Information Systems

 Why Do People Need Information?

 Individuals - Entertainment and enlightenment

 Businesses - Decision making, problem solving and

control
Why Learn About Information Systems?

 Information systems used in most professions

 Sales reps
 Managers
 Corporate lawyers
 Indispensable for achieving career goals
 Introduction

 Information system (IS)

 A set of interrelated components that collect,
manipulate, and disseminate data and
information, and provide feedback to meet an
objective
 Examples: ATMs, airline reservation systems,
course reservation systems
 Environment

Organization

Input Processing Output

Feedback
External Environment

People Organization

Information
System

Technology
 Feedback
 Output that is used to make changes to input or processing
activities
 Forecasting
 A proactive approach to feedback
 Use for estimating future sales or inventory needs
 Data, Information,
and Systems
 Data vs. Information

 Data
 A “given,” or fact; a number, a statement, or a picture
 Represents something in the real world
 The raw materials in the production of information

 Information
 Data that have meaning within a context
 Data in relationships
 Data after manipulation
Data Transformation Information
 What is information?

 Relevant data is information

 Processed data is information
 List of personal telephone numbers picked up from the entire
directory or
 the specific downloaded files is information
 Information is a subset of data

Data Information
 Information Systems
1. MIS : Management Information System

Information
Data Reports
System

2. DSS: Decision Support System

1
2
Information 3 Decision
Problem System 4
Generate
5 Alternatives
6
 M.I.S.

 Management Information System:

 MIS refers to a class of software that provides
managers with tools for organizing and
evaluating their department.
Understanding Information Technology
Ideas

Data
Intelligence

Knowledge Information

Data -Information Cycle

 Data, Information,
and Systems
Information is one of an organization’s most valuable
resources
Information is different from data
Information has value in Decision making
Data Manipulation

 Example: customer survey

 Reading through data collected from a customer survey with
questions in various categories would be time-consuming and not
very helpful.
 When manipulated, the surveys may provide useful information.
 Information: What is information?
A definition: Information is data that has been
processed into a form that is meaningful to the
recipient (USER) and is of real or perceived value
in current or prospective actions or decisions.
 Processed data
 meaningful
 perceived value
 motivating action
 HAS SURPRISE VALUE
 HAS NEWS VALUE
 Presented facts
 active (it enables doing)
 business based (Domain based)
 transformed form data
 accurate,
 complete,
 economical,
 flexible,
 reliable,
 relevant,
 simple,
 timely,
 verifiable,
 accessible,
 secure
INFORMATION : A QUALITY PRODUCT

utility , satisfaction, error & bias

1. utility has form, time, the access & possession facets.

Improving utility means increasing cost.
2. common key for measuring quality could be satisfaction of
decision maker.
3. error creep due to
1. incorrect data measurement.
2. incorrect collection method
3. improper data processing procedure
4. loss of data/ incomplete data
5. poor data validation & control systems
4. personal bias, organization bias & management bias may be
reflected in the entire process of collection processing, &
communicating inferencing.
 CLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION
 ACTION V/S NO ACTION INFORMATION
e.g out of stock – stock ledger
 RECURRING V/S NON RECURRING INFORMATION
e.g. monthly sales, trial balance- financial analysis, market research
 INTERNAL V/S EXTERNAL INFORMATION
Magazines- government reports
ACTION INFORMATION, RECURRING INFORMATION,
INTERNAL INFORMATION CONTIRBUTE TO MIS
Stylized Structure of Organizations

Executive
(E)

Research and
Management
(R & M)

Operation
(O)
Organization and Nature of Information
Unstructured External Low Volume

R&M

Structured Internal High Volume

Flow of Information (Ideal)

R &M

O
Flow of Information (Reality)

R&M

O
 Types of Information Systems
Type of information system System’s purpose

Transaction processing Collects and stores data from routine transactions

system
TPS
Management information Converts data from a TPS into information for
system planning, controlling, and managing an organization
MIS
Decision support system Supports managerial decision making by providing
DSS models for processing and analyzing data

Executive information system Provides senior management with information

EIS necessary to monitor organizational performance,
and develop and implement strategies.
On-line analytical processing Presents a multidimensional, logical view of data to
OLAP the analyst with no requirements as to how the
data are stored.
Data mining Uses statistical analysis and artificial intelligence
techniques to identify hidden relationships in data.
Information System Applications

