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Case Analysis 602
Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
Credit cards have been very big business for several decades. The cards have
made the life easier for many people because they do not need to carry large amount of
cash for most purchases. However, the credit card industry is intensely competitive,
highly fragmented, and growing at the rate of 3 to 4 percent. Many college students are
living on the verge of a financial crisis. For this purpose many banks are interested to
consider this assertion by examining college students’ credit card use behavior and
attitudes. A concurrent purpose was to test the factors associated with students’ attitude
toward credit cards. College students’ use of credit cards has recently received increased
visibility throughout the media concluded that in addition to credit problems many
students do not have a written budget, and of those who do have a budget few young
people actually use it. They determined that university students “are vulnerable to
financial crisis”. Since the interest goes to the issuer of credit card bank so it makes credit
card a profitable business for the issuing bank.
The staggering number of credit cards in circulation exemplifies this crisis, as
does the number of cards carried by the average student. Currently, there are 1.3 billion
credit cards in circulation, which, when averaged, equals about 12 cards per household in
America. The growth of credit cards on college campus has tended to minor the credit
saturation found in the general public. More than a decade ago it was reported on college
students’ use of consumer credit. It was during this period that the banking industry
began permeating the student credit card market in the late 1980’s . In 1985-86 over half
of all college students had bank credit cards. This figure has been on the rise as some
70% of all undergraduates at four-year colleges have at least one credit card today.
The increased number and type of credit cards on university campuses has seen an
explosive level of growth in the past decade, with most credit card companies targeting
college students. What remains still unanswered is what effect credit card circulation
among college students has had on the financial attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes of
young generation. To examine college students’ credit card use behavior and identify the
factors associated with credit attitudes by the students. This research also identifies the
factors related to college students’ attitudes toward credit cards. Attitude toward credit
was assumed to be explained with demographic characteristics, socioeconomic
characteristics, background factors, and psychological factors.
The credit card market is emerging at a rapid velocity in India. The RBI’s latest
monthly report reveals that approximately, one-fifth of the total retail electronic payments
is being conceded through credit cards, whereas, debit cards’ share is just 4%. The Metro
cities like Delhi and Mumbai are highly penetrated by credit cards. The credit card
issuers found excellent business prospects in Kolkata, Bangalore, and Hyderabad as well
because of their IT/ITeS groups. With increase in the number of commercial activities
and the growing swanky malls in smaller cities give bankers another target for their credit
card market.
RBI’s latest monetary policy review shows concerns about credit card’s continued
high growth and it has increased provisioning to 2% for outstanding credit card
receivables to slam the brakes. As per records, credit card payments totaled Rs.25,400
crore during April-December 2006, whereas during the corresponding period in 2005-06,
it was approx. Rs.22,000 crore. Central Bank’s monthly report shows Rs.33,886 crore of
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Case Analysis 602
total credit card payment during the fiscal year 2005-06 as compared to Rs.25,686 crore
in 2004-05 and Rs.17,663 crore in 2003-04. During the first eight months of 2006-07,
debit card payments was placed at Rs.5,177 crore, in contrast to Rs.5,897 crore during
2005-06, Rs.5,361 crore in 2004-05 and Rs.4,872 crore in 2003-04. In general, the
electronic payment system is gaining currency at a retail level. Rs.1,45,057 crore has
been paid using electronic means during April-November 2006.
In a study it was discovered that credit card possession and use is most likely
influenced by four factors: (a) demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, marital
status); (b) socioeconomic factors (e.g., income, education, and other indices of
socioeconomic status); (c) background characteristics (e.g., life events, childhood
experiences); and (d) psychological characteristics (e.g., locus of control, self-esteem,
materialism). A total of five demographic characteristics were examined: Age, gender,
ethnic/racial background, marital status, and birth order. Age was measured at the
interval level and considered to be a continuous variable. Income, housing situation,
employment status, and education were included as socioeconomic factors.
Questions.
1. What role Management Information System can play for any credit card issuing
bank to increase its share in the market?
2. Give a list of subsystems that you would recommend be included in a master plan
for MIS by the bank.
3. What specific information systems might you design for the primary use of the
bank?
4. In your opinion does the information about the behavior and attitude of the
possessing credit card by the students in India may help the banks to gain more
customers?
5. Draw a physical data flow diagram to depict the MIS in the above scenario.
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Case Analysis 602

Premier Automotive Services Limited(PAS)

