Master of Business Administration-MBA Sem.

MB0031 Management Information System

Assignment set-1

Q 1:a. Explain the impact of MIS in the area of police information system?

Answer: MIS is an Information system which helps in providing the management of an organization with
information which is used by management for decision making.

A management information system (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the
application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business
problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are
distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in
operational activities in the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of
information management methods tied to the automation or
support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information
systems.

An 'MIS' is a planned system of the collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of
information needed to carry out the functions of management. According to Philip Kotler "A marketing
information system consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute
needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers."

The terms MIS and information system are often confused. Information systems include systems that are not
intended for decision making. The area of study called MIS is sometimes referred to, in a restrictive sense, as
information technology management. That area of study should not be confused with computer science. IT service
management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) as ERP incorporates elements that are not
necessarily focused on decision support.

MIS has a major impact on the functions of any organization. The organization derives benefits from the systems
in the following form:

a) Speedy access to information,

b) Interpretation of data,

c) Quick decisions,

d) Speedy actions,

e) increased productivity and thereby increase in the profit

f) Reduced transaction cost.

MIS characteristics

In any organization managers will have varieties of tasks to manage. MIS is mainly designed to take care of the
needs of the managers in the organization. Organizations will have different departments like marketing,
production, sales, inventory, maintenance etc. Each of these departments function individually and also in
relationship with other departments. Information is available in abundance. MIS aids in integrating the
information generated by various departments of the organization.
MIS helps in identifying a proper mechanism of storage of data. The data is maintained in such a way that the
unnecessary duplication of data is avoided. MIS also helps in establishing mechanism to eliminate redundancies
in data. MIS as a system can be broken down into sub systems. Each such sub system may be programmed. This
results in easy access of data, accuracy of data and information. It helps in maintaining the consistency of data.

Function of MIS

The main function of MIS is to help the managers and the executives in the organization
in decision-making.

Large quantities of data like customers information, competitors information, personnel records, sales data,
accounting data etc is collected from internal sources like the Company records and external sources like annual
reports and publications. The collected data is organized in the form of a database.
The data from the database is processed and analyzed by using different tools and techniques.
The results of the analysis are properly presented to the managers to help them in decision-making.

Q1. b. What are the functions and disadvantages of MIS?

Answer: Advantages and Disadvantages, which we feel, is appropriate in the case.

1) To begin with, in the above Case presentation, the initial paragraph is on the typical work scenario faced by a
Manager in most of the service sector organization. The amount of pressure he is in during his daily routines
work. Here he seems to be senior most and most computer literate among others in the office. Hence his boss
comes to him and hands over a letter to him, which mentions about Collaboration over Internet. The manager is
supposed to go through the contents and brief everyone by Thursday. The
matter is related to E-Collaboration and E Business. Further there are information on how to get more information
on E-Collabration. There are references of various Internet sites given to gather more inputs on E-Enterprise, E
Business and E Collaboration. E business systems lay foundation of other Enterprise applications, namely E
commerce, E-communication and E collaboration.

To understand and discuss about the above terms we need to know that MIS has been evolving in different forms
under different levels of management. Some of the developments are recent and some are still in the development
stage. The research continues. With the emergence of Internet, business organization has undergone structural,
cultural, and qualitatitive change and a new organization structure has emerged which is known as E business
enterprise. In this Enterprise business operations are performed through E Communication and E Collaboration
initiatives. Therefore, E business enterprise has a global market, reach, source and global competition.

E business enterprise is more process driven, tehnology enabled and uses its own information and knowledge to
perform. It has no geographic boundaries as it can extend its operations where Internet works.

About E Collaboration -

Every business has a number of work scenarios where group of people work together to complete the tasks and to
achieve a common objective. The groups could be teams or virtual teams with different member strength. They
come together to perform a task to achieve some results. The process is called collaboration. The collaboration
now is possible with e-technologies, which put these teams in network with Internet support for communication,
access to different databases and servers. These capabilities help to create collaborative work systems and allow
members to work together cooperatively on
projects and assignments.

The biggest advantage of E-collaboration is that it taps the collective wisdom, knowledge and experience of the
members. The collaboration team or group could be within the organisation and between the organisations as well.
Since, E-collaboration works on an Internet platform and uses web technology, work group / team need not be at
one physical location. They can be at different locations and form a virtual team to work on project or assignment.

E-collaboration uses E-communication capabilities to perform collaborative tasks, or project assignment. Its
effectiveness is increased by software 'GroupWare' that enables the members of the group to share information,
invoke an application and work together to create documents and share them and so on. GroupWare is
collaboration software. E-collaboration helps work effectively on applications like calendaring and scheduling
tasks, event, project management, workflow applications, work group applications, document creation and
sharing, and knowledge management.
E-collaboration system components are Internet, Intranet, Extranet and LAN, WAN networks for communication
through GroupWare tools, browsers. Application packages are software suit, which help process customer
requirements. It is supported by databases present on various servers like mail server, material database,
knowledge server, document server and so on. 2) MIS for E-business is different compared to conventional MIS
design of an organisation. The role of MIS in E-business organization is to deal with changes in global market and
enterprises. MIS produces more knowledge-based products. Knowledge management system is formally
recognized as a part of MIS. It is effectively used for strategic planning for survival and growth, increase in profit
and productivity and so on.

To achieve the said benefits of E-business organisation, it is necessary to redesign the organisation to realize the
benefits of digital firm.
The organisation structure should be lean and flat.
2) Get rid of rigid established infrastructure such as branch office or zonal office.

