MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

AN INTRODUCTION

“'MIS' is a planned system of collecting, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed
to carry out the functions of management.” 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.

Management : Management is art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized
groups. The basic functions performed by a manager in an organization are: Planning, controlling, staffing,
organizing, and directing. Information : Information is considered as valuable component of an
organization. Information is data that is processed and is presented in a form which assists decision maker.

System : A system is defined as a set of elements which are joined together to achieve a common objective.
The elements are interrelated and interdependent. Thus every system is said to be composed of subsystems.
A system has one or multiple inputs, these inputs are processed through a transformation process to convert
these input( s) to output.

Introduction

Management Information System (MIS) is a study of people, technology, organizations, and the
relationships among them in a broader sense. However in precise terms MIS is a software system that
focuses on the management of information technology to provide efficiency and effectiveness or strategy
decision making. The term is often used in the academic study of businesses and has connections with other
areas, such as information systems, information technology, informatics, e- commerce and computer
science.

Basic Concepts
Management Information System is an accumulation of 3 different terms as explained below.
Management: We can define management in many ways like, “Manage Man Tactfully” or Management
is an art of getting things done by others. However, for the purpose of Management Information System,
management comprises the process and activity that a manager does in the operation of their organization,
i.e., to plan, organize, direct and control operations.
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Information: Information simply means processed data or in the layman language, data which can be
converted into meaningful and useful form for a specific user.

System: The system can be explained in a following ways:

• System can be defined as a set of elements joined together for a common objective.
• A group of interrelated or interacting elements forming a unified whole e.g., business
organization as systems.
• A group of interrelated components working together towards a common goal by accepting
input and producing output in an organized transformation process.

Overview of Management Concepts

Every business unit has some objectives of its own. These objectives can be achieved with the coordinated
efforts of several personnel. The works of a number of persons are properly co-ordinated to achieve the
objectives through the process of management. Management is a vital aspect of the economic life of man,
which is an organised group activity. It is considered as the indispensable institution in the modern social
organization marked by scientific thought and technological innovations. One or the other form of
management is essential wherever human efforts are to be undertaken collectively to satisfy wants through
some productive activity, occupation or profession. It is management that regulates man's productive
activities through coordinated use of material resources. Without the leadership provided by management,
the resources of production remain resources and never become production. Management is the integrating
force in all organized activity. Whenever two or more people work together, to attain a common objective,
they have to coordinate their activities. They also have to organize and utilize their resources in such a way
as to optimize the results.
Management is usually defined as planning, directing and controlling the business operations.
Management is the process of allocating and organizations input including human and economic resources
by planning, organizing, directing and controlling for the purpose of producing goods or services desired
by customers so that organizational objectives are accomplished.

Functions of Management
Management has been defined as a process of getting things done through others. This process is
identified in a set of functions performed by managers to accomplish the goals. A manager is thus someone
who defines, plans, guides, helps out, and assesses the work of others, frequently people for whom the

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manager is accountable in an organization. The following mentioned management functions will involve
creative problem solving.

Planning: According to Terry and Franklin, “planning is selecting information and making assumptions
concerning the future to put together the activities necessary to achieve organizational objectives.” Planning
includes both the broadest view of the organization, e.g., its mission, and the narrowest, e.g., a tactic for
accomplishing a specific goal.

Organizing: Organizing is the classification and categorization of requisite objectives, the grouping of
activities needed to accomplish objectives, the assignment of each grouping to a manager with the authority
necessary to supervise it, and the provisions for coordination horizontally and vertically in the organization
structure. The focus is on separation, coordination, and control of tasks and the flow of information inside
the organization. It is in this function that managers allocate authority to job holders.

Directing: Direction is telling people what to accomplish and seeing that they do it to the finest of their
capability. It includes making assignments, corresponding procedures, seeing that mistakes are corrected,
providing on the job instruction and, of course, issuing orders.” The purpose of directing is to control the
behaviour of all personnel to accomplish the organization's mission and objectives while simultaneously
helping them accomplish their own career objectives.

Staffing: Staffing function requires recognition of human resource needs, filling the organizational
structure and keeping it filled with competent people. This function includes recruiting, training; evaluating
and compensating are the specific activities.

Controlling: “Control is the course of action that measures present performance and guides it towards
some predetermined goal. The quintessence of control lies in checking existing actions against some desired
results determined in the planning process.”

Levels of Management
According to the expert there are three types of level of management:
i) Top Level Management
ii) Middle Level Management
iii) Low Level or Operative Management

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Top Level Management

Top level management consists of board of directors, managing directors or executive committee members.

Objectives of Top Level Management include the following.

• Setting key objectives, policies and identifying factors essential for the development of the
organization.
• Making appointments to the top position of the organization such as managers department heads
etc.
• Reviewing the work of different personnel in various levels.

Middle Level Management

Middle level management consists of managers of various departments such as productions, sales,
marketing, resource, finance etc.

Objectives of Middle Level Management include the following.

• Follow the rules and policies formulated by the top level management.
• Motivating personnel for higher productivity.
• Collecting detail analysis reports from the various departments.
• Mutual understanding with other departments in the organization.
• Recommendations to the top level management.

Low Level Management.

Low level management consist of supervisors, daily workers etc. Follow the rules and guidelines made out
by the top level authentic of the organization.

Some of the functions of Lower Level Management include the following.

• To issue orders and instructions to the workers and to supervise and control their work
• To classify and assign jobs to the workers
• To direct and guide the workers about work procedure
• To arrange for the necessary tools, equipment, materials etc., for the worker
• To solve the problems of workers
• To inform the management about the problems of workers which are not solved at this level?
• To maintain discipline among the workers and to develop in them the right approach to work.
• To maintain good human relations.

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• To build a high group morale among the workers.

Concept of a System
A System is a group of interrelated components working together toward a common goal by accepting
inputs and producing outputs in an organized transformation process.

System Concepts
The concepts of a system are Technology, Application, Development and management.
a. Technology: Computer networks are systems of information processing components that are a
variety of hardware, software and telecommunication technology.
b. Application: That electronic business and commerce application involves interconnected business
information system
c. Development.: That developing way to use IT in business includes designing the basic component
of information system.
d. Management: Managing IT emphasize the quality, strategic business value and security of an
organization in information system.

Components of a System
There are three basic components of a system, they are
a) Input,
b) Processing and
c) Output.

a. Input. Input involves capturing and assembling elements that enter to the system to be processed.
Some of the inputs are raw materials, energy, data etc.

b. Processing. It involves transformation process that converts input to output.

c. Output. It involves transforming element that has been produced by a transformation process to
their ultimate destination.

Types of System Dynamic System:

When the interrelated component of the system interacts with each other and this controlled by
management then it is known as Dynamic System.

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a. Cybernative System
Dynamic System implementing the concept of feedback and control is known as Cyber native System.

b. Open System
A system got interacts with other system in its environment by exchanging input and output with its
environment

c. Adoptive System
A System having the ability to change itself and its environment in order to survive is called an Adoptive
System.

Data and information

By data we mean the facts or figures representing an object, place or the events occurring in the
organization. It is not enough to have data (such as statistics on the economy). Data themselves are fairly
useless, but when these data are interpreted and processed to determine its true meaning, they become
useful.

Characteristics of Data
• They are facts obtained by reading, observation, counting, measuring and weighing etc. which are
then recorded
• Data are derived from external and internal sources (activities with firm).
• Data may be produced as an automatic by-product of some routine but essential operation such as
the production of an invoice or alternative a special counting or measuring procedure must be introduced
and the result recorded.
• The source of data need be given considerable attention because if the sources of the data flawed,
any resulting information will be worthless.

Data Processing
Data or processing systems perform the essential role of collecting and processing the daily transactions
of the organizations. Data processing is necessary to ensure that the day-to-day activities of the organization
are processed, recorded and acted upon. Files are maintained which provide both the current data for
transaction, for example the amount invoiced and cash received during the month for statement preparation,
and which also serve as a basis for operational and tactical control and for answering enquiries.

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By information, we mean that the data have been shaped into a meaningful form, which may be useful for
human beings. So, when data are processed, interpreted, organized, structured or presented so as to make
them meaningful or useful, they are called information. Information provides context for data.
Information is created from organized structured and processed data in a particular context, “information
can be recorded as signs, or transmitted as signals. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of
a dynamic system that can interpret the information. Conceptually, information is the message (utterance
or expression) being conveyed. Therefore, in a general sense, information is ‘knowledge communicated or
received concerning a particular fact or circumstance”.

Characteristics of Good Information

Good information is that which is used and which create value. Experience and research shows that good
information has numerous qualities which are:
1. Relevance: Information must be relevant to the problem being considered. Too often reports,
messages, tabulations etc. contain irrelevant parts which most prevent the user of the information to get the
actual meaning of what the sender wants.

2. Accuracy: Information should be sufficiently accurate for it to be relied upon by the manager and
for the purpose for which it is intended.
3. Completeness: Ideally, all the information required for a decision should be available. However, in
practice, this is not often obtainable. What is required is that the information is complete in respect of the
key elements of the problem. This suggests that there should be interaction between information provides
and users to ensure that the key factors are identified.

4. Confidence in the source: For information to have value it must be used. For it to be used managers
must have confidence in the source.

Confidence is enhanced: Data Processes Output

a. The source has been reliable in the past
b. There is good communication between the information producer and the manager.

5. Communication to the right person: All persons have a defined sphere of activity and
responsibility and should receive information to help them carry out their designated tasks. In practice this
is not always as easy as it sounds. It is quite common for information to be supplied to the wrong level in

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the organization. a superior may not pass it on the person who needs it whilst subordinates may hold onto
information in an attempt to make themselves seem indispensable.

Functions of Information
a) Reduction of Uncertainty: Uncertainty exist where there is less than perfect knowledge. Rarely, if
ever is there perfect knowledge but relevant information help to reduce the unknown.
b) An aid to monitoring and control: By providing information about performance and the extent of
deviations from planned level of performance, management are better able to control operation.
c) As a means of communication: Managers need to know about developments, plans, forecasts,
impending changes and so on.
d) As a memory supplement: By having historical information about performance, transactions,
results of past actions and decisions available for reference, personal memories are supplemented.
e) As aid to simplification: By reducing uncertainty and enhancing understanding, problems and
situations are simplified and become more manageable.

Information System
Meaning: An information system can be any organized combination of people, hardware, software,
communication software and data resource that collects transformation or screening the information in an
organization. Definition: An information system can be defined as a set of interrelated components that
collect (or retrieve), process, store and distribute information to support decision making, coordination and
control in an organization.

Examples of Information System

A business is an example of an organizational system to an economic resource (input) is transformed by
various business processes into goods and services (output).
Information system provides information on the operation of the system to management for the direction
and maintenance of the system as it exchanges inputs and output with its environment.

Some examples of information systems include the following.

• Airline reservations (seat, booking, payment, schedules, boarding list, special needs, etc.).
• Bank operations (deposit, transfer, withdrawal) electronically with a distinguish payment gateways.
• Integration of department with the help of contemporary software’s like ERP.
• Logistics management application to streamline the transportation system.

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a. Feedback and control

A system with feedback and control components is sometimes known as cybernetic system that is a self
monitoring or self regulating system.

b. Feedback.
Feedback is a data about the performance of a system.

c. Control.
Control involves monitoring and evolving feedback determines whether a system is moving towards the
achievement of its goals. The control function makes necessary adjustments to a system input and
possessing components to ensure that to produce proper output.

Components of Information System

a. People Resources
• People are required for the operation of all information system.
• People Resources divided into two types
i) End-Users
These are the people who use an information system or the information it produce.
Ex: Accounts, Sales Persons, Customers and Managers.
ii) Information system specialist
These are the people who develop and also operate Information system. Ex: System Managers,
Programmers, Computer Operation.

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MIS DEFINITION:
The Management Information System (MIS) is a concept of the last decade or two. It has been understood
and described in a number ways. It is also known as the Information System, the Information and Decision
System, the Computer- based information System. The MIS has more than one definition, some of which
are give below.

1. The MIS is defined as a system which provides information support for decision making in the
organization.

2. The MIS is defined as an integrated system of man and machine for providing the information to support
the operations, the management and the decision making function in the organization.

3. The MIS is defined as a system based on the database of the organization evolved for the purpose of
providing information to the people in the organization

4. The MIS is defined as a Computer based Information System. Thought there are a number of definitions,
all of them converge on one single point, i.e., the MIS is a system to support the decision making function
in the organization.

The difference lies in defining the elements of the MIS. However, in today.s world MIS a computerized
.business processing system generating information for the people in the organization to meet the
information needs decision making to achieve the corporate objective of the organization. In any
organization, small or big, a major portion of the time goes in data collection, processing, documenting it
to the people. Hence, a major portion of the overheads goes into this kind of unproductive work in the
organization. Every individual in an organization is continuously looking for some information which is
needed to perform his/her task. Hence, the information is people-oriented and it varies with the nature of
the people in the organization. The difficulty in handling this multiple requirement of the people is due to
a couple of reasons. The information is a processed product to fulfill an imprecise need of the people. It

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takes time to search the data and may require a difficult processing path. It has a time value and unless
processed on time and communicated, it has no value.

The scope and the quantum of information is individual dependent and it is difficult to conceive the
information as a well-defined product for the entire organization. Since the people are instrumental in any
business transaction, a human error is possible in conducting the same. Since a human error is difficult to
control, the difficulty arises in ensuring a hundred per cent quality assurance of information in terms of
completeness, accuracy, validity, timeliness and meeting the decision making needs. In order to get a better
grip on the activity of information processing, it is necessary to have a formal system which should take
care of the following points: Handling of a voluminous data. Confirmation of the validity of data and
transaction. Complex processing of data and multidimensional analysis. Quick search and retrieval. Mass
storage. Communication of the information system to the user on time. Fulfilling the changing needs of the
information. The management information system uses computers and communication technology to deal
with these points of supreme importance.

Objectives of MIS :

1. Data Capturing : MIS capture data from various internal and external sources of organization. Data
capturing may be manual or through computer terminals.

2. Processing of Data : The captured data is processed to convert into required information. Processing of
data is done by such activities as calculating, sorting, classifying, and summarizing.

3. Storage of Information : MIS stores the processed or unprocessed data for future use. If any information
is not immediately required, it is saved as an organization record, for later use.

4. Retrieval of Information : MIS retrieves information from its stores as and when required by various
users.

5. Dissemination of Information : Information, which is a finished product of MIS, is disseminated to the

users in the organization. It is periodic or online through computer terminal.

Characteristics of MIS :

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1. Systems Approach : The information system follows a systems approach. Systems approach means
taking a comprehensive view or a complete look at the interlocking sub-systems that operate within an
organization.

2. Management Oriented : Management oriented characteristic of MIS implies that the management
actively directs the system development efforts. For planning of MIS, top-down approach should be
followed. Top down approach suggests that the system development starts from the determination of
management’s needs and overall business objective. To ensure that the implementation of system’s polices
meet the specification of the system, continued review and participation of the manager is necessary.

3. Need Based : MIS design should be as per the information needs of managers at different levels

4. Exception Based : MIS should be developed on the exception based also, which means that in an
abnormal situation, there should be immediate reporting about the exceptional situation to the decision –
makers at the required level.

5. Future Oriented : MIS should not merely provide past of historical information; rather it should provide
information, on the basis of future projections on the actions to be initiated.

6. Integrated : Integration is significant because of its ability to produce more meaningful information.
Integration means taking a comprehensive view or looking at the complete picture of the interlocking
subsystems that operate within the company.

7. Common Data Flow : Common data flow includes avoiding duplication, combining similar functions
and simplifying operations wherever possible. The development of common data flow is an economically
sound and logical concept, but it must be viewed from a practical angle.

8. Long Term Planning : MIS is developed over relatively long periods. A heavy element of planning
should be involved.

9. Sub System Concept : The MIS should be viewed as a single entity, but it must be broken down into
digestible sub-systems which are more meaningful.

10. Central database : In the MIS there should be common data base for whole system

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ROLE OF THE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM:

The role of the MIS in an organization can be compared to the role of heart in the body. The information
is the blood and MIS is the heart. In the body the heart plays the role of supplying pure blood to all the
elements of the body including the brain. The heart works faster and supplies more blood when needed. It
regulates and controls the incoming impure blood, processes it and sends it to the destination in the quantity
needed. It fulfills the needs of blood supply to human body in normal course and also in crisis.

The MIS plays exactly the same role in the organization.

(1) The system ensures that an appropriate data is collected from the various sources, processed, and sent
further to all the needy destinations. The system is expected to fulfill the information needs of an individual,
a group of individuals, the management functionaries: the managers and the top management.

(2) The MIS satisfies the diverse needs through a variety of systems such as Query Systems, Analysis
Systems, Modeling Systems and Decision Support Systems the MIS helps in Strategic Planning,
Management Control, Operational Control and Transaction Processing.

(3) The MIS helps the clerical personnel in the transaction processing and answers their queries on the data
pertaining to the transaction, the status of a particular record and references on a variety of documents. The
MIS helps the junior management personnel by providing the operational data for planning, scheduling and
control, and helps them further in decision making at the operations level to correct an out of control
situation.

(4) The MIS helps the middle management in short them planning, target setting and controlling the
business functions. It is supported by the use of the management tools of planning and control. The MIS
helps the top management in goal setting, strategic planning and evolving the business plans and their
implementation.