Executive information system

Executive (E)
Decision support system
Research and Data mining
Management (R & M)
Management information system

Operation (O) On-line analytical processing (OLAP)

Transaction processing system (TPS)
 CLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION
BASED ON APPLICATION

PLANNING INFORMATION- time std, operational std,

design std
CONTROL INFORMATION- informed through feedback
it include a decision or action leading to control.
 KNOWLEDGE INFORMATION- power/ strength to
organization
Data, Information, and Knowledge

 Data: raw facts

 Information: collection of facts organized in such a way

that they have value beyond the facts themselves

 Knowledge: awareness and understanding of a set of

information and ways that information can be made
useful to support a specific task or reach a decision
 Data, Information,
and Systems
 Generating Information
 Computer-based ISs take data as raw material, process it, and
produce information as output.

Figure 1.1 Input-process-output

 Data, Information,
and Systems
 Information in Context

Figure 1.2 Characteristics of useful information

 The Value of Information

 Value of information is directly linked to how it helps decision

makers achieve their organization’s goals
 For example, value of information might be measured in:
 Time required to make a decision
 Increased profits to company
 Data, Information,
and Systems
 What Is a System?
 System: A set of components that work together to achieve a
common goal

 Subsystem: One part of a system where the products of more

than one system are combined to reach an ultimate goal

 Closed system: Stand-alone system that has no contact with other

systems

 Open system: System that interfaces with other systems

System
 System Concepts

 System
 A set of elements or components that interact to accomplish goals
 Components of a system
 Input
 Processing
 Output
 Feedback
 System Performance and Standards

 Efficiency: measure of what is produced divided by what is

consumed

 Effectiveness: extent to which system attains its goals

 System performance standard: a specific objective of the system

 Data, Information,
and Systems

Figure 1.3 Several subsystems make up this corporate accounting

system.
 Data, Information,
and Systems
 Information and Managers

 Systems thinking
 Creates a framework for problem solving and decision
making.
 Keeps managers focused on overall goals and operations of
business.
 Manual and Computerized
Information Systems
 An information system can be:
 Manual
 Computerized
 Data, Information,
and Systems

Figure 1.5 Qualities of humans and computers that contribute to synergy

 Computer-Based Information
Systems
 Computer-based information system (CBIS)
 A single set of hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures that are configured
to collect, manipulate, store, and process data into information
 The CBIS Model
Computer-based
Information System
(CBIS)

Problem Accounting
Information System

Information Management
Decisions Information System

Decision Support
Systems

Problem The Virtual

Solution Office

Knowledge-based
Systems
 Computer-Based Information
Systems (continued)

Figure 1.6: The Components of a Computer-Based Information System

 Data, Information,
and Systems

Figure 1.6 Components of an information system

 Data, Information,
and Systems
 The Four Stages of Data Processing

 Input: Data is collected and entered into computer.

 Data processing: Data is manipulated into information using

mathematical, statistical, and other tools.

 Output: Information is displayed or presented.

 Storage: Data and information are maintained for later use.

 Why Study IS?

 Information Systems Careers

 Systems analyst, specialist in enterprise resource planning (ERP),
database administrator, telecommunications specialist, consulting, etc.

 Knowledge Workers
 Managers and non-managers
 Employers seek computer-literate professionals who know how to use
information technology.

 Computer Literacy Replacing Traditional Literacy

 Key to full participation in western society
 Ethical and Societal Issues
The Not-So-Bright Side
 Consumer Privacy
 Organizations collect (and sometimes sell) huge amounts of
data on individuals.

 Employee Privacy
 IT supports remote monitoring of employees, violating privacy
and creating stress.
 Ethical and Societal Issues
The Not-So-Bright Side

 Freedom of Speech
 IT increases opportunities for pornography, hate speech, intellectual
property crime, an d other intrusions; prevention may abridge free
speech.

 IT Professionalism
 No mandatory or enforced code of ethics for IT professionals--unlike
other professions.

 Social Inequality
 Less than 20% of the world’s population have ever used a PC; less than
3% have Internet access.