3) Allow people to work from anywhere.

4) Automate processes after reengineering the process to cut down process cycle time.

Make use of groupware technology on Internet platform for faster response processing.

3) Advantages and Challenges:

Internet and networking technology has thrown challenge to enlarge the scope of organisation where customers
and vendors become part of the organisation. This technology offers a solution to communicate, co ordinate and
collaborate with customers, vendors and business partners. E-business enterprise is open twenty-four hours, and
being independent, managers, vendors; customers transact business any time from anywhere. It has no geographic
boundaries as it can extend its operations where Internet works. All this is possible due to Internet and web
moving traditional paper driven organisation to information driven Internet enabled E-business enterprise.

MIS in E-organisation deviates from traditional report formats to automated intelligent knowledge driven system.
It enforces manager to act quickly to response displayed on the screen. Most of the decisions of middle and
operational management are delegated to IT-enabled information and knowledge driven systems. They are
supported by the rule-based transaction processing system, decision support systems, expert systems, artificial
intelligence (AI) systems, and data warehouse and mining systems. MIS in E-organisation deviates from the
conventional model of 'Capture Compute
Process Analyse Report Think and Act' to 'Point Click Respond Act.

Challenges:

One challenge is to convert domestic process design to work for international process, where integration of
multinational information systems using different communication standards, country specific accounting practices,
and laws of security are to be adhered strictly.

This is just not a technical change in business operations but a cultural change in the mindset of managers and
workers to look beyond the conventional organisation. It means changing the organization behaviour to take
competitive advantage of the E-business technology.

The last but not the least important is the challenge to organise and implement information architecture and
information technology platforms, considering multiple locations and multiple information needs arising due to
global operations of the business into a comprehensive MIS.
Q2 a. Write a scenario which shows the applications of OLAP systems?

Answer: A decision support system is a way to model data and make quality decisions based upon it. Making the
right decision in business is usually based on the quality of your data and your ability to sift through and analyze
the data to find trends in which you can create solutions and strategies for. DSS or decision support systems are
usually computer applications along with a human component that can sift through large amounts of data and pick
between the many choices.

While many people think of decision support systems as a specialized part of a business, most companies have
actually integrated this system into their day to day operating activities. For instance, many companies constantly
download and analyze sales data, budget sheets and forecasts and they update their strategy once they analyze and
evaluate the current results. Decision support systems have a definite structure in businesses, but in reality, the
data and decisions that are based on it are fluid and constantly changing.

28.3 Types of DSS

Data-Driven DSS
Data-Driven DSS take the massive amounts of data available through the company's TPS and MIS systems and
cull from it useful information which executives can use to make more informed decisions. They don't have to
have a theory or model but can "free-flow" the data. The first generic type of Decision Support System is a Data-
Driven DSS. These systems include file drawer and management reporting systems, data warehousing and
analysis systems, Executive Information Systems (EIS) and Spatial Decision Support Systems. Business
Intelligence Systems are also examples of Data-Driven DSS. Data-Driven DSS emphasize access to and
manipulation of large databases of structured data and especially a time-series of internal company data and
sometimes external data. Simple file systems accessed by query and retrieval tools provide the most elementary
level of functionality. Data warehouse systems that allow the manipulation of data by computerized tools tailored
to a specific task and setting or by more general tools and operators provide additional functionality.

Data-Driven DSS with Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) provide the highest level of functionality and
decision support that is linked to analysis of large collections of historical data.

Model-Driven DSS

A second category, Model-Driven DSS, includes systems that use accounting and financial models,
representational models, and optimization models. Model-Driven DSS emphasize access to and manipulation of a
model. Simple statistical and analytical tools provide the most elementary level of functionality. Some OLAP
systems that allow complex analysis of data may be classified as hybrid DSS systems providing modeling, data
retrieval and data summarization functionality. Model-Driven DSS use data and parameters provided by decision-
makers to aid them in analyzing a situation, but they are not usually data intensive. Very large databases are
usually not needed for Model-Driven DSS.

Model-Driven DSS were isolated from the main Information Systems of the organization and were primarily used
for the typical "what-if" analysis. That is, "What if we increase production of our products and decrease the
shipment time?" These systems rely heavily on models to help executives understand the impact of their decisions
on the organization, its suppliers, and its customers.

Knowledge-Driven DSS

The terminology for this third generic type of DSS is still evolving. Currently, the best term seems to be
Knowledge-Driven DSS. Adding the modifier driven to the word knowledge maintains a parallelism in the
framework and focuses on the dominant knowledge base component. Knowledge-Driven DSS can suggest or
recommend actions to managers. These DSS are personal computer systems with specialized problem-solving
expertise. The "expertise" consists of knowledge about a particular domain, understanding of problems within that
domain, and "skill" at solving some of these problems. A related concept is Data Mining. It refers to a class of
analytical applications that search for hidden patterns in a database. Data mining is the process of sifting through
large amounts of data to produce data content relationships.

Document-Driven DSS
A new type of DSS, a Document-Driven DSS or Knowledge Management System, is evolving to help managers
retrieve and manage unstructured documents and Web pages. A Document-Driven DSS integrates a variety of
storage and processing technologies to provide complete document retrieval and analysis. The Web provides
 access to large document databases including databases of hypertext documents, images, sounds and video.
Examples of documents that would be accessed by a Document-Based DSS are policies and procedures, product
specifications, catalogs, and corporate historical documents, including minutes of meetings, corporate records, and
important correspondence. A search engine is a powerful decision aiding tool associated with a Document-Driven
DSS.