(5) The MIS plays the role of information generation, communication, problem identification and helps in
the process of decision making. The MIS, therefore, plays a vita role in the management, administration
and operations of an organization.

Need for Implementation of MIS

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Implementation is a phase of system development where we implement all the planned work to create a
new system or get enhanced existing ones. MIS implementation is a management process where all the
objectives are implements in the form of an MIS system. This system is further used by management
executives to do organizational activities. Successfully implemented MIS along with testing, may be used
by top-level executives of the company in decision making.

1. Preparing organizational plans - Organizational plan is a process of defining a company's

objectives or goal, to prepare companies to plan to aim to find the potential areas and how to do the
task in a strategic manner so that company’s objectives can be achieved. After finding desired goals,
tasks need to recognize to accomplish these goals. A good organizational plan can be prepared using
the following stages.
○ Strategic
○ Tactical
○ Operational, and
○ Contingency

2. Workflow Planning - Workflow preparation can be divided into two parts:

○ Identifying or designing the workflow
○ Executing or scheduling it.
A workflow can be planned using some set of organized activities.

3. Training of personnel - It refers to the process of trained staff about operating procedures and
standards. It also boosts the efficiency and awareness of employees. Employee training, according
to the proposed MIS system, boosts performance, effectiveness, and productivity, as well as morale
and work satisfaction.

4. Application Development - Application development is an implementation plan which designs as

per the system's need.

5. Acquiring computer hardware - Acquiring computer hardware is a process to acquire hardware

resources.

6. Designing the format for data collection - It gives a direction to plan a blueprint of data storage.

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7. Construction of data files - Data files are the documents that store data into them and can be used
for analysis whenever required.

Components of MIS

1. Executives:
Executives are the people who utilize MIS. These people are computer professionals who operate
MIS for data processing to achieve organizational goals like planning and decision-making.
2.
3. Hardware:
The hardware components of MIS include various input and output devices that helps in feeding
data as well as displaying the information when required. The input devices include the keyboard,
scanners and mouse. The output devices may be the monitor, printer, network devices, and so on.
4. Software:
Computer programs which are designed to do a specific task for example, MS Office, Banking
Software’s, Railway’s applications etc, different kinds of software available to process the
data/information in an organization such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer
relationship management).

5. Organizational Procedures: Procedures are sets of rules or guidelines that an organization

establishes for the use of a computer-based information system. The procedures may vary from one
organization to another. It may also vary from one department to another as per the requirement.
For example, the working of production department is different from the working of sales
department.

Data vs Information

Description Data Information

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Meaning Qualitative/ Quantitative variables Data that is structured and

that present themselves with the collated to further its
potential to be developed into ideas or meaning and contextual
analytical conclusions. usefulness.

Format Data follows the form of either letters, Information follows the
numbers or characters. format of either ideas or
references

Representation Data is structured either in graphs, Information is represented

data trees, flowcharts, or tables. as ideas, thoughts, and
languages after collating the
data acquired.

Meaning Data doesn’t serve any purpose unless Data when interpreted and
given to. assigned with some meaning
derived out of it, gives
information.

Interrelation Data is information collected Information is data

processed

Features Data is raw and doesn’t contain any Information is data collated
meaning unless analyzed. and produced to further a
logical meaning.

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Interdependence Data doesn’t depend on information. Information can’t exist

without data.

Unit Data is measured in bits and bytes. Information if mostly

measured in units like
quantity, time et al.

Use Case for Data alone doesn’t pertain to the The information contains
Decision Making qualities to help derive decisions. analytical coherence to help
derive a decision.

Use Case for Data acquired by researchers might Information adds value and
Researchers become useless if they have no usefulness to researchers
analytical inferences to make. since they are readily
available.

Need for Information System

1) Efficiently storing and managing data of all business functional areas.
2) Fast and accurate delivery of information, as and when needed.
3) Processing of gathered data and developing information from it.
4) Information availability for production and inventory.

MIS for Decision Making

Decision-making is a cognitive process that results in the selection of a course of action among several
alternative scenarios. Decision-making is a daily activity for any human being. There is no exception about
that. When it comes to business organizations, decision-making is a habit and a process as well.

Decision-Making Process

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Following are the important steps of the decision-making process. Each step may be supported by
different tools and techniques.

Step 1 − Identification of the Purpose of the Decision

In this step, the problem is thoroughly analyzed. There are a couple of questions one should ask when it
comes to identifying the purpose of the decision.

● What exactly is the problem?

● Why the problem should be solved?
● Who are the affected parties of the problem?
● Does the problem have a deadline or a specific time-line?

Step 2 − Information Gathering

A problem of an organization will have many stakeholders. In addition, there can be dozens of factors
involved and affected by the problem.

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In the process of solving the problem, you will have to gather as much as information related to the factors
and stakeholders involved in the problem. For the process of information gathering, tools such as 'Check
Sheets' can be effectively used.

Step 3 − Principles for Judging the Alternatives

In this step, the baseline criteria for judging the alternatives should be set up. When it comes to defining
the criteria, organizational goals as well as the corporate culture should be taken into consideration.

As an example, profit is one of the main concerns in every decision making process. Companies usually
do not make decisions that reduce profits, unless it is an exceptional case. Likewise, baseline principles
should be identified related to the problem in hand.

Step 4 − Brainstorm and Analyze the Choices

For this step, brainstorming to list down all the ideas is the best option. Before the idea generation step, it
is vital to understand the causes of the problem and prioritization of causes.

For this, you can make use of Cause-and-Effect diagrams and Pareto Chart tool. Cause-and-Effect diagram
helps you to identify all possible causes of the problem and Pareto chart helps you to prioritize and identify
the causes with the highest effect.

Then, you can move on generating all possible solutions (alternatives) for the problem in hand.

Step 5 − Evaluation of Alternatives

Use your judgment principles and decision-making criteria to evaluate each alternative. In this step,
experience and effectiveness of the judgment principles come into play. You need to compare each
alternative for their positives and negatives.

Step 6 − Select the Best Alternative

Once you go through from Step 1 to Step 5, this step is easy. In addition, the selection of the best alternative
is an informed decision since you have already followed a methodology to derive and select the best
alternative.

Step 7 − Execute the decision

Convert your decision into a plan or a sequence of activities. Execute your plan by yourself or with the
help of subordinates.

Step 8 − Evaluate the Results

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Evaluate the outcome of your decision. See whether there is anything you should learn and then correct in
future decision making. This is one of the best practices that will improve your decision-making skills.

MIS Structures and Models

There are two basic models in decision-making −

● Rational models
● Normative model

The rational models are based on cognitive judgments and help in selecting the most logical and sensible
alternative. Examples of such models include - decision matrix analysis, Pugh matrix, SWOT analysis,
Pareto analysis and decision trees, selection matrix, etc.

A rational decision making model takes the following steps −

● Identifying the problem,

● Identifying the important criteria for the process and the result,
● Considering all possible solutions,
● Calculating the consequences of all solutions and comparing the probability of satisfying the
criteria,
● Selecting the best option.

The normative model of decision-making considers constraints that may arise in making decisions, such
as time, complexity, uncertainty, and inadequacy of resources.

According to this model, decision-making is characterized by −

● Limited information processing - A person can manage only a limited amount of information.
● Judgmental heuristics - A person may use shortcuts to simplify the decision making process.
● Satisfying - A person may choose a solution that is just "good enough".

Dynamic Decision-Making

Dynamic decision-making (DDM) is synergetic decision-making involving interdependent systems, in

an environment that changes over time either due to the previous actions of the decision-maker or due to
events that are outside of the control of the decision-maker.

These decision-makings are more complex and real-time. Dynamic decision-making involves observing
how people used their experience to control the system's dynamics and noting down the best decisions
taken thereon.

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Sensitivity Analysis

Sensitivity analysis is a technique used for distributing the uncertainty in the output of a mathematical
model or a system to different sources of uncertainty in its inputs.

From business decision perspective, the sensitivity analysis helps an analyst to identify cost drivers as
well as other quantities to make an informed decision. If a particular quantity has no bearing on a decision
or prediction, then the conditions relating to quantity could be eliminated, thus simplifying the decision
making process. Sensitivity analysis also helps in some other situations, like −

● Resource optimization
● Future data collections
● Identifying critical assumptions
● To optimize the tolerance of manufactured parts

Static and Dynamic Models

Static models:

● Show the value of various attributes in a balanced system.

● Work best in static systems.
● Do not take into consideration the time-based variances.
● Do not work well in real-time systems however, it may work in a dynamic system being in
equilibrium
● Involve less data.
● Are easy to analyze.
● Produce faster results.

Dynamic models −

● Consider the change in data values over time.

● Consider effect of system behavior over time.
● Re-calculate equations as time changes.
● Can be applied only in dynamic systems.

Simulation Techniques

Simulation is a technique that imitates the operation of a real-world process or system over time.
Simulation techniques can be used to assist management decision making, where analytical methods are
either not available or cannot be applied.
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Some of the typical business problem areas where simulation techniques are used are −

● Inventory control
● Queuing problem
● Production planning

******************************************

BUSINESS APPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Business software or a business application is any software or set of computer programs used by business
users to perform various business functions. These business applications are used to increase productivity,
to measure productivity and to perform other business functions accurately.

Technology has important effects on business operations. No matter the size of your enterprise,
technology has both tangible and intangible benefits that will help you make money and produce the results
your customers demand. Technological infrastructure affects the culture, efficiency and relationships of a
business.

For example, office software suites might include word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation,
and email applications. Graphics suites such as Adobe Creative Suite include applications for creating and
editing images, while Sony Audio Master Suite is used for audio production etc.

E-Commerce:

E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a methodology of modern business, which addresses the

requirements of business organizations. It can be broadly defined as the process of buying or selling of
goods or services using an electronic medium such as the Internet. E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce
is a methodology of modern business, which addresses the need of business organizations, vendors and
customers to reduce cost and improve the quality of goods and services while increasing the speed of
delivery.

Ecommerce refers to the paperless exchange of business information using the following ways −

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Electronic Data Exchange (EDI)

Electronic Mail (e-mail)

Electronic Bulletin Boards

Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)

Other Network-based technologies

Features of E-Commerce:

1.Non-Cash Payment − E-Commerce enables the use of credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, electronic
fund transfer via bank's website, and other modes of electronics payment.

2.24x7 Service availability − E-commerce automates the business of enterprises and the way they provide
services to their customers. It is available anytime, anywhere.

3.Advertising / Marketing − E-commerce increases the reach of advertising of products and services of
businesses. It helps in better marketing management of products/services.

4.Improved Sales − Using e-commerce, orders for the products can be generated anytime, anywhere
without any human intervention. It gives a big boost to existing sales volumes.

5.Support − E-commerce provides various ways to provide pre-sales and post- sales assistance to provide
better services to customers.

1. Inventory Management − E-commerce automates inventory management. Reports get

generated instantly when required. Product inventory management becomes very
efficientand easy to maintain.

2. Communication improvement − E-commerce provides ways for faster, efficient, reliable

communication with customers and partners.

E-commerce business models can generally be categorized into the following categories.

❖ Business - to - Business (B2B)

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❖ Business - to - Consumer (B2C)

❖ Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)

❖ Consumer - to - Business (C2B)

❖ Business - to - Government (B2G)

❖ Government - to - Business (G2B)

❖ Government - to - Citizen (G2C)

Business - to - Business

A website following the B2B business model sells its products to an intermediate buyer who then sells
the product to the final customer. As an example, a wholesaler places an order from a company's website
and after receiving the consignment, sells the end product to the final customer who comes to buy the
product at one of its retail outlets.

Business - to - Consumer

A website following the B2C business model sells its products directly to a customer. A customer can
view the products shown on the website. The customer can choose a product and order the same. The
website will then send a notification to the business organization via email and the organization will
dispatch the product/goods to the customer.

Consumer - to - Consumer

A website following the C2C business model helps consumers to sell their assets like residential property,
cars, motorcycles, etc., or rent a room by publishing their information on the website. Website may or may
not charge the consumer for its services. Another consumer may opt to buy the product of the first customer
by viewing the post/advertisement on the website.

Consumer - to - Business

In this model, a consumer approaches a website showing multiple business organizations for a particular
service. The consumer places an estimate of amount he/she wants to spend for a particular service. For
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example, the comparison of interest rates of personal loan/car loan provided by various banks via websites.
A business organization who fulfils the consumer's requirement within the specified budget, approaches
the customer and provides its services.

Business - to - Government

B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such websites are used by governments to trade and exchange
information with various business organizations. Such websites are accredited by the government and
provide a medium to businesses to submit application forms to the government.

Government - to – Business

Governments use B2G model websites to approach business organizations. Such websites support
auctions, tenders, and application submission functionalities.

Government - to - Citizen

Governments use G2C model websites to approach citizen in general. Such websites support auctions of
vehicles, machinery, or any other material. Such website also provides services like registration for birth,
marriage or death certificates. The main objective of G2C websites is to reduce the average time for
fulfilling citizen‘s requests for various government services.

E-Commerce advantages can be broadly classified in three major categories −

1. Advantages to Organizations

2. Advantages to Consumers

3. Advantages to Society

Advantages to Organizations

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Using e-commerce, organizations can expand their market to national and international markets with
minimum capital investment. An organization can easily locate more customers, best suppliers, and suitable
business partners across the globe.

✓ E-commerce helps organizations to reduce the cost to create process, distribute, retrieve and manage
the paper based information by digitizing the information.

✓ E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.

✓ E-commerce helps organization to provide better customer services.

✓ E-commerce helps to simplify the business processes and makes them faster and efficient.

✓ E-commerce reduces the paper work.

Advantages to Customers

E-commerce increases the productivity of organizations. It supports "pull" type supply management. In
"pull" type supply management, a business process starts when a request comes from a customer and it use
just-in-time manufacturing way.

✓ It provides 24x7 supports. Customers can enquire about a product or service and place orders anytime,
anywhere from any location.

✓ E-commerce application provides users with more options and quicker delivery of products.

✓ E-commerce application provides users with more options to compare and select the cheaper and better
options.

✓ A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what others are buying, or see the
review comments of other customers before making a final purchase.

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✓ E-commerce provides options of virtual auctions.

✓ It provides readily available information. A customer can see the relevant detailed information within
seconds, rather than waiting for days or weeks.

✓ E-Commerce increases the competition among organizationsand as a result,

organizations provide substantial discounts to customers.

Advantages to Society

Customers need not travel to shop a product, thus less traffic on road and low air pollution.

✓ E-commerce helps in reducing the cost of products, so less affluent people can also afford the products.

✓ E-commerce has enabled rural areas to access services and products, which are otherwise not available
to them.

✓ E-commerce helps the government to deliver public services such as healthcare, education, social
services at a reduced cost and in an improved manner.

The disadvantages of e-commerce can be broadly classified into two major categories

✓ Technical disadvantages

✓ Non-Technical disadvantages

Technical Disadvantages

✓ There can be lack of system security, reliability or standards owing to poor implementation of e-
commerce.

✓ The software development industry is still evolving and keeps changing rapidly.

✓ In many countries, network bandwidth might cause an issue.

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✓ Special types of web servers or other software might be required by the vendor, setting the e-commerce
environment apart from network servers.

✓ Sometimes, it becomes difficult to integrate an e-commerce software or website with existing

applications or databases.

✓ There could be software/hardware compatibility issues, as some e-commerce software may be

incompatible with some operating system or any other component.

Non-Technical Disadvantages

✓ Initial cost − The cost of creating/building an e-commerce application in-house may be very high.
There could be delays in launching an e-Commerce application due to mistakes, and lack of experience.

✓ User resistance − Users may not trust the site being an unknown faceless seller. Such mistrust makes
it difficult to convince traditional users to switch from physical stores to online/virtual stores.

✓ Security/ Privacy − It is difficult to ensure the security or privacy on online transactions.

✓ Lack of touch or feel of products during online shopping is a drawback.

✓ E-commerce applications are still evolving and changing rapidly.

✓ Internet access is still not cheaper and is inconvenient to use for many potential customers, for example,
those living in remote villages.

ERP SYSTEM:-

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a software that is built to organizations belonging to different
industrial sectors, regardless of their size and strength. The ERP package is designed to support and
integrate almost every functional area of a business process such as procurement of goods and services,
sale and distribution, finance, accountings, human resource, manufacturing, production planning, logistics
& warehouse management.

Functional Areas
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ERP is a business management software is usually a suite of integrated applications that a company can
use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many functional areas including −

• Financial Accounting − Deals with financial transactions and data.

• Human Resource − Deals with information related to employee of an organization.
• Customer Relationship Management − Deals with capturing and managing customer‘s relationship,
facilitating the use of customer experience to evaluate the knowledge database.
• Sales and Distribution − Deals with order placement, delivery, shipment and invoicing.
• Logistics and Warehouse Management − Deals with storage of products and shipment.
• Manufacturing and Material Management − Deals with the production and production planning
activities.
• Supply Change Management − Deals with the movement of products, storing, managing, and
controlling supplies.
• Business Intelligence − Analyzes data and converts the same to information.

