Ch 1 - IS & People Flashcards
What is operations management?
The design, operation, and improvement of the systems and processes the organization uses to deliver its goods and services
What are the 6 primary roles of Information Systems?
- Managing operations
- Supporting customer interactions
- Making decisions
- Collaborating on teams
- Gaining competitive advantage
- Improving individual productivity
Managing operations examples:
Ex:
A.
Manufacturers need systems to manage assembly lines, product quality, production schedules, and just-in-time supply deliveries
B. Colleges need systems to manage student academic records, class scheduling, faculty assignment, and student financial aid
C.
Transportation companies rely on information systems equipped with GPS to track their fleets, optimize routes, and conserve has
D.
Companies that buy products from suppliers around the globe need real-time updates on their global supply chains to manage inventories and reduce cost
Used to build customer relationships, enhance loyalty, and manage interactions with customers
Customer relationship management system
CRM
Supporting customer interactions
Examples:
Ex:
A.
A brick-and-mortar retail store needs a sales system that [identifies] each product in the shopper’s basket, [tallies] the total, [feeds] the data to the inventory system, and [accepts] various kinds of payment.
B.
A web application offers many opportunities to build stronger relationships and also better understand the motives and desires of each person who visits.
The information managers use to make decisions, drawn from the company’s own information systems or external sources
Business intelligence
Draws on the billions of pieces of data that can be aggregated to reveal important trends and patterns
Data-driven decision making
Online communities of people who create profiles for themselves, form ties with others with whom they share interests, and make new connections on those ties
Social networking sites
Making decisions examples:
Ex:
A.
The sales system will show how much a restaurant makes in the last hour of business, and that data will help the manager make a good decision about closing early
B.
That restaurant manager might combine customer records with publicly available information about income levels by zip code to help make a smart decision about where to open another branch
Collaborating on teams examples:
Ex:
A.
In online college courses, debates about whether students should turn on their webcams during virtual class sessions are common
B.
Research analysts predict 50% of large companies will depend heavily on internal social networks for their employees by 2016
(For many, will be as important as email is now)
Anything that gives a firm a lead over its rivals
-it can be gained through the development and application of innovative information systems
Competitive advantage
Individual facts or pieces of information
Data
Data or facts that are assembled and analyzed to add meaning and usefulness
Information
Competitive advantage examples:
Ex:
Apple’s iPhone got a lead on smartphone competitors with Siri.
Improving individual productivity examples:
Ex:
A.
You can automatically create and properly format your term paper references by integrating a bibliographical manager such as EndNote or RefNote
-online libraries and reference databases offer links to export the citation in any format, so typing is unnecessary
B.
Time management experts advise you to process your email inbox to zero, flagging important messages and rerouting others by using automated filtering tools
**Stop devoting time to tasks technology can do for you
Data vs Information example:
Ex:
One piece of a Data:
A patient’s single high-temperature reading at a 24 hr walk-in clinic in Maryland
Combining it with data from all patients entering clinics that week, patterns may warn of a flu outbreak or even a major epidemic
-The CDC draws on this type of data to map the spread of diseases and protect the public
How can we make data/information more useful and meaningful ?
By refining, analyzing, and combing information.
-This adds to our ability to use it to make decisions and take action
The path from
Data»_space;> Information»_space;> Knowledge
is a continuum, which means: ________?
No clear diving line separates these categories
-they blend together and form a continuum as more meaningfulness and usefulness are created through skillful analysis and human insight
Examples of the continuum from
Data»_space;> Information»_space;> Knowledge
are:
Ex: A. DATA --------------- CWOT INFORMATION -- Complete Waste of Time KNOWLEDGE --- May be interpreted as an insult
B.
DATA ————— GPS coordinates
INFORMATION – Map showing location w/ a push pin
KNOWLEDGE — Location of Taj Mahal in India
C.
DATA————–010100110100111101010011
INFORMATION— Binary code for SOS
KNOWLEDGE—- HELP!!!
What are 3 characteristics that make information valuable?
Timeliness
Accuracy
Completeness
Timeliness matters a great deal in some settings.
Give an example:
Ex:
People pay monthly fees to financial services (to get up-to-the minute stock prices, rather than the delayed price reports shown on free stock tickers you can add on your browser)
- Riswan Khalfan of TD Securities claims his system can handle > 5 million pieces of data per second, far more than other banks
- With timely up-to-date trading data, Khalfan’s systems can make quicker decisions
Accuracy may seem like an obvious feature of valuable info, but there actually different degrees.
Give an example:
The more accurate you want information to be, the longer it may take to obtain
(which makes extreme accuracy a trade-off to timeliness)
Ex:
A CEO who wants to know how much competitors charge for a rival product
- He may wait too long for staff to scour all distribution channels and assemble the data
- Therefore an approximate answer is more valuable
Completeness adds value
(particularly as a means to avoid bias or spin)
Give an example:
Ex:
A marketing survey that polls customers as they enter a store will completely miss those who shop online
- This survey would not be complete without taking the time to assess the interests of all customers
- Therefore striving for complete information may also introduce delays and affect timeliness
An information system brings together 4 critical components to collect, process, manage, analyze, and distribute information.
What are the 4 components of an IS?
- People
- Technology
- Processes
- Data
The human element plays a crucial role in the success or failure of most information systems.
