diagnosis, or evaluation of complex situations requiring expert knowledge in a well-defined area. Expert systems have been used to diagnose diseases, configure computers, analyze chemicals, interpret geological data, and support many other problem solving processes. This type of work requires expert knowledge of the process of performing particular tasks. Although these tasks may have some repetitive elements, many situations have unique characteristics that must be considered based on expert knowledge. Intellectual work even in narrowly defined areas is typically much less repetitive than transaction processing general office work.

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DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS


A Decision Support System (DSS) is an interactive information system that provides information, models and data manipulation tools to help make decisions in semi structured and unstructured situations where no one knows exactly how the decision should be made. The traditional DSS approach includes interactive problem solving direct use of models, and user-controllable methods for displaying and analyzing data and in formulating and evaluating alternative decisions. This approach grew out of dissatisfaction with the traditional limitations of TPS and MIS. TPS focused on record keeping and control of repetitive clerical processes. MIS provided reports for management but were often inflexible and unable to produce the information in a form in which managers could use it effectively. In contrast, DSSs were intended to support managers and professionals doing largely analytical work in less structured situation with unclear criteria for success. DSSs are typically designed to solve the structured parts of the problem and help isolate places where judgment and experience are required. 

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Sunday, March 30, 2014

ENTERPRISE INFORMATION SYSTEMS


Many firms have tried to take transaction processing to a higher level by creating Enterprise Information Systems that encompass the transaction processing done in the various functional silos. The idea of these efforts is to create unified databases that permit any authorized individual to obtain whatever information would be helpful in making decisions across the organization. So having all this information in a unified database should improve decision-making. Enterprise information systems are quite controversial because the effort to create them is enormous. They involve much more than changing the format of databases. Often it is necessary to change business processes to suit the needs of the information system instead of vice versa. Nonetheless, many organizations have found that the integration resulting from this large investment seems to be worthwhile. The last part of this discussion explains why these information systems are usually called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems even though planning is not their main focus. 
 

Management and Executive Information Systems

A Management Information System (MIS) provides information for an organization’s managers. The idea of MIS predates the computer age. For example, as long ago as the middle 1500s, the Fogger family in Augsberg, Germany, had business interests throughout Europe and even into China and Peru. To keep in touch, they set up a worldwide news reporting service through which their agents wrote letters about critical political and economic events in their areas of responsibility. These letters were collected, interpreted, analyzed, and summarized in Augsberg and answered through instructions sent to the family’s agents. This paper-based system encompassing planning, execution, and control helped the family move more rapidly in the mercantile world than their rivals. Instructions went out to the agents; the agents executed their work’ and the agents reported their results. 

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Saturday, March 29, 2014

TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEMS (TPS)


A Transaction Processing System (TPS) collects and stores data about transactions and sometimes controls decisions made as part of a transaction. A transaction is a business event that generates or modifies data stores in an information system. TPSs were the first computerized information systems. We encounter computerized TPSs frequently, including every time we write a cheque, use a credit card, or pay a bill sent by a company. A TPS used to record a sale and generate a receipt is primarily concerned with collecting and storing data. If the TPS validates a credit card or helps a clerk determine whether to accept a personal check, it also controls decisions made within the transaction. 

TPSs are designed based on detailed specifications for how the transaction should be performed and how to control the collection of specific data in specific data formats and in accordance with rules, polices, and goals of the organization. Most contain enough structure to enforce rules and procedures for work done by clerks or customer service agents. Some TPSs bypass clerks and totally automate transactions; such as the way ATMs automate deposits and cash withdrawals. A well-designed TPS checks each transaction for easily detectable errors such as missing data, data values that are obviously too high or too low, data values that are inconsistent with other data in the database and data in the wrong format. It may check for required authorizations for the transaction. Certain TPSs such as airline reservation systems may automate decision-making functions such as finding the flight that best meets the customer’s needs. Finally, when all the information for the transaction has been collected and validated, the TPS stores it in a standard format for later access by others. 

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ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS


Electronic communication systems help people work together by exchanging or sharing information in many different forms. New communication capabilities have changed the way many businesses operate by making it possible to do many things at a distance that previously required being present in a specific location. These tools are grouped into four general categories. Teleconferencing systems make it possible to hold same-time, different-place meetings. Messaging systems make it possible to transmit specific messages to specific individuals or groups of individuals. Groupware systems start with messaging but go further by facilitating access to documents and controlling team related workflow. Knowledge management systems facilitate the sharing of knowledge rather than just information. 

