Business Processes and Types of Info Systems Flashcards
What is the basic operation of a business?
To convert resources into products and services
What is the business process?
the collection of activities required to produce a product or service (how work is organized or coordinated)
What is a business?
collection of business functions/processes
What is a business function?
a collection of business processes
What are the 4 major functions of an organization?
Manufacturing and production
Sales and marketing
Finance and accounting
HR
What is the manufacturing and production department concerned with?
Producing and delivering products and services
What is the sales and marketing department concerned with?
Selling the products and services
What is the finance and accounting department concerned with?
Managing the financial assets and records
What is the HR department concerned with?
attracting, developing and maintaining the labour force
What is an example of a business process that runs across several business functions?
Order fulfillment
What are the 2 aspects of IS in the business process?
Technical (can we?)
Behavioural (should we?)
What are 4 considerations of the technical aspect of IS in the business process?
Understand how the existing business process works
Which parts of the business process can be automated
Can we modify the process to enable more automation
What changes need to be made
What are 2 considerations of the behavioral aspect of IS in the business process?
What is the impact on people in the org
what is the impact on the orgs structure and culture
What is the goal of IS?
to enhance business processes through automation
What are the 3 steps in creating business intelligence?
- Collect data
- Extract information to support decision making
- Create business intelligence
What are the 4 major business functions from which business intelligence can be derived?
Sales and marketing
Finance and Accounting
HR
Manufacturing and production
What are the 3 levels of management?
Senior
Middle
Operational
What is each level of management concerned with?
Senior - long range strategic decisions and financial success
Middle - implementing the plans of senior management
Operational - monitoring the day-to-day activities
What level of management would be concerned with order processing?
Operational management
What level of management would be concerned with pricing analysis?
Middle management
What level of management is concerned with sales trend forecasting?
Senior management
What are the 4 information systems for management and which management level do they concern?
Executive support system (ESS) - senior management
Decision support system (DSS) - middle management
Management information system (MIS) - middle management
Transaction processing system (TPS) - operational management
What does ESS support?
ad-hoc decisions requiring judgement, evaluation and insight
What does DSS support?
ad-hoc decisions
What is an ad-hoc decision?
a non-routine decision
What does MIS provide?
routine reports on department’s current performance
What does TPS do?
automates the business process
What are 3 characteristics of an ESS?
Entire company view
Specialized version of DSS
Minute-to-minute view of a firm’s financial performance as measured by working capital, AR, AP, cash flow, and inventory
What are 2 characteristics of a DSS?
Uses external information as well as info from TPS and MIS
More analytical capabilities
What are 3 characteristics of an MIS?
Routine reports: contain the same type of info each time their produced (ex. credit card statements)
Based on and summarizes the data from TPS
Little analytic capability (sales and marketing summaries, actual vs predicted sales, sales by region, sales by product line)
What are 2 characteristics of a TPS?
Routine transactions necessary to conduct day-to-day business (payroll, inventory, PO, packing lists, invoice payment, order fulfillment, sales orders)
Allows frontline workers and managers to monitor the status of operations and relations with the external environment
What is the IS system for sales and marketing?
Customer relationship management system (CRM)
What is the IS for manufacturing and production?
Supply chain management system (SCM)
What is the IS for finance and accounting?
Accounting information system (AIS)
What is the IS for HR?
HR management system (HRMS)
What parts of sales and marketing can be automated?
i. order processing
ii. order fulfillment
iii. order inquiry
iv. advertising and promotion
What data can be collected from sales and marketing?
i. individual orders: who, when, where, fulfillment date
ii. customer data: name, contact info, purchases, returns
What information can be collected from sales and marketing?
i. Purchase habits: who likes what, when and where sales trends occur, efficiency of fulfillment, return rates
ii. Promotion strategy
iii. Production schedule
iv. Inventory level
What does POS system do?
Partially automates in-store checkout process, provides sales-related and customer-related information
What parts of manufacturing and production can be automated?
i. Making of individual parts
ii. Assembling
iii. Testing
iv. Stocking and shelving
What data can be collected from manufacturing and production?
i. Inventory of inputs and outputs
ii. When, where, how many
iii. If there were any issues in order fulfillment
What information can be collected from manufacturing and production?
i. Efficiency of production process
ii. Defective rate
iii. Production and schedule status
What parts of finanace and accounting can be automated?
Everything to do with money
What data can be collected from finance and accounting?
i. Inventory
ii. Purchase order: records of inventory orders
iii. AP
iv. Sales order: records of customers orders
v. Billing: invoices
vi. AR
vii. Cash book: collection of payments made with cash
viii. Tax info
ix. Sales reports
x. Payroll
What information can be collected from finanace and accounting?
i. Match purchase order, goods received and invoice paid
ii. Match customer order, invoice and receive payment
iii. Cash flow/financial status of the firm
What parts of HR can be automated?
i. Automated deposits
ii. Tax forms
iii. Pay slips
What data can be collected from HR?
i. Recruiting, hiring, reassignment
ii. Scheduling
iii. Payroll
iv. Time, attendance, absence and leave management
v. Performance appraisal
vi. Benefits administration
vii. Grievance handling
viii. Learning management
What information can be collected from HR?
i. Employee turnover
ii. Absenteeism
iii. Cost of overtime/acquisition
iv. Trouble filling certain positions
