Lecture Business management information system - Lecture 1: Introduction

This chapter presents the following content: Technologies for developing systems, management issues in system development, supporting decision making, supporting collaboration, supporting knowledge work, the challenges ahead.

Business Management Information System

Lecture 1

Professor Dr Sajjad Mohsin

n Ph.D.

¨ Division of Production, Information and

Systems Engineering, Muroran Institute of

Technology, Hokkaido JAPAN

n M.E.

¨ Dept of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Muroran Institute of Technology, JAPAN

n M.Sc Computer Science

¨ Department of Computer Science, Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan

n Professor & Dean FIST, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad Pakistan, April 2011 to date

n Dean FIST & Chairman CS (Associate Professor)COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad Pakistan, Nov 2010 to August 2011

n Chairman & Head (Associate Professor) Department of Computer Science, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad Pakistan, July 2009 to Nov 2010.

n Head (Associate Professor), Department of Computer Science, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad Pakistan, January 2008 to July 2009

n Associate Professor, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad Campus, Pakistan, April 2005- January 2008

n Research Assistant with Prof Yukinori Suzuki, MIT Japan, 2004 to 2005

¨ Research Project: A study on Telecommunication Network Modeling.

¨ Subject: Information Engineering Basic Practice B.

n Researcher with Prof Yukinori Suzuki at the MIT

Japan, Oct 1998 to March 2000.

Pakistan, July 1992 – Sep 2003

Electronics (NIE), Islamabad Pakistan,

Jun 1987 – Jul 1992

n 2007 – Present

¨ Higher Education Commission, Pakistan

approved & funded research project "High

Performance Image Processing using Genetic

Symmetric Multi-Processing Platform" worth

more than (Pakistan Rs.) 0.6 million

n 2011 – 2013

¨National ICT R&D Fund approved and funded

the research project titled “3D Graphical

Imagery Therapy for Healing Brain Tumors in Children” worth more than 11 million PKR

n Distinguish Professor of COMSATS

n Member Editorial Board of the “IEEE Transaction of The Fuzzy Systems” Journal

n Member Editorial Board of the World Information Technology Journal

n Member Editorial Board of the Information Technology Journal

n Approved PhD Supervisor of Higher Education Commission for Pakistan

n Member Australian Computer Society

n Awarded Japanese Government, Ministry

of Education Scholarship for Ph.D April 2002- March 2005

n Awarded Japanese Government, Ministry

of Education Scholarship for M.E April

2000 –March 2002

n Awarded Japanese Government, Ministry

of Education Scholarship as Research Student Oct 1998- March 2000

n Awarded Merit Scholarship by the Azam University Islamabad for M.Sc Jan

Quaid-i-1985 – Dec 1986

Course Theme

n The importance of Information System

Management

n Leadership Issues (The Top is Job)

n Strategic Uses of information Technology

n Information System Planning

n Distributed Systems The Overall Architecture

n Managing Telecommunications

n Managing Information Resources

n Managing Operations

Course Theme

n Technologies for Developing Systems

n Management Issues in System

Development

n Supporting Decision Making

n Supporting Collaboration

n Supporting knowledge Work

n The Challenges Ahead

n Information Technology (IT) -computers and telecommunications - is having the kind of revolutionary, restructuring impact that has been expected and promised for years

n Rapid advances in speed and capacity + pervasiveness of Internet, wireless,

portable devices etc = making major

changes in the way we live and work

n ‘Go Back’ – 5, 10, 15 years

Introduction cont…

n Due to the growth and pervasiveness of IT, organizations are operating in a different environment from just a few years ago

n Themes this unit emphasizes:

¨ Globalization

n The world seems to be getting smaller

n Backlash – local needs Vs ‘standard’

n Jobs to stay ‘local’

n IS executives need ‘balancing act’

Introduction cont…….

n Management of Information Systems

¨ 3 Major Trends

1 Governance of IT = a collaborative effort from IS

executives and all other members of Senior Management

2 Role of IS is shifting from application delivery to

system integration and infrastructure development

3 Outsourcing – total / selective

n Developing and managing contracts and relationships

Introduction cont.

n Historically, managing IT has been the job

of ‘technical managers’

n NOW = increasingly becoming an

important part of the responsibilities of:

¨ Senior executives

¨ Line managers

¨ Employees at all levels of an organization

The ‘Key’ (What’s it all about?)

§ Technology is configured into

systems that help manage

information to improve organizational performance

What is Information?

cont…

n All individuals, companies and, in general, all

organizations are continuously capturing data, many of which are of no significance to them at all However, other data are available that would afford them a better understanding of their own environment and of themselves These data – what we know as information – enable them to make more accurate decisions For this reason, the right amount of information at the right time

is a key factor for every organization.

n Company managers take decisions, prepare plans and control their company’s activities using information that they can obtain either from formal sources or through

informal channels such as face-to-face conversations, telephone calls, social contacts, etc.

n Managers are challenged by an increasingly complex

and uncertain environment In these circumstances,

managers should theoretically be able to define and

obtain the type of information they require However, this

is not what happens in practice; rather, the way

managers perform their work depends on the available information that they have access to Most decisions are therefore made in the absence of absolute knowledge, either because the information is not available or

because access to it would be very costly

n Although the terms data and information are sometimes used indiscriminately, they do have different meanings Data are non-random symbols that represent the values

of attributes or events Hence, data are facts, events and transactions stored according to an agreed code Data are facts obtained through reading, observation,

calculation, measurement, etc The amounts and other details on an organization's invoices, cheques or pay

slips, etc, are referred to as data, for example Data are obtained automatically, the result of a routine procedure such as invoicing or measurement processes.