Teleconferencing

The use of electronic transmission to permit same-time, different-place meetings is called teleconferencing. We can think of a traditional telephone call as a minimal teleconference, but the term is normally applied to other options including audio conferencing, audio graphic conferencing, and video conferencing. 

The distinction between these approaches is related to the type of information that is shared. Audio conferencing is a single telephone call involving three or more people participating from at least two locations. If several people on the call are in the same office, they can all participate using a speakerphone, which includes a high-sensitivity microphone and a loudspeaker that can be heard by anyone in a room. Audio graphic conferencing is an extension of audio conferencing permitting dispersed participants to see pictures or graphical material at the same time. This is especially useful when the purpose of the meeting is to share information that is difficult to describe, organize, or visualize, such as a spreadsheet or model used to perform calculations under different assumptions. Video conferencing is an interactive meeting involving two or more groups of people who can see each other using television screens. The least expensive forms of video conferencing are tiny cameras and 4-inch screens add to telephones or separate video conferencing windows displayed on computer screens. In typical business video conferencing, remote participants appear on a television screen. 

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Friday, March 28, 2014

OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS


An Office Automation System (OAS) facilitates everyday information processing tasks in offices and business organizations. These systems include a wide range of tools such as spreadsheets, word processors, and presentation packages. Although telephones, e-mail, v-mail, and fax can be included in this category, we will treat communication systems as a separate category. 

OASs help people perform personal recordkeeping, writing, and calculation chores efficiently. Of all the system types, OASs and communication systems are the most familiar to students. Tools generally grouped within the OAS category include: 

-Spreadsheets are an efficient method for performing calculations that can be visualized in terms of the cells of a spreadsheet. Although spreadsheet programs seem second nature today, the first spreadsheet program was VisiCalc, which helped create the demand for the first personal computers in the late 1970s.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

COMPUTER BASED INFORMATION SYSTEMS


An Information system is a set of people, procedures, and resources that collects, transforms, and disseminates information in an organization. Today’s end users rely on many types of Information Systems (IS). Some are simple manual information systems, where people use tools such as pencils and paper, or machines such as calculators and typewriters. Others are computer-based information systems. Computer-based information systems mean the use hardware, software, telecommunications, and other forms of Information Technology (IT) to transform data resources into a variety of information products. Four kinds of organizational changes are enabled by Information systems. These are automation, rationalization, re-engineering, and paradigm shift. When an organization does not use its internal resources to build and operate information system it takes help of other organizations to provide these services. This is called outsourcing. There are advantages and disadvantages of using outsourcing. Quality programs differ greatly from company to company. Some are merely generalized “sales” campaigns intended to sensitize employees to the need to strive for more quality in their daily work. At the opposite extreme, quality programs can result in fundamental changes in the way a company does its business. Companies also follow different routes in achieving quality. Whatever route a company selects, the more it tries to achieve with its quality programs, the more information systems can contribute the success of those programs.

A computer based information system uses the resources of people (end users and IS specialists), hardware (machines and media), and software (programs and procedures), to perform input, processing, output, storage, and control activities that convert data resources into information products as shown in Figure-1.

Figure-1: The Components of an Information System

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Sunday, March 23, 2014

SAP SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS


BUSINESS SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FROM SAP 

There are rapid changes in business world. New products are introduced and new alliances are set-up. The companies, which are previously operating locally, are looking for expansion of global markets. There is manifold increase in competition. SAP is a world leader in business software solutions, with industry-specific products for virtually every aspect of operations. SAP claims that its solutions are built on such technologies that they will integrate with any systems. This is an important property as it enables to preserve your previous investment on it and do not have to major changes while migrating to SAP. 

SAP offers highly specialized solutions and is the world leader in this category. With installations in 60000 customer locations in 120 countries, SAP is developed and supported by more than 28000 professionals from its global network and this is increasing. Its popularity can be verified from the fact that 19000 organizations worldwide run on SAP. SAP claims that its solutions are designed in such a way so that the businesses get a better return on their technology investment. SAP claims to achieve great results for many companies, large and small e.g. Brother International got a 129% return on its investment on SAP’s Customer Relationship Management program and Volvo Construction Equipment achieved an 89% increase in sales, a 43% reduction in shipping lead times, and a fourfold increase in revenue per employee with the help of SAP’s Supply Chain Management program. SAP’s solutions are available for many industries like aerospace and defense, engineering, construction, and operations, financial service providers, insurance, telecommunications and banking etc. SAP offers a suite that helps businesses to respond more quickly to changing customer needs and market conditions. SAP business suite includes CRM, Financials, HR, SRM and SCM and many more. The table given below describes them. 