Computers have become so complex and commonplace in organizations, it is much easier to integrate
all of the data and processing software modules and hardware into one large unit that is easier to access and
control. This is called Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP. Normally ERP systems use the same database
throughout an entire company to store various types of data for different computerized functions. When
first developed, ERP systems were used only for large manufacturing companies. Today, they benefit all
sizes of companies, even those that are quite small.

Foundation for Understanding ERP Systems:

During early phases of development, integrated solutions were designed for particular process areas such
as −

• Material Management − the integrated system was known as Material Requirement Planning (MRP)
• Manufacturing − the integrated system was known as Manufacturing Resource Planning However
none of the integrated systems came with a complete solution for an organization covering major
business process areas. In early 1990‘s, the Gartner Group first used the acronym ERP. By mid–
1990‘s, ERP systems addressed all the core enterprise functions.

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In the early stages, most of the ERP solutions were focused on automating back office functions that were
not directly affecting customers or general public. Later, front office functions such as customer
relationship management and e–business systems were integrated.

What is ERP software?

ERP software has its roots in the Nineties manufacturing industry, where earlier forms of the applications
were used for manufacturing resource planning (MRP) and computer integrated manufacturing (CIM).
However, ERP has grown to cover all core functions of a business, regardless of its industry sector. As a
result, both private and public sector organisations now use ERP systems in some form or other. ERP
applications tend to be modular in nature, sharing vital business information which is held on a central
database repository, or repositories.

What does ERP software do?

ERP systems typically carry out financial and business planning functions, which might formerly have
been carried out by many smaller standalone applications.

Examples of ERP system modules include: product lifecycle management, supply chain management (for
example purchasing, manufacturing and distribution), warehouse management, customer relationship
management (CRM), sales order processing, online sales, financials, human resources, and decision support
system.

Popular ERP Vendors

1. Microsoft Dynamics

2. Oracle e-Business Suite

3. SAGE

4. SAP Business One

5. Infor Global Solutions

6. NetERP from NetSuite

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Decision support systems (DSS)

Decision support systems (DSS) are interactive software-based systems intended to help managers in
decision-making by accessing large volumes of information generated from various related information
systems involved in organizational business processes, such as office automation system, transaction
processing system, etc.

DSS uses the summary information, exceptions, patterns, and trends using the analytical models. A
decision support system helps in decision-making but does not necessarily give a decision itself. The
decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or
business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.

Types of DSS

Following are some typical DSS:

▪ Status Inquiry System: It helps in taking operational, management level, or middle level management
decisions, for example daily schedules of jobs to machines or machines to operators.

▪ Data Analysis System: It needs comparative analysis and makes use of formula or an algorithm, for
example cash flow analysis, inventory analysis etc.

▪ Information Analysis System: In this system data is analyzed and the information report is generated.
For example, sales analysis, accounts receivable systems, market analysis etc.

▪ Accounting System: It keeps track of accounting and finance related information, for example, final
account, accounts receivables, accounts payables, etc. that keep track of the major aspects of the
business.

▪ Model Based System: Simulation models or optimization models used for decision- making are used
infrequently and creates general guidelines for operation or management.

Business Intelligence System:

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The term 'Business Intelligence' has evolved from the decision support systems and gained strength with
the technology and applications like data warehouses, Executive Information Systems and Online
Analytical Processing (OLAP).

Business Intelligence System is basically a system used for finding patterns from existing data from
operations.

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INFORMATION SYSTEMS PLANNING:

Information management is term that covers array of the systems and processes within an organisation to
create and use of corporate information. Information Systems Planning is critical in developing and
executing successful strategic plans in huge firms at global level. It is observed in current business situation
that the markets are very uncertain which pushes companies to adopt effective, pro-active strategies in order
to gain competitive advantage. The strategy formula is oriented through company's operation and objectives
based on a cautious analysis of the involving company. Objectives of information system planning are
desired future positions and destinations the organizations intend to reach in order to fulfil its mission. Its
policies are a general guideline that directs and constraints decision making within an organization.

Information technology enables a set of opportunities to gain competitive advantage and to adjust the
Information Systems for the benefit of organization.

In present scenario, information system planning is key issue faced by senior executives of company.
Information management planning mainly involves in identification of the stage of IS in the organization,
identification of the applications of organizational information systems, evaluation of each of these
applications, based on established evaluation criteria, establishing a priority ranking for these application
and determining the optimum architecture of IS for serving the top priority applications. Theoretical
literature of the information systems planning suggests two challenging theories of effective planning in a
turbulent environment. One predicts that organizations using a formal, comprehensive planning approach
will be more successful. The other predicts that organizations using an informal, incremental approach will
be more successful in such an environment.

Stage model of Information System planning

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1. Strategic planning:

a) Derivation from the organizational plan.

b) Strategic fit with organizational culture.

c) Strategy set transformation.

2. Information requirement analysis:

a) Define underlying organizational requirements.

b) Develop sub system matrix.

c) Define and evaluate information requirements for organizational sub-systems.

3. Resource allocation:

a) Return on investment

b) Charge out

c) Portfolio approach

d) Steering committees.

4. Project planning

a) Milestones

b) Critical path method

c) Gantt chart

Acquisition of Information Systems:

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An acquisition strategy is a top-level roadmap that focuses on highlighting and managing risks to a
successful outcome. Business requirements for supporting work processes require integration across
multiple systems, spanning multiple business or organizational units.

The acquisition of information systems can either involve external sourcing or rely on internal
development or modification. With today's highly developed IT industry, companies tend to acquire
information systems and services from specialized vendors.

Information systems are a major corporate asset, with respect both to the benefits they provide and to
their high costs. Therefore, organizations have to plan for the long term when acquiring information systems
and services that will support business initiatives. At the same time, firms have to be responsive to emerging
opportunities. On the basis of long-term corporate plans and the requirements of various individuals from
data workers to top management, essential applications are identified and project priorities are set. For
example, certain projects may have to be carried out immediately to satisfy a new government reporting
regulation or to interact with a new customer‘s information system. Other projects may be given a higher
priority because of their strategic role or greater expected benefits.

Once the need for a specific information system has been established, the system has to be acquired. This
is generally done in the context of the already existing information systems architecture of the firm. The
acquisition of information systems can either involve external sourcing or rely on internal development or
modification. With today‘s highly developed IT industry, companies tend to acquire information systems
and services from specialized vendors. The principal tasks of information systems specialists involve
modifying the applications for their employer‘s needs and integrating the applications to create coherent
systems architecture for the firm. Generally, only smaller applications are developed internally. Certain
applications of a more personal nature may be developed by the end users themselves.

Acquisition from external sources

There are several principal ways to acquire an information system from outside the organization.

Outsourcing: Outsourcing entails transferring the major components of the firm‘s systems and
operations—such as data centres, telecommunications.

Software: A specialized company that provides its services under long-term contracts.

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Offshoring: Offshore outsourcing, a type of business process outsourcing (BPO), is the exporting
of IT-related work from the United States and other developed countries to areas of the world where there
is both political stability and lower labor costs or tax savings.

Cloud Computing: Cloud computing is a method for delivering information technology (IT)
services in which resources are retrieved from the Internet through web-based tools and applications, as
opposed to a direct connection to a server.

Plan the implementation

Cost Schedule to Tasks and Time

The cost for completing each task required to complete is established as part of the plan; then the rate of
expenditures should be budgeted. Reporting and control of the work in progress may be obtained by weekly
meetings. The financial personnel must make certain that report formats allow them to show cost and
technical progress relationship as well as cost and time.

Acquiring and laying out facilities and offices

For the installation of a new system to replace a current one may require a major revision of facilities as
well as completely new office, computer room etc. The MIS project manager must prepare rough layouts
and estimates of particular floor areas that feel to be needed. The manager then prepares cost estimates.
Space planning must be done by the space to be occupied by people, the space occupied by equipment and
the movement of people and equipment in the work progress. A large investment in good working
conditions will repay its cost many times.

Organizing the personnel for implementation

As the implementation tasks have been defined, management usually assigns a project manager to guide
the implementation. The purpose of the MIS is to increase the amount and quality of their contributions,
the system is their system. Top management must make the middle managers for their involvement in
implementation, besides these, systems specialists, computer programmer; top management should make
sure that each people who will operate the system should have active parts in the implementation.

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Developing procedures for installation and testing

After organizing the personnel for implementation the next task is to develop or prepare the
procedures for implementation. As the project leader has the network plan for proceeding with the
implementation, this leader calls the key people in the project to prepare more detailed procedures for
system installation. Procedures for evaluating and selecting hardware must be spelled out. Procedures for
phasing in parts of the MIS or operating the MIS in parallel must be developed. The major part of
implementing the MIS is the testing of each segment of total system as it is installed.

Developing the training program for operating personnel

A program is developed keeping in mind to impress management and support. After developing the
program, it is necessary to train operating personnel in their new duties. They must have a thorough
understanding of what the new MIS is like and what it is supposed to do. They must learn how it will
operate. They are faced with many changes in their work and have to obtain acceptance of changes. As
there are various levels of personnel and these people will be working with only a small part of the MIS,
the seminars should be designed to provide them with an understanding of the complete system.

Completing the system’s software

As the software is developed internally or under contract, in both cases, the software development must
take in mind the nature of the hardware required. As the system designers and programmers provide the
flow diagrams and the block diagrams during the detailed design state. Some modification may be required,
as the implementation stage progresses.

Acquiring required hardware

This acquisition is usually the limiting factor in getting am MIS implementation. These tasks should be
started during the design stage. The decision is to be needed, whether to buy or lease the hardware. Capital
expenditure analysis is only one of many factors involved in this decision. Others are prestige, usage etc.

Generating files

In the implementation stage, the actual data must be obtained and recorded for the initial testing and
operation of the system. This requires format of the data, storage form and format and remarks to indicate
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when the data have been stored. The collection of data used in routine operations is often called the master
file. Responsibility for file maintenance for each file item should also be assigned. The development of
files or databases belongs to information system designers and storage and retrieval experts. The translation
of specifications for files into computer programs is a function of computer specialists.

Designing forms

For controlling the marketing, a salesperson has to fill out the forms summarizing the day‘s activities.
The form ensures the right information to be supplied for computer storage. Forms are required not just for
input and output but also for transmitting data at intermediate stages.

Testing the entire system

As the total system is installed, tests should be performed with the test specifications and procedure. A
test during installation stage consists of component tests, subsystem tests and total system acceptance tests.
Components may be equipment (that can be new or old), new software programs, new data collection
methods, work procedures, reporting formats. Difficulties that occur during component tests may lead t
design changes. As more components are installed, subsystems may be tested. There is a difference between
the testing of component and the testing of a system. System tests require verification of multiple inputs,
complex logic systems, and timing aspects of many parts.

Completing cutover to the new system

Cutover is a point at which the new component replaces the old component to the new system replaces
the old system. This involves old forms, old files and old equipment being retried. The debugging proves
associated with the cutover to the new system may extend for several months

Documenting the system

Documentation of the MIS means preparation of written descriptions of the scope, purpose, information
flow components, and operating procedures of the system. Documentation is a necessity for
troubleshooting, for replacement of subsystems, for interfacing with other systems, for training new
operating personnel and also for evaluating and upgrading the system.

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Evaluating the system

After the MIS has been operating smoothly for a short period of time, an evaluation of each step in the
design and of the final system performance should be made. Evaluation should not be delayed beyond the
time when the system‘s analysts have completed most of the debugging. The longer the delay, the more
difficult it will be for designer to remember important details. The evaluation should be made by the
customer as well as by the designers.

Challenges in the development of MIS:

If all the existing barriers are divided into humanistic, organizational and environmental factors, the major
drawbacks and the reasons of failure and using MIS in public organizations are as following:

Humanistic factors

• The lack of information of the managers and users as they don’t know exactly what they want and
what their information needs are.

• The lack of understanding of the needs of the users by designers (the lack of correct definition of
the needs and their analysis)

• The lack of information of the managers and users about the collaboration method with the
designer team.

• The lack of participation of the managers and users in system design.

• The lack of understanding of the managers of software and information systems.

• The lack of information of most of the analysts and programmers (designers) with new system
work environment.

• The lack of acceptance of the system executers and resistance against the change.

• The lack of accuracy in the data collected Organizational factors

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• The lack of good conditions for participation and collaboration of the managers, users and system
directors

• The lack of consistency and complexity of the existing manual systems.

• The lack of existing systems and methods analysis before the system design

• The lack of evaluation of the existing power

• Bad condition of educating the specialized forces

• The lack of human resources with management and computer fields and other required
specializations (the problems of absorbing human resources)

• Inadequate education of the users

• Inadequate and incomplete documentation

• Unsuitable implementation of the system

Environmental factors

• The lack of suitable consultants for designing the system and software

• The lack of procedures and methodology and stages of creating the system

• The lack of evaluation of environmental aspects in management information systems

• The lack of suitable use of mass media to develop the culture of using computer and information
systems.

• The lack of holding suitable MA training courses in the universities and the lack of suitable
education of human resources in this regard.

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• The lack of ratification of the suitable rules in Islamic council parliament and government board
and the considerable problem in this regard.

• The lack of serious consideration and adequate investment in this regard.

MIS function in an organization:

The structure of an information system can also be described in terms of the organizational functions
which use information. There is no standard classification of functions, but a typical set of functions in a
manufacturing organization includes Production, sales & marketing, finance and accounting, logistics,
personnel, and information system. Top management is also consider as a separate management

The conceptual structure of MIS is defined as a federation of functional subsystems each of which is
divide in to four major information processing components like Transaction processing, Operational control
information system, Management control information and Strategic planning.

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SYSTEM CLASSIFICATION AND NEED OF IS

The computer systems can be classified on the following basis:

1. On the basis of size.

2. On the basis of functionality.

3. On the basis of data handling.

Classification on the basis of size

Super computers : The super computers are the most high performing system. A supercomputer is a
computer with a high level of performance compared to a general-purpose computer. The actual
Performance of a supercomputer is measured in FLOPS instead of MIPS. All of the world’s fastest 500
supercomputers run Linux-based operating systems. Additional research is being conducted in China, the
US, the EU, Taiwan and Japan to build even faster, more high performing and more technologically superior
supercomputers. Supercomputers actually play an important role in the field of computation, and are used
for intensive computation tasks in various fields, including quantum mechanics, weather forecasting,
climate research, oil and gas exploration, molecular modeling, and physical simulations. and also
Throughout the history, supercomputers have been essential in the field of the cryptanalysis.
eg: PARAM, jaguar, roadrunner.

Mainframe computers : These are commonly called as big iron, they are usually used by big
organisations for bulk data processing such as statics, census data processing, transaction processing and
are widely used as the servers as these systems has a higher processing capability as compared to the other
classes of computers, most of these mainframe architectures were established in 1960s, the research and
development worked continuously over the years and the mainframes of today are far more better than the
earlier ones, in size, capacity and efficiency.
Eg: IBM z Series, System z9 and System z10 servers.

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Mini computers : These computers came into the market in mid 1960s and were sold at a much cheaper
price than the main frames, they were actually designed for control, instrumentation, human interaction,
and communication switching as distinct from calculation and record keeping, later they became very
popular for personal uses with evolution.
In the 60s to describe the smaller computers that became possible with the use of transistors and core
memory technologies, minimal instructions sets and less expensive peripherals such as the ubiquitous
Teletype Model 33 ASR.They usually took up one or a few inch rack cabinets, compared with the large
mainframes that could fill a room, there was a new term “MINICOMPUTERS” coined, Eg: Personal
Laptop, PC etc.

Micro computers : A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer with a microprocessor

as its CPU. It includes a microprocessor, memory, and minimal I/O circuitry mounted on a single printed
circuit board.The previous to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers, were comparatively much
larger, hard to maintain and more expensive. They actually formed the foundation for present day
microcomputers and smart gadgets.
Eg: Tablets, Smartwatches.

Classification on the basis of functionality

1. Servers : Servers are nothing but dedicated computers which are set-up to offer some services to
the clients. They are named depending on the type of service they offered. Eg: security server,
database server.

2. Workstation : Those are the computers designed to primarily to be used by single user at a time.
They run multi-user operating systems. They are the ones which we use for our day to day personal
/ commercial work.

3. Information Appliances : They are the portable devices which are designed to perform a limited
set of tasks like basic calculations, playing multimedia, browsing internet etc. They are generally
referred as the mobile devices. They have very limited memory and flexibility and generally run on
“as-is” basis.

4. Embedded computers : They are the computing devices which are used in other machines to serve
limited set of requirements. They follow instructions from the non-volatile memory and they are

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not required to execute reboot or reset. The processing units used in such device work to those basic
requirements only and are different from the ones that are used in personal computers- better known
as workstations.

Classification on the basis of data handling

1. Analog : An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable aspects
of physical fact such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being
solved. Any thing that is variable with respect to time and continuous can be claimed as analog just
like an analog clock measures time by means of the distance traveled for the spokes of the clock
around the circular dial.

2. Digital : A computer that performs calculations and logical operations with quantities represented
as digits, usually in the binary number system of “0” and “1”, “Computer capable of solving
problems by processing information expressed in discrete form. from manipulation of the
combinations of the binary digits, it can perform mathematical calculations, organize and analyze
data, control industrial and other processes, and simulate dynamic systems such as global weather
patterns.

3. Hybrid : A computer that processes both analog and digital data, Hybrid computer is a digital
computer that accepts analog signals, converts them to digital and processes them in digital form.

