Mrs. Fields Secret Ingredient - Assignment Example

Q1. For the 3 Information systems described in the case (they are in capital letters in the case) and fill in the following table. Information System (ISs) Location(s) the IS is used Who is the main user Briefly what it helps the user do (not how the system works) Do not repeat the answers from Q2 and 3. Day Planner It is located at the office, stores, warehouse, and other storage facilities where the staff uses before going to meet customers. Staff in the organization, especially sales representatives working in the field The IS helps the user in retrieving the previous performances and compare with the current after which it give what he/she will do next. It helps the user to know how many customers he/she can meet in every hour, the products to sell to customers, and the prices. It would be difficult for the user to retrieve the previous information, compare with the current but the system retrieves, and calculate the next steps in seconds. Daily planner helps the user to monitor the progress of various activities scheduled and identifies any problem that might occur in the day. Crew Scheduler Crew Scheduler is located at the management levels in the organization. it is where the sales are projected before segregating duties to the staff. Manager and supervisors are the main users of the IS. It is because they are in charge of the junior staff. The IS helps the user when projecting sales in the coming weeks or months. It would take hours or days for the managers and supervisors to project future sales in comparison to the previous sales but the system produce it in seconds. More staff would be employed to undertake the duties of projection, which would be expensive for the company. The IS save money and resources for the organization. Store Status It is located at the central store as the main controller while others are located at sub-stores in the field. The main users are the store manager in central management stores and field stores. It helps the central manager to control what is happening in the sub-stores. It is because the IS located at the central store is connected to those in the sub-stores. The processes taking place at the sub-stores are posted directly to the central store system. The central manager at the main store will not travel to the sub-stores to assess what is taking place. It is because all the data and information processed in the sub-stores are posted to the system in his/her office. In case of any problem, the central manager can notice at an early stage with the help of IS. Q2. For the 3 ISs fill in the following table. Information Systems List the data the IS needs as input. List the Information/data the IS produces as output Daily Planner The data the IS needs are the type of the day, which include; Holiday School day Weekend Sale day Normal day Previous and current sales information Sales projections Customers to meet per day Identify problems and gives solutions like low sales and what should be done. Crew Scheduler Length of time the employees will work like hours or minutes Names of employees Knowledge and skills of the employees Duties to be performed at a given time Department of the employees Names of employees required to work at a given time Duties of the selected employees in the departments Store Status Daily sales Staff on duty per hours or days Store managers during the day Problems encountered during the day Daily sales in quantities or in currency Names of staff on duty on the day or at a time Names of managers in charge of the store on that day Problems and solutions encountered by staff when delivering their duties during the day Q3. The columns are business needs/drivers. Fill in the table describing how each of the 3 needs is or is not supported by the IS. Information Systems Good product Good service Profits Daily Planner The IS compares the previous products with the current and make some improvements on the future products. If the previous products were of low quality or unsatisfactory, the company will improve the quality. Daily Planner supports good service because the customers are served on time without any delays. The IS save time as compared to manual search on the system or manual calculations. The IS helps in improving profits because short time is used to serve every customer. However many customers will be served leading increased sales and automatic increase in profits. Crew Scheduler The IS helps in producing good products because it selects qualified staff to work on production process. Good service will be offered to the customers because the system will select qualified staff to offer services to the customers in their respective fields of specialization Many customers go for quality products, which are produced by the company as the system selects qualified staff in various departments. Profits will be increased because quality products will be sold in large quantities Status Stores Good products will be supplied to customers on time because the IS helps in co-coordinating various stores centrally. Customers will get the products on time without delays or expiry of the products. Due to effective coordination, continuous supply of good products will reach customers on time. Good service will be offered to customers because the stores are managed and controlled centrally using the IS. In case of any problem in the sub-stores, it will be identified at an early stage in the central store. The problem is rectified and the customers will not get poor services. Status stores help the organization to make profits because the money, which would be incurred on travelling to different sub-stores, is saved. The organization will reduce the expenses on labor because few employees will be recruited to control the systems. Q4. List and briefly describe the role the Information Technology components play for all these systems. Use one list since the role played in each system is basically the same. Also, use the full page but only one page and structure your answer. Computer is one of the important components, which should be available for all the three systems to wok. Computer is an important factor to daily planner system. The storage of data and information on the system would not be possible without information technology. The process of input and output of information would not be possible without incorporating information technology. The system uses information technology to retrieve, compare, and analyze the current and previous information after which it gives recommendations on the next step. Coordinating and sharing information within the system is a skill of information technology. In crew scheduling, the program is installed in the computer. The system will not work without the aid of the computer. Crew scheduling system is faster as compared t the manual system. If the manual system could be used, it would take long time. Select required staff at a given time. After the selection of the staff, their names are printed into a hard copy using the printer such that they can be displayed on the notice board. Internet is another component of information technology, which should be available for the systems to work. The internet can be used to detect any fault or problem in the system. With the help of computer and internet, status store system report what is happening in the sub-stores directly to the central store. In case of any problem in the sub-stores, a message is send directly to the central store using the internet and action will be taken. Q5. Fill in the table. BI Systems Describe a specific example of how each is used at Mrs. Fields. What would be the business benefits of such a use? Simple Reporting An example is on the status store. Managers and other employees working on the sub stores will submit simple reports at the end of every day. It will enable the central manager to assess what is happening in the sub stores. It will be a benefit to the organization because the report will help to identify any problem or improvements to be made on the stores. Simple reports are send automatically to the central store daily as compared to manual systems which will be submitted at the end of the month or weekly OLAP An example of OLAP system in Mrs. Fields was on daily planner where the data entered by the user is analyzed and feedback is given to the user. It is beneficial to the business because it saves time as compared to the manual system of searching data. Analytics An example of analytics was on the crew scheduler where the system analyzes various employees’ information in terms of knowledge and skills. The company benefits because the most qualified staff are selected by the system to perform specified tasks at a given time. As a result, the organization will produce the best products and even make higher sales. Knowledge Management An example of knowledge management was on the status stores. In the status stores, the central managers control what is happening in the sub stores without traveling to the stores physically. It save funds for the organization which would be used when travelling to sub stores. Q7. Complete the following system diagram for the Day Planner (DP) and Store Status (SS) systems with the following circles. Show only the information flows needed for these systems on the diagram. Note that these systems share data. If one system has produced some data/information it then shares it with the other systems through the shared DB at HQ if needed. Q8. Give 2 specific examples of data at Mrs. Fields that should be made secure and briefly explain why. List and briefly explain four technologies you could use to enhance the security of this data? Structure your answer. Unauthorized people should access information systems in the company. It because confidential information stored by the organization can be retrieved by the competitors. The competitors will use the information to fight the organization in the market. Unauthorized people should not access employees’ personal data. The unauthorized people to commit crimes leading problems on the individuals might use the information. Passwords should be used to protect the data and information in the system. Before anyone access the information or opens the computer, he/she should input the password. Data encryption is another option to protect confidential information. An individual from outside the organization will not understand the language or format used to store the information. Password should be given to only responsible staff in the organization such that in case of any problem they will be liable. Read More