Chapter 3

Hardware: Input, Processing,

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 Computer Systems: Integrating the
Power of Technology
• Hardware components:
– Central processing unit (CPU):
• Arithmetic/logic unit, the control unit, and the register
areas
– Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU):
• Performs mathematical calculations and makes logical
comparisons
– Control unit :
• Sequentially accesses program instructions, decodes
them, and coordinates the flow of data in and out of
the ALU, registers, primary storage, and even
secondary storage and various output devices
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Computer Systems: Integrating the
Power of Technology (continued)
– Registers:
• High-speed storage areas
• Used to temporarily hold small units of program
instructions and data
– Primary storage:
• Also called main memory
• Closely associated with the CPU

8
 Hardware Components in Action
• Step 1: Fetch instruction
• Step 2: Decode instruction
• Step 3: Execute instruction
• Step 4: Store results

9
 Processing and Memory Devices:
Power, Speed, and Capacity
• System unit:
– Houses the components responsible for processing
(the CPU and memory)
• All other computer system devices are:
– Linked either directly or indirectly into the system unit
housing

10
 Processing Characteristics and
Functions (continued)
• Physical characteristics of the CPU:
– Most CPUs are:
• Collections of digital circuits imprinted on silicon
wafers, or chips, each no bigger than the tip of a
pencil eraser

13
Memory Characteristics and Functions
• Main memory
– Provides the CPU with a working storage area for
programs and data
– Rapidly provides data and instructions to the CPU
• Storage capacity
– Eight bits together form a byte (B)
– Bit= Binary digit (b)
– Binary= base 2 (0 or 1) on or off
– What is a nibble?

14
Memory Characteristics and Functions
(continued)

15
Memory Characteristics and Functions
(continued)
• Types of memory:
– Random access memory (RAM):
• Temporary and volatile
– Types of RAM:
• DRAM (Dynamic RAM)
• DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM
• Static Random Access Memory (SRAM)
• Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random
Access Memory (DDR SDRAM)

16
Memory Characteristics and Functions
(continued)
• Types of memory (continued):
– Read-only memory (ROM):
• Nonvolatile
• Provides permanent storage for data and instructions
that do not change
– Cache memory:
• High-speed memory that a processor can access
more rapidly than main memory

17
 Multiprocessing
• Multiprocessing:
– Simultaneous execution of two or more instructions
at the same time
• Coprocessor:
– Speeds processing
• Multi core microprocessor:
– Combines two or more independent processors into
a single computer

18
 Multiprocessing (continued)
• Graphics processing unit (GPU):
– A specialized processor that offloads the tasks
associated with 3D graphics rendering from the CPU
– Can also be used in certain applications that require
massive vector operations to provide performance
several orders of magnitude higher than a traditional
CPU

19
 Secondary Storage
• Compared with memory, offers the advantages of
nonvolatility, greater capacity, and greater
economy
• On a cost-per-gigabyte basis:
– Secondary storage is considerably less expensive
than primary memory
• Determined by the information system’s objectives:
– The access methods, storage capacities, and
portability required of secondary storage media

21
 Access Methods
• Sequential access:
– Data must be retrieved in the order in which it is
stored
– Devices used called sequential access storage
devices (SASDs)
• Direct access:
– Records can be retrieved in any order
– Devices used are called direct access storage
devices (DASDs)

22
 Secondary Storage Devices
• Magnetic tapes:
– Primarily for storing backups of critical organizational
data
• Magnetic disks:
– Direct-access storage device
• Redundant array of independent/inexpensive disks
(RAID):
– Method of storing data that generates extra bits of
data from existing data
• Virtual tape:
– Storage technology for less frequently needed data
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 Secondary Storage Devices
(continued)
• Optical secondary storage devices:
– Use special lasers to read and write data
– Compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM):
• Storage capacity is 740 MB
– Digital video disc (DVD):
• Looks like a CD but can store about 135 minutes of
digital video
• Data transfer rate is 1.352 MB per second

24
 Secondary Storage Devices
(continued)
• Solid state secondary storage devices:
– Store data in memory chips rather than magnetic or
optical media
– Have few moving parts, so they are less fragile than
hard disk drives
– Disadvantages of SSD
• High cost per GB of data storage
• Lower capacity compared to current hard drives