Client server Architecture

Client Server Architecture is a computing model in which the server hosts, delivers and manages most of
the resources and services to be consumed by the client. This type of architecture has one or more client
computers connected to a central server over a network or internet connection. This system shares
computing resources. Client/server architecture is also known as a networking computing model or
client/server network because all the requests and services are delivered over a network.

Client-server architecture is an architecture of a computer network in which many clients (remote

processors) request and receive service from a centralized server (host computer). Client computers provide

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an interface to allow a computer user to request services of the server and to display the results the server
returns. Servers wait for requests to arrive from clients and then respond to them. Ideally, a server provides
a standardized transparent interface to clients so that clients need not be aware of the specifics of the system
(i.e., the hardware and software) that is providing the service. Clients are often situated at workstations or
on personal computers, while servers are located elsewhere on the network, usually on more powerful
machines. This computing model is especially effective when clients and the server each have distinct tasks
that they routinely perform. In hospital data processing, for example, a client computer can be running an
application program for entering patient information while the server computer is running another program
that manages the database in which the information is permanently stored. Many clients can access the
server’s information simultaneously, and, at the same time, a client computer can perform other tasks, such
as sending e-mail. Because both client and server computers are considered intelligent devices, the client-
server model is completely different from the old “mainframe” model, in which a centralized mainframe
computer performed all the tasks for its associated “dumb” terminals.

NEED FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN BUSINESS

The information system is very important for the internet technology and the traditional business
concerns and is really the latest phase in the ongoing evolution of business. All the companies need to
update their business, infrastructure and change way they work to respond more immediately to customer
need. A first step in designing and developing an MIS is to assess the information needs for decision making
of management at different hierarchical levels, so that the requisite information can be made available in
both timely and usable form to the people who need it. Such assessment of information needs is usually
based on personality, positions, levels and functions of management.

Uses of Information System

Information system and technology including E-business and E-commerce technology and application
has become vital component of successful business and organization. It is a study of business administration
and management. For a manager or a business professional it is just as important to have basic
understanding of information system and any other functional area in business.

Roles of Information Systems in business

An Information system supports the business Organizations in the following ways.

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a) Support the Business Process: Treats inputs as a request from the customer and outputs as services to
customer. Supports current operations and use the system to influence further way of working.

b) Support Operation of a Business Organization: An IS supports operations of a business organization by

giving timely information, maintenance and enhancement which provides flexibility in the operation of
organizations.

c) Support Decision Making: An IS supports the decision making by employee in their daily operations. It
also supports managers in decision making to meet the goals and objectives of the organization. Different
mathematical models and IT tools are used for the purpose evolving strategies to meet competitive needs.

d) Strategies for an Organization: Today each business is running in a competitive market. An IS supports
the organization to evolve appropriate strategies for the business to assent in a competitive environment.

Decision Support System

A Decision Support System (DSS) is an information system that aids a business in decision-making
activities that require judgment, determination, and a sequence of actions. The information system assists
the mid- and high-level management of an organization by analyzing huge volumes of unstructured data
and accumulating information that can help to solve problems and help in decision-making. A DSS is either
human-powered, automated, or a combination of both.

Programmed and Non-programmed Decisions

There are two types of decisions - programmed and non-programmed decisions. Programmed decisions
are basically automated processes, general routine work, where −

These decisions have been taken several times.

These decisions follow some guidelines or rules.

For example, selecting a reorder level for inventories, is a programmed decision. Non-programmed
decisions occur in unusual and non-addressed situations, so −

It would be a new decision.

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There will not be any rules to follow.

These decisions are made based on the available information.

These decisions are based on the manger's discretion, instinct, perception and judgment.

For example, investing in a new technology is a non-programmed decision. Decision support systems
generally involve non-programmed decisions. Therefore, there will be no exact report, content, or format
for these systems. Reports are generated on the fly.

Characteristics of a DSS

Support for decision-makers in semi-structured and unstructured problems.

Support for managers at various managerial levels, ranging from top executive to line managers.

Support for individuals and groups. Less structured problems often requires the involvement of
several individuals from different departments and organization level.

Support for interdependent or sequential decisions.

Support for intelligence, design, choice, and implementation.

Support for variety of decision processes and styles.

DSSs are adaptive over time.

Benefits of DSS

Improves efficiency and speed of decision-making activities.

Increases the control, competitiveness and capability of futuristic decision-making of the

organization.

Facilitates interpersonal communication.

Encourages learning or training.

Since it is mostly used in non-programmed decisions, it reveals new approaches and sets up new
evidences for an unusual decision.
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Helps automate managerial processes.

Components of a DSS

Following are the components of the Decision Support System −

Database Management System (DBMS) − To solve a problem the necessary data may come from
internal or external database. In an organization, internal data are generated by a system such as TPS
and MIS. External data come from a variety of sources such as newspapers, online data services,
databases (financial, marketing, human resources).

Model Management System − It stores and accesses models that managers use to make decisions.
Such models are used for designing manufacturing facility, analyzing the financial health of an
organization, forecasting demand of a product or service, etc.

Support Tools − Support tools like online help; pulls down menus, user interfaces, graphical analysis,
error correction mechanism, facilitates the user interactions with the system.

Information System Planning:

Information systems planning (ISP) is a process of defining objectives for organizational computing
and identifying suitable potential information technology (IT) applicable to the company. The
increasing impact of information systems (IS) on business performance has made ISP a key
management issue for practitioners and academics alike (Moynihan, 1990; Niederman et al., 1991). In
China, since IT began to be applied either to support business strategies or to create strategic
opportunities, investment in information systems has increased rapidly. Some Chinese companies,
such as Bangwei, Lifung, have gained great success by applying IT. But for most Chinese companies,
it is still a challenge to align IT with their business strategies. Information systems planning has gained
much attention in recent years. A survey in 2005 reported that ISP was one of the key management
issues for chief information officers (CIOs) of China (Yang, 2003, Li and Huang, 2005).

Within information systems research, significant effort has been devoted to improving the planning
effectiveness. Early studies focused on developing frameworks and methodologies for ISP. Some
methodologies, such as Business System Planning (BSP), information engineering, and critical success
factors (CSFs), are well known to scholars and practitioners alike. Although existing frameworks and
methodologies provide some direction for information systems planning, many important dimensions
of ISP remain unaddressed (Segars et al., 1998). For example, it is not clear how a methodology is (or
should be) actually implemented and how the process of planning is initiated.
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To provide a comprehensive view of ISP, some studies were conducted to identify the process
dimensions. Das et al. (1991) and Lederer and Sethi (1996) developed process dimensions
(prescriptions) to describe the planning process. Earl (1993), Pyburn (1983) and Sabherwal and King
(1995) identified the differences among various companies’ IS planning processes or IS decision-
making through field studies. Segars et al. (1998) developed process dimensions and empirically tested
their impact on planning effectiveness.

Although these studies of dimensions provided some descriptions of the planning process, they have
not been implemented in China and the relationships among the process dimensions remain unclear.
Information systems planning is a system which is structured by the process dimensions. So, there may
be certain relationships among different process dimensions. Understanding these relationships can
help practitioners and academics view the ISP more systemically, especially for current Chinese
enterprises.

The purpose of this study is to propose a process model to describe the current Chinese enterprises’
structure of ISP, which exhibits not only the relationship between process dimensions and the
effectiveness of the planning process, but also the relationships among different dimensions of the
planning process. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses and provides
process dimensions of ISP. Section 3 presents the process model and proposes related hypotheses,
followed by outlining analytical techniques and item measurements. Empirical test results, study
implications and limitations are discussed in the last section.

Approaches of MIS Development:

MIS development is a strategic process of developing an informative information system for a

company. To do this, many experts from different levels of a system sit together and investigates and
examine a feasible approach to MIS development. An approach is a method of developing a system in
such a way so that it can be designed as per system needs and meet all the system objectives.

MIS (Management Information System) is an important source of information for an organization.

An approach of MIS development offers some significant facts for the organizations that influence
each approach. MIS approaches to distinguish between each other; organizations are using an
appropriate MIS development approach as per their need.

There are 3 different types of MIS –

1. Top-down approach

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2. Bottom-up approach

3. Integrative approach

1. Top-Down Approach:

In this method, the entire system is partitioned into a hierarchy of subsystems. The overall system is
divided into a number of subsystems, which are then divided into a number of other subsystems in a
top-down approach. defines the strategic and tactical decisions and the necessary decisions to operate
the various key activities of MIS development. Many of them, strategies, goals, and plans are
recognized by top management executives and conveyed to the administrative management levels.
The key objectives of the systems are established and ways to achieve them are decided in top-down
design. They're gradually pushed down the organizational hierarchy to be created and defined well.

2. Bottom-Up Approach

As its name implies, this approach mainly starts with the leaf-level or bottom-most management and
proceeds progressively to the upper management levels. After recognizing the primary transactions,
the needed file requirements and information processing programs are developed for each life stream
system which is then moved towards data integration that is stored in different files of the information
system. A bottom-up approach is functional to identify the various factors and understand the difficult
situations and formulate strategies to deal with them.

3. Integrative Approach

In the integrative approach subsystems of a system are integrated with each other in such a way so
that the objective of the system can be fulfilled, An integrative approach of a system development may
consist of followings -

• Design a system that can be achieving the major objectives of the system using its subsystems.

• Designing a system that combines the various functions performed by its subsystems.

• Designing a system that is not very clear to the user but is concealed under the previously existing
subsystems.

Managers at all levels can control the design using an integrated approach. Top management
determines the structure and design of MIS that is appropriate for the business.

What is Requirements Determination?

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A requirement is a vital feature of a new system which may include processing or capturing of data,
controlling the activities of business, producing information and supporting the management.
Requirements determination involves studying the existing system and gathering details to find out
what are the requirements, how it works, and where improvements should be made.

Feasibility Study

Feasibility Study can be considered as preliminary investigation that helps the management to take
decision about whether study of system should be feasible for development or not. It identifies the
possibility of improving an existing system, developing a new system, and produce refined estimates for
further development of system. It is used to obtain the outline of the problem and decide whether feasible
or appropriate solution exists or not. The main objective of a feasibility study is to acquire problem scope
instead of solving the problem. The output of a feasibility study is a formal system proposal act as decision
document which

Types of Feasibilities

Economic Feasibility

It is evaluating the effectiveness of candidate system by using cost/benefit analysis method. It

demonstrates the net benefit from the candidate system in terms of benefits and costs to the organization.
The main aim of Economic Feasibility Analysis (EFS) is to estimate the economic requirements of
candidate system before investments funds are committed to proposal. It prefers the alternative which will
maximize the net worth of organization by earliest and highest return of funds along with lowest level of
risk involved in developing the candidate system.

Technical Feasibility

It investigates the technical feasibility of each implementation alternative. It analyses and determines
whether the solution can be supported by existing technology or not. The analyst determines whether
current technical resources be upgraded or added it that fulfil the new requirements. It ensures that the
candidate system provides appropriate responses to what extent it can support the technical enhancement.

Operational Feasibility

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It determines whether the system is operating effectively once it is developed and implemented. It ensures
that the management should support the proposed system and its working feasible in the current
organizational environment. It analyses whether the users will be affected and they accept the modified or
new business methods that affect the possible system benefits. It also ensures that the computer resources
and network architecture of candidate system are workable.

Behavioural Feasibility

It evaluates and estimates the user attitude or behavior towards the development of new system. It helps
in determining if the system requires special effort to educate, retrain, transfer, and changes in employee’s
job status on new ways of conducting business.

Schedule Feasibility

It ensures that the project should be completed within given time constraint or schedule. It also verifies and
validates whether the deadlines of project are reasonable or not.

PROTOTYPING

Another strategy for determining user information requirements is used when the user cannot establish
information needs accurately before the information system is built. The reason could be the lack of an
existing model on which to decide requirements or a difficulty in visualizing candidate system. In this case
the user need to consider real life systems from which adjustments can be made. This iterative approach
first set up the initial requirements and builds a system to meet these requirements. As users gain experience,
they request additional requirements or modifications and the process continues. Prototyping is suitable for
environments where it is difficult to formulate a concrete model for defining information requirements.
Prototyping strategy is appropriate for determining high uncertainty information requirement.

Object-Oriented Development

Object-oriented development (OOD) aims to build a software model of the real-world system. This explicit
modeling is done by defining and implementing classes of objects using the vocabulary of the business that
will be supported by the information system.
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The central principal in object-oriented development (OOD) is building the system as a collection of
interacting objects. If program objects represent real-world objects, we obtain a rather close correspondence
between the program components and their real-world equivalents. Much of the development proceeds by
defining the classes of objects for the information system. Classes are templates of objects and, conversely,
objects are instances of classes. The classes and objects that information systems deal with are relatively
permanent in their behaviour. Therefore, code libraries can be built up, to be used as needed.

The appeal of OOD is the ability to build up libraries of reusable code. Developers are able to use software
components developed for other systems - and tested through prior use.

Producing reusable software components is only one of the potential benefits of the object-oriented
approach. The process of systems analysis and design based on object orientation is a powerful technique
for gaining understanding of a business system and casting this understanding into modifiable software
components. With OOD, there is a smooth transition from analysis to design - both of these development
tasks deal with objects and classes of objects.

Project Scheduling and Tracking: Use of Software Tools

Once the total development effort on the project has been estimated, a project schedule may be
established. A schedule breaks the project up into stages, which may be further broken down into lower-
level activities. Major activities terminate in a milestone, which is defined in terms of completed
deliverables.

Methods used to schedule activities as a project progress include:

• PERT/CPM - is a method of scheduling systems development or maintenance activities and controlling

the project. Figure 16.11 - a PERT chart shows the precedence relationships among the activities listed and
the numbered completion events (milestones). The critical path consists only of critical activities. Any delay
in an activity on this path will cause project delay.

Using PERT/CPM, enables us to answer questions such as these: [Figure 16.11]

1. How much total time will be needed to complete the project

2. What are the scheduled start and finish times for each activity
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3. Which activities are critical and must be completed exactly as scheduled

4. How long may noncritical activities be delayed.

• Gantt Chart - is a graphical tool for project management that represents project tasks over time as a bar
chart.

What is conceptual design?

Conceptual design is a framework for establishing the underlying idea behind a design and a plan for how
it will be expressed visually. It is related to the term “concept art”, which is an illustration (often used in
the preproduction phase of a film or a video game) that conveys the vision of the artist for how the final
product might take form. Similarly, conceptual design occurs early on in the design process, generally
before fine details such as exact colour choices or illustration style. The only tools required are a pen and
paper. Conceptual design has the root word “concept,” which describes the idea and intention behind the
design. This is contrasted by “execution”, which is the implementation and shape that a design ultimately
takes. Essentially, the concept is the plan, and the execution is the follow-through action. Designs are often
evaluated for quality in both of these areas: concept vs execution. In other words, a critic might ask: what
is a design trying to say, and how well does it say it?

Most importantly, you can’t have one without the other. A poorly executed design with a great concept
will muddle its message with an unappealing art style. A well-executed design with a poor concept might
be beautiful, but it will do a poor job of connecting with viewers and/or expressing a brand.

Conceptual design approaches

Now that we understand what conceptual design is and its purpose, we can talk about how it is done. The
conceptual design approach can be broken down into four steps and we’ll discuss each in detail. It is
important to note that these steps don’t have to be completed in any particular order. For example, many
designers jump to doodling without any concrete plan of what they are trying to achieve. How a person
comes up with ideas is personal and depends on whatever helps them think.

It can also be related to how you best learn—e.g. people who learn best by taking notes might have an
easier time organizing their concepts by writing them down. And sometimes taking a more analytical

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approach (such as research) early on can constrain creativity whereas the opposite can also lead to creativity
without a purpose. Whatever order you choose, we would recommend that you do go through all of the
steps to get a concept that is fully thought through. With that out of the way, let’s dive into the conceptual
design process.

1. Definition

You must start your design project by asking why the project is necessary. What is the specific goal of the
design and what problem is it meant to solve? Defining the problem can be a lot trickier than it at first
appears because problems can be complex. Often, a problem can be a symptom of deeper issues, and you
want to move beyond the surface to uncover the root causes. One technique for doing so is known as the
Five Whys, in which you are presented with a problem and keep asking “Why?” until you arrive at a more
nuanced understanding. Otherwise, if you fail to get to the exact root of the problem, your design solution
would have been ultimately flawed. And the design solution—the answer to the problem—is just another
way of describing the concept.

2. Research

Designs must eventually occupy space (whether physical or digital) in the real world. For this reason, a
design concept must be grounded in research, where you will understand the context in which the design
must fit. This can start with getting information on the client themselves—who is the brand and what is
their history and mission, their personality? You must also consider the market. Who are the people that
will interact with the design? In order for the concept to speak effectively to these people, you must conduct
target audience research to understand who they are and what they are looking for in a design. Similarly,
researching similar designs from competitors can help you understand industry conventions as well as give
you ideas for how to set your concept apart.

Finally, you will want to research the work of other designers in order to gather reference material and
inspiration, especially from those you find particularly masterful. Doing so can show you conceptual
possibilities you might never have imagined, challenging you to push your concepts. You’ll want to collect
these in a mood board, which you will keep handy as you design.