The Premier Automotive Services Limited (PAS) provides services to various
companies in Pune for maintaining the transport fleet run by the companies, for their use.
Beside this, it runs petrol pumps and spare parts shop too. The vehicle maintained by the
Premier Automotive Services are buses , trucks, and jeeps. The total strength of the
Premier Automotive Services is around 300 vehicles. The services charged are of two
types- fixed monthly for the routine maintenance and variable maintenance for other
services like breakdown repairs, replacements, petrol or diesel consumed, etc. The
company seeking the services from the PAS are satisfied if the vehicles are kept in good
condition and down time is 2% of 25 days in a month.
The Premier Automotive Services finds difficulty in maintaining this service level
even though a large staff and sufficient inventory of spare parts are available. The
probability of the company is going down due to the low quality of service rendered to
the customers. The revenue earning departments of the Premier Automotive Services are
the petrol pumps, the spare parts shop, the garages and the paint shops.
The Premier automotive services are supposed to keep the schedule of the various
services, which are required for the vehicle to be in good condition. This calls upon the
replacements of the critical spares, testing of various systems, and regular servicing, etc.
It is observed that the vehicles are not called regularly and are not scheduled for such
services properly. It is the customer who complains or initiates a job and then the same is
carried out.
The companies for moving their employees use the buses. The buses are, therefore, to be
kept in the good shapes so that no complaint is received. The trucks are used for a long
distance delivery of finished goods. The jeeps are used for the local transport
requirements. Since, all the vehicles are used for critical transport needs their availability
become very important. The turn around cycle time of the vehicles, once received in the
Premier Automotive Services, is very important.
Each vehicle needs to be treated as one servicing unit, for its maintenance and
planning. The planning caters for the general up-keep, the periodical replacements, based
on some parameters, either the period or kilometer run, and the expected breakdown. In
each of the vehicles the items like tyres, batteries, dynamo and fan belt, etc. are required
to be replaced on such a predetermined parameters. In order to service a vehicle, the PAS
maintains a card for each of the vehicle, where the logic information is maintained. The
information is like a model, the type, the owner and his residential or official address and
so on. In addition to this, there is a general list of the tasks such as the base servicing,
cleaning topping, etc., which are given for each of the vehicles within the stipulated
period. It also maintains the history of the services carried out on the vehicle for future
planning.
The owner of the vehicle requires yearly report on the task carried out, the
expenses incurred and the forecast of the planned expenses based on the service required
in the following year. The general procedure followed by the PAS, for offering various
services, is as follows:
Each vehicle is scheduled for a show up every month for planning of the service
tasks. When the vehicle arrive in the PAS, the service manager takes the card of the
vehicle, checks the kilometers run and decide the replacement of the various spare parts,
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Case Analysis 602
the activities like tuning, overhauling, painting and the basic servicing. The time for the
service is estimated and the driver is given a service order card, with the date for leaving
the vehicle in the garage. The service order card also scheduled the activities in the
garage in its order, so that each Service center knows where the vehicle is to go next for
it’s servicing.
At each of the service center, a delivery note is written with the service order
number mentioning the tasks carried out in terms of the skilled hours and replacement
made. If the recommended replacements are not made for non-availability of spare parts
it is recorded for the making up of the next scheduled turn. If the replacement is critical,
the vehicle is kept under a hold till the item is made available. Based on the delivery
notes collected from each service center, a consolidated bill is made for the vehicle,
which is handed over to driver for payment.
If the time spend by each vehicle is analyzed, it is observed that 30% of the time
is spend on waiting. Beside, each vehicle is required to visit the service center twice for
completing the task-once for getting the service order and again for actual maintenance
work.
The management of the PAS wants a system, which will provide all the
information so that the arrival of the vehicle can be planned to ensure the availability of
all the garage facilities, spare parts and other services. The PAS would like to maintain
vehicle log book on the computer which will provide such information instantaneously
for planning and control of vehicle servicing.
Questions
1. State the objective of the system.
2. What kind of information is necessary to improve the service level to the
customer?
3. Suggest a network system for data and information processing for the PAS for
improving the service quality and reduce turn around time?
4. Suggest the various outputs, the computer system should provide, so that:
a) The customer is informed; well in advance, about the servicing schedule.
b) The expected expenditure on the vehicle in the year can be budgeted by
the customer.
c) The PAS can plan the inventory of the spares to ensure service with a controlled
inventory.
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Case Analysis 602
Siebel solution for Tata Motors
TATA Motors is India’s foremost, and the only fullyintegrated automobile manufacturer.
Established in 1945 as TATA Engineering & Locomotive Company (TELCO), to
manufacture locomotives and other engineering products, the company is today among
the world’s top 10 producers of commercial vehicles. TATA Motors was also previously
known as TATA Engineering. It is today one of the biggest and most prominent
companies in the TATA group, with an annual revenue of $1.8 billion in 2001-02. Today
TATA motors’ vehicles run in more than 70 countries.
The company’s growing pains
TATA Motors use a manual dealer management system, where every dealer managed
details. With legacy-based systems, the environment produced inconsistent data, making
interpretations difficult and resulting in inefficient planning for capacity and spare parts.
The basic challenge was to provide a Dealer Management System (DMS) solution. All in
all, TATA Motors required a standardised solution that would provide them with:
Increase in sales and profitability by easy management. Improved accuracy of dealer-
captured information. Collaboration between vehicle manufacturers and dealers. A strong
feedback mechanism and interface for communicating with customers.