25
 Enterprise Storage Options
• Attached storage:
– Methods include the tape, hard disks, and optical
devices
• Network-attached storage (NAS):
– Hard disk storage that is set up with its own network
address rather than being attached to a computer
• Storage area network (SAN):
– Special-purpose, high-speed network that provides
direct connections among data-storage devices and
computers

26
 Input and Output Devices: The
Gateway to Computer Systems
• Input and output devices:
– Gateways to the computer system
– Part of a computer’s user interface
• Organizations:
– Should keep their business goals in mind when
selecting input and output devices

27
 Characteristics and Functionality
• Data can be human-readable or machine-readable
• Data entry:
– Converts human-readable data into machine-
readable form
• Data input:
– Transfers machine-readable data into system
• Source data automation
– Capturing and editing data where the data is initially
created and in a form that can be directly input to a
computer

28
 Input Devices
• Devices used to input general types of data:
– Personal computer input devices
– Speech recognition technology
– Digital cameras
– Terminals
– Scanning devices
– Optical data readers
– Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) devices
– Magnetic stripe card

29
 Input Devices (continued)
• Devices used to input general types of data
(continued):
– Chip-and-PIN cards
– Point-of-sale devices
– Contactless cards
– Automated teller machine (ATM) devices
– Pen input devices
– Touch-sensitive screens
– Bar-code scanners
– Radio frequency identification
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 Output Devices
• Display monitors:
– Used to display the output from the computer
• Plasma display:
– Uses thousands of smart cells (pixels) consisting of
electrodes and neon and xenon gases that are
electrically turned into plasma to emit light
• LCD displays:
– Flat displays that use liquid crystals
• Digital audio player:
– Can store, organize, and play digital music files
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 Output Devices (continued)
• Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs):
– Uses a layer of organic material sandwiched
between two conductors
• Printers and plotters:
– Two main types of printers are laser printers and
inkjet printers
– Plotters are a type of hard-copy output device used
for general design work
• E-books:
– Digital media equivalent of a conventional printed
book
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 Computer System Types
• Special-purpose computers:
– Used for limited applications by military and scientific
research groups such as the CIA and NASA
NSA-time-shifting-UTAH data center gathering
signals for analysis in the future
• General-purpose computers:
– Used for a wide variety of applications

33
 Multiple-User Computer Systems
• Server:
– Used by many users to perform a specific task, such
as running network or Internet applications
• Scalability:
– The ability to increase the processing capability of a
computer system so that it can handle more users,
more data, or more transactions
• Blade server:
– Houses many computer motherboards

38
 Multiple-User Computer Systems
(continued)
• Mainframe computer:
– Large, powerful computer shared by dozens or even
hundreds of concurrent users connected to the
machine over a network
• Supercomputers:
– The most powerful computers with the fastest
processing speed and highest performance

39
 Green Computing
• Concerned with the:
– Efficient and environmentally responsible design,
manufacture, operation, and disposal of IS-related
products
• Goals:
– Reduce the use of hazardous material
– Enable companies to lower their power-related costs

– Enable the safe disposal or recycling of some

40
 Chapter 2

Information
Systems in
Organizations
Why Learn About Information Systems
in Organizations?
• Organizations of all types use information systems
to cut costs and increase profits
• Although your career might be different from your
classmates’:
– You will almost certainly work with computers and
information systems

5
 Organizations and Information
Systems
• Organization:
– Formal collection of people and other resources
established to accomplish a set of goals
– A system
– Constantly uses money, people, materials, machines
and other equipment, data, information, and
decisions

6
 Organizations and Information
Systems (continued)
• Value chain:
– Series (chain) of activities that includes inbound
logistics and warehouse and storage
• Supply chain management (SCM)
– Determines:
• What supplies are required for value chain
• What quantities are needed to meet customer demand
• How supplies should be processed into finished goods
and services
• How shipment of supplies and products to customers
should be scheduled, monitored, and controlled
7
 Organizations and Information
Systems (continued)
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
programs:
– Help companies manage all aspects of customer
encounters
– Can get customer feedback to help design new
products and services