3. Verbal ideation

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Concepts are essentially thoughts—which is to say, they are scattered words in our minds. In order to
shape a concept into something substantial, you need to draw some of those words out. This phase is
generally referred to as brainstorming, in which you will define your concept verbally. This can be as
straightforward as simply posing the problem (see the first step) and creating a list of potential solutions.
There are also some helpful word-based techniques, such as mind-mapping or free association. In both of
these cases, you generally start with a word or phrase (for logos, this is usually the brand name and for
other designs, it can be based on some keywords from the brief). You then keep writing associated words
that pop into your head until you have a long list. It is also important to give yourself a time limit so that
you brainstorm quickly without overthinking things.

The purpose of generating words is that these can help you come up with design characteristics (in the
next step) to express your concept. For example, the word “freedom” can translate into loose flowing lines
or an energetic character pose. Ultimately, it is helpful to organize these associated ideas into a full sentence
or phrase that articulates your concept and what you are trying to accomplish. This keeps your concept
focused throughout the design process.

4. Visual ideation

At some point, concepts must make the leap from abstract ideas to a visual design. Designers usually
accomplish this through sketching. One helpful approach is to create thumbnails, which are sketches of a
design that are small enough to fit several on the same page. Like brainstorming (or verbal ideation) the
goal is to come up with sketches fast so that your ideas can flow freely. You don’t want to get hung up on
your first sketch or spend too much time on minute detail. Right now, you are simply visualizing possible
interpretations of the concept.

This phase is important because while you may think you have the concept clear in your mind, seeing it
on the page is the true test of whether it holds water. You may also surprise yourself with a sketch that
articulates your concept better than you could have planned. Once you have a couple sketches that you like,
you can refine this into a much larger and more detailed sketch. This will give you a presentable version
from which you can gather feedback.

Dream big with conceptual design

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The remainder of the design process is spent executing the concept. You will use the software of your
choice to create a working version of your design, such as a prototype or mockup. Assuming your design
is approved by the client, test users or any other stakeholders, you can go about creating the final version.
If not, use conceptual design to revisit the underlying concept. Conceptual design is the bedrock of any
design project. For this reason, it is extremely important to get right. Creating a concept can be difficult and
discouraging—over time, you might find your garbage bin overflowing with rejected concepts. But this is
exactly why it is so helpful to have a delineated process like conceptual design to guide you through the
messy work of creating ideas. But at the end of the day, getting a design of value will require both a great
concept and a skilled designer.

Product-Based MIS Evaluation:

Since the focus of the product-based evaluation is on the product or the output from the system, the
evaluation may be termed as effectiveness evaluation. For assessing the effectiveness of output form MIS,
the following model may be used.

Model Structure:

Timeliness

Relevance

Accuracy

Completeness

Adequacy

Explicitness

Exception-based

Cost-Benefit-Based MIS Evaluation:

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In cost/benefit evaluation, a thorough study of various expected costs, the benefits to be expected from
the system and expected savings, if any, is done. It is an economic evaluation of the system, in which costs
to be incurred for developing, implementing and operating a system are to be justified against the expected
benefits from the system. In other words, cost/benefit analysis determines the cost-effectiveness of the
firms.

Cost Elements:

Initial Development Cost: it incurred in developing an information system. Various elements of

development cost include project planning cost, feasibility study cost, design cost, conversation cost,
implementation cost etc.

Capital Cost: It is also one-time cost. It is the cost incurred in facilities and in procuring various
equipment, including hardware etc.

Annual Operating Cost: It is the cost incurred in operating the system. It includes computer and
equipment maintenance cost, personnel cost, overheads, and supplies cost.

Identification of Cost and Benefits: Certain costs and benefits are more easily identifiable than
others. For example, direct cost.

Classification of Cost and Benefits: The various categories of costs and benefits are important to
make a cost/benefit analysis. These categories may be tangible or intangible, direct or indirect, fixed or
variable

Evaluation Models:

Having identified and categorised various costs and benefits, monetary value of each and every cost as
well as benefit is estimated. A system analyst/user manager may evaluate the costs and benefits so
estimated. For evaluation, there are several models, which are available, namely:

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i. Net Benefit Analysis

ii. Present Value Analysis

iii. Net Present Value

iv. Payback Method

v. Cash-flow Analysis

vi. Break-even Analysis etc.

Maintenance of Information systems:

The results obtained from the evaluation process help the organization to determine whether its
information systems are effective and efficient or otherwise. The process of monitoring, evaluating, and
modifying of existing information systems to make required or desirable improvements may be termed as
System Maintenance.

System maintenance is an ongoing activity, which covers a wide variety of activities, including removing
program and design errors, updating documentation and test data and updating user support. For the purpose
of convenience, maintenance may be categorized into three classes, namely:

i) Corrective Maintenance: This type of maintenance implies removing errors in a program, which
might have crept in the system due to faulty design or wrong assumptions. Thus, in corrective maintenance,
processing or performance failures are repaired.

ii) Adaptive Maintenance: In adaptive maintenance, program functions are changed to enable the
information system to satisfy the information needs of the user. This type of maintenance may become
necessary because of organizational changes which may include:

a) Change in the organizational procedures,

b) Change in organizational objectives, goals, policies, etc.

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c) Change in forms,

d) Change in information needs of managers.

e) Change in system controls and security needs, etc.

iii) Perfective Maintenance: Perfective maintenance means adding new programs or modifying the
existing programs to enhance the performance of the information system. This type of maintenance
undertaken to respond to user‘s additional needs which may be due to the changes within or outside of the
organization. Outside changes are primarily environmental changes, which may in the absence of system
maintenance; render the information system ineffective and inefficient. These environmental changes
include:

a) Changes in governmental policies, laws, etc.,

b) Economic and competitive conditions, and

c) New technology.

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DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

What is a Database?

A database is a collection of related data which represents some aspect of the real world. A database
system is designed to be built and populated with data for a certain task.

What is Database Management System (DBMS)?

Database Management System (DBMS) is a software for storing and retrieving users' data while
considering appropriate security measures. It consists of a group of programs which manipulate the
database. The DBMS accepts the request for data from an application and instructs the operating system to
provide the specific data. In large systems, a DBMS helps users and other third-party software to store and
retrieve data. DBMS allows users to create their own databases as per their requirement. The term “DBMS”
includes the user of the database and other application programs. It provides an interface between the data
and the software application.

Four Types of DBMS systems are:

1. Hierarchical database

2. Network database

3. Relational database

4. Object-Oriented database

1. Hierarchical DBMS

In a Hierarchical database, model data is organized in a tree-like structure. Data is Stored Hierarchically
(top down or bottom up) format. Data is represented using a parent- child relationship. In Hierarchical
DBMS parent may have many children, but children have only one parent.

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2. Network Model

The network database model allows each child to have multiple parents. It helps you to address the need
to model more complex relationships like as the orders/parts many- to-many relationship. In this model,
entities are organized in a graph which can be accessed through several paths.

3. Relational model

Relational DBMS is the most widely used DBMS model because it is one of the easiest. This model is
based on normalizing data in the rows and columns of the tables. Relational model stored in fixed structures
and manipulated using SQL.

4. Object-Oriented Model

In Object-oriented Model data stored in the form of objects. The structure which is called classes which
display data within it. It defines a database as a collection of objects which stores both data members values
and operations.

Advantages of DBMS

• DBMS offers a variety of techniques to store & retrieve data

• DBMS serves as an efficient handler to balance the needs of multiple applications using the same data

• Uniform administration procedures for data

• Application programmers never exposed to details of data representation and storage.

• A DBMS uses various powerful functions to store and retrieve data efficiently.

• Offers Data Integrity and Security

• The DBMS implies integrity constraints to get a high level of protection against prohibited access to data.

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• A DBMS schedules concurrent access to the data in such a manner that only one user can access the same
data at a time

• Reduced Application Development Time

Disadvantage of DBMS

DBMS may offer plenty of advantages but, it has certain flaws-

• Cost of Hardware and Software of a DBMS is quite high which increases the budget of your organization.

• Most database management systems are often complex systems, so the training for users to use the DBMS
is required.

• In some organizations, all data is integrated into a single database which can be damaged because of
electric failure or database is corrupted on the storage media

• Use of the same program at a time by many users sometimes lead to the loss of some data. damaged
because of electric failure or database is corrupted on the storage media

• Use of the same program at a time by many users sometimes lead to the loss of some data.

• DBMS can't perform sophisticated calculations.

Client-Server Architecture Types:

The functionality of client-server architecture is in various tiers. Below are the types where different
layers operate in accordance with their type.

1. 1 Tier Architecture
2. 2 Tier Architecture
3. 3 Tier Architecture
4. N Tier Architecture

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1). 1 Tier Architecture:

1 Tier architecture is one of the reliable sources because of services; however, handling such an
architecture is a bit difficult as data resides in different variance. Below are the few layers that hold 1 tier
architecture.

1. Presentation layer
2. Business layer
3. Data access layer
All the layers work integrated with the help of a unique software package. The data is stored on local
devices.

2) 2 Tier Architecture:
This architecture facility has the best environment. Most of the time, ticket reservation agencies employ
2 tier architecture. This approach has certain benefits that include the best performance, application
designing of the 2-tier architecture is easy; users give satisfactory results in a response of this architecture
and homogeneous environment. The limitations of this framework include less security; growing users can
affect the performance of architecture and least portability.

3) 3 Tier Architecture:
A middleware lies in between the client and the server machines in 3 tier architecture. If a user needs
specific information from the server, the user will generate the request that will first be received by the
middle layer, which will then be dispatched to the server for further actions. In the same pattern, the
response will be reached to the user’s end. That first is received at the middle layer, and then the middle
layer will dispatch the received data from the server to the user’s end. Middleware has a provision to control
and store the data logics and business logics. Middleware in the 3-tier architecture helps to optimize the
flexibility and performance of the architecture. The framework is categorized into three main layers

FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

Functional Information System is based on the various business functions such as Production, Marketing,
Finance and Personnel etc. These departments or functions are known as functional areas of business. Each
functional area requires applications to perform all information processing related to the function. The
popular functional areas of the business organization are:
• Financial Information System
• Marketing Information System

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• Production/Marketing Information System

• Human Resource Information System

Financial Information System

Financial information system is a sub-system of organizational management information system. This

sub-system supports the decision-making process of financial functions at the level of an organization.

Marketing Information System

This sub-system of management information system provides information about various functions of the
marketing system of an organization. Marketing is another functional area of the business organization,
which is engaged in marketing (selling) of its products to its customers.
Important functions of the marketing process include the following.
• The marketing identification function
• The purchase motivation function.
• The product adjustment function
• The physical distribution function
• The communication function
• The transaction function
• The post-transaction function

Production /manufacturing Information System

Manufacturing or production information system provides information on production /operation

activities of an organization and thus facilitates the decision-making process of production managers of an
organization. The main decisions to be taken in manufacturing system are:
• Product Design

Human Resources Information System

This functional information system supports the functions of human resource management of an
organization. The human resource management function, in its narrow sense, it also known as personnel
management .The function involves:

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• Manpower planning.
• Staffing
• Training and development
• Performance evaluation, and
• Separation activities

CHARACTERISITCS
1. Many small changes in a large database
2. Systematic records (mostly numerical)
3. Routine actions & updating
4. Data preparation is a large & important effort

Equipment requirements of functional information systems

1. Large auxiliary storage
2. Dual use files
3. Moderate input/output requirements
4. Flexible printing capacity
5. Offline data entry
6. Often difficult to define the problem
7. Needs fast random access to large storage capacity
8. Organization of computer storage is difficult
9. Versatile inquiry stations desirable

FIVE MAIN FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF MANAGEMENT

It is also called operational management or functional areas of management. As being management, a
social and universal process, its area is very wider. Inter disciplinary approach of management widens the
functional areas. There are five main functional areas of management viz., human resource, production
office, finance and marketing; which have been discussed below. Nowadays, some new and emerging
dimensions are also considered areas of management as: time management, environment management,
transport management, international management, Forex management.

In time management, the emphasis is given on achieving the target in minimum time. By the nature, only
one thing time is allotted equally to every creature as 24 hours in a day. But the person, who knows the art
of time management, ranks first. Japanese time management is regarded best in the world. In environment

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management, the efforts are made to check the different types of industrial pollution viz., air, water and
noise. It is the responsibility of general manager to plan for congenial ecology to plant, animal and human
being. Transport management is the specialized branch for arranging efficient and cheaper transport facility.
In the age of multinational corporations (MNCs), the primary concern of international management is with
the management of people, material and money of the international environment.

It is the extension of simple management process itself, but across national frontiers. A manager while
dealing with different nations must take into account the legal, political, social, economic and technical
aspects in the global perspective. Forex (foreign exchange) management is the application of management
principles for earning more and more foreign money.

1. Human resource management:

Human resource development or personnel management or manpower management is concerned with
obtaining and maintaining of a satisfactory and satisfied work force i.e., employees. It is a specialized
branch of management concerned with ‘man management’.The recruitment, placement, induction,
orientation, training, promotion, motivation, performance appraisal, wage and salary, retirement, transfer,
merit-rating, industrial relations, working conditions, trade unions, safety and welfare schemes of
employees are included in personnel management. The object of personnel management is to create and
promote team spirit among workers and managers.

2. Production management:
Production management refers to planning, organization, direction, coordination and control of the
production function in such a way that desired goods and services could be produced at the right time, in
right quantity, and at the right cost. Some authors treat material, purchase and inventory management as
part of production management. Production management involves the following functions:

(a) Product planning and development,

(b) Plant location, layout and maintenance,

(c) Production systems and machines,

(d) Management of purchase and storage of materials,

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(e) Ensuring effective production control.

3. Office management:
Office management can be defined as, “the organization of an office in order to achieve a specified
purpose and to make the best use of the personnel by using the most appropriate machines and equipment,
the best possible methods of work and by providing the most suitable environment.” The main topics of
office management are: office accommodation, layout and environment, communication, handling
correspondence and mail, typing and duplicating, record management and filing, indexing, forms and
stationary, machines and equipments, O & M, office reporting, work measurement and office supervision.

4. Financial management:
Financial management can be looked upon as the study of relationship between the raising of funds and
the deployment of funds. The subject matter of financial management is: capital budgeting cost of capital,
portfolio management, dividend policy, short and long term sources of finance. Financial management
involves mainly three decisions pertaining to:

1. Investment policies:
It dictates the process associated with capital budgeting and expenditures. All proposals to spend money
are ranked and investment decisions are taken whether to sanction money for these proposed ventures or
not.

2. Methods of financing:
A proper mix of short and long term financing is ensured in order to provide necessary funds for proposed
ventures at a minimum risk to the enterprise.

3. Dividend decisions:
This decision affects the amount paid to shareholders and distribution of additional shares of stock.

5. Marketing management:
Philip Kotler views marketing as a social and managerial process by which individuals and group obtain
what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others. American
Marketing Association defines marketing management as the “process of planning and executing the

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conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchange that satisfy
individual and organizational objectives.”

Modern marketing management is bridging the gap of demand and supply through de-marketing,
remarketing, over-marketing and meta- marketing. Modern marketing, from societal point of view, is the
force that harnesses a nation’s industrial capacity to meet the society needs and wants. The main function
of modern management is to organize human and physical resources and direct them toward efficient
performance and higher productivity at the minimum costs. The same line of thinking can be applied in
various functional areas viz., personnel, production, office finance and marketing. Modern managers are
the harbinger of cooperation, fellow feeling, mutual understanding and growth.

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING

Business process outsourcing, or BPO, is a business practice in which one organization hires another
company to perform a process task that the hiring organization requires for its own business to operate
successfully. BPO has its roots in the manufacturing industry, with manufacturers hiring other companies
to handle specific processes, such as the parts of their supply chains unrelated to the core competencies
required to make their end products. Over time, organizations in other industries adopted the practice. Now,
the use of BPO has expanded so much that organizations of all kinds for profit businesses, nonprofits,
and even government offices and agencies contract with BPO service providers in the United States,
throughout North America and across the world to perform numerous processes.

What BPO is used for

Organizations engage in business process outsourcing for two main areas of work: back-office functions
and front-office functions.

Back-office functions also referred to as internal business functions include accounting, information
technology (IT) services, human resources (HR), quality assurance (QA) and payment processing. Front-
office functions include customer relation services, marketing and sales. In addition to outsourcing an entire
functional area, i.e., HR, organizations outsource specific functions in those areas for example, payroll.

Over the decades, the business process outsourcing industry has expanded to offer an extremely wide
range of functions and services to organizations. The breadth of functions that can be outsourced today
spans from conventional back-office tasks, such as accounting, data processing and payroll processing, to

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digital services, such as social media marketing, and to customer support roles, such as call center
operations. Although organizations generally outsource noncore functions, they do indeed still outsource
critical tasks, such as customer service, financial services and IT operations. Organizations also outsource
strategic tasks, such as data mining and data analytics, both of which have emerged as essential elements
for digital transformation and for competitive advantage in a digital economy.

How does BPO work?

Organizational executives arrive at the decision to outsource a business process through a variety of
avenues. Startup companies, for example, often need to outsource back-office and front-office functions
because they do not have the resources to build the staff and supporting functions to preform them in-house.
On the other hand, an established company may opt to outsource a task that it had been performing all along
after an analysis determined that an outsourced provider could do the job better and at a lower cost.