India’s largest and only fully integrated auto maker, and Siebel Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:
SEBL), a leading provider of business applications software, Tata has deployed Siebel
Automotive, a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, to enhance customer
service, strengthen dealer relationships, and improve operational efficiency and
effectiveness.
According to K. R. Sreenivasan, head, CRM and dealer management system, Tata
Motors, “Within the first year of implementing the Siebel’s solutions, we have seen
improvements in customer satisfaction, revenue and operating cost reductions through
productivity improvements, and these benefits are expected to increase further over time.
This is helping us become truly customer-centric, since we can draw upon real-time,
centralised customer and vehicle data and respond better to our customer and dealer
needs.”
Tata Motors, a flagship company of the Tata Group, is the world’s fifth-largest medium
and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer and produces more than 150 commercial
vehicle models with a range of light, medium, to heavy-duty trucks, buses, and tractor-
trailers with revenues exceeding $3.5 billion and is the second-largest player in the
domestic passenger car market in India The company works through a network of dealers
located across the country to sell its vehicles. In recent years, this number has expanded
by 50 per cent to its current pool of 250 dealer organisations.
The Siebel CRM solution will enable Tata Motors to gather feedback on products to
improve design or manufacturing quality as well as measure the effectiveness of
marketing campaigns and programmes. The automaker selected Siebel Automotive
because of its partner management capabilities to handle its large dealer network, the
solution’s zero-footprint web-based architecture and user-friendly interface-critical to
support thousands of salespeople with various skill levels.
Tata Motors is currently in the first part of a three-phase deployment. Once the current
phase is completed, the company plans to deploy marketing, call centre, business
analytics, and captive finance modules. This will allow Tata Motors to better understand
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Case Analysis 602
customer needs and requirements, improve its responsiveness to service requests and
problem resolution, initiate more proactive contacts with customers, add support for new
products and services, and streamline dealer financing processes. The ease of integration
between CRM solution and Tata Motors’ dealer management and ERP systems was also
a critical factor in the company’s decision process. The company says that Tata Motors
has already seen improvements in a number of areas, including:
· Improved demand forecasting, planning, logistics management, and inventory
management
· Overall reduction in quality-related costs due to faster product performance
feedback
· Improved workflow and escalation of customer grievances for faster resolution
· Increased revenue growth from both higher vehicle sales and a rise in the
company’s after-sales parts business
Ultimately, Tata Motors intends to create an open portal for customer self-service,
enabling car buyers to manage product configuration and place orders online.
“The cyclical nature of automotive demand, together with competition from new entrants
in the market, has made it difficult for automotive companies to achieve their growth and
globalisation goals,” says John Gray, general manager, Automotive, Siebel Systems. “By
enabling Tata Motors to manage, synchronise, and coordinate interactions with its dealers
and customers, Siebel Automotive provides the company with an ideal platform for
getting closer to its customers while strengthening its position as a world-class
automotive brand,” adds.
Siebel Automotive, a comprehensive suite of business applications, provides a single,
360-degree view of the customer to all who need it; facilitates coordination between Tata
and its dealers; and enables Tata to track each vehicle throughout its life cycle. Siebel
Automotive has been closely integrated with a wide array of back-office applications,
including applications for inventory management, fulfilment, and parts location. Pricing
and tax calculations can be adjusted for each dealer’s requirements. In addition,
comprehensive sales and reporting functionality built into Siebel Automotive enables
Tata to distribute sales targets to its dealers and roll up sales numbers across the country.
Siebel, incidentally, pioneered the industry-specific application model and today delivers
23 industry applications and more than 100 industry-specific solution sets. These
solutions, which include Siebel Automotive, enable companies to establish a single,
enterprise-wide view of their customers and execute key customer-facing business
processes more efficiently and effectively.
Questions:
1. "The most important point in selecting any software is the expected cost and
benefits which one derive from it but, it is easy to quantify cost but hard to
calculate benefits". Explain this in the case of Tata motors.
2. Explain the role Siebel play in the success of Tata motors?
3. "Effective and efficient communication is most important in the success of
information system". Explain how 360 degree view of the customer increase
efficiency of Tata motors?
4. "Control of MIS is difficult if you outsource your information system to the
vendor". Do you agree. Why or why not?
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Case Analysis 602
Brown and Gordon Auto parts
Brown and Gordon Auto parts (B&G) is the third largest auto parts manufacturer in the
world. It is an autonomously run division of a large conglomerate, RST, Inc. Their head
quarters and principal manufacturing facilities are in Cleveland, Ohio, but they operate
plant in East Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio,
and South Bend, Indiana. Total annual revenues are close to $2 billion, but profits were
reduced dramatically in 1989 and 1990 because of the recession and particularly because
of the decline in automobile sales. Plant capacity has dropped to 60%, with a slight
pickup in the fourth quarter of this year. (RST, Inc. has turned in record profits in the
same two years, with all divisions save B&G performing beyond plan)
Most of B&G’s management teams are on-line managers who have proven themselves in
operational jobs and have worked their way up in hierarchy. They don’t believe in frills
or fancy procedures; rather it is to get the job done as quickly and simple as possible. It’s
a tough, no-nonsense management style. Because of the highly competitive nature of the
business, accentuated by the recent business downturn, management has adopted a cost-
cutting mode. Almost all investments or expenditures must be justified by tangible cost
savings, and this usually means people savings. This is particularly true within IS, where
expenditures are not approved until the number of job eliminations is verified.