Communications-Driven and Group DSS

Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) came first, but now a broader category of Communications-Driven DSS
or groupware can be identified. This fifth generic type of Decision Support System includes communication,
collaboration and decision support technologies that do not fit within those DSS types identified. Therefore, we
need to identify these systems as a specific category of DSS. A Group DSS is a hybrid Decision Support System
that emphasizes both the use of communications and decision models. A Group Decision Support System is an
interactive computer-based system intended to facilitate the solution of problems by decision-makers working
together as a group. Groupware supports electronic communication, scheduling, document sharing, and other
group productivity and decision support enhancing activities We have a number of technologies and capabilities in
this category in the framework Group DSS, two-way interactive video, White Boards, Bulletin Boards, and
Email.

Q2 b. How does information technology influence the organisationss goals.

Answer: Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

India Outsourcing > Software Development Life Cycle

Summary: As in any other engineering discipline, software engineering also has some structured models for software
development. This document will provide you with a generic overview about different software development
methodologies adopted by contemporary software firms. Read on to know more about the Software Development Life
Cycle (SDLC) in detail.

Curtain Raiser

Like any other set of engineering products, software products are also oriented towards the customer. It is either market
driven or it drives the market. Customer Satisfaction was the buzzword of the 80's. Customer Delight is today's
buzzword and Customer Ecstasy is the buzzword of the new millennium. Products that are not customer or user friendly
have no place in the market although they are engineered using the best technology. The interface of the product is as
crucial as the internal technology of the product.

Market Research

A market study is made to identify a potential customer's need. This process is also known as market research. Here, the
already existing need and the possible and potential needs that are available in a segment of the society are studied
carefully. The market study is done based on a lot of assumptions. Assumptions are the crucial factors in the
development or inception of a product's development. Unrealistic assumptions can cause a nosedive in the entire
venture. Though assumptions are abstract, there should be a move to develop tangible assumptions to come up with a
successful product.

Research and Development

Once the Market Research is carried out, the customer's need is given to the Research & Development division (R&D)
to conceptualize a cost-effective system that could potentially solve the customer's needs in a manner that is better than
the one adopted by the competitors at present. Once the conceptual system is developed and tested in a hypothetical
environment, the development team takes control of it. The development team adopts one of the software development
methodologies that is given below, develops the proposed system, and gives it to the customer.

The Sales & Marketing division starts selling the software to the available customers and simultaneously works to
develop a niche segment that could potentially buy the software. In addition, the division also passes the feedback from
the customers to the developers and the R&D division to make possible value additions to the product.
While developing a software, the company outsources the non-core activities to other companies who specialize in
those activities. This accelerates the software development process largely. Some companies work on tie-ups to bring
out a highly matured product in a short period.

Popular Software Development Models

The following are some basic popular models that are adopted by many software development firms

A. System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Model

B. Prototyping Model
C. Rapid Application Development Model
D. Component Assembly Model

A. System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Model

This is also known as Classic Life Cycle Model (or) Linear Sequential Model (or) Waterfall Method. This model has
the following activities.

1. System/Information Engineering and Modeling

As software is always of a large system (or business), work begins by establishing the requirements for all system
elements and then allocating some subset of these requirements to software. This system view is essential when the
software must interface with other elements such as hardware, people and other resources. System is the basic and very
critical requirement for the existence of software in any entity. So if the system is not in place, the system should be
engineered and put in place. In some cases, to extract the maximum output, the system should be re-engineered and
spruced up. Once the ideal system is engineered or tuned, the development team studies the software requirement for
the system.

2. Software Requirement Analysis

This process is also known as feasibility study. In this phase, the development team visits the customer and studies their
system. They investigate the need for possible software automation in the given system. By the end of the feasibility
study, the team furnishes a document that holds the different specific recommendations for the candidate system. It also
includes the personnel assignments, costs, project schedule, target dates etc.... The requirement gathering process is
intensified and focussed specially on software. To understand the nature of the program(s) to be built, the system
engineer or "Analyst" must understand the information domain for the software, as well as required function, behavior,
performance and interfacing. The essential purpose of this phase is to find the need and to define the problem that needs
to be solved .

3. System Analysis and Design

In this phase, the software development process, the software's overall structure and its nuances are defined. In terms of
the client/server technology, the number of tiers needed for the package architecture, the database design, the data
structure design etc... are all defined in this phase. A software development model is thus created. Analysis and Design
are very crucial in the whole development cycle. Any glitch in the design phase could be very expensive to solve in the
later stage of the software development. Much care is taken during this phase. The logical system of the product is
developed in this phase.

4. Code Generation

The design must be translated into a machine-readable form. The code generation step performs this task. If the design
is performed in a detailed manner, code generation can be accomplished without much complication. Programming
tools like compilers, interpreters, debuggers etc... are used to generate the code. Different high level programming
languages like C, C++, Pascal, Java are used for coding. With respect to the type of application, the right programming
language is chosen.
B. Prototyping Model

This is a cyclic version of the linear model. In this model, once the requirement analysis is done and the design for a
prototype is made, the development process gets started. Once the prototype is created, it is given to the customer for
evaluation. The customer tests the package and gives his/her feed back to the developer who refines the product
according to the customer's exact expectation. After a finite number of iterations, the final software package is given to
the customer. In this methodology, the software is evolved as a result of periodic shuttling of information between the
customer and developer. This is the most popular development model in the contemporary IT industry. Most of the
successful software products have been developed using this model - as it is very difficult (even for a whiz kid!) to
comprehend all the requirements of a customer in one shot. There are many variations of this model skewed with
respect to the project management styles of the companies. New versions of a software product evolve as a result of
prototyping.
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C. Rapid Application Development (RAD) Model

The RAD modelis a linear sequential software development process that emphasizes an extremely short development
cycle. The RAD model is a "high speed" adaptation of the linear sequential model in which rapid development is
achieved by using a component-based construction approach. Used primarily for information systems applications, the
RAD approach encompasses the following phases:

1. Business modeling

The information flow among business functions is modeled in a way that answers the following questions:

What information drives the business process?