Management experts advise enterprise executives to identify functions that can be outsourced and then
evaluate that function against the pros and cons of outsourcing to determine if shifting that task to an
outsourced provider makes strategic sense for the organization. If so, the organization then must go through
the process of not only identifying the best vendor for the work, but also shifting the work itself from in-
house to the external provider. This requires a significant amount of change management, as the move to
an outsourced provider generally impacts staff, established processes and existing workflows. The shift
also impacts the organization's finances not only in terms of shifting costs from the internal function to the
outsourced providers, but often also in terms of taxes and reporting requirements.

The organization may also have to invest in a technology solution to enable the smooth flow of work
from the organization itself to the outsource provider, with the extent and cost of that technology solution
dependent on the scope of the function being outsourced and the maturity of the technology infrastructure
in place at both enterprises.

Security and regulatory concerns

Additionally, the organization must address any security and regulatory concerns, requirements and
restrictions. For example, some regulations require local storage of certain types of data, which could
prevent the use of an offshore provider in some circumstances.

As such, organizations seeking to outsource generally need to involve IT, security, legal and financial
executives in the transaction in addition to the business unit leader of the function being outsourced and the

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procurement office. Moreover, these executives need to be involved in periodic reviews of the outsourced
function to determine whether regulatory and financial changes, as well as changing organizational
strategies, render the need for changes in the outsourcing arrangements.

Scope of work
As an organization moves a function to a new outsourced provider, it must identify the scope of the work
shifting from in-house staff to the external partner. Executives should identify the workflows and processes
impacted by this shift and adjust, if necessary, those workflows and processes to accommodate the
outsourcing of the work. Executives should also identify the key objectives for outsourcing a function
-- whether it's cost savings, increased quality, quicker turnaround or some other objective -- and then use
that criteria to determine which provider would be best suited to handle the work. Those objectives should
also serve as the basis for contractual obligations that can be used to help assess the performance of the
outsourced provider and success of the function once it is actually outsourced.

Types of BPO
Because companies around the world provide BPO services to other organizations, BPO can be divided
into different types based on the service provider's location:

• Offshore outsourcing, or just offshoring, occurs when an organization contracts for services
provided with a company in a foreign country.
• Onshore outsourcing, or domestic outsourcing, happens when an organization contracts for services
provided by a company that operates in the same country as the hiring organization.
• Nearshore outsourcing is when an organization contracts for services provided by companies based
in neighboring countries.

Business process outsourcing is also sometimes referred to as IT-enabled services, or ITES a name that
recognizes that IT infrastructure enables outsourcing to happen.

KPO, LPO and RPO

Business process outsourcing is also sometimes categorized by the types of services being provided. The
three prevalent categories are the following:

1. Knowledge process outsourcing, or KPO, is when the outsource service provider is hired not only
for its capacity to perform a particular business process or function, but also to provide expertise around it.

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2. Legal process outsourcing, or LPO, is a type of KPO that -- as the name states -- is specific to legal
services, ranging from drafting legal documents and performing legal research to offering advice.
3. Research process outsourcing, or RPO -- another type of KPO -- refers to research and analysis
functions; biotech companies, investment firms and

marketing agencies are among the types of organizations that would engage in RPO for services.

Benefits of BPO
Organizations engage in business process outsourcing because they expect to benefit from the arrangement.

The benefits typically cited by proponents of BPO include the following:

• Financial benefits: Organizations often find that an outsourced provider can perform a business
process at lower costs, or they often find that, by contracting with an outsourced provider, they can save
money as a result of the relationship in other ways, such as in tax savings.
• Flexibility: BPO contracts can allow organizations greater flexibility to adjust how it completes the
outsourced business process, enabling them to better react to changing market dynamics.
• Competitive advantage: BPO enables organizations to outsource those processes that aren't core
to their businesses or missions, thereby enabling organizations to focus more of its resources on the
operations that distinguish them in the marketplace.
• Higher quality and better performance: Because the core business of BPO providers is
performing the specific processes they're hired to do, they are, in theory, able to focus on providing those
processes at the highest levels, often with greater accuracy, efficiency and speed.
• Quicker access to innovations in the process: BPO providers are also more likely and better
positioned to know about advances and innovations happening in the area they specialize in, and they are
more likely to invest in new developments in process automation that can improve the speed, cost and/or
quality of the work benefits that flow back to the organizations that contract with the provider.
• Expanded coverage: Outsourced providers can expand the hours or geographical reach of an
enterprise in a cost-effective manner. For example, an organization that wants to have 24/7 call center
operations may be able to more quickly and more efficiently provide that capability by contracting with a
partner which has existing around-the-clock capabilities, perhaps even in multiple geographic locations to
enable a follow-the-sun business model.

Risks of BPO

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In addition to expecting anticipated benefits, organizations engaged in BPO also take on potential risks and
drawbacks. Those potential problems include the following:

• Security breaches: Organizations must create technology connections between themselves and
their service providers, thereby creating another potential point that could be exploited by bad actors;
moreover, organizations often need to share sensitive and/or regulated data with their service providers
another potential security risk.

• Unanticipated/higher costs: Organizations can underestimate the price they'll be charged for the
work that they're outsourcing, either because they underestimate the amount of the work or they do not
calculate or anticipate the full costs of their contracts with their providers.

• Relationship challenges: Organizations can face communication problems with their outsourced
providers, or they might find that there are cultural barriers to having a strong business partnership,
problems that could hinder hiring organizations from seeing the full benefits of their BPO contracts.

• Overdependence on the external provider: An organization that outsources a function or service

becomes tethered to the particular partner it has chosen to perform the work. The organization then must
manage that relationship to ensure that key objectives are continuously met at the agreed- upon cost. If not,
the organization may find it difficult to bring the operation back in-house or even move it to another
outsourced provider.
• Increased potential for disruption: An organization also must monitor for issues that could
interrupt or permanently end the relationship with an outsourced provider. They include financial or
workplace problems at the outsourced provider, geopolitical instability, natural disasters or changes in
economic circumstances. Organizations thus need to consider such potentials and devise strategies on how
to cope, adding layers of complexity to their business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plans.

Future directions
The practice of business process outsourcing could be at least partially displaced in upcoming years by
technology.

Robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) can handle some of the business
processes now frequently outsourced, and these technologies can often perform those functions at lower
costs and higher speeds. However, not all processes are easily automated; moreover, a BPO provider may

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be in a better position to utilize those technologies to automate its service offerings than organizations are,
thereby helping the BPO provider retain its appeal to organizations looking for the best way to handle
business functions.

CHANGING THE ROLE OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS:

Now that we have explored the different components of information systems, we need to turn our attention
to the role that information systems play in an organization. So far we have looked at what the components
of an information system are, but what do these components actually do for an organization? From our
definitions above, we see that these components collect, store, organize, and distribute data throughout the
organization. In fact, we might say that one of the roles of information systems is to take data and turn it
into information, and then transform that into organizational knowledge. As technology has developed, this
role has evolved into the backbone of the organization. To get a full appreciation of the role information
systems play, we will review how they have changed over the years.

Career Paths in Information Systems

These job descriptions do not represent all possible jobs within an information-systems organization.
Larger organizations will have more specialized roles; smaller organizations may combine some of these

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roles. Many of these roles may exist outside of a traditional information- systems organization, as we will
discuss below.

Working with information systems can be a rewarding career choice. Whether you want to be involved
in very technical jobs (programmer, database administrator), or you want to be involved in working with
people (systems analyst, trainer), there are many different career paths available.

Many times, those in technical jobs who want career advancement find themselves in a dilemma: do they
want to continue doing technical work, where sometimes their advancement options are limited, or do they
want to become a manager of other employees and put themselves on a management career track? In many
cases, those proficient in technical skills are not gifted with managerial skills. Some organizations,
especially those that highly value their technically skilled employees, will create a technical track that exists
in parallel to the management track so that they can retain employees who are contributing to the
organization with their technical skills.

Information-Systems Users – Types of Users

• Innovators: Innovators are the first individuals to adopt a new technology. Innovators are willing
to take risks, are the youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial liquidity, are very
social, and have the closest contact with scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Risk
tolerance has them adopting technologies that may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these
failures (Rogers 1962 5th ed, p. 282).

• Early adopters: The early adopters are those who adopt innovation after a technology has been
introduced and proven. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other
adopter categories, which means that they can influence the opinions of the largest majority. They are
typically younger in age, have higher social status, more financial liquidity, more advanced education, and
are more socially aware than later adopters. These people are more discrete in adoption choices than
innovators, and realize judicious choice of adoption will help them maintain a central communication
position (Rogers 1962 5th ed, p. 283).

• Early majority: Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time.
This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. This group tends to be
slower in the adoption process, has above average social status, has contact with early adopters, and seldom
holds positions of opinion leadership in a system (Rogers 1962 5th ed, p. 283).

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• Late majority: The late majority will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society.
These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism, have below average social
status, very little financial liquidity, are in contact with others in the late majority and the early majority,
and show very little opinion leadership.
• Laggards: Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike those in the
previous categories, individuals in this category show no opinion leadership. These individuals typically
have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be advanced in age. Laggards typically tend to be focused
on “traditions,” are likely to have the lowest social status and the lowest financial liquidity, be oldest of all
other adopters, and be in contact with only family and close friends.

These five types of users can be translated into information-technology adopters as well, and provide
additional insight into how to implement new information systems within an organization. For example,
when rolling out a new system, IT may want to identify the innovators and early adopters within the
organization and work with them first, then leverage their adoption to drive the rest of the implementation.

Information System for Functional Areas and Issues

Information System for Functional Areas:
Functional Information System is based on the various business functions such as Production, Marketing,
Finance and Personnel etc. These departments or functions are known as functional areas of business.
Each functional area requires applications to perform all information processing related to the function.
The popular functional areas of the business organization are:
• Financial Information System
• Marketing Information System
• Production/Marketing Information System
• Human Resource Information System

Security Issues Relating to Information Systems:

Information Systems security is one of the biggest challenges facing society’s technological age.
Information Systems have become an integral part of everyday life in the home, businesses, government,
and organizations. Information Systems have changed the way that people live their lives, conduct business,
even run the government. Information Systems have become such an important part of everyday life
because there are many uses of Information Systems that make it much easier and faster to perform certain
tasks, or even to perform certain tasks simultaneously.

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Information Systems have become so developed and detailed in their short history. Society has developed
along with the Information Systems, becoming a more technologically-reliable generation, also known as
the digital firm era. Along with an increasing reliability for Information Systems, the digital firm era has
also brought about an increasing profitability, competitiveness, and efficiency for any business of any size
that uses an Information Systems.

Since the current technological generation has become so dependent upon Information Systems, the
problems threatening Information Systems also threaten the order of everyday activities that many take for
granted. The intricate role that Information Systems plays in daily activities has been developed near to
perfection, but there are many current problems such as spamming, hacking, jamming, malicious software,
sniffing, spoofing, and identity theft. These current problems are threatening the reliability and security of
Information Systems.

With these current problems threatening Information Systems, users of Information Systems have been
in the search for new techniques and new technology that will help fix the devastating consequences. Along
with new techniques and new technology fixing these problems, users of Information Systems must also
protect themselves. There are certain ways that users of Information Systems can protect themselves
against all of the current problems. The future of Information Systems is somewhat unknown since it lies
in the hands of the users. This unexpectedness also means with many unexpected problems that the users
will have to solve.

Information system security refers to the way the system is defended against unauthorized access, use,
disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction.

There are two major aspects of information system security:

• Security of the information technology used: securing the system from malicious cyber- attacks that
tend to break into the system and to access critical private information or gain control of the internal
systems.
• Security of data: ensuring the integrity of data when critical issues, arise such as natural disasters,
computer/server malfunction, physical theft etc. Generally an off-site backup of data is kept for such
problems.

Guaranteeing effective information security has the following key aspects:

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• Preventing the unauthorized individuals or systems from accessing the information.

• Maintaining and assuring the accuracy and consistency of data over its entire life-cycle.
• Ensuring that the computing systems, the security controls used to protect it and the communication
channels used to access it, functioning correctly all the time, thus making information available in all
situations.
• Ensuring that the data, transactions, communications or documents are genuine.
• Ensuring the integrity of a transaction by validating that both parties involved are genuine, by
incorporating authentication features such as "digital signatures".
• Ensuring that once a transaction takes place, none of the parties can deny it, either having received
a transaction, or having sent a transaction. This is called 'non-repudiation'.
• Safeguarding data and communications stored and shared in network systems.

The Issues:
The problems which are facing information systems have either occurred through computer crime or
computer abuse. Computer crime and computer abuse is widely becoming a widespread problem since
technology can help accomplish almost any illegal or unethical task. There is a difference between computer
crime and computer abuse, though; computer crime is when a person uses a computer to commit an illegal
act, while computer abuse is when a person uses a computer to commit an unethical but not always illegal
act.

Computer crime and computer abuse has become a widespread problem since the evolution of
Information Systems. Before Information Systems were invented, data was protected more because most
information was stored only in paper files, and only in certain departments of a business where many users
would not have access to the data. With the evolution of Information Systems, large amounts of data can
be stored in electric form rather than in paper files, so the data can be viewed by a larger number of users.
Since more users can access the data electronically rather than manually, the data in turn, is more susceptible
to the threat of computer crime and computer abuse.

Many businesses and individuals often feel serious effects from the following computer crime and
computer abuse problems. Often at times, the users of Information Systems depend so heavily on the
systems that a small setback will often cause huge setbacks for the business and individual. From a few
minutes to a few days, the side effects of computer crime and computer abuse can be damaging to a business
or individual who relies heavily on Information Systems to accomplish certain everyday tasks.

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The current computer crime and computer abuse problems have threatened Information Systems due to
the increased reliability of businesses and individuals on Information Systems, but also because of an
increased risk of threat due to insecure telecommunication networks. Many of the ordinary threats to
Information Systems such as hardware failure, fire, software failure, electrical problems, personnel actions,
user errors, and telecommunication problems also can lead to easier access to large volumes of data. When
the telecommunication network itself is threatened, Information Systems of an individual or business
becomes even more threatened. One of the current computer crime and abuse problems threatening the
future of Information Systems is spamming. According to Laundon, spamming can be defined as “the
practice of sending unsolicited e-mail and other electronic communication.” Spamming has become such a
threatening problem with information systems because it is one of the cheapest and easiest methods to abuse
a computer system. The spammers who send out all of these e-mails are only charged a few cents to send
out the unsolicited e-mails to users who have not requested the information. There are laws prohibiting the
use of spamming to abuse a computer system, but spammers rarely get punished since the laws are hardly
enforced.

The next problem facing information systems is hacking. Hacking is when an illegal user tries to access
private information that they are not entitled to access. This illegal access is done either by using Trojan
horses, logic bombs, and many other types of software that can very easily be hidden. Sometimes the
hackers will even go as far crashing an entire network. According to Laundon, “hackers flood a network
server or Web server with many thousands of false communications or requests in order to crash the
network.” The repercussions from the attack of hackers can do serious harm to a business.

Jamming is also another computer crime and abuse problem that is threatening to information systems.
It is not one of the most common, but it is one of the easiest to accomplish. The illegal purpose behind
jamming is to find a way to tie up the lines to a computer is the central brain behind a website. Once the
lines are tied up, then legitimate visitors can access the site, therefore, the lines are “jammed” with illegal
users.

Malicious software is the most common form of computer crime against Information Systems. This
computer crime occurs when computer viruses are sent through a means, usually the Internet, and these
computer viruses “infect” the computer, often disabling programs or maybe even causing the computer to
“crash,” become inoperable. Once the computer virus is implanted into a computer’s hard drive, it can be
spread very easily, causing even more widespread damage. Some of the effects of computer viruses or
malicious software are destroying programs, data, “crashing” a computer’s operating system, clogging

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memory, etc. Again, if a business or individual receives a computer virus on their computer, the damage
can be small to devastating.

Malicious software has become the most common form of computer crime because there are so many
new computer viruses being spread. According to Laundon, “many thousands of viruses are known to exist,
with two hundred or more new viruses each month.” Some examples of damaging computer viruses are
“Monkey”, “Chernobyl”, and “Code Red”. The computer virus known as “Monkey” does not let the
Windows operating system run, thus causing the hard drive disk to look like it is not working properly.
“Chernobyl” is the nickname for a computer virus that infects a computer’s files, and this computer virus
ruins a computer’s hard drive and ROM BIOS, which is the basic input/output system of a computer. “Code
Red” is another computer virus that slows down the Internet and other computer processes. This computer
virus is often spread as a “worm” as an attachment to an email, and then it hooks itself onto other computers
once the email is sent, thus creating a very damaging chain-reaction.

Two more computer crime and computer abuse problems that pose a threat to Information Systems security
are “sniffing” and “spoofing.” “Sniffing” is a computer abuse problem which can let unauthorized users
access private information about an individual because a piece of software can be used to cross the lines
between an Internet user and a web site so the “sniffer” can intercept sensitive data. “Spoofing” is somewhat
like “sniffing,” but “spoofing” involves the “spoofer” making a false web site geared to collect personal
information from an Internet user to use it in criminal or unethical acts. The side effects of “sniffing” and
“spoofing” are an increased risk of unsuspecting Internet users losing personal information. Once the
personal information is collected, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, birthdates, etc., the
unsuspecting user is faced with a serious threat of misuse of that information, often resulting in horrible
consequences.