Table-1: SAP Solutions Under its Business Suite

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Thursday, March 20, 2014

INTEGRATED SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS


In the present competitive business age everybody wish to choose a system that suits his business processes. Integrated systems are the systems that help in integrating key business and management functions. They provide a high-level view of all the activities that are going on in the business. In the earlier days, data used to be collected from different nodes and then compiled in the form of a summary report. All these processes were too time consuming. Presently the software does this compilation or integration work. There are many packages that integrate the activities of different business divisions and thus allow the businesses to devote more time on productive things. However there are different needs of different business and one should be careful in deciding about software that would be useful to him. Any company looks for these packages to integrate its corporate functions like finance, manufacturing and human resources. This is a critical activity. As a budding manager you should be able to understand the system requirement of your company. You should be able to define the information flow, information requirements and information usage so that you gain competitive edge. 

Literal meaning of “Integration” is combination or amalgamation. In terms of computer terminology, “Integration” is a broad term for any software that serves to join together or act as a go-between between two separate and usually already existing applications.  Integrated software applications for business gives you the ability to integrate the diverse information sources pertaining to your business into a single framework. This integrated information can then be shared by applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) systems. 

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Friday, March 14, 2014

INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY

ETHICS IN INFORMATION SOCIETY

Ethics determine generally accepted and encouraging activities within a company and the larger society. Ethical computer users define acceptable practices more strictly than just reframing from committing crimes. They consider the effects of their activities including Internet usage, on other people and organizations. There are many associations who have developed a code of ethics that provide useful guidance. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has developed a number of specific professional responsibilities. These responsibilities include the following:

a) Access computing and communication resources only when authorized to do so.
b) Honor contracts, agreements and assigned responsibilities.
c) Give comprehensive and through evaluations of computer systems and their impacts, including analysis of possible risks.
d) Accept and provide appropriate professional review.
e) Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity in both the process and products of professional work. 

The above code of conduct for his deeds if a person accesses some data without proper authorization, he held responsible. The person cannot say that data should have been protected and get away with it. The information system and their impact must be audited like other systems. Information system is like any other product and the users must be aware of the risks involved. The unethical use of information system can devastate an organization. 

INFORMATION RIGHTS, PRIVACY AND FREEDOM IN AN INFORMATION SOCIETY

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Saturday, March 8, 2014

VALUE AND COST OF INFORMATION


The value of information is measured in terms of benefits to the organization. The benefits may be tangible that can be easily quantified. For example, 5% increase in sales is a tangible benefit, which corresponds to Rs. 50,000. If the cost of the information that led to this additional profit is Rs. 20,000. Then the value of the information is Rs. 30,000. Sometimes, the benefits may be intangible and cannot be easily quantified. For instance, the information may help consumers to connect to a company better. The employees may feel respected in an organization if more information is shared with them. In both the cases, the attrition rate will decrease and the corresponding benefit cannot be directly measured in terms of financial benefit to the organization. 

In fact, whenever an organization identifies an opportunity for using information to its advantage, it develops an information system. However before developing the system, a cost/benefit analysis is done to figure out net benefit of the system. There are many methods to assess value of information system, which is explained below. 

1) Cost-benefit Analysis

IT project and investments has to take its place in the queue for all too scarce cash resources, and the rules for justifying are the same as for any other project.

A more sophisticated argument is that, because the risks inherent in decision about IT are higher, the expected ROI needs to higher before an investment can be justified.

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Friday, March 7, 2014

DATA, INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE

DATA, INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE 

Data is raw material with which we start and information is the finished product.

For example, look at the following links:

1234           5000.00
2345           7000.00
3456           4500.00
2571           8000.00

You would agree that the above lines contain data. But in the present form, the above data is useless. Let me now put the data in the proper context as follows:

Account Number
Money withdrawn
on 25/02/2014
1234
5000.00
2345
7000.00
3456
4500.00
2571
8000.00
 
The data is now usable and we can process it to extract information such as the amount withdrawn from account number 1234 is 5000.00. We can consolidate the data and extract the information that Rs. 24500.00 were withdrawn on 25/2/04.

Information has been defined as :

Data that have been put into a meaningful and useful context and communicated to a recipient who uses it to make decisions it reduces uncertainty, reveals additional alternatives or helps eliminate irrelevant or poor ones.

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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM 

The subject of management information system (MIS) has different meaning for different people. The concept of MIS has evolved over a period of last two decades or so. The initial management information systems were built to process transactional data of an organization and to produce regular reports. The reports were not targeted and individuals picked the required data from the report. The information systems evolved further and produced different reports according to requirements. Instead of user looking through the report for required data, the system generated a report in a suitable format that created an impact on its user and provoked an action, a decision or an investigation. Today, an information system has evolved to the stage where they handle databases and facilitate decision-making. 

