Management Information Systems - Essay Example

 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS Part Designing IS Introduction This report is about the development of a new system for the ABC Company. This company is computer hardware manufacturer that carryout product for lager scale orders. The overall management and handling of such huge orders is difficult through the manual order processing approach. For this purpose the company management had initiates new system for the online order and product management. This system is an online website that will be used for online product sales and dealing. This website will be a online E-Commerce website that will support the customer to purchase form the online website. Here this system will also provide the organizational information management facility. This system will be used as a information management system. That will hold the organizational sales, product and dealing information. Goals and Scope In this section I will point out few of the main objective regarding the effective project implementation and execution. These can also take as the organizational project implementation goals. In this project we have following main goals: Establishment of client server network Development of the website Establishment of the order processing mechanism Quality assurance Gaining better competitive edge Performance enhancement Book keeping This information system will be used as an information management system of the overall organizational data. This system will conduct an online transaction and store the dealing and transaction data on the company’s central database. After that this data will be used to access the overall sales analysis. We will derive monthly or periodic report for the analysis of the overall business position. This system will holds the fowling kind of information. Customer Account details Online Transaction details Customer details Products details Sales information Product recall information This system will facilitate in managing the overall products sales and deals regarding the corporate online transactions. Here we will be able to access and retrieve the overall quality of the stock and its current level, because in any online transaction the stock status is really necessary for the handling of dealing. This product and stock information will provide a great facility for stock management. Here we will assign a product code to each project and through that code we will easily retrieve the product information for the better management of the stack. Organizational Support This system will be an online system. Here we will also create an organizational management module. This module will facilitate only to organizational executives to view, manage and handle online products, stack, sales and other organizational information. This part of the online information system will only be accessible to organizational individuals. There will be a proper log-in facility to manage the departmental data. Due online approach of this system we can communicate with this system through distant department of the business, like we will get the facility to manage the information between products plant and central office. Services This system will allow managing huge kind of organizational activities. This system will be a databases supported system that will store huge organizational business and management data. Here below I have outline few main services those will be obtained through this system: Customer accounts management Online transaction management Products management Online business information transfer Plant and central office communication Business analysis Databases management Main Features The new eCommerce website will provide the effectiveness regarding the online customer and organizational management. Here I have enlisted few of the main advantages and feature that this website will offer. New technology incorporation Better marketplace It will take less time for transaction It will be needed less effort for transaction More wide span of the customer services 24 hours a day and 7 days a week availability of sales services Easy to use Easy to track, manage and search customer and product data and information No paper based environment Fewer burdens on workers Better record keeping A computerised database for transaction and working Customer Satisfaction Information system architecture In this section I will present a main architecture of the purposed information system. For this purpose, I have developed an information architecture diagram to demonstrate the information transfer and interaction among different entities. Figure 1 Information system architecture Customer relation management This online system will also offer the CRM regarding customer complaints and request. Here we will deploy an online customer request management system that will offer the facility to manage the online customer request and complaints. This feature will add the customer satisfaction facility and quality to our business structure. Supply Chain management The structure of the supply chain management system I demonstrated in the figure 1 presented above. Here we have structure that will process the customer requests and according to that request produce the order and or check for product warehouse for the product availability. If the product is available the it will be shipped to customer. Website development In this section I will present the details of the overall website development. The main aim of this section is to present the main website development activities. The process of development of the website involves lot of resources and efforts. Here I will enlist main resources and tasks those will lead toward the development of the website. Requirements This section will provide a deep insight into the system