Identity theft, a common computer crime, is the most common side effect of “sniffing” and “spoofing”
and often times, the most horrible of all the computer crime and computer abuse problems. With an insecure
Information System, identity theft often arises as a serious computer crime. Identity theft occurs, according
to the Federal Trade Commission, “when someone possesses or uses [a person’s] name, address, Social
Security number, bank or credit card account number, or other identifying information without [a person’s]
knowledge with the intent to commit fraud or other crimes.”
Identity theft can occur through a variety of low-technological and highly technological methods. Identity
theft occurs through most businesses and organizations when illegal users gain access to stolen electronical
records stolen from an employer. Identity theft vandals can also gain unauthorized access to records through

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bribery of an employer or someone in the business which has legal access to the records. Conning is also
another way that illegal users can find information in a business or organization. The most common form
of unauthorized access to computer is through hacking into an Information System of a business or
organization. Once the information is illegally accessed, the results can be very harmful for the victim.

Threats to information systems:

In Information Security threats can be many like Software attacks, theft of intellectual property, identity
theft, theft of equipment or information, sabotage, and information extortion. Threat can be anything that
can take advantage of a vulnerability to breach security and negatively alter, erase, harm object or objects
of interest. Software attacks mean attack by Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses etc. Many users believe
that malware, virus, worms, bots are all same things. But they are not same, only similarity is that they all
are malicious software that behaves differently. Malware is a combination of 2 terms: Malicious and
Software. So Malware basically means malicious software that can be an intrusive program code or a
anything that is designed to perform malicious operations on system.

Malware can be divided in 2 categories:

1. Infection Methods
2. Malware Actions

Malware on the basis of Infection Method are following:

1. Virus: They have the ability to replicate themselves by hooking them to the program on the host
computer like songs, videos etc and then they travel all over the Internet. Ther Creeper Virus was first
detected on ARPANET. Examples include File Virus, Macro Virus, Boot Sector Virus, Stealth Virus etc.

2. Worms: Worms are also self replicating in nature but they don’t hook themselves to the program
on host computer. Biggest difference between virus and worms is that worms are network aware. They can
easily travel from one computer to another if network is available and on the target machine they will not
do much harm, they will for example consume hard disk space thus slowing down the computer.
3. Trojan: The Concept of Trojan is completely different from the viruses and worms. The name
Trojan derived from the ‘Trojan Horse’ tale in Greek mythology, which explains how the Greeks were able
to enter the fortified city of Troy by hiding their soldiers in a big wooden horse given to the Trojans as a
gift. The Trojans were very fond of horses and trusted the gift blindly. In the night, the soldiers emerged
and attacked the city from the inside. Their purpose is to conceal themselves inside the software that seem

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legitimate and when that software is executed they will do their task of either stealing information or any
other purpose for which they are designed.

They often provide backdoor gateway for malicious programs or malevolent users to enter your system
and steal your valuable data without your knowledge and permission. Examples include FTP Trojans, Proxy
Trojans, Remote Access Trojans etc.

4. Bots: can be seen as advanced form of worms. They are automated processes that are designed to
interact over the internet without the need of human interaction. They can be good or bad. Malicious bot
can infect one host and after infecting will create connection to the central server which will provide
commands to all infected hosts attached to that network called Botnet.

Malware on the basis of Actions:

1. Adware: Adware is not exactly malicious but they do breach privacy of the users. They display ads
on computer’s desktop or inside individual programs. They come attached with free to use software, thus
main source of revenue for such developers. They monitor your interests and display relevant ads. An
attacker can embed malicious code inside the software and adware can monitor your system activities and
can even compromise your machine.

2. Spyware: It is a program or we can say a software that monitors your activities on computer and
reveal collected information to interested party. Spyware are generally dropped by Trojans, viruses or
worms. Once dropped they installs themselves and sits silently to avoid detection. One of the most common
example of spyware is KEYLOGGER. The basic job of keylogger is to record user keystrokes with
timestamp. Thus capturing interesting information like username, passwords, credit card details etc.

3. Ransomware: It is type of malware that will either encrypt your files or will lock your computer
making it inaccessible either partially or wholly. Then a screen will be displayed asking for money i.e.
ransom in exchange.
4. Scareware: It masquerades as a tool to help fix your system but when the software is executed it
will infect your system or completely destroy it. The software will display a message to frighten you and
force to take some action like pay them to fix your system.

5. Rootkits: are designed to gain root access or we can say administrative privileges in the user system.
Once gained the root access, the exploiter can do anything from stealing private files to private data.

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6. Zombies: They work similar to Spyware. Infection mechanism is same but they don’t spy and steal
information rather they wait for the command from hackers.

• Theft of intellectual property means violation of intellectual property rights like copyrights, patents
etc.
• Identity theft means to act someone else to obtain person’s personal information or to access vital
information they have like accessing the computer or social media account of a person by login into the
account by using their login credentials.
• Theft of equipment and information is increasing these days due to the mobile nature of devices and
increasing information capacity.
• Sabotage means destroying company’s website to cause loss of confidence on part of its customer.
• Information extortion means theft of company’s property or information to receive payment in
exchange. For example ransomware may lock victims file making them inaccessible thus forcing victim to
make payment in exchange. Only after payment victim’s files will be unlocked.

These are the old generation attacks that continue these days also with advancement every year. Apart
from these there are many other threats. Below is the brief description of these new generation threats.
• Technology with weak security: With the advancement in technology, with every passing day a new
gadget is being released in the market. But very few are fully secured and follows Information Security
principles. Since the market is very competitive Security factor is compromised to make device more up to
date. This leads to theft of data/ information from the devices

• Social media attacks: In this cyber criminals identify and infect a cluster of websites that persons of
a particular organisation visit, to steal information.
• Mobile Malware: There is a saying when there is a connectivity to Internet there will be danger to
Security. Same goes to Mobile phones where gaming applications are designed to lure customer to
download the game and unintentionally they will install malware or virus in the device.

• Outdated Security Software: With new threats emerging everyday, updation in security software is
a pre requisite to have a fully secured environment.

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• Corporate data on personal devices: These days every organization follows a rule BYOD. BYOD
means Bring your own device like Laptops, Tablets to the workplace. Clearly BYOD pose a serious threat
to security of data but due to productivity issues organizations are arguing to adopt this.

• Social Engineering: is the art of manipulating people so that they give up their confidential
information like bank account details, password etc. These criminals can trick you into giving your private
and confidential information or they will gain your trust to get access to your computer to install a malicious
software- that will give them control of your computer. For example email or message from your friend,
that was probably not sent by your friend. Criminal can access your friends device and then by accessing
the contact list he can send infected email and message to all contacts. Since the message/ email is from a
known person recipient will definitely check the link or attachment in the message, thus unintentionally
infecting the computer.

Vulnerability:
Vulnerability is a cyber-security term that refers to a flaw in a system that can leave it open to attack.
Vulnerability may also refer to any type of weakness in a computer system itself, in a set of procedures, or
in anything that leaves information security exposed to a threat. A computer vulnerability is a cybersecurity
term that refers to a defect in a system that can leave it open to attack. This vulnerability could also refer to
any type of weakness present in a computer itself, in a set of procedures, or in anything that allows
information security to be exposed to a threat.

It is possible for network personnel and computer users to protect computers from vulnerabilities by
regularly updating software security patches. These patches are capable of solving flaws or security holes
found in the initial release. Network personnel and computer users should also stay informed about current
vulnerabilities in the software they use and look out for ways to protect against them.

Common Computer Security Vulnerabilities

The most common computer vulnerabilities include:
• Bugs
• Weak passwords
• Software that is already infected with virus
• Missing data encryption
• OS command injection
• SQL injection

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• Buffer overflow
• Missing authorization
• Use of broken algorithms
• URL redirection to untrusted sites
• Path traversal
• Missing authentication for critical function
• Unrestricted upload of dangerous file types
• Dependence on untrusted inputs in a security decision
• Cross-site scripting and forgery
• Download of codes without integrity checks

Causes and Harms of Computer Security Vulnerabilities

Computer system vulnerabilities exist because programmers fail to fully understand the inner programs.
While designing and programming, programmers don’t really take into account all aspects of computer
systems and this, in turn, causes computer system vulnerability. Some programmers program in an unsafe
and incorrect way, which worsen computer system vulnerability.

The harm of computer system vulnerability can be presented in several aspects, for example, the
disclosure of confidential data, and widespread of Internet virus and hacker intrusion, which can cause great
harm to enterprises and individual users by bringing about major economic loss. With the steady
improvement of the degree of information, very severe computer system vulnerabilities can become a threat
to national security in the aspects of economy, politics, and military.
Computer security vulnerability can harm five kinds of system securities that include:
Reliability, confidentiality, entirety, usability, and undeniableness.
• Reliability: This refers to reducing incorrect false alarm in the operation of a computer system and
enhancing the efficiency of a computer system.
• Confidentiality: This refers to protecting users’ information from disclosure and getting by
unauthorized third party.
• Entirety: This system security requires that information or programs should not be forged,
tampered, deleted or inserted deliberately in the process of storing, operation and communication. In other
words, information or programs cannot be lost or destroyed.
• Usability: This ensures that users can enjoy the services offered by computers and information
networks.

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• Undeniableness: This security refers to guaranteeing information actors to be responsible for their
behavior.

Use Endpoint Security to Protect all Endpoints

Endpoint Security also known as Endpoint Protection is a centralized approach that focuses on protecting
all endpoints – desktops, laptops, servers, smart phones, and several other IT devices – connected to the
corporate IT network from cyber threats. This methodology enables effective, efficient, and easier security
management. Some vendors offer Endpoint Security systems that include firewall, antivirus, and other high
defined security software.

• Antivirus: Features multiple technology-based automatic detection, cleansing

and quarantining of suspicious files to remove viruses and malware.

• Comodo Firewall: Offers high-level security against outbound and inbound threats, manages
network connections, and blocks personal data transmission by malicious software.

• Web URL Filtering: Advanced interface to create rules as needed – user-specific, sweeping, or as
granular as desired.

• Host Intrusion Protection System (HIPS): Monitors vital operating system activities to guarantee
protection against malware intrusion.

• Containment with auto-sandboxing: All unrecognized applications and processes are auto-
sandboxed to run in a restricted environment.
• File Lookup Services (FLS): Cloud-based instant analysis of strange files that checks file
reputation against Comodo’s master whitelist and blacklists.

• Viruscope (Behavior Analysis): Behavior of all processes are monitored for potential harmful
action.

Most Common Website Security Vulnerabilities

1. SQL INJECTIONS: SQL injection is a type of web application security vulnerability in which an
attacker attempts to use application code to access or corrupt database content. If successful, this allows the

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attacker to create, read, update, alter, or delete data stored in the back-end database. SQL injection is one
of the most prevalent types of web application security vulnerabilities.

2. CROSS SITE SCRIPTING (XSS): Cross-site scripting (XSS) targets an application's users by
injecting code, usually a client-side script such as JavaScript, into a web application's output. The concept
of XSS is to manipulate client-side scripts of a web application to execute in the manner desired by the
attacker. XSS allows attackers to execute scripts in the victim's browser which can hijack user sessions,
deface websites or redirect the user to malicious sites.

3. BROKEN AUTHENTICATION & SESSION MANAGEMENT: Broken authentication and

session management encompass several security issues, all of them having to do with maintaining the
identity of a user. If authentication credentials and session identifiers are not protected at all times an
attacker can hijack an active session and assume the identity of a user.

4. INSECURE DIRECT OBJECT REFERENCES: Insecure direct object reference is when a web
application exposes a reference to an internal implementation object. Internal implementation objects
include files, database records, directories and database keys. When an application exposes a reference to
one of these objects in a URL hacker can manipulate it to gain access to a user's personal data.

5. SECURITY MISCONFIGURATION: Security misconfiguration encompasses several types of

vulnerabilities all centered on a lack of maintenance or a lack of attention to the web application
configuration. A secure configuration must be defined and deployed for the application, frameworks,
application server, web server, database server and platform. Security misconfiguration gives hackers
access to private data or features and can result in a complete system compromise.

6. CROSS-SITE REQUEST FORGERY (CSRF): Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is a

malicious attack where a user is tricked into performing an action he or she didn't intend to do. A third-
party website will send a request to a web application that a user is already authenticated against (e.g. their
bank). The attacker can then access functionality via the victim's already authenticated browser. Targets
include web applications like social media, in browser email clients, online banking, and web interfaces for
network devices.

The other most common software security vulnerabilities include:

• Missing data encryption

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• OS command injection
• Buffer overflow
• Missing authentication for critical function
• Missing authorization
• Unrestricted upload of dangerous file types
• Reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision
• Download of codes without integrity checks
• Use of broken algorithms
• URL redirection to untrusted sites
• Path traversal
• Bugs
• Weak passwords
• Software that is already infected with virus

Type of Artificial Intelligence:

Artificial intelligence can be divided into three subfields:
1. Artificial intelligence
2. Machine learning
3. Deep learning

Machine Learning: Machine learning is the art of study of algorithms that learn from examples and
experiences. Machine learning is based on the idea that there exist some patterns in the data that were
identified and used for future predictions. The difference from hard coding rules is that the machine learns
on its own to find such rules.

Deep learning: Deep learning is a sub-field of machine learning. Deep learning does not mean the machine
learns more in-depth knowledge; it means the machine uses different layers to learn from the data. The
depth of the model is represented by the number of layers in the model. For instance, Google LeNet model
for image recognition counts 22 layers.

In deep learning, the learning phase is done through a neural network. A neural network is an architecture
where the layers are stacked on top of each other.

Where is AI used? Examples

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AI has broad applications:

• Artificial intelligence is used to reduce or avoid the repetitive task. For instance, AI can repeat a
task continuously, without fatigue. In fact, AI never rests, and it is indifferent to the task to carry
out.

• Artificial intelligence improves an existing product. Before the age of machine learning, core
products were building upon hard-code rule. Firms introduced artificial intelligence to enhance
the functionality of the product rather than starting from scratch to design new products. You can
think of a Facebook image. A few years ago, you had to tag your friends manually. Nowadays,
with the help of AI, Facebook gives you a friend's recommendation.

AI is used in all the industries, from marketing to supply chain, finance, food-processing sector.
According to a McKinsey survey, financial services and high tech communication are leading the AI fields.

Why is AI booming now?

A neural network has been out since the nineties with the seminal paper of Yann LeCun. However, it
started to become famous around the year 2012. Explained by three critical factors for its popularity are:
1. Hardware
2. Data
3. Algorithm

Machine learning is an experimental field, meaning it needs to have data to test new ideas or approaches.
With the boom of the internet, data became more easily accessible. Besides, giant companies like NVIDIA
and AMD have developed high-performance graphics chips for the gaming market.

Hardware
In the last twenty years, the power of the CPU has exploded, allowing the user to train a small deep-
learning model on any laptop. However, to process a deep-learning model for computer vision or deep
learning, you need a more powerful machine. Thanks to the investment of NVIDIA and AMD, a new
generation of GPU (graphical processing unit) are available. These chips allow parallel computations. It
means the machine can separate the computations over several GPU to speed up the calculations.

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For instance, with an NVIDIA TITAN X, it takes two days to train a model called ImageNetagainst
weeks for a traditional CPU. Besides, big companies use clusters of GPU to train deep learning model with
the NVIDIA Tesla K80 because it helps to reduce the data center cost and provide better performances.

Data
Deep learning is the structure of the model, and the data is the fluid to make it alive. Data powers the
artificial intelligence. Without data, nothing can be done. Latest Technologies have pushed the boundaries
of data storage. It is easier than ever to store a high amount of data in a data center.

Internet revolution makes data collection and distribution available to feed machine learning algorithm.
If you are familiar with Flickr, Instagram or any other app with images, you can guess their AI potential.
There are millions of pictures with tags available on these websites. Those pictures can be used to train a
neural network model to recognize an object on the picture without the need to manually collect and label
the data.

Artificial Intelligence combined with data is the new gold. Data is a unique competitive advantage that
no firm should neglect. AI provides the best answers from your data. When all the firms can have the same
technologies, the one with data will have a competitive advantage over the other. To give an idea, the world
creates about 2.2 exabytes, or 2.2 billion gigabytes, every day. A company needs exceptionally diverse data
sources to be able to find the patterns and learn and in a substantial volume.

Algorithm
Hardware is more powerful than ever, data is easily accessible, but one thing that makes the neural
network more reliable is the development of more accurate algorithms. Primary neural networks are a
simple multiplication matrix without in-depth statistical properties. Since 2010, remarkable discoveries
have been made to improve the neural network.

Artificial intelligence uses a progressive learning algorithm to let the data do the programming. It means,
the computer can teach itself how to perform different tasks, like finding anomalies, become a chat-bot.

Near field Communication:

NFC is a short-range wireless technology that enables simple and secure communication between
electronic devices. It may be used on its own or in combination with other wireless technologies, such as
Bluetooth.

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The communication range of NFC is roughly 10 centimeters. However, an antenna may be used to extend
the range up to 20 centimeters. This short range is intentional, as it provides security by only allowing
devices to communicate within close proximity of each other. This makes NFC ideal for secure transactions,
such as contactless payments at a checkout counter.