What information is generated?
Who generates it?
Where does the information go?
Who processes it?

2. Data modeling

The information flow defined as part of the business modeling phase is refined into a set of data objects that are needed
to support the business. The characteristic (called attributes) of each object is identified and the relationships between
these objects are defined.

3. Process modeling

The data objects defined in the data-modeling phase are transformed to achieve the information flow necessary to
implement a business function. Processing the descriptions are created for adding, modifying, deleting, or retrieving a
data object.

4. Application generation

The RAD model assumes the use of the RAD tools like VB, VC++, Delphi etc... rather than creating software using
conventional third generation programming languages. The RAD model works to reuse existing program components
(when possible) or create reusable components (when necessary). In all cases, automated tools are used to facilitate
construction of the software.

5. Testing and turnover

Since the RAD process emphasizes reuse, many of the program components have already been tested. This minimizes
the testing and development time.
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D. Component Assembly Model

Object technologies provide the technical framework for a component-based process model for software engineering.
The object oriented paradigm emphasizes the creation of classes that encapsulate both data and the algorithm that are
used to manipulate the data. If properly designed and implemented, object oriented classes are reusable across different
applications and computer based system architectures. Component Assembly Model leads to software reusability. The
integration/assembly of the already existing software components accelerates the development process. Nowadays
many component libraries are available on the Internet. If the right components are chosen, the integration aspect is
made much simpler.

Q3. (B). Draw a data flow diagram for an hospital management system?

Answer: Diagram for an hospital management system

Q4. What are the features contributing to success and failures of MIS models?

Answer.

Factors Contributing to Success

MIS is to be success then it should have all the features listed as follows:
1. The MIS is integrated into the managerial functions. It sets clear objectives to ensure that the MIS focuses on the
major issues of the business.
2. An appropriate information processing technology required to meet the data processing and analysis needs of the
users of the MIS is selected.
3. The MIS is oriented, defined and designed in terms of the users
4. The MIS is kept under continuous surveillance, so that its open system design is modified according to the
changing information needs.
5. MIS focuses on the results and goals, and highlights the factors and reasons for non achievement.
6. MIS is not allowed to end up into an information generation mill avoiding the noise in the information and the
communication system.
7. The MIS recognizes that a manager is a human being and therefore, the systems must consider all the human
behavioral factors in the process of the management.

8. The MIS recognizes that the different information needs for different objectives must be met with. The
globalization of information in isolation from the different objectives leads to too much information and information
and its non-use.
9. The MIS is easy to operate and, therefore, the design of the MIS has such features which make up a user-friendly
design.
10. MIS recognizes that the information needs become obsolete and new needs emerge. The MIS design, therefore,
has a basic potential capability to quickly meet new needs of information.
11. The MIS concentrates on developing the information support to manager critical success factors. It
concentrates on the mission critical applications serving the needs of the top management

Factors Contributing to Failures

Many a times MIS is a failures. The common factors which are responsible for this are listed as follows:

1. The MIS is conceived as a data processing and not as an information processing system.
2. The MIS does not provide that information which is needed by the managers but it tends to provide the
information generally the function calls for. The MIS then becomes an impersonal system.
3. Under estimating the complexity in the business systems and not recognizing it in the MIS design leads to
problems in the successful implementation.
4. Adequate attention is not given to the quality control aspects of the inputs, the process and the outputs leading to
insufficient checks and controls in the MIS.
5. The MIS is developed without streamlining the transaction processing systems in the organization.
6. Lack of training and appreciation that the users of the information and the generators of the data are different,
and they have to play an important responsible role in the MIS.
7. The MIS does not meet certain critical and key factors of its users such as a response to the query on the
database, an inability to get the processing done in a particular manner, lack of user-friendly system and the
dependence on the system personnel.
8. A belief that the computerized MIS can solve all the management problems of planning and control of the
business.
9. Lack of administrative discipline in following the standardized systems and procedures, wrong coding and
deviating from the system specifications result in incomplete and incorrect information.

The MIS does not give perfect information to all the users in the organization
Q5. What are the limitations of ERP Systems? How do ERP packages help in overcoming theses limitations?

Answer: ERP: Limitations

Many of the problems that organizations have with ERP systems are due to the inadequate level of investment in
ongoing training for all personnel involved, including those implementing and testing changes, as well as a lack of
corporate policies protecting the integrity of the data held in the ERP systems and how it is used.

Limitations of ERP include:

Some customization may involve changing ERP software structure to adapt to the specific workflow and business
process of some companies, which is usually not allowed.

Re-engineering of business processes to fit the "industry standard" prescribed by the ERP system may lead to a loss
of competitive advantage.

Systems can be complex to use. The system may be over-engineered relative to the actual customer needs.

System can suffer from the "weakest link" problem - an inefficiency in one department or at one of the partners may
affect other participants in the business process.

Resistance in sharing sensitive internal information between departments can reduce effectiveness of the software.

There are frequent compatibility problems with various legacy systems of the partners.

Technical support personnel often give replies to callers that are inappropriate for the caller's corporate structure.
Computer security concerns arise, for example when telling a non-programmer how to change a database on the fly,
at a company that requires an audit trail of changes so as to meet some regulatory standards.

ERP systems can be very expensive to install. Vendors can charge sums of money for annual license renewal that is
unrelated to size of the company using ERP or its profitability.

Q6. Explain the relationship between artificial intelligence and neural networks with the help of a scenario?

Answer: Two factors are necessary for a method to be useful in a variety of country settings. An analysis technique
to understand information available is required that is robust and not constrained. And, data of a comparable format
and scope of measurement is needed to enable parallel analysis across countries.

Artificial intelligence neural networks and Consumer Confidence Surveys fit these criteria. This work provides an
example of the power of this combination.

NEURAL PATTERNS

Marketers constantly face the dilemma of how best to implement a winning strategy from one market to another.
Thinking globally and acting locally are no longer ideals for international marketers -- rather, thinking globally and
acting locally are required for growth and profit. Differences in consumer perception, spending power, need states,
and purchase habits complicate discerning the commonalties which are present. By example we will provide an
approach to understanding the link between perceptions and spending that can be implemented in any market. Two
factors are necessary for a method to be useful in a variety of country settings. An analysis technique to understand
information available is required that is robust and not constrained. And, data of a similar format and scope of
measurement will be needed to enable parallel analysis across countries. Artificial intelligence neural network
models continue to provide a new dimension in data analysis for marketers. Because neural nets require no
assumptions about a data sets structure, distribution, independence or relationship, they are able to discover
patterns present in information that traditional statistical methods cannot address.
Neural networks use human-like trial and error learning methods to detect patterns existing within a data set.
Additionally, neural nets have the ability to ignore data that is not significant and emphasize that data that is most
influential. A neural network acquires its intelligence by training with a set of variables or features represented by a
variety of encoding methods. This knowledge is then applied as a prediction of the patterns existing in this new data
presented to the network.

Work by Bechtel et al. (1993) provides compelling evidence that consumer confidence tracking data is a reliable
reflection of the macro psychology attitude-behavior link at the aggregate level of national economic conditions.
Additionally we see confirmation of a strong socio tropic component of consumer confidence that exists across a
number of EEC states. Much has use has been made of the components of consumer confidence. The Consumer
Confidence Survey of The Conference Board, Inc., New York, is classified as a leading economic indicator by the
U. S. Department of Commerce. This survey is generally referred to as the worlds first and best known
psychological indicator. According to Bechtel, adaptations of this index are reported in monthly surveys in each of
the twelve nations of the European Economic Community.

Tracking this index and its various components proves beneficial at a macro analytic level. When attempting to use
consumer confidence in industry specific forecasting, the results are less satisfying. Building on this knowledge, we
develop neural networks capable of learning the patterns of change over time in consumer confidence by country.
These patterns are related with sales from a number of major retail categories, e.g. department stores, automobiles,
grocery, food away from home, etc. Trained neural net models now generalize this learning and permit forecasts of
consumer category sales in future time as well as in new geographic markets. An example of a model using neural
network pattern analysis to forecast department store monthly sales is now presented.

MODEL STRUCTURE
Guided by Bechtel we are able to construct a parsimonious model. This model is accurate and is of a general
structure which may be used in a large number of individual countries. Of course the model may be refined for each
country with specific data available in the CCI study.

For this example we use neural pattern analysis to forecast the next month department store sales (SIC code 531)
using current month confidence measures.

Neural networks such as the one we use here are comprised of a series of layers of neuron processing nodes (Grey-
Tedesco, 1991). One layer each for input and output. Also a layer of neurons known as the hidden is constructed
between the input and output layers. All neurons in each layer are connected to each neuron in the next layer --
input to hidden -- hidden to output. These connections are represented by weight values which are modified by the
network during the course of training the network. Initially these weights are random numbers; as the neural net
examines each new data record these weights change in order for the network output to more closely match the
output of the current data example. It is the value of these connection weights that depict the knowledge gained by
the model. The input vector for the neural network contained a seasonality factor and the monthly Consumer
Confidence Survey for the following:

With the exception of the last two items, there are three categories for each of the above confidence measures.
Therefore, the network input layer contains 26 individual neurons. It is common with neural networks to have an
output vector with more than a single variable to predict. In this model only one month is estimated. Other models
using this same confidence survey input are designed to estimate up to three months into the future simultaneously.

After pre-processing and design, the neural pattern model appears as follows:

FULLY CONNECTED NEURAL PATTERN MODEL METHOD AND RESULTS

Monthly data for the period January, 1984 through December, 1994 in the United States is used in this model.
Observations are presented to the neural network two at a time. And, the network is permitted to process for
11,000+ iterations through the data. Training is accomplished with approximately 90% of data, while the remaining
10% is withheld for testing the accuracy of the networks forecasting ability. Using the test data, the model reports a
reliability factor of 76% when projecting department store sales two months after the current months confidence
data, and 89% reliability when forecasting one month into the future. We use the term reliability to mean the percent
chance of
Business Conditions Evaluation
Business Conditions Expectation
Personal Conditions Expectations
Buying Plans Personal
Department Store Sales

All data and weights flow this direction Connection Weights the model being correct when forecasting sales for a
new month. In other words, this neural pattern model will be correct almost nine out of ten times where it projects
sales for the next one month. Two meaningful uses of any neural pattern model are: 1) forecasting and 2) the
analysis of the relative importance of the independent or casual variables. The following table displays the forecast
for the last three months of 1994 using this model. all sales in $MM While the accuracy of this model does vary
somewhat (2% to 6%), its application as a planning tool is a breakthrough is a search for commonality in
quantifying the trends of consumer confidence.

Neural patterns are now available as method for marketers to realize the heretofore untapped information available
in a variety of consumer behavior data. This powerful technology is a bridge for the passage of global marketing
strategies. As more data is made available from sources through the varied interactive offerings, the ability to glean
knowledge from this information grows in value. Artificial intelligence neural networks continue to offer the
greatest opportunity to realize the expectations facing marketers.
 Master of Business Administration-MBA Sem.2

MB0031 Management Information System

Assignment set-2

Q1. Explain the different business models that work together in an E-enterprise system. Give example for
each?

Answer: Managing an E-business & Challenges before an E-business -Due to Internet capabilities and web
technology, traditional business organization definition has undergone a change where scope of the enterprise now
includes other company locations, business partners, customers and vendors. It has no geographic boundaries as it
can extend its operations where Internet works. All this is possible due to Internet and web moving traditional paper
driven organization to information driven Internet enabled E-business enterprise. E-business enterprise is open
twenty-four hours, and being independent, managers, vendors, customers transact business any time from anywhere.
Internet capabilities have given E-business enterprise a cutting edge capability advantage to increase the business
value. It has opened new channels of business as buying and selling can be done on Internet. It enables to reach new
markets across the world anywhere due to communication capabilities. It has empowered customers and vendors /
suppliers through secured access to information to act, wherever necessary. The cost of business operations has
come down significantly due to the elimination of paper-driven processes, faster communication and effective
collaborative working. The effect of these radical changes is the reduction in administrative and management
overheads, reduction in inventory, faster delivery of goods and services to the customers.

In E-business enterprise traditional people organization based on 'Command Control' principle is absent. It is
replaced by people organization that is empowered by information and knowledge to perform their role. They are
supported by information systems, application packages, and decision-support systems. It is no longer functional,
product, and project or matrix organization of people but E-organization where people work in network
environment as a team or work group in virtual mode. E-business enterprise is more process-driven, Technology-
enabled and uses its own information and knowledge to perform. It is lean in number, flat in structure, broad in
scope and a learning organization. In E-business enterprise, most of the things are electronic, use digital
technologies and work on databases, knowledge bases, directories and document repositories. The business
processes are conducted through enterprise software like ERP, SCM, and CRM supported by data warehouse,
decision support, and knowledge management systems. Today most of the business organizations are using Internet
technology, network, and wireless technology for improving the business performance measured in terms of cost,
efficiency, competitiveness and profitability. They are using E-business, Ecommerce solutions to reach faraway
locations to deliver product and services. The enterprise solutions like ERP, SCM, and CRM run on Internet
(Internet / Extranet) & Wide Area Network (WAN). The business processes across the organization and outside run
on E-technology platform using digital technology. Hence today's business firm is also called E-enterprise or Digital
firm.

The paradigm shift to E-enterprise has brought four transformations, namely:

Domestic business to global business.

Industrial manufacturing economy to knowledge-based service economy.
Enterprise Resource Management to Enterprise Network Management.
Manual document driven business process to paperless, automated,
Electronically transacted business process.
These transformations have made conventional organization design obsolete.

In E-enterprise, business is conducted electronically. Buyers and sellers through Internet drive the market and
Internet-based web systems. Buying and selling is possible on Internet. Books, CDs, computer, white goods and
many such goods are bought and sold on Internet. The new channel of business is well-known as Ecommerce. On
the same lines, banking, insurance, healthcare are being managed through Internet E-banking, E-billing, E-audit, &
use of Credit cards, Smart card, ATM, E-money are the examples of the Ecommerce application. The digital firm,
which uses Internet and web technology and uses E-business and Ecommerce solutions, is a reality and is going to
increase in number.
MIS for E-business is different compared to conventional MS design of an organization. The role of MIS in E-
business organization is to deal with changes in global market and enterprises. MIS produces more knowledge-
based products. Knowledge management system is formally recognized as a part of MIS. It is effectively used for
strategic planning for survival and growth, increase in profit and productivity and so on. To achieve the said
benefits of E-business organization, it is necessary to redesign the organization to realize the benefits of digital firm.
The organization structure should be lean and flat. Get rid of rigid established infrastructure such as branch office or
zonal office. Allow people to work from anywhere. Automate processes after reengineering the process to cut down
process cycle time. Make use of groupware technology on Internet platform for faster response processing. Another
challenge is to convert domestic process design to work for international process, where integration of multinational
information systems using different communication standards, country-specific accounting practices, and laws of
security are to be adhered strictly. Internet and networking technology has thrown another challenge to enlarge the
scope of organization where customers and vendors become part of the organization. This technology offers a
solution to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with
customers, vendors and business partners. This is just not a technical change in business operations but a cultural
change in the mindset of managers and workers to look beyond the conventional organization. It means changing
the organization behaviour to take competitive advantage of the E-business technology.

The last but not the least important is the challenge to organize and implement information architecture and
information technology platforms, considering multiple locations and multiple information needs arising due to
global operations of the business into a comprehensive MIS. E-COMMERCE is a second big application next to
ERP. It is essential deals with buying and selling of goods. With the advent of intent and web technology, E-
Commerce today covers an entire commercial scope online including design and developing, marketing, selling,
delivering, servicing, and paying for goods. Some E-Commerce application add order tracking as a feature for
customer to know the delivery status of the order.

E-Collaboration helps work effectively on applications like calendaring and scheduling tasks, event, project
management, workflow application, work group application. E-collaboration system components are internet,
Intranet, Extranet and LAN, WAN networks for communication through GroupWare tools, browser.

Let us illustrate the model using an event in the business such as receipt of material for a job to be processed on the
shop floor. In this event there is a transaction receipt of material, which needs to be processed, and then a
workgroup will use this information of material receipt. Each member of this workgroup has a different goal.

Q2: What are the different emerging fields in MIS? Explain with applications of your own for each?

Answer: Strategic Information System

A Strategic Information System (SIS) is a system to manage information and assist in strategic decision making. A
strategic information system has been defined as, "The information system to support or change enterprise's
strategy."

A SIS is a type of Information System that is aligned with business strategy and structure. The alignment increases
the capability to respond faster to environmental changes and thus creates a competitive advantage. An early
example was the favourable position afforded American and United Airlines by their reservation systems, Sabre and
Apollo. For many years these two systems ensured that the two carriers' flights appeared on the first screens
observed by travel agents, thus increasing their bookings relative to competitors. A major source of controversy
surrounding SIS is their sustainability.

SISs are different from other comparable systems as:

1) they change the way the firm competes.

2) they have an external (outward looking) focus.

3) they are associated with higher project risk.

4) they are innovative (and not easily copied).

It is mainly concerned with providing and organization and its members an assistance to perform the routine tasks
efficiently and effectively. One of the major issue before any organization is the challenge of meeting its goals and
objectives. Strategic IS enable such organization in realizing their goals. Strategic Information System (SIS) is a
support to the existing system and helps in achieving a competitive advantage over the organizations competitors in
terms of its objectives. This unit deals with the critical aspects of the strategic information system. This units
indicates the theoretical concepts and the way in which the same are realized in practice. The flow of the unit is in
such a way that it starts
with the development of contemporary theory about strategic uses of corporations' internal information systems
leading to systems which transcend the boundaries of particular organizations. The process whereby strategic
information systems are created or identified is then examined. A number of weaknesses in the existing body of
theory are identified, and suggestions made as to directions in which knowledge is or may be progressing. A
strategic information system is concerned with systems which contribute significantly to the achievement of an
organization's overall objectives. The body of knowledge is of recent origin and highly dynamic, and the area has an
aura of excitement about it. The emergence of the key ideas, the process whereby strategic information systems
come into being is assessed, areas of weakness are identified, and directions of current and future development
suggested.

Information system is regarded as a tool to provide various services to different management functions. The tools
have been developing year by year and the application of the tool has become more and more diverse. In
management it is now a very power means to manage and control various activities and decision making process.
The original idea of automating mechanical processes got quickly succeeded by the rationalization and integration
of systems. In both of these forms, IS was regarded primarily as an
operational support tool, and secondarily as a service to management. Subsequent to the development, it was during
the last few years that an additional potential was discovered. It was found that, in some cases, information
technology (IT) had been critical to the implementation of an organization's strategy. An organizations strategy
supported by information system fulfilling its business objectives came to be known as Strategic Information
System. The strategic information system consists of functions that involved gathering, maintenance and analysis of
data concerning internal resources, and intelligence about competitors, suppliers, customers, government and other
relevant organizations.

Q3. How is MIS used for decision making in the organisation?

Answer: Todays managers depend on information systems for decision making. The managers have handful of data
around them but manually they cannot process the data accurately and with in the short period of time available to
them due to heavy competition in modern world. Therefore mangers depend on information systems.

The concept of MIS:

Management: Management has been defined in a variety of ways, but for our purposes it comprises the process or
activities what managers do in the operation of their organization: Plan, Organize, Initiate and Control operations.

Information:

Data are facts and figures that are not currently being used in a decision processes and usually take the form of
historical records that are recorded and filed without immediate intent to retrieve for decision making.

Information consists of data that have been retrieved, processed or otherwise used for information or inference
purposes, argument, or as a basis for forecasting or decision making.

System can be described simply as a set of elements joined together for a common objective. A subsystem is is part
of a larger system with which we are concerned. All systems are part of larger systems.

The objective of an MIS (Management Information System) is to provide information for decision making on
planning, initiating, organizing, and controlling the operations of the subsystems of the form and to provide a
synergetic organization in the process.

Decision Support System: It is sometimes described as the next evolutionary step after Management Information
Systems (MIS) . MIS support decision making in both structured and unstructured problem environments.. It
supports decision making at all levels of the organization .IS (Information Systems) are intended to be woven into
the fabric of the organizations , not standing alone. IS support all aspects of the decision making process.MIS are
made of people, computers, procedures, databases, interactive query facilities and so on. They are intended to be
evolutionary/adaptive and easy for people to use.

Methods of Decision Making

MIS is a technique for making programmed decisions. If we include the computer and management science as
integral parts or tools of computer based information systems, the prospects for a revolution in programmed
decision making are very real. Just as a manufacturing process is becoming more and more automated so is the
automation of programmed decisions increasing to support this production and other information needs through out
the organization.

Q5. Difference between intranet and extranet?

Answer: Extranet: An extranet is a private network that uses the Internet protocols and the public
telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors,
partners, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended
to users outside the company. An extranet requires security and privacy.

A new buzzword that refers to an intranet that is partially accessible to authorized outsiders. Whereas an intranet
resides behind a firewall and is accessible only to people who are members of the same company or organization, an
extranet provides various levels of accessibility to outsiders. You can access an extranet only if you have a valid
username and password, and your identity determines which parts of the extranet you can view.

An extranet is somewhat very similar to an intranet. Extranets are designed specifically to give external, limited
access to certain files of your computer systems to:
Certain large or privileged customers.
Selected industry partners.
Suppliers and subcontractors... etc.

Therefore, a carefully designed extranet can bring additional business to your company. Intranets
and extranets all have three things in common:

They both use secured Internet access to the outside world.

Both can drastically save your company or organization a lot of money.
Both need a user ID & password to control access to the whole system.
The professional development team at My Web Services has the expertise and the right tools to design the right
intranet or extranet that will meet your exact needs, both for today and the future.

Intranet: An internal use, private network inside an organisation that uses the same kind of software which would
also be found on the Internet. Inter-connected network within one organization that uses Web technologies for the
sharing of information internally, not world wide. Such information might include organization policies and
procedures, announcements, or information about new products.

An intranet is a restricted-access network that works like the Web, but isn't on it. Usually owned
and managed by a company, an intranet enables a company to share its resources with its employees without
confidential information being made available to everyone with Internet access. A network based on TCP/IP
protocols (an internet) belonging to an organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the organization's
members, employees, or others with authorization. An intranet's Web sites look and act just like any other Web
sites, but the firewall surrounding an intranet fends off unauthorized access. Like the Internet itself, intranets are
used to share information.
An intranet is an information portal designed specifically for the internal communications of small,
medium or large businesses, enterprises, governments, industries or financial institutions of any size or complexity.
Intranets can be custom-designed to fit the exact needs of businesses no matter where they are situated. Users of
intranets consists mainly of:

Members of the executive team.

Accounting and order billing.
Managers and directors.
Sales people and support staff.
Customer service, help desk, etc.

Q6. Explain the control issues in management information systems?

Answer: A management control systems (MCS) is a system which gathers and uses information to evaluate the
performance of different organizational resources like human, physical, financial and also the organization as a
whole considering the organizational strategies. Finally, MCS influences the behavior of organizational resources
to implement organizational strategies. MCS might be formal or informal. The term management control was
given of its current connotations by Robert N. Anthony (Otley, 1994).

According to Maciariello et al. (1994), management control is concerned with coordination, resource allocation,
motivation, and performance measurement. The practice of management control and the design of management
control systems draws upon a number of academic disciplines. Management control involves extensive
measurement and it is therefore related to and requires contributions from accounting especially management
accounting. Second, it involves resource allocation decisions and is therefore related to and requires contribution
from economics especially managerial economics. Third, it involves communication, and motivation which means
it is related to and must draw contributions from social psychology especially organizational behavior

Management control systems use many techniques such as

Balanced scorecard: The balanced scorecard (BSC) is a strategic performance management tool - a semi-
standard structured report supported by proven design methods and automation tools that can be used by
managers to keep track of the execution of activities by staff within their control and monitor the
consequences arising from these actions.
Total quality management (TQM): Total Quality Management (or TQM) is a
management concept coined by W. Edwards Deming. The basis of TQM is to reduce the errors produced
during the manufacturing or service process, increase customer satisfaction, streamline supply chain
management, aim for modernization of equipment and ensure workers have the highest level of training.
One of the principal aims of TQM is to limit errors to 1 per 1 million units produced. Total Quality
Management is often associated with the development, deployment, and maintenance of organizational
systems that are required for various business processes.
Kaizen (Continuous Improvement): Kaizen (Japanese for "improvement" or "change for the better")
refers to a philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in
 manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management. It has been applied in
healthcare, government, banking, and many other industries.
Activity-based costing: Activity-based costing (ABC) is a costing model that identifies activities in an
organization and assigns the cost of each activity resource to all products and services according to the
actual consumption by each: it assigns more indirect costs (overhead) into direct costs. In this way an
organization can precisely estimate the cost of its individual products and services for the purposes of
identifying and eliminating those which are unprofitable and lowering the prices of those which are
overpriced.
Target costing: Target costing is a pricing method used by firms. It is defined as "a cost management tool
for reducing the overall cost of a product over its entire life-cycle with the help of production,
engineering, research and design". A target cost is the maximum amount of cost that can be incurred on a
product and with it the firm can still earn the required profit margin from that product at a particular
selling price.
Benchmarking and Benchtrending: Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes
and performance metrics to industry bests and/or best practices from other industries. Dimensions
typically measured are quality, time, and cost. Improvements from learning mean doing things better,
faster, and cheaper.
JIT: JIT may refer to:

o Various meanings of Just In Time:

o Just-in-time compilation - a technique for improving the performance of virtual

machines in computing.
o Just-in-time (business) - a business inventory strategy.

Budgeting: A budget (from old French bougette, purse) is generally a list of all planned expenses and
revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending.[1] A budget is an important concept in microeconomics,
which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods. In other terms, a budget
is an organizational plan stated in monetary terms.
Capital budgeting : Capital budgeting (or investment appraisal) is the planning process used to determine
whether a firm's long term investments such as new machinery, replacement machinery, new plants, new
products, and research development projects are worth pursuing. It is budget for major capital, or
investment, expenditures
Program management techniques, etc.