List some of the roles that ‘People’ play in IS:
Visionaries
Developers
Managers
Analysts Liaisons Users Customers Contributors Roadblocks
The content contributed to a system by its users
User-generated content (UGC)
Ex: eBay YouTube Wikipedia Twitter Facebook Craigslist
The second generation of web development that facilitates far more interactivity, end-user contributions, collaboration, and information sharing compared to earlier models
Web 2.0
Ex:
Social networking
Virtual meetings
Hardware, software, and telecommunications that comprise the technology component of information systems
Information technology (IT)
the term is often used more broadly to refer to information systems
The broad collection of information processing and communications technologies
-emphasizes that telecommunication technology is a significant feature of IS
Information and communications technology
ICT
Anything that is capable of collecting, processing, storing, or displaying electronic data is potentially part of IT (or an IS)
What are some examples?
Ex:
A. Desktop computers Laptops Netbooks Tablets Cell phones Navigation devices Digital cameras Scanners Sensors
B.
The transponder chip on your car’s windshield that allows electronic toll collection.
(The battery-powered device sends a signal to the tollbooth and drivers don’t even need to slow down)
-EZ Pass
Software can range from the code needed to boot up a computer – to programs with artificial intelligence and their own learning capabilities.
How did the Internet and WWW unleash an explosion of software that transformed businesses around the world?
Organizations can create applications that their partners, suppliers, and customers can access anywhere on the planet.
(People can instantly connect now)
What is the main roles of telecommunications?
To: 1. move electronic signals from place to place 2. route traffic 3. add features to: A. improve transmission speeds B. eliminate noise C. increase security D. analyze traffic patterns
-Can be wireless or wired
Why do people favor wireless transmission of internet even though speed still lags?
Wireless transmission:
-Flexibility
-Reduced cost
-More likely to stay up and
running during a storm
Technology is a major driver of “Web 3.0”
// there are hundreds of millions of [sensors] embedded in vehicles, doorways, livestock, warehouse shelves, ocean buoys, etc... // all are connected to the net and let us see the power of "the Internet of things"
How?
Sensors pick up on:
- Temperature
- Geographic location
- Motion
- Wind speed
- Pollution indicators
- Heart rate
• When combined with traditional data sources and UGC, these immense collections are known as “big data”
A set of activities designed to achieve a task
-Why are these implemented?
Business process
-To support, streamline, and sometimes eliminate business processes
♻️Processes
Countless [decisions] need to be made about:
- how each process should operate
- rules it follows
- input & output info.
Give an example:
Ex:
– Should the system log every change an employee makes to the data?
– Will the system require supervisors to electronically approve all purchases or some?
- What decisions can the system make on its own based on incoming data and rules?
- —What decisions require human consent?
✅♻️Process improvements
Example:
Organizations trying to design systems that reproduce what humans can already do (reduce human work)
- A college registration office has a kid there who works to send detailed letters to people
- – A new feature is designed to automatically send letters and their reason
What are the pros and cons?
What radical changes could occur?
Pros:
-Staff would be pleased with new efficiency
Cons:
-Students might think letters are a bit mechanical
Radical changes:
- If we moved everything to online registrations
- – Could eliminate the process entirely
- – (System won’t allow student to join the class at all if they are ineligible, eliminating the need to send letters at all)
Focuses on designing, optimizing, and streamlining business processes throughout the organization
Business process management (BPM)
The processes by which electronic data that might be used as legal evidence are requested, secured, and searched
E-discovery
♻️Processes
-Take into account the human element
Ex:
Analysts look at processes from many different angles to:
- Weigh input from all stakeholders
- Suggest innovative approaches
- Propose tweaks at every step
Incoming data is converted to digital format (regardless of its original form).
This conversion allows it to be:
- integrated in information systems
- read by computer programs
- shared across systems
Ex: Letters Numbers Colors Money Musical notes
The study of information systems
How people, technology, processes, and data work together
Management information systems (MIS)
-also used to describe a special type of IS that supports tactical decision making at the managerial level
Major research topics in IS include:
- Development of information systems
- IT in organizations
- IT and individuals
- IT and collaboration in groups
- IT and markets
Give an example of each:
Sample Research Questions:
1a. What are the best ways to develop new software?
1b. How should end-users be involved in the development process?
2a. How should managers introduce change when new systems are implemented?
2b. What kinds of IT policies about “acceptable use” work best in different organizations?
3a. How should IT develop systems for the disabled?
3b. What kinds of interfaces are easiest for people to use?
4a. Why do virtual teams succeed or fail?
4b. How can managers use social networking to promote innovation?
5a. How does the Internet affect the real estate business?
5b. How should businesses promote online sales?
The person who heads the department responsible for managing and maintaining information systems
-ensures that they support the organization’s goals
Chief information officer (CIO)
Provides services to internal and external customers on technology issues.
- answers the phone or email and troubleshoots problems
- installs and maintains desktop equipment
Help desk
Installs, manages, and updates servers
Systems Administration
Maintains the environmentally controlled areas in which servers and communications equipment are located.
-handles backups and archiving
Operations
Develops, installs, maintains, and oversees the organization’s mission-critical software applications
Enterprise Systems and Applications
Installs and manages communications technologies and networks
(Including voice, cell phones, and wireless networks)
Telecommunications and Network Services
Oversees security, ensuring that confidential information is protected from hackers, disasters, accidents, and rogue employees
Chief Information Security Officer
Manages privacy issues and helps shape policy about how [confidential data] about customers, citizens, employees, patients, and others are handled and protected
Chief Privacy Officer
More ‘technical’ than the CIO
-oversees technology solutions and innovative uses
Chief Technology Officer
Manages efforts to improve the organization’s ability to capture, nurture, and disseminate knowledge and expertise
Chief Knowledge Officer
Responsible for identifying, assessing, and addressing threats from unforeseen circumstances that can lead to crisis situations
Crisis management teams