There are many other uses for NFC as well. Examples include:
• Paying a fare on public transit, such as a bus or train
• Confirming your ticket at a concert or sports event
• Syncing workout data from a fitness machine with your device
• Viewing special offers on your phone when you enter a store
• Loading information about an artist or piece of art at a museum
• Viewing a map and related information at a national park
• Loading a translated menu at a restaurant
• Checking in and checking out at a hotel
• Unlocking an NFC-enabled door lock

NFC is often seen as an alternative to QR codes, which require scanning a square code with your device.
Both technologies are designed for short-range transactions, but QR code scanning requires a camera, while
NFC communication requires a near-field communication chip. NFC communication is arguably simpler
since you don't need to manually scan anything with your device. Additionally, NFC provides two-way
communication, while scanning a QR code is a one- way transaction.

Classification NFC:
So NFC devices can be classified into 2 types:
1. Passive NFC devices: These include tags, and other small transmitters which can send
information to other NFC devices without the need for a power source of their own. These
devices don’t really process any information sent from other sources, and can not connect to
other passive components. These often take the form of interactive signs on walls or
advertisements.
2. Active NFC devices: These devices are able to both the things i.e. send and receive data. They
can communicate with each other as well as with passive devices. Smartphones the best example
of active NFC device. Card readers in public transport and touch payment terminals are also
good examples of the technology.

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How does NFC work?

Like other wireless signals Bluetooth and WiFi, NFC works on the principle of sending information over
radio waves. Near Field Communication is another standard for wireless data transition which means
devices must adhere to certain specifications in order to communicate with each other properly. The
technology used in NFC is based on older technology which is the RFID (Radio-frequency identification)
that used electromagnetic induction in order to transmit information.

This creates one major difference between NFC and Bluetooth/WiFi. NFC can be used to induce electric
currents within passive components rather than just send data. This means that their own power supply is
not required by passive devices. Instead they can be powered by the electromagnetic field produced by an
active NFC component when it comes into range. NFC technology unfortunately does not command enough
inductance to charge our smartphones, but QI charging is based on the same principle.

The transmission frequency is 13.56 megahertz for data across NFC. Data can be sent at either 106, 212,
or 424 kilobits per second which is quick enough for a range of data transfers like contact details to
swapping pictures and music.

Mode of Operation:
The NFC standard currently has three distinct modes of operation to determine what sort of information
will be exchanged between devices.
1. The most common used in smartphones is the peer-to-peer mode. Exchange of various piece of
information is allowed between 2 devices. In this mode both devices switch between active
when sending data and passive when receiving.
2. The second mode i.e. read/write mode is a one-way data transmission. The active device,
possibly your smartphone, links up with another device in order to read information from it.
NFC advertisement tags use this mode.
3. The third mode of operation is card emulation. The NFC device can function as a smart or
contactless credit card and make payments or tap into public transport systems.

NFC applications:
NFC applications can be split into the following four basic categories:

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• Touch and Go: Applications such as access control or transport/event ticketing, where the user
needs only to bring the device storing the ticket or access code close to the reader. Also, for simple
data capture applications, such as picking up an Internet URL from a smart label on a poster.
• Touch and Confirm: Applications such as mobile payment where the user has to confirm the
interaction by entering a password or just accepting the transaction.
• Touch and Connect: Linking two NFC-enabled devices to enable peer to peer transfer of data
such as downloading music, exchanging images or synchronizing address books.
• Touch and Explore: NFC devices may offer more than one possible function. The consumer will
be able to explore a device's capabilities to find out which functionalities and services are offered.

Super Beam:
Super Beam is a file sharing app that allows you to quickly and effortlessly transfer files between two
devices.

How does Super Beam work?

Super Beam allows you to share any kind of file with another device using WiFi or WiFi Direct,
functioning in much the same way as Bluetooth sharing. You can also send files from within applications
using the 'Share' button. You can share files with another Super Beam user via the app, or to any WiFi
connected device via their other person's web browser.

Share files in a snap

To share a file with another person using Super Beam you just select the file (or folder, if you upgrade to
the Pro version) and the app will generate a QR code. The other person simply scans this QR code and,
assuming they're connected to the same WiFi network, the file will be transferred. You can bypass the QR
code option and transfer the files via NFC, if your device supports it.

MIS IN INDIA
India has been experiencing a phenomenal growth in the telecom industry with cheapest 4G rates.
Especially with the launch of Reliance Jio and Idea internet, quite a lot of rural areas are learning how to
access internet. It was the chairman of Reliance Inc., Mukesh Ambani who had inaugurated the Reliance
Jio Sim card. In the all new Reliance Jio, one gets a package of complete internet, roaming calls and
outgoing calls absolutely free. You would be getting the offer for three whole months. Mukesh Ambani has
also proposed a 12 month scheme for Jio-SIM users. However it is still in the pipeline.
We are going to have a look at some of the salient features pertaining to the revamped telecom industry.

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A promising growth for the telecom industry

As Reliance Jio would be offering its customers with free internet, free national roaming and free outgoing
calls for three complete months, the strategy promises to transform the Indian telecom industry altogether.
As the ultimate effect to your portfolio, this is what is offered to you in a nutshell. You get a wide range of
entertainment options under the theme of convergence.

Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using
electronic devices. Email entered limited use in the 1960s, but users could only send to users of the same
computer, and some early email systems required the author and the recipient to both be online
simultaneously, similar to instant messaging. Ray Tomlinson is credited as the inventor of email; in 1971,
he developed the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts across the ARPANET,
using the @ sign to link the user name with a destination server. By the mid-1970s, this was the form
recognized as email.

Email operates across computer networks, primarily the Internet. Today's email systems are based on a
store-and-forward model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver, and store messages. Neither the users nor
their computers are required to be online simultaneously; they need to connect, typically to a mail server or
a webmail interface to send or receive messages or download it.

Originally an ASCII text-only communications medium, Internet email was extended by Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) to carry text in other character sets and multimedia content attachments.
International email, with internationalized email addresses using UTF-8, is standardized but not widely
adopted.

The history of modern Internet email services reaches back to the early ARPANET, with standards for
encoding email messages published as early as 1973 (RFC 561). An email message sent in the early 1970s
is similar to a basic email sent today.

An Internet email consists of an envelope and content; the content consists of a header and a body.

The history of the Internet has its origin in the efforts to build and interconnect computer networks that
arose from research and development in the United States and involved international collaboration,
particularly with researchers in the United Kingdom and France.

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Computer science was an emerging discipline in the late 1950s that began to consider time-sharing
between computer users, and later, the possibility of achieving this over wide area networks. Independently,
Paul Baran proposed a distributed network based on data in message blocks in the early 1960s and Donald
Davies conceived of packet switching in 1965 at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and proposed
building a national commercial data network in the UK.[5][6] The Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense awarded contracts in 1969 for the development of the
ARPANET project, directed by Robert Taylor and managed by Lawrence Roberts. ARPANET adopted the
packet switching technology proposed by Davies and Baran, underpinned by mathematical work in the
early 1970s by Leonard Kleinrock at UCLA. The network was built by Bolt, Beranek, and Newman.

Early packet switching networks such as the NPL network, ARPANET, Merit Network, and CYCLADES
researched and provided data networking in the early 1970s. ARPA projects and international working
groups led to the development of protocols for internetworking, in which multiple separate networks could
be joined into a network of networks, which produced various standards. Bob Kahn, at ARPA, and Vint
Cerf, at Stanford University, published research in 1974 that evolved into the Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), the two protocols of the Internet protocol suite. The design
included concepts from the French CYCLADES project directed by Louis Pouzin.

In the early 1980s, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded national supercomputing centers at
several universities in the United States, and provided interconnectivity in 1986 with the NSFNET project.
Thus creating network access to these supercomputer sites for research and academic organizations in the
United States. International connections to NSFNET, the emergence of architecture such as the Domain
Name System, and the adoption of TCP/IP internationally on existing networks marked the beginnings of
the Internet.Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) began to emerge in the very late 1980s. The
ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990.[13] Limited private connections to parts of the Internet by
officially commercial entities emerged in several American cities by late 1989 and 1990.[The NSFNET was
decommissioned in 1995, removing the last restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial
traffic.

An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, collaboration tools, operational systems, and
other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term
is used in contrast to public networks, such as the Internet, but uses most of the same technology based on
the Internet Protocol Suite.
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A company-wide intranet can constitute an important focal point of internal communication and
collaboration, and provide a single starting point to access internal and external resources. In its simplest
form, an intranet is established with the technologies for local area networks (LANs) and wide area
networks (WANs). Many modern intranets have search engines, user profiles, blogs, mobile apps with
notifications, and events planning within their infrastructure.

An intranet is sometimes contrasted to an extranet. While an intranet is generally restricted to employees

of the organization, extranets may also be accessed by customers, suppliers, or other approved parties.
Extranets extend a private network onto the Internet with special provisions for authentication,
authorization and accounting (AAA protocol).

TRANSACTION PROCESS SYSTEM (TPS)

A transaction process system and transaction processing are often contrasted with a batch process system
and batch processing, where many requests are all executed at one time. The former requires the interaction
of a user, whereas batch processing does not require user involvement. In batch processing the results of
each transaction are not immediately available. Additionally, there is a delay while the many requests are
being organized, stored and eventually executed. In transaction processing there is no delay and the results
of each transaction are immediately available. During the delay time for batch processing, errors can occur.
Although errors can occur in transaction processing, they are infrequent and tolerated, but do not warrant
shutting down the entire system.

To achieve performance, reliability and consistency, data must be readily accessible in a data warehouse,
backup procedures must be in place and the recovery process must be in place to deal with system failure,
human failure, computer viruses, software applications or natural disasters.

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Transaction Processing System Features

There are several features involved in a good transaction processing system. A few of these critical
features are described below.

• Performance: The concept behind the use of TPS is to efficiently generate timely results for transactions.
Effectiveness is based on the number of transactions they can process at a particular time.

• Continuous availability: The transaction processing system should be a very stable and reliable system
that must not crash easily. Disruption of TPS in an organization can lead to work disturbance and financial
loss.

• Data integrity: The TPS must maintain the same method for all transactions processed, the system must
be designed to effectively protect data and overcome any hardware/ software issues.

• Ease of use: The TPS should be user-friendly in order to encourage the use and also decrease errors from
inputting data. It should be structured in such a way that it makes it easy to understand as well as guarding
users against making errors during data-entry.

• Modular growth: The TPS hardware and software components should be able to be upgraded
individually without requiring a complete overhaul.

• Controlled processing: Only authorized personnel, staff members, or employees should be able to access
the system at a time.

Types of Transaction Processing Systems

• Batch processing : Batch processing is when clusters of transactions are refined simultaneously using a
computer system. This method, although designed to be efficient for breaking down bulky series.

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•Real-time Processing: Real-time processing carries out its transactions exclusively; this method ensures
a swift reply on the condition of the transaction result. It is an ideal technique for dealing with singular
transactions.

Limitations of Transaction Processing Systems

• Managing operations with the TPS can be complicated if the company is not big enough to
efficiently use the transaction processing system.

• TPS needs both hardware and software components to efficiently manage high data volume. This
capacity makes TPSs susceptible to software security breaches in the form of the virus and faulty hardware
issues such as power outage can disrupt the whole system.

• Effective integration of a TPS in a company operation requires skilled personnel, it also requires a
link with associate company branches to maintain a secure flow of information. This high requirement can
create instability and flux in the company’s daily operations.

Functions of Transaction Processing System

Transaction Processing Systems can execute input, output, storage, and processing functions.

• Input functions: This includes the securing of data on the source document, entering of input data
in the system and also validate data.

• Output functions: This includes the production of the report of the transaction via monitor or paper,
examples are exception reports, detail reports, and summary reports.

• Storage functions: This is the process by which data is stored. It entails the storage of information,
accessing, sorting, and updating stored data.

• Processing functions: This entails the transformation of data, it includes calculation, computation,
and apt result.

Databases for Transaction Processing Systems

Some types of database systems for transaction processing include the following:
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• Hierarchical Database: It comprises a network of nodes and branches. This structure arranges data in a
top-down system, where a higher-level node branches out to lower-level nodes.

• Network Database: It arranges data as a chain of nodes linked via branches. Higher-level nodes can have
as many branches as possible, lower-level nodes can also be connected to more than one higher-level node.

• Relational Database: This involves the use of related tables to present and combine data effectively.

Backup Procedures (Storing and Retrieving Data)

Backup procedures are required by organizations to counter breakdowns and reduce data loss. A copy of
data used to restore the system in case of system failure is known as a backup. Data can be stored in
magnetic tapes, partial backups or updated in real-time. The success of a backup relies on the
implementation of appropriate procedures. The success of a backup depends on a resourceful recovery
process.

Office Automation Systems

The term office automation is a method that is used for office activities and makes it possible to process
the data using a computer system. An office automation system can be considered as a tool that majorly
includes a word processing application, a spreadsheet application, a presentation application, and a database
management system. With implementation, an office automation system will enable the automation of most
of the administrative work in the office and would also concentrate on the more repeatable and routine
aspects of individual and group work. An office automation system is a mechanism that allows data
transformation from one system to another on its own without human interference and inaccuracies. These
tools may be used to capture, organize, and process the data to achieve day-to-day activities.

It is an automated process, explicitly supporting business activities and processes. Office automation is
intended to provide elements that make it possible to simplify, develop, and automate the organization of
the activities of a company or a group of people. A basic building block of Office Automation Systems
described below –
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Office automation systems make it simple for office staff to handle day to day organizational activities
like E-mail, word processing, electronic filing, scheduling, calendaring, and other technical support
resources. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) were also introduced as the concept of groupware apps, which
became important when more people started to bring digital assistants such as PDAs. It is made up of word
processing, telecommunications, and data processing, which handles office information, official
communication, and reports, as well as the processing of documents.

The most commonly used application areas of office automation are as follows

• Exchange of information.

• Management of administrative records.

• Handling of results.

• Meeting arrangements, preparation, and control of job schedules.

Office automation features

Office automation functionality could include -.

• It eliminates the manual effort to complete basic chores.

• Avoiding mistakes by computers or devices.

• Decreasing the time taken to process an object.

• Provides key insights into the process efficiency metrics.

• Gaining greater access to the method and finding possible bottlenecks.

• Controlling the company by making sound decisions based on results.

• Enhancement in business activities with sound improvement.

• Data organization, storage and its management.

Human errors are not only inefficient in that they have to be corrected and can lead to production delays
as well as financial losses. For example, an error occurring at the time of financial transaction is a serious
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mistake and can be a cause of the biggest loss. Human intervention is minimal when the office automation
system allows for the transfer of data, rather than taking an active role in the processing.

The 5 Essentials of Office Automation Tools

1. Easy workflow designer

Creating workflows used to be the domain of hard-core system coders. So, as workflow software evolved,
it assumed the people using it would be programmers as well. However, a modern office automation system
should start with the business user in mind, not the coder. A piece of software shouldn’t determine how
your business should set its operations. It should instead aid your teams to strengthen the existing processes.

2. Mobile compatibility

Organisation should be able to run the core processes from a secure cloud and never have to worry about
where the data is or who is protecting it. If the organisation uses an office automation tool, then the
organisation can go over the marketing plan on the mobile.

3. Integration with other software

Organisation has got internal database, a CRM, a marketing automation tool, and the financial software.
Of all the software out there, office automation should be the easiest to integrate with the other tools. If it
doesn’t, company would get stuck pushing data around from one system to another. When
doing an evaluation, see what kind of pre-integrations the office automation software provides, or if it takes
advantage of connecting to a tool like Zapier to open access to thousands of other cloud tools.

4. Reports and analytics

Organisation can’t just evaluate process performance based on how happy the team is. Data is the
ultimate decision-maker, and it’s important for the business to compare a process’ history, its speed, the
outcome quality, etc. Adopting another software to measure the workflow data is time- consuming and

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unnecessary. A single piece of software embedded with reporting and analytics features has been developed
as part of the fundamental offering.

5. Access control options

A good workflow automation system will have access control as part of its integral features. This
capability should not be overlooked when considering office automation software for the business.

What are the functions of office automation software?

An ideal office automation software:

• Requires less space to store data

• Streamlines data storage and retrieval

• Retrieves information instantly

• Eliminates the need to preserve paperwork

• Removes any chance for data redundancy

• Allows multiple people to access data

• Reduces the possibility of errors

Offices that automate can save a tremendous amount of time and money and let the workforce focus on
the things that actually bring value to the company.

MIS - DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

Decision support systems (DSS) are interactive software-based systems intended to help managers in
decision-making by accessing large volumes of information generated from various related information
systems involved in organizational business processes, such as office automation system, transaction
processing system, etc.

DSS uses the summary information, exceptions, patterns, and trends using the analytical models. A
decision support system helps in decision-making but does not necessarily give a decision itself. The

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decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or
business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.

Programmed and Non-programmed Decisions

There are two types of decisions - programmed and non-programmed decisions.

Programmed decisions are basically automated processes, general routine work, where −

• These decisions have been taken several times.

• These decisions follow some guidelines or rules.

For example, selecting a reorder level for inventories, is a programmed decision. Non-programmed
decisions occur in unusual and non-addressed situations, so −

• It would be a new decision.

• There will not be any rules to follow.

• These decisions are made based on the available information.

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