8
 Organizational Structures
• Organizational structure:
– Organizational subunits and the way they relate to
the overall organization
• Types of organizational structures:
– Traditional
– Project
– Team
– Virtual

9
 Organizational Structures (continued)
• Traditional organizational structure:
– Hierarchy of decision making and authority flows:
• From the strategic management at the top down to
operational management and nonmanagement
employees
– Flat organizational structure:
• Empowers employees at lower levels
– Empowerment:
• Gives employees and their managers more
responsibility and authority to make decisions

10
Organizational Structures (continued)

11
 Organizational Structures (continued)
• Project and team organizational structures:
– Project organizational structure:
• Centered on major products or services
• Many project teams are temporary
– Team organizational structure:
• Centered on work teams or groups
• Team can be temporary or permanent, depending on
tasks

12
 Organizational Structures (continued)
• Virtual organizational structure and collaborative
work:
– Virtual organizational structure:
• Uses individuals, groups, or complete business units
in geographically dispersed areas
• Can reduce costs for an organization
– Allows collaborative work:
• Managers and employees can effectively work in
groups, even those composed of members from
around the world.

13
 Organizational Culture and Change
• Culture:
– Set of major understandings and assumptions
shared by a group
• Organizational culture:
– Major understandings and assumptions
– Influences information systems
• Organizational change:
– How organizations plan for, implement, and handle
change

14
 Organizational Culture and Change
(continued)
• Change model:
– Represents change theories by identifying phases of
change and the best way to implement them
• Unfreezing:
– Ceasing old habits and creating a climate that is
receptive to change
• Moving:
– Learning new work methods, behaviors, and
systems

15
 Organizational Culture and Change
(continued)
• Refreezing:
– Involves reinforcing changes to make the new
process second nature, accepted, and part of the job
• Organizational learning:
– The adaptations to new conditions or adjustments
based on experience and ideas over time
– Very difficult to make work smoothly

16
 Reengineering and Continuous
Improvement
• Reengineering:
– Process redesign
– Radical redesign of business processes,
organizational structures, information systems, and
values of the organization to achieve a breakthrough
in business results
• Continuous improvement:
– Constantly seeking ways to improve business
processes and add value to products and services

17
 User Satisfaction and Technology
Acceptance
• Technology acceptance model (TAM):
– Specifies the factors that can lead to better attitudes
about the information system
• Technology diffusion:
– Measure of how widely technology is spread
throughout an organization
• Technology infusion:
– Extent to which technology permeates a department

18
 Quality
• Ability of a product or service to meet or exceed
customer expectations
• Techniques used to ensure quality:
– Total quality management
– Six Sigma

19
Outsourcing, On-Demand Computing,
and Downsizing
• Outsourcing:
– Contracting with outside professional services
• On-demand computing:
– Also called on-demand business or utility computing
– Rapidly responding to the organization’s flow of work
as the need for computer resources varies
• Downsizing:
– Reducing number of employees to cut costs

21
 Competitive Advantage
• Significant and (ideally) long-term benefit to a
company over its competition
• Can result in higher-quality products, better
customer service, and lower costs

22
 Factors That Lead Firms to Seek
Competitive Advantage
• The five forces model:
– Rivalry among existing competitors
– Threat of new entrants
– Threat of substitute products and services
– The bargaining power of buyers
– The bargaining power of suppliers

23
 Factors That Lead Firms to Seek
Competitive Advantage (continued)
• Rivalry among existing competitors:
– Industries with stronger rivalries tend to have more
firms seeking competitive advantage
• Threat of new entrants:
– Threat appears when:
• Entry and exit costs to an industry are low
• Technology needed to start and maintain a business
is commonly available

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 Factors That Lead Firms to Seek
Competitive Advantage (continued)
• Threat of substitute products and services:
– The more consumers can obtain similar products
and services that satisfy their needs, the more likely
firms are to try to establish competitive advantage
• Bargaining power of customers and suppliers:
– When customers have a lot of bargaining power,
companies increase their competitive advantage to
retain their customers

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