IS Organization
The IS division is headed by R.L. (Buck) Steubens, MIS vice President, who reports to
W.W. Johnson, V.P. of Finance, who reports to the president of B&G, T.J. Baker.
It is generally Accepted that Johnson delegates the IS responsibility totally to Steubens
and is not himself a factor in decision-making on IS matters. The two key IS directors are
Tom Mansfield and Harry Crowley. Mansfield is in charge of the application
development for these plants but report to Mansfield. Operations reports to Harry
Crowley. The outlying plants have their own operators, who report to local line
management. IS operations are highly centralized, however, such that processing is done
not locally, but via a telecommunications network to Cleveland’s central systems.
Buck Steubens was concerned about the way his IS group was organized and was
reviewing the following report, which was sent to him by a consulting firm he had asked
to look into the matter.

Consultant review of Brown and Gordon Information systems Function

Organization
B&G has a rather unique organization with two directors managing the entire information
systems function. Missing is a third or coordinating element found in most organizations.
The third element is responsible for integrating services that span the IS division-services
such as standards, planning, education, project management, and often data base
administration. While where is nothing that says the B&G organization cannot work,
interviews suggest that major application developments have been implemented without
complete awareness of their fit with existing or future subsystems. Also there is a lack of
emphasis on planning and education, two functions that are vital to future progress.
To make this dual directorship concept work, standards and protocols must be better
established to facilitate proper communications and integration at the working levels. It is
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Case Analysis 602
conceivable that the CFO can be the integrating force, but this is too high a level in the
organization, particularly in light of the expanding duties of the office. The integration
must occur at lower levels.
The stated management organizational style at B&G is heavily people oriented. Thus, the
primary criterion for assigning a job is the track record of the individual in getting jobs
accomplished rather than as assessment of where the function best fits into the
organization or where there is the necessary expertise. The design of complex integrated
applications is a difficult task, and while the ability to get a job done is probably the
number one attribute, it is not the only one.
Another expressed organizational style is adversary management; the theory being that
pitting two competent managers against each other will result in a competitive drive to
get the work accomplished. The question raised here is does this approach work in a
functional area of the business that needs integration and communication so desperately?
Questions:
1. Comment on the company culture at B&G. Explain the pros and cons of this culture
and whether the
existing information system is suitable for such kind of culture?
2. Do you think the cost cutting mode is a given for IS? Is it wise to justify IS
expenditures on the
number of job eliminations?
3. “Organization structure and controlling has a very big impact on the success or
failure of MIS in any
organization” Explain the organization structure and comment on the controlling
implemented in the
organization for information system.
4. Explain whether in B&G there are group decision making enviornment of the
individual decision
making and the role of CIO(Chief Information Officer) in the success of
Information system in B&G.
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Case Analysis 602
Health Management Information System in “Ganesh Medical Institute”
"Ganesh Medical Institute” (GMI) is one of India’s major medical teaching and research
facilities with an attached hospital of several hundred-bed capacity. In 1999, an
application of computers for patient registration was piloted, leading to development
from 2003 of a fully-fledged health management information system (HMIS).
Application Description
The HMIS was built with five main functional areas:
· Patient registration – registers the 4,000-5,000 out-patients and 100-150 in-
patients who attend the hospital each day, and allocates a unique ID number to
each one that is used track their transactions in labs and wards.
· In-patient data – records results for patients from pathology, microbiology,
radiology and biochemistry specialisms, and stores blood bank details.
· Operation scheduling – for use by all surgical specialties to plan and record
operations, including checking for blood availability and generating operating
theatre lists.
· Discharge summary – provides a printed summary report when the patient is
discharged from the Institute, particularly for use by supporting medical
services.
· Ward routines – provides computerised support for planning and recording of
nursing schedules and other ward-based activities.
Role of ICT
The patient registration pilot in 1999 ran on a small LAN with three terminals and a
server. During 2003-06, this pilot was expanded to provide 64 terminals throughout the
Institute (wards, major labs, clinical services, surgical services, ancillary services),
running the central applications on two 486-based servers. In 2005, the central server
was upgraded to a PIV machine. A system enabling academic access to the Internet,
using 25 PIV clients plus a high-end server was introduced at the same time, but remains
unconnected to the HMIS network.