n Information is a set of data transformed in such a way

that it helps to reduce future uncertainty and, therefore, contributes to the decision-making process Information

is data transformed in a way that makes sense to the

person who receives it; in other words, it has a real or

perceived value for that person when he or she acts or takes decisions Information, moreover, is data that have been interpreted and understood by the recipient of the message The relationship between data and information

is similar to that of raw materials and the finished

product Information will be meaningful insofar as it

provides useful raw material for taking a specific

decision

Characteristics of a Valuable information

n Good information provides value

n Information should posses following characteristics,

n Information must be sufficiently accurate for

managers’ purposes No information is totally

accurate, and spending more on information in pursuit of greater accuracy does not always

result in more valuable information.

n The degree of accuracy should be coherent with the importance of the decision to be taken and will vary according to the decision-maker’s level

in the hierarchy The degree of information

accuracy required will depend on the

hierarchical level in question.

n In an ideal world, all the information

required to take a decision would be

available; however in reality this is not

possible Information is considered to be completed if it informs us on the key points

of the problem we are analyzing

n All the information required to take a

decision would be available; however in

reality this is not possible Information is

considered to be economical if it informs

us on the key points of the problem we are analyzing

Flexible

n Ideal world requires that, all the

information to take a decision would be

flexible; however in reality this is not

possible Information is considered to be flexible if it informs us on the key points of the problem we are analyzing

n All the provided information should be

reliable with respect to the other

information In reality some type of

reliability about the information is gained

Relevant

n All the provided information must be

relevant to the system information and

provide relevancy, to perform in the better way Must be relevant to the given

management information system

n All the information required to take a

decision would be timely manage;

however in reality this is not possible

Information is considered to be Timely if it informs us on the key points of the

problem we are analyzing

n All the information required to take a

decision would be verified; however in

reality this is not possible Information is considered to be verifiable if it informs us

on the key points of the problem we are analyzing

Accessible

n All the information required to take a

decision would be accessible to all the users ; however in reality this is not

possible Information is considered to be accessible if it informs us on the key

points of the problem we are analyzing

n All the information required to take a

decision would be secured to all the

users ; however in reality this is not

possible Information is considered to be secured if it informs us on the key points

of the problem we are analyzing

Punctuality

n Good information is that which is delivered just when it is needed

To a certain extent, the need to obtain information quickly can

jeopardize its accuracy, although today’s data processing methods can produce accurate information very rapidly

n Vital information for the company may become worthless if it takes too long to obtain, or delays occur in processing and communicating the information.

n Although the punctuality of regularly produced information is

important, how often information is produced should be related to the type of decision or activity it is required for

n Often, companies routinely produce reports at fairly arbitrary

intervals (daily, weekly or monthly) following traditions or calendar conventions without taking into account the time cycle of the activity involved

§ Comprehension is what transforms data into information If the information is not understood it cannot be used and

therefore it cannot add value

§ Many factors intervene in understanding information

§ Previous knowledge Comprehension is the result of memory in association with the received message

What is an Information System?

n A set of interrelated elements or

components that collect (input), manipulate and store (process), disseminate (output) data and information, and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective

n Computer based information system

Composed of hardware, software, data, telecommunications, people, and procedures to collect, manipulate, store, and process data into information

Why Need an Information System?

Here are some reasons for the need of an information

system,

¨ Global Competition for Market and for Labor

¨ Need for Real-time Operations

¨ Managing Work Force

¨ Customer-Oriented Operations

¨ Technological Innovation and Obsolescence

¨ Information Overload

¨ Social Responsibility of Organizations

¨ Government Regulation and Deregulation

¨ Organizational Responses to Business Pressures in the Information Age

Components of Information System as Defined by

Turban, McLean, Wetherbe (1996)

Henry C Lucas (1997)

n Information systems may be described by five of their key components:

¨ Decisions

¨ transactions and processing

¨ information and its flow

¨ individuals or functions involved

¨ communications and coordination

Where is the difference?

n Outcome of different definitions depicts

¨ Trend and technological effects at that time

¨ Information system definition evolved with respect to time.

¨ People worked on data processing until they realized the need of information systems.

Information Systems Today

n The early focus on IS was for the support

of operations, management, analysis and decision-making in organizations

Social Media Information System Today

n In many textbooks and contexts, the terms Management

Information Systems (or MIS) and Information Systems

(IS) are used interchangeably

n However, in other contexts, Management Information

Systems are considered as a subset of the more general Information Systems

n MIS are considered to be information systems which provides information specifically for managing an organization generally at a tactical or middle

management level Information Systems would be a

more general term that can include other systems (e.g group communication systems) We will generally follow this convention.

Types of Information Systems

n Transaction Processing Systems (TPS).

n Management Information Systems (MIS)

n Decision Support Systems (DSS).

n Expert Systems (ES).

n Executive Information Systems (EIS).

n Office Automation Systems (including document management systems).

n GroupWare, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), and other communication

systems.

n and much more ….

Types of Information Systems

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

n It is an information system designed to process day-to-day business event data at the operational level of the organization

¨ A transaction is an elementary activity conducted during business operations (e.g merchandise sale).

n Support the monitoring, collection, storage, processing, and dissemination of the

organization’s basic business transactions.

n Provides backbone for many other applications involving other support systems.

TPS Data Entry Screen

Types of Transaction Processing

Systems

n Batch processing

¨ Batch processing is a form of transaction processing

¨ Batch processing involves processing several transactions at the same time, and the results of each transaction are not immediately available when the transaction is being entered; there is a time delay

n Online transaction processing is the form of

transaction processing that processes data as it becomes available

Management Information Systems

n A management information system (MIS) provides

information that is needed to manage organizations

efficiently and effectively.

n Management information systems involve three primary resources:

¨ people,

¨ technology, and

¨ information or decision making