Gennaro Zingone

Home Work#2

 A business process is a logic related set of activities that define how specific business
tasks are performed. Business processes are the ways in which organizations coordinate
work activities, information, and knowledge to produce their products or services.
 Information systems automate business processes and make an organization more
efficient. Data and information are available to a wider range of decision makers more
quickly when information systems are used to change the flow of information. Tasks can
be performed simultaneously which speeds up the completion of processes.
 Transaction processing systems are computerized systems that perform and record daily
routine transactions necessary in conducting business. The purpose of systems at this
level is to answer questions and to track the flow of transactions through the
organization. At the operational level, tasks, resources, and goals are predefined and
highly structured. Managers need TPS to monitor the status of internal and external. TPS
are major producers of information for other types of systems. TPS are central to a
business that TPS failure for a few hours can lead to a firm’s demise.
 MIS differs from TPS in that MIS deals with summarized and compressed data from the
TPS. While MIS have an internal orientation, DSS will often use data from external
sources, as well as data from TPS and MIS. DSS supports what-if analyses rather than a
long-term structured analysis inherent in MIS systems.
 Decision support systems support nonroutine decision making for managers. DSS
provide analytical models and data analysis tools to support structured and unstructured
decision making activities. DSS use data from TPS, MIS, and external sources, in
condensed form, allowing decision makers to perform analyses. DSS focus on problems
that are unique and rapidly changing. DSS are designed to be user friendly.
 Executive support systems help managers address strategic issues and long term trends,
both in a firm and in an external environment. ESS address nonroutine decisions
requiring judgment, evaluation, and insight because there is no procedure for arriving at
a solution. ESS provides a generalized computing and communications capacity that can
be applied to a changing array of problems.
 Enterprise applications provide an organization with a consolidated view of its
operations using different functions, levels, and business units. Enterprise applications
allow an organization to efficiently exchange information among its functional areas,
business units, suppliers, and customers.
 Enterprise systems are large scale application software packages that support business
processes, information flows, reporting, and data analytics in complex organizations.
The benefit of an enterprise system is that it enables collaboration and efficiency among
the departments in an organization. Supply chain management is the oversight of
materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to
manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. The benefits of supply chain
management are higher efficiency rates, reduce cost effects, raised business profit,
increase cooperation, and lowers process delay.
 Customer relationship management is a term that refers to practices, strategies and
technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data
 throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with
customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth. The benefits of
CRM are improving the relationship with existing customers, finding new prospective
customers, and winning back former customers. Knowledge management systems refer
to any kind of IT system that stores and retrieves knowledge, improves collaboration,
locates knowledge sources, mines repositories for hidden knowledge, captures and uses
knowledge, or in some other way enhances the KM process.
 Intranet and Extranet provide ways to distribute information and store corporate policies,
programs, and data. Both types of nets can be customized by users and provide a single
point of access to information from several different systems. Businesses can connect the
nets to transaction processing systems easily and quickly.
 Collaboration is working with others to achieve shared and explicit goals. It focuses on
task accomplishment and takes place in a business or other organizations. social business
as a business created and designed to address a social problem. They are important for
business due to self-awareness, scale, and creative abrasion.
 The business benefits of collaboration and social business are employee alignment, when
people share and explain their ideas so that is commonly understood. Role focus, each
member performing their role, to their strengths. Stimulate fresh thinking, new minds
bring in different perspective. Encourage innovation, develops the latest ideas is not
afraid to allow people to experiment.
 A supportive culture was defined as internally oriented and reinforced by a flexible
organizational structure, a core belief being that the organization expresses trust in
employees. One of the processes that were streamlined was the accounts payable process
which is responsible for processing all invoice and non-payroll payments.
 Internet based collaboration environments provide online storage space for documents,
team communications, calendars, and audio-visual tools. Email and Instant Messaging
are reliable methods for communicating around the globe. Cell phones and wireless
handhelds give professionals an easy way to talk with one another. Wikis are great tools
for storing and sharing company knowledge and insights. Virtual worlds house online
meetings and training sessions where real world people interact and exchange ideas.
Google sites allow users to quickly create online group web sites that include calendars,
text, spreadsheets, and videos for private, group, or public viewing and editing.
Microsoft SharePoint software makes it possible for employees to share their Office
documents and collaborate on projects using office documents as a foundation.
 The information systems departments are the formal organizational unit responsible for
information technology services. The information systems department is responsible for
maintaining the hardware, software, data storage, and networks that comprise the firm’s
IT infrastructure.
 Programmers are trained technical specialists who write the software for computers.
Systems analyst’s job is to translate business problems and requirements into
information requirements and systems. Information systems managers lead teams of
programmers and analysts, project managers, physical facility managers,
telecommunications mangers, or database specialists. Chief information officer is a
senior manager who oversees the use of information technology in the firm. Chief
security officer is responsible for information systems security in the firm. Chief
knowledge officer helps design programs and systems to find new sources of knowledge.