Application Drivers/Purpose
In an overall sense, some drive for the system has come from GMI’s wish to be seen as
one of India’s leading medical institutions, with an expectation that this would be
reflected in its adoption of leading-edge management information systems. From the
early 1990s, this drive was supplemented by the advocacy of the regional director of
India’s National Informatics Centre, a central government organisation that undertook
most of the software development work for the HMIS.

Stakeholders
The core stakeholders are seen as patients and their families; medical professionals
(doctors, nurses); and specialist staff (especially in GMI laboratories and in medical
records). As noted above, the National Informatics Centre was involved. So too was the
World Health Organisation, providing a grant for development of the pilot registration
system.
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Case Analysis 602
Health and the Poor
The HMIS cannot really be said to have made much difference to the lives of the poor.
Had the system been developed as intended, it would have provided a mechanism to
reduce the number of visits by poor patients, e.g. to collect laboratory reports. However,
this has not happened to date.

Impact: Costs and Benefits

A WHO grant of US$15,000 was used to create the pilot registration system. The first
phase of the HMIS cost around US$100,000 for computer hardware plus US$50,000 for
cabling and networking. Consulting and software development costs were absorbed by
the National Informatics Centre. (A second phase plan to expand the system to a total of
192 terminals was not implemented.) The hardware upgrades in 2006 cost around
US$20,000.

The status of each of the five HMIS functional areas by the start of 2007 was as follows:
· Patient registration – this continues to be operational after more than 10 years; it is
popular with medical records staff since it saves the time and effort of an earlier
system which required them to create aluminium ID tags for all patients (a
considerable task given the thousands of patients who attend each day).
· In-patient data – staff in the pathology lab and in the blood bank continue to use the
system: path. lab results for all referred patients can be accessed anywhere on the
system, as can information on general availability of blood supplies and specific blood
allocations for individual patients. GMI’s other specialist sections – microbiology,
radiology, biochemistry – have stuck to manual record keeping and report writing.
· Operation scheduling – the system is only used by the plastic and cardiothoracic
surgical teams; all others have stuck with manual working methods.
· Discharge summary – only used by around 10% of hospital wards: those which have a
functional printer attached. All other wards have no printer or a broken printer and are
stuck in a classic “Catch-22” situation: GMI management will only purchase
additional hardware if system usage rises from its current low levels, but usage cannot
rise unless new printers are purchased!
· Ward routines – now unused following an initial burst of enthusiasm when all 400
nurses were trained. Some nurses were still reluctant to use the system; others did but
then left or were promoted. New nurses were not trained and in most wards the UPS
power supply points for the HMIS terminals have been moved by nursing staff to
support other electrical appliances.
In all, then, the benefits of the system have been very limited.
There has been some development of in-house awareness and skills in GMI, not just the
ICT operational skills that staff have required for using the system, but also some higher-
level skills: for example, while in-patient registration was developed by NIC, it was GMI
staff who developed the out-patient registration module.

Evaluation: Failure or Success?

Two system audits have been conducted – an internal one in 2000, and an external one by
a leading Indian software consulting firm in 2007. It is the results of these audits that are
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Case Analysis 602
described here. They found that most key players still operate in ‘manual mode’, leading
to an overall evaluation that the HMIS has been largely unsuccessful. However, there are
now plans to upgrade the system – both hardware and software.

Enablers/Critical Success Factors

1. Enthusiastic hybrid supporters. The core supporters for the project were medical
academics who taught themselves IT skills. By combining medical and IT
competencies in a ‘hybrid’ manner, these supporters were able to understand key
developmental issues from both perspectives.
2. Support from other sources. GMI administration was initially enthusiastic about the
project during the early 2000s once they had seen the pilot project. They therefore
provided political and material resources to assist the project. The project would also
have been untenable without the support from NIC’s regional director: he was keen
on publicising the value of IT systems in Indian hospitals to ensure that not all
infrastructural spending in medicine got channelled towards traditional expenditure
such as upgrading radiology equipment.

Constraints/Challenges
1. Absent enforcement during critical junctures. GMI administration provided the
support necessary to see the HMIS installed. However, they did not enforce use of
the system during a critical period in 2004/5 following implementation. Success of
the system at that point depended on pushing hospital staff to abandon their manual
working methods, and swap over to the computerised system. But many staff –
despite their IT training – felt uncomfortable with the new system and were reluctant
to use it. Yet management pulled back from forcing staff to toe the line. As a result,
the new system lost impetus and came to run in parallel with the manual system,
rather than supplanting it.
2. Staff turnover. In the mid-2000s, the intensive training programme achieved 100%
coverage of GMI medical staff. However, around 150 junior doctors leave GMI
every year, and up to half that number of nurses also depart. There needed to be an
ongoing training programme to cope with this situation but by 2006 there was no
training at all: NIC staff had moved on to other projects while computer-literate staff
in GMI felt they needed to focus on their main hospital jobs.