requirements. Here it will emphasize that we can address each aspect of system non-functional requirements area. Hardware requirements: Pentium 4 [workstation for each working employee] Servers for customer, sales, product and organizational information storage Switches LAN structure Software requirements: Windows XP Dreamweaver for the interface PHP SQL database UML tool for CASE development Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS) In this section I will present the Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS) for all the activities that we are going to implement for the construction of this project. Conclusion In this report I have present the detailed analysis of the online order processing and management of the ABC Company. Here I have purposed as system that will facilitate in the effective order processing and management. This system will allow lot of facilities regarding the management of the online product management and sales. This system architecture is really supportive for the establishment of the corporate supply chain management system. I hope that this system will offer better services for the overall organizational data and information management. Part 2 Report Writing Decision Support System Introduction Decision making remains one of the most imperative and complicated tasks of a management of an organization. Information technology has facilitated management communicate and hand out information; on the other hand, they have presented only deficient support for management decision making (Laudoon and Laudon, 1999). Distinction in decision making can be divided by organizational stage, equivalent to the premeditated, management, knowledge, and operational levels of the organization. Strategic decision making concludes the goals, resources, and strategies of the organization. A most important trouble at this stage of decision making is predicting the expectations of the organization and its background and matching the features of organization to the situation. This practice commonly engages a small faction of elevated managers who contract with multifarious, no routine troubles (Laudoon and Laudon, 1999). This report is about the analysis of a decision support system. For this task I have used the web link http://www.umsl.edu/--sauter/DSS/book/dss software.html). From this link I will retrieve the decision support System. Then I will present a detailed analysis of this DSS. This analysis will be aimed to streamline the main usage functionalities and working of this system. Software Selected I have selected the DSS developed by the Technology Evolution Center (TEC). This system is acknowledged as ERGO that is decision support systems. This version is desktop based version while the online decision support system which is known as eBestMatch is more similar to this system. What does it do? ERGO DSS provides lot of facilities regarding the decision support system. As I have analyzed few of them are1: (ERGO, 2009) ERGO standardizes our business information and data as well as evaluation procedures ERGO DSS constructs, upholds, as well as develops our association’s knowledge capital ERGO DSS quantify and simplify multifarious decisions Helps to formulate successful decisions Formulae a better analysis procedure Provide effective data analysis tools Who is the typical user of the system currently? This system is one of the best systems regarding the successful decision making and handling. There are lots of well-known firms that have implemented this system regarding effective decision making, few of them are:2 (ERGO, 2009) Canada Customs and Revenue Agency U.S. Coast Guard Meta4 Inc. Canadian Space Agency IBM Industry Canada Department of National Defence Bank of Canada Government of Canada - Public Works and Government Services Newport Corporation Purpose ERGO decision support system is the commanding DSS engine at the back TEC's eBestMatch online business software valuation arrangement. ERGO DSS as well as drives TEC's established assessment attitude, that been employed to get done thousands of complicated assortments. ERGO is a stand-alone DSS way out for business decision seeking to formulate straightforward and file their decision activities (ERGO, 2009). Features: 3 There are following features of ERGO (ERGO, 2009), ERGO DSS produces interactive charts and diagrams that can be graphically customized for accurateness assessment also. ERGO DSS hold decision models engrossing tens of thousands of measurement attributes. ERGO DSS evaluates approximately 32,000 potential outcomes in a specific decision model. ERGO DSS proffers the capability to power robust reporting capabilities ERGO DSS Conduct sensitivity assessment ERGO DSS carry out cost/benefit evaluation Makes use of the online logical attributes to calculate power also weaknesses ERGO DSS accomplishes lot of graphical analytics. Current documentation The complete current documentation of this system is available at the web. We can access PDF file that comprises the complete working overview and help (ERGO, 2009). The Link of this current documentation is: http://www.technologyevaluation.com/documents/ERGO-Manual.pdf On-line help This system provides a wide-ranging online help for the system working and usage. Here we have online manual and expert’s consultancy regarding the system usage and working. We have following online help link: http://www.technologyevaluation.com/company-information/contact-us/?preselect=15&subject=ERGO We have following online support link: http://www.technologyevaluation.com/products/evaluation-centers/ We can download free trail version from the above given link: this will facilitate in the better evaluation of the overall working. Ease of use This software provides a better user working support and help out for the better working. The main