Information System Management of Computer System - Assignment Example

Information System in Business: Case Study Section A: Solution to Question Information system management of computer system: SWOT (SWOT Analysis of MIS Systems (A General Perspective) 2011): Strengths: Ability to provide a picture of the performance of an organization Help in keeping a check on malpractices occurring in the systems The flow of information can be smooth and obtained accurately Helps organizations in problem solving Weaknesses: Resulting information would be inaccurate if transactions are faulty Lot of processing power needed due to increase in data handling Opportunities: Help organizations to see unforeseen opportunities Flow of materials and information can be effectively controlled Forecasts of demands and market scenario can be obtained successfully Threats: Security can be a major problem for information systems Designing of information needs to be flexible, otherwise leading to threats and violations in programs If handled by wrong people, results cannot be effective Porter’s Five Forces: The five factors given by Michael Porter that can affect the performance of a business and hence the information systems as well include: Bargaining power of suppliers – If the number of suppliers are more for the company, then their bargaining power will be less and vice versa. Bargaining power of customers – If the customers have lesser choices of substitutes in the market, then their bargaining power would be less and vice versa. Threat of new entrants – New companies or businesses can enter the market and hence cause threats to the existing business. Threat of substitutes – Other similar companies or businesses can offer similar products at cheaper rates to customers creating substitutes in the market. Intense competition – Competition is thrown by other similar businesses in the market that are equally performing well. PESTEL: The political (P) factors include the different political systems in different regions that indulge different policies for businesses and with the government often interfering in business activities, the performances of a business can be affected. The economic factors include the economic state of a country or a region, on which the purchasing power of the buyers largely depends. In times of economic crises, the buyers tend to buy lesser of unimportant products. The social factors include the social choices and demands that drive the customers to certain products while rejecting others. The technological factors include the advancements in technology that a business needs to cope up with in order to stay updated and provide customers with the best of products and services. Technologies are also associated with the development of information systems that businesses need to take advantages of in order to successfully run the processes. The environmental factors include the state of the business environment that largely determines which activities of the business would lead them to have a sound position in the minds of the customers. The legal factors reflect on the legal issues related to a business that determine the measures that a business need to undertake to maintain the standards and rules of the business laws. IS Strategy for Monjtoo: As far as the information system management of computer systems is concerned, and particularly taking into consideration the case of Monjtoo, which has been performing in the market for two years time and is significantly doing well, it can be said that the system has its benefits for the business. The system can keep all records of information and data that the business has to keep updated such as sales records, stocks of foods, and number of customers for the company. Also, the system enables the business to learn about the market environment and the level of competition prevailing in the industry, along with helping the business to forecast the demands of the customers in the near future. However some of the major problems include the misuse of the systems within the organization by the staff as could be observed at Monjtoo. Also, there is a continuous need for the company to update the systems with the advanced technologies which would ensure the best IS strategy for the business. Section B: Solution to Question 2: As far as the case of Monjtoo is concerned, it could be obtained that with the increasing business of the lunch cart later developed into a restaurant, the owners have realized the increasing need for the information systems. The information systems are essential for them to run their businesses, and keep and track records of their sales, demands, forecasts, competition, and market scenarios. Also, in order to fulfill the orders of the customers, the information system designed and implemented by the management has been beneficial for the company. However, with increasing demands from the customers, and involvement of the staff, it could be realized that the information systems need to be developed with time and that a full proof design is essential such that staff handling does not misuse the system and its benefits. Recommendations for emerging technologies: As the business is increasing in size and hence there are increasing demands to be fulfilled at Monjtoo, it would be suggested to incorporate three essential information systems into its processes. These include the transaction processing system (TPS), decision support system (DSS), and management information systems (MIS). The transaction processing systems would include collection, modification, and retrieval of all data involved in transactions. It provides the business with high performance, reliability and consistency (Transaction Process System 2014). The decision support system represents an application of a computer program that would help the business in analysis of all its data thereby assisting in business decisions to be made effectively based upon such analyses. For example, figures of sales and revenues that are collected can be compared with earlier figures to analyze the current state of the business, and accordingly decide on future measures (Decision Support System n.d.). Management information systems involve researching on people, technology and organizations and hence try to determine the relations between these factors, helping organizations to decide on the most essential factors where the company should invest or depend upon the most (What is Management Information Systems? 