Recommendations
1. Plan beyond installation to ongoing operation. Too many e-health projects plan up to
the ‘grand opening ceremony’, but think no further: about how funding is going to be
maintained for the system; about how skills are going to be maintained; about the
need to upgrade the system on a regular basis to cope with ongoing technical change;
about how to truly institutionalise the system. All of this needs to be considered as
part of the preparation process.
2. Identify stakeholder incentives. Stakeholders involved with e-health systems always
ask themselves “Why should I: what’s in it for me?”. In this particular case, there
was no good answer for too many of GMI’s staff – they therefore stuck with, or
reverted back to, the manual method of working. As well as thinking about
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Case Analysis 602
technology, e-health planners must also work out a system of incentives or
disincentives for key stakeholders that will ensure that they use the new system. In
the initial instance, the carrots and sticks might need to be financial if that is feasible
within the public sector.
Questions :
1. Using tools of System Analysis, elaborate Patient Registration, one of the
subsystems of HMIS in detail.
2. Draw a detailed Feasibility study including Cost Benefit Analysis for the HMIS
for Ganesh Medical Institute as planned initially?
3. Elucidate the usage of HMIS for its various stakeholders.
4. Draw a Sample Discharge Summary report.
5. You are hired as a System Analyst, advice GMI administration on the following :
(a) Networking requirements
(b) Data structure for maintaining In-Patient Data.
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Case Analysis 602