working manus and tools are easy to use and uncomplicated. The chart facility of this tool provides an enhanced on the whole working (ERGO, 2009). User interface This system has a very helpful user interface. I have presented few of interface images in the Appendix A. This system provides an easy to use tools and working menus. Through these tools we can analyze and evaluate the business data. Markets This system has potential implementation in the following fields of life: 4 (ERGO, 2009) Government Utilities Government contracting Financial Education Military Oil and gas Legal Sports franchises Screenshots The different working snapshots of the ERGO DSS are given in the Appendix A. Conclusion In this part of the project I have presented a detailed overview of the ERGO Decision Support System. I have outlined the main feature and working scenarios. Here I have discussed the main advantages of the ERGO system working. I hope that this report will provide a great help regarding the understating of ERGO Decision Support System. Part 3 Case Studies This section is about the analysis of the different case studies and answering the questions according to given situation. Case Study 1 a. What can be the drawback of having a formal system as mentioned in point 5? Making use of a formal mechanism for review and reiteration of the systems plan presents a main problem regarding the discovery of potential problem in the systems plan. Through a formal mechanism for review and reiteration of the systems plan we make use of the same tools and techniques those are employed while the development of the system plan. So it has become harder to find out the main areas those require extra concentration. b. Can transparency make organizational responsibility more effective? The transparency always helps the organization responsibility to work more effectively. In the circumstances of system planning we take up guidelines that need documenting of the each and system planning event. Here we also carry out reviews regarding the assessment of the systems plan, as well as we develop the organizational responsibility for systems planning. These all activities are carried to make the overall system more transparent in working and development. These reviews of the system plans provide us the facility regarding the assessment of the possible system improvement and enhancements. Then we also document all these things to take proper and authenticated system development approach. This way of system development provide shield against ongoing system change, and also enforce system transparency. Case Study 2 Questions: 1-In the light of the system, describe the decisions to be made in the area of strategic planning, managerial control and operational control? What information would you require to make such decisions? In the scenario of the strategic planning this system provides the help regarding the decision making. Like that, in the case when an order is canceled, the reasons for the void are keyed in. In this way it is accessed that what are the main problems in the overall system. Then a decision is established regarding the better customer services that are later on adopted and implemented in the overall system. In the scenario of the managerial control and decision making this system facilitates regarding the effective handling of the daily activities and other managerial tasks. Like that, this system provides better facility regarding the comparison of the overall cost and expenditure, in this way management can view the overall business position. In scenario of the operational control decisions this system is really effective. For instance, when some items regarding the cooking of food is 'out of stock'. Then system delivers a message of the 'out of stock' to all terminals. In this way the waiter can easily handle the services for the customers. 2-What would make the system a more complete MIS rather than just doing transaction processing? By adding the facility of the daily shift management, staff management and working shift management we can enhance this system as a MIS. Like through the addition of the daily shift management capability the system will keep track following things: Workers List Main Menus Stock List Time of Shift Worker daily Wages Total income and expenditure in a shift By managing all these things this system can be enhanced to a MIS. 3-Explain the probable effects that making the system more formal would have on the customers and the management. This system presents a very effective way of overall management and handling. The customer can have on time information regarding the dish availability and services. Here he also has an electronic and proper receipt of his order. In this way this system is more formal on the customers and the management. Case study - 3 Questions: a-What security loopholes come to the fore in the situation described? How can these be plugged? In this scenario half system out of the 364 offices are without the antivirus protection. There are also few offices having an antivirus protection system but there antivirus updates are not installed. Due to this reason these antivirus protection system can not catch the latest viruses. Then few systems have the default e-mail password. Due to this someone who knows the generic password can access the system’s valuable data. Here no system has installed OS patches. Because of this OS internal firewall is not updated against outer access. That is a really harmful to the systems security. Here one of the local mail servers seemed to be an open relay. Management These all security holes are managed though the proper installation and updating of the antivirus protection system. We also have to update the OS firewall. There is need to produce the awareness regarding the changing of the system password. The