Accordingly, definition of MIS has also evolved. There are many closely related definitions in use. The terms MIS is synonymously used with terms the Information System (IS), the Information and Decision System and the Computer based Information System. 

The MIS is defined as an integrated system of man and machine for providing the information to support the operations, the management, and the decision-making function in the organization. 

The above definition emphasizes an association between MIS and decision-making. An application software that processes data, which is not used for decision-making, cannot be called an MIS. For instance, a computer-aided design system is not an MIS. 

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Monday, February 24, 2014

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM


INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)

Information is the finished product for which data is the raw material. The dictionary defines information as processed data, which is used to trigger certain actions or gain understanding of what the data implies. 

Information has also been defined as data that have been put into a meaningful and useful context and communicated to a recipient who uses it to make decisions. Information involves the communication and reception of intelligence or knowledge. It apprises and notifies; surprises and stimulates, reduces uncertainty, reveals additional alternatives or helps eliminate irrelevant or poor ones, and influences individuals and stimulates them to action. The information must be received by the recipient within the required time frame and the information must be free from errors. 

The technology plays an important role in delivering timely and error free information to its recipients. Technology includes hardware, software, databases, and communication system. Hardware is a set of devices such as processor, monitors, keyboard, and printer that accept data, process them, and display them. Software is a set of programs that enable the hardware to process data. Database is also an integral part of IT system, which is a collection of related files, tables, relation etc. that stores data and the association among them. Network connects computing resources of an organization and facilitates sharing of hardware and software. The organization processes and people are integral part of an IT System. 

Information Technology means the collection, storage, processing, dissemination, and use of Information. It is not confined to hardware and software but acknowledges the importance of man and the goals he sets for his technology, the values employed in making these choices, the assessment criteria used to decide whether he is controlling the technology and is being enriched by it. 

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COMPUTER SOFTWARE


The word software collectively refers to various kinds of programs used to operate computers and related devices. A program is a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute. Programs can be built into the hardware itself, or they may exist independently in a form known as software. Hardware describes the physical components of computers and related devices.  

Software may be distributed on floppy disks, CD-ROMs, and on the Internet. It is usually stored on an external long-term memory device, such as a hard drive or magnetic diskette. When the program is in use, the computer reads it from the storage device and temporarily places the instructions in random access memory

(RAM). The process of fetching and then performing the instructions is called “running”, or “executing”, a program. Software programs and procedures that are permanently stored in a computer’s read-only memory (ROM) are called firmware. 

The two main types of software are System Software and Application Software. Application software consists of programs that are aimed to help users in solving particular computing problems. Microsoft Internet Explorer for web browsing, Adobe Photoshop for developing computer graphics, Yahoo Messenger for instant messaging all lies in the application software category. The other class of software is the system software, which encompasses the programs that heavily interact with computer resources and provide services to other programs. Popular examples in this are Operating Systems (OS), hardware drivers, compiler etc. 

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

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Sunday, February 23, 2014

BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE OF IT


The impact of IT on a business has been tremendous. One of the advantages of IT systems for a business is the cost-performance ratio, which is better in case of computers. The labor cost increases every year but the cost of computer does not increase. A better and more powerful computer can be bought for the same price after a year. It is better to use computers for routine jobs as far as possible. The IT has been used in every business and for every function of a business. Some of the applications are as follows. 

Finance and Accounting : IT has been used for forecasting revenues, determining the best sources and uses of funds and managing cash and other financial resources. IT has also been used to analyze investments and perform audits.

Sales and Marketing : IT has been used to develop new services, which may not exist without IT. IT has helped management of various organizations to determine the best location for production and distribution facilities. The operational data has been analyzed using IT to determine the best advertising and sales approaches. The product prices have been set using IT to get the highest total revenues. In other words, IT has been used for product analysis and price analysis.

Manufacturing : IT has been extensively used for processing customer orders, controlling inventory levels, developing production schedules and for monitoring product quality. A whole new discipline - Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing has evolved due to application of IT to design and manufacturing. The manufacturing is not what is used to be due to the use of computers, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) dominates the manufacturing sector.

Human Resource Management : Companies are using IT systems for screening applicants and conducting various tests.

Project Management : A range of software packages are available in the market for managing projects. These software products let the management set the schedules, milestones, facilitate communication among group members, and monitor the project progress. These products help in document and report preparation.

Data Analysis : Investment firms heavily use information systems to analyze stocks, bonds and options to provide better service to their clients. 

INTERNET AND ITS BUSINESS APPLICATIONS 

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