Can DSS Help Master Card Master the Credit Card Business?
Credit (change) cards have been very big business for several decades. In 2001, over
$30 trillion in payments for goods and services were charged using credit cards. The cards
have made life easier for many people because they do not need to carry large amounts of
cash for most purchases. Many people also use the cards as a way to borrow money because
they need only pay a small percentage of the amount they owe each month, although they are
usually charged very high interest rates for the unpaid balance. The interest goes to the
issuing bank, making credit cards a very profitable service for them. However, the credit card
industry is intensely competitive, highly fragmented, and growing at a rate of 3 to 4 per year,
making those profits difficult to achieve.
Visa and MasterCard are associations of banks that issue the credit cards. They
market their cards, often several different cards, and provide support for the transactions,
making networks available to collect and use the data. The most popular credit card has been
Visa, with 44.5 percent of the business in 2001, while MasterCard is number two with 31.6
percent. Being very much second to Visa, MasterCard is trying to overtake it. While it had
been number two since the beginning, MasterCard began to emerge from "its doldrums" in
1997, according to Robert Selander, MasterCard's CEO. It bagan to realize it might really be
able to overtake Visa and become number one. To reach that goal, MasterCard needed to
present itself so that potential user will choose a MasterCard rather than a Visa. It also had to
spur the bank issuers to promote MasterCard cards rather than those of their competition.
In 1998, when MasterCard had only 28.8 percent of the credit card charge volume
while Visa's was over 50 percent, MasterCard decided it needed a new computer center,
partially to handle all the data as the company's business expanded as a result of its drive to
overtake Visa. It also foresaw growth as a result of its change in strategy. The ocmpany's new
strategy required a system that would be able to keep a record of every transaction of every
customer for three years. The strategy included ways MasterCard and its member banks
could use that data to increase their credit card business. MasterCard wanted to increase its
daily volume of 30 million transactions in 1977. At the time it had three separate computer
centers on four floors in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, and it wanted to consolidate the
computer centers while enlarging the new center so that it would be able to handle both the
current volume and the planned volume as it expanded. At that time it was storing nearly 50
terabytes (50 trillion numbers and letters) of data, including the dollar amount, merchant,
location, and card number. MasterCard also planned to add other data fields, such as ZIP
codes,to make the data more useful. However, to protect MasterCard users, it did decide not
to include demographic data such as incomes and ages.
Nonetheless, "The credit card business lives and dies by data", said Ted Iacobuzio,
director of consumer credit research for the consulting and research firm, TowerGroup.
While both Visa and MasterCard had already been werehousing so much data, they
were both moving tward providing reports to their member banks. MasterCard's goal was to
give its members (the banks) direct access to their customers' data as well as toos to analyze
all of this data, all in order to persuade the banks to choose MasterCard over Visa. For
example, if banks could use MasterCard tools to improve their analysis of the profitability of
the cards in their portfolios or gain more customers and transactions to process, they would
be inclined to push MasterCard more often. Such analysis could help banks determine the
types of customers that were most profitable or find ways to appeal to more potential
MasterCard customers. Many banks issue both Visa Cards and MasterCard cards (sometimes
several of each), and if the banks can use this informatin from MasterCard while Visa does
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not have or make available such information, the MasterCard company can gain a strategic
advantage. For example, in 2001, MasterCard persuaded Citigroup, the largest issuer of credit
cards, to push MasterCard over Visa so that 85 percent of its credit cards came from
MasterCard versus only 15 percent from Visa. J. P. Morgan Chase likewise was convinced to
use MasterCard for 80 percent of the cards it issued.
MasterCard hoped it could persuade banks to use these data if they could see value
(increased profit) in the process. Joseph Caro, MasterCard's vice president of Internet
technology services, said that "little percentages" can be very profitable to banks. In one case,
a bank was requiring its merchants to verify the whole process by using the telephone to call
in one transaction out of 50 for approval (rather than using a telecommunications method),
while most banks were requiring only one transaction in 500. Because call-ins cost about $3
each, that bank could save $300,000 a year by switching over to the one in 500 method.
Another bank was turning down one one transaction out of five because so many call-ins
were timing out. The bank was able to discover that most of the customers turned down were
actually crediworthy. By changing its set up, the bank would be able to eliminate thousands
of unnecessary lost transactions.
About 28,000 banks and financial service companies issue MasterCard credit cards.
To draw these customers into using its credit card transaction data, MasterCard needed not
only to make each bank's data available to them, but it also needed to make available
appropriate analytic software. MasterCard assigned 35 full-time developers to the task of
identifying and creating software tools to accomplish this task. Drawing on Business Objects
WebIntelligence software in 2001, these developers created and programmed 27 tools for the
banks to use. (These tools are not free and they are not available to merchants.) One of
MasterCard's new tools, called the Business Performance Intelligence, is for operational
reporting and includes a suite of 70 standard reports that banks can use to analyze their daily,
weekly, or monthly transaction. The banks can then compare the results from one market
(such as a United States state or region, or a single country) with that of another market.
MasterCard also works with individual banks to create their own custom reports, enabling
them to concntrate on their own issues and concerne. Subscribing banks access the
MasterCard business intelligence system via a secure extranet.
The developers also created MarketScope, which are applications that have the goal
of helping banks and merchants work together to generate more purchases from the
merchants if they are paid for by MasterCard. One example they give is to enable Wal-Mart
stores to determine how many MasterCard holders spend $25 or more on sporting goods in
January and Februarty. Then, MasterCard's vice president of systems development, Andrew
Clyne, suggested that Wal-Mart could send these card-holders the right to obtain tickets to
their closest major league baseball team based upon future sporting goods purchase above a
certain dollar minimum. lacobuzio said that such a strategy should appeal to state and
regional banks. However, he believes it is likely that national and international banks would
have already developed and are using their own analytical software. But even they would
have a use for MasterCard's software as a kind of benchmark against which to measure the
effectiveness of their own systems.
Moreover, despite the increasing volume, the processing was much faster. As Caro
said, "If we can do thing faster, little percentages start moving in our direction."
Visa, however, is not sitting still, and is managing about 100 trillion terabytes of data
for its clients. Until recently, it mainly supplied the data online or on disks to its bank
customers, who used their own software and computers to analyze the data. Recently, Visa
started to run analyses for the banks on its own computers. In May 2002, Visa also