management and handling email server is also very necessary. b-What is the importance of a "security budget" in the context of the given situation? The importance of a "security budget" in the context this case study is really necessary because our systems are online. Information like that contract documents, marketing plans, Cheque and Draft numbers, bank account details and collection details were regularly transmitted by e-mail. In this scenario someone can easily access and damage our valuable information. Case study 4 Questions a. What are the business benefits of the web portal? Make a critical assessment. A web portal and online commerce is turned out to be the basic need for the current business practice. In this overall scenario we need a system that can manage, handle and run the organizational business using the state of the art technology. Web portal is a tool that has all such qualities. We can share, send, receive, manage and access the huge business information for betterment of the business. b. What is the importance of 'content management' for enterprise web portals? The content management provides a better way regarding the online business updates and handling. In this way our lot of effort regarding the manual information transfer and distribution is minimized. We have no need to transfer huge collection documents such as, brochures, press releases, and warranty information for marketing. The manual management and transfer of these contents are really difficult. But the web portal provides an easy, timely and less costly access to business contents. c. Can a small business develop and maintain such a portal? Yes! Small business can develop such portals and can easily manage them for reducing the manual working costs. Case study 5 Questions a- In the context of the given case, what managerial issues need to be addressed by Alfred ? Why is it important for managers to be tech savvy? Here in this scenario Alfred have to decide about the establishment of the 100 seater computer lab. Here he also needs assistance regarding the Internet connectivity. In this whole scenario a tech savvy is really useful regarding the effective establishment of the technology. In the whole situation we have lot of choices regarding the technology implementation, but due to lack of tech savvy the manager have to hire a technology consultant. Here if we have a tech savvy then we can take decision those are autonomous. b- What is the importance of a 'systems consultant' to an organization? What skills should he/she possess? A 'systems consultant' is always necessary in a big project. A project manger with effective and sufficient tech savvy can not handle and deal all the technology related activities. A systems consultant is a special person who can manage and handle such tasks for the better project management and execution. System consultant has to a more autonomous regarding the organizational decision making. Here also need to have effective qualities regarding the effective business product selection and management. Case study – 7 Questions: a-What systems would you propose that would serve the company's needs? For this type of organizational working a MIS is really essential. Here we also need a DSS for the effective decisions making and management. b-Considering that the company already has CBIS installed, will you contemplate complete overhaul of the systems or add functionalities of the existing systems? Justify your line of action. The complete overhaul of the systems is not possible. These types of system are really huge. This is multi-departmental and production system. The complete overhaul of the systems is not possible because it will take very much time and cost. But we can add functionalities of the existing systems to run our required jobs effectively. This will be less costly and less time consuming. c-Justify the requirement of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the context of the given caselet. Chief Information Officer (CIO) can be: Better user interface Easy data transfer Better online data security Less break downs Effective accounts management References 1. Baskerville., and Stage. 1996. Controlling Prototype Development through Risk Analysis. In: MIS Quarterly., p.20. 2. Budde, R., K. Kautz, Kuhlenkamp, K., and Zillighooven, H. 1990. Prototyping - An Approach to Evolutionary Systems Development. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 3. Cappelli, P., and Singh, H. 1992. Integrating strategic human resources and strategic management. 4. Carcone, Paul. 2008. Information Technology System Implementation. [online]. [Accessed 07 May 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: < Hyperlink "http://www.suite101.com" http://www.suite101.com > 5. Cerveny, Robert, P. Edward, J. 1990. A Problem-Solving Perspective on Systems Development. Journal of Management Information Systems., p.4. 6. Enterprise resource planning. 2009. [online]. [Accessed 02 May 2009]. 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IEEE, pp.41-49.WILLIAMS, Bob. 2005. Soft Systems Methodology. [online]. [Accessed 7 May 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://users.actrix.co.nz/bobwill/ssm.pdf" http://users.actrix.co.nz/bobwill/ssm.pdf > Appendix Appendix A Image 1, Source: http://www.technologyevaluation.com/documents/ERGO-Manual.pdf Main Working algorithm applied can be applied on the data: 5 Image 2, Source: http://www.technologyevaluation.com/documents/ERGO-Manual.pdf Data project view that demonstrates the different data distribution produced by analysis: 6 Image 3, Source: http://www.technologyevaluation.com/documents/ERGO-Manual.pdf A data distribution view that shows a analytical view the data: 7 Image 4, Source: http://www.technologyevaluation.com/documents/ERGO-Manual.pdf Chart view of the data analyzed: 8 Read More