2014). Deployment at Monjtoo: The TPS can be used by Monjtoo to record all transactions in terms of exchanges occurring between the customers and the staff, and hence collect, store, modify and retrieve all transactions of the company. This system can be implemented by Monjtoo by keeping records of all transactions starting from the orders that they make to suppliers for raw materials, thereby keeping every detail of all associated with the business. With the help of the decision support system, data can be modeled by the company more effectively to make business decisions which would be dependent on the quality of the data and the analysis that can be done on the same. At Mojtoo, the need for DSS arises owing to their increasing size of the business, and the need for DSS arises owing to their increasing size of the business, and hence the company needs to maintain further records of customer preferences and demands, as well as the advancements of technologies that are occurring in the market. Wireless services can be used by the company for collection of data, which can then be analyzed for decision making. Most importantly, the company needs to make use of the modern available technologies for its operations and tracking and monitoring of data and transactions of all forms. Point of scale system can be used to fulfill the customer orders successfully particularly when there are several customers in the restaurant at the same time. This would help to track several orders at a time, speed up the process automatically, as it has been found that processes are getting delayed at Monjtoo at times, affecting fulfillment of orders on time. Other technologies such as rooftop cameras and computers may be implemented allowing the staff and the owners to realize the traffic of customers entering the restaurant. Hence, they would be able to get prepared accordingly in cases they are relaxing or have lesser customers to attend. Solution to Question 3: Knowledge management involves capturing, distribution and use of knowledge suitably towards development of oneself and others, and the organization, in case of businesses. It focuses on an integrated approach towards sharing all forms of knowledge that one gains from different sources with others around thus making the entire environment knowledgeable. For a business enterprise there are several information assets that include documents, databases, business policies, procedures, and work experience that provide the organization, its owners, and employees with significant knowledge, which if shared would develop the business understanding and enhance the activities of the business (Koenig 2012). As far as Monjtoo is concerned, the following can be considered as the major objectives of the business: To gain customer satisfaction on the food products and services that they are offering for the customers. To increase the sales of the business and hence develop the size and performance of the business. To make use of the advanced technologies, information systems and knowledge in developing the business processes of the company thereby trying to gain competitive advantage in the industry. Thus in order to meet these objectives, knowledge sharing and an effective information system need to part of the business processes. While the implementation of an effective strategy of information system was discussed in the previous section, this section would provide with the essential idea for developing the knowledge management processes in the company. There are three essential ways by which the company can develop its knowledge management techniques: Firstly the business will have to consider creating an organizational culture within the restaurant. The culture needs to be such within the organization such that its owners and all the working employees are encouraged towards knowledge sharing. If all gathered knowledge from different sources are shared among all employees across the organization, then automatically the knowledge management would be easy to achieve for the company. This would also lead the company to perform better as positive knowledge would become part of all business processes, being shared by and among all. Secondly, it can be recommended that the company needs to make sure that its intellectual property is being protected. This may be achieved through licensing of the ideas developed by the owners of the company. As the business will develop further, the owners would further think of unique products, services, technologies, and knowledge management for the business. This can be well achieved by the intellectual property protection. Licensing agreements can be obtained on trademark of the company, on its copyrights of business processes, menus, and information systems, and on the technology that the company incorporates for its operations. Thirdly, the company will be required to focus on an effective dissemination strategy. Dissemination enables effective sharing of knowledge across the organization. This is possible through effective and strong communications between the owners, or managers of the organization and the employees. Communication needs to be encouraged in the organization in a way such that a strong bond is developed between the employer and the employees. This would allow the employees to share their needs and problems conveniently with the seniors, who can take considerable measures to fulfill the needs, and hence keep the employees satisfied and engaged with positive performance for the organization. Also, effective communication would allow the employers to make employees understand the need for the different measures undertaken by the organization. Such understanding would enable them to feel more interested towards accomplishing their respective goals. Another factor that can allow effective knowledge management for the success of the business is involvement of the employees in business decision making. This will not only enable effective sharing of knowledge among all members, but also the members would feel more important and responsible for the orders that they need to fulfill, and hence misuse of the information systems and other related problems would also be reduced. These steps can be expected to ensure Monjtoo with an effective knowledge sharing environment, along with effective information systems for success of the business. References Decision Support System (n.d.) Techtarget. [Online]. Available at: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/decision-support-system [Accessed 17 April 2014] Koenig, M.E.D. (2012) What is KM? Knowledge Management Explained. Kmworld. [Online]. Available at: http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/What-Is-.../What-is-KM-Knowledge-Management-Explained-82405.aspx [Accessed 18 April 2014]. SWOT Analysis of MIS Systems (A General Perspective) (2011) Oradesparado. [Online]. Available at: http://oradesparado.blogspot.in/2011/02/swot-analysis-of-mis-systems-general.html [Accessed 16 April 2014]. Transaction Process System (2014) Techopedia. [Online]. Available at: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/707/transaction-process-system-tps [Accessed 17 April 2014] What is Management Information Systems? (2014) MAYS. [Online]. Available at: http://mays.tamu.edu/info/what-is-mis/ [Accessed 17 April 2014] Read More