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introduced a Web service called Resolve Online to help banks deal with disputed payments
and is working on providing banks with online analytic tools. "If MasterCard is ahead of the
game in any of this", says Iacobuzio, Visa "will have it in six months".
MasterCard's new data stroage site, which was opened in May 2002, is also in St.
Louis, in a single 525,000-square - foot building. The complex, which was built on open
land, cost MasterCard $135 million. The changeover to the new site happened over a
weekend with almost no problem, despite the purchases of about $4 billion each day.
Questions :
1. Analyze MasterCard using the competitive forces and value chain models. Briefly
summarize the problems that MasterCard was facing before 1998 that caused it to change its
business strategy.
2. Describe the new business strategy MasterCard developed. What is the role of
information systems in its new strategy?
3. What kind of decision-support systems did MasterCard develop? How are they
related to its business strategy?
4. Has MasterCard's strategy been successful? Can MasterCard hold on to its strategic
advantage? Explain your answer.
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XO Hospital Management System
XO Infotech Ltd. has developed a core package – Hospital Management System
that addresses all major functional areas of Hospital. The development environment
ensures that XO HMS has the portability and connectivity to run on virtually all standard
hardware platforms, with stringent data security and easy recovery in case of a system
failure. XO HMS provides the benefits of streamlined operations, enhanced
administration and control, improved response to patient care, cost control, and increased
profitability.
Some of the Subsystem Modules in XO HMS:
Reception
The reception module handles various enquiries about the patient’s admission and
discharge details, bed census, and the patient’s movements within the hospital. The
system can also handle fixed-cost package deals for patients as well as Doctor
Consultation and Scheduling, Doctor Consultancy Fees and Time Allocation.
OPD, IPD Registration and Admission
This module helps in registering information about patients and handling both IPD and OPD
patient’s query. A unique ID is generated for each patient after registration. This helps in
implementing customer relationship management and also maintains medical history of the
patient.
Administration
This module handles all the master entry details for the hospital requirement such as consultation
detail such as doctor specialization, consultancy fee, and service charges.
Security
This module handles multi level security of XO HMS so that every admission and transaction can
be traced with the help of user ID.
Pharmacy Store
This module deals with all medical items. This module helps in maintaining Item Master
Maintenance, Receipt of Drugs/consumables, issue handling of material return, generating retail
bills, stock maintenance. It also helps in fulfilling the requirements of both IPD and OPD
Pharmacy.
Purchase
This module helps in raising purchase orders, maintaining purchase details and other purchase
related details.
Phlebotomy
This specific module caters in maintaining test requisitions, sample collection status and various
procedures for collection of sample for the tests prescribed.
Laboratory
This module enables the maintenance of investigation requests by the patient and generation of
test results for the various available services, such as clinical pathology, X-ray and ultrasound
tests. Requests can be made from various points, including wards, billing, sample collection and
the laboratory receiving point. The laboratory module is integrated with the in-patient/ outpatient
registration, wards and billing modules.
Emergency
The development of this module keeps in mind the criticality of this department. Every care has
been taken to ensure that minimum of time is taken to register the patient, so as to reduce the
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tension of the already stressed out relatives. Neither any detailed contact information of the
patient is required nor any information about the payment type is solicited.
OT Management
This module deals with operation theatre activities such as equipment used detail, resource
ordering, drug order, gynecology detail recording, laboratory order and reports transfer
requisition, patient monitoring, blood request, new born baby detail and details of delivery.
Minor Surgery
This module is same in features as in OT management though the function is different. This
module deals with the surgeries minor in nature, which does not require complete anesthesia.
Blood Bank
The blood bank module provides information on the collection and storage of blood, results of
blood tests, cross-matching identifications, and transfusion reactions. It also enables the
maintenance of donor mailing lists and donation ledgers. It would also provide online stock of
blood available in three blood banks (GTB, LNJP and DDU
Ward Management
The ward management module takes care of medical equipment, doctor visit, vitals recording,
patient case sheet, diet ordering, blood requisition, transfer intimation and discharge intimation
etc. It also deals with the maintenance of the wards, inter- and intra-ward transfers.
OPD and IPD Billing
The billing module facilitates cashier and billing operations for different categories of patients
and automatic posting of charges for different services such as lab tests, medicines supplied,
consulting fees, food and beverage charges, etc. It enables credit party billing through integration
with the financial accounting module.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
This module caters to scheduling, maintaining ICU Record, drug orders, consultant details,
specific blood requests etc.
Food and Beverages
This module facilitates collection of information regarding various diet routines of patients and
identifies the resources required to satisfy diet orders. Depending on the diet orders and other
requests from canteen, the kitchen order plan can be prepared to decide the menu for the day.
Analysis of the consumption patterns helps in better and efficient management of the kitchen.
Discharge Summary
The module helps in generating patient’s discharge summary, which includes patient’s health at
the time of discharge, medical history, various diagnosis and drug prescriptions, history of
present illness and course in hospital.
Financial Accounting
This module deals with cash/bank, receipts/payments, journal vouchers, etc. Various books of
accounts, such as cashbook, bankbook and ledgers, can be generated and maintained using this
module. It can also generate trial balance, balance sheet, and profit and loss statements.
Marketing Module
This module ensures that the hospital gets maximum exposure to the general public and vice
versa. This module keeps track of the enquiries made at the reception and follows the lead.
Doctor’s Module
This module helps the doctors to keep a track of the entire medical history of a particular patient.
Details such as the medicines prescribed, general medical records, previous consultations are all
available to the doctor.
HR Management
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Various MIS Reports are generated on the above modules for the smooth functioning of the
hospital management so that checks can be made on any irregularity done in the hospital.
Questions :
1. Using tools of System Analysis elaborate any one of the subsystems of HMS in
detail.
2. Draw any Patient registration form and any one sample MIS report.
3. Prepare the Data dictionary for the Doctors Master file.
4. Elucidate the conceptual plan for implementation of the Hospital Management
System.
5. You are hired as a System Analyst, advice on the following :
(a) Networking requirements
(b) Database model requirements
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Management Information System at Dell

Management information system involves the information system and the
organization. MIS begins where computer science ends. Computer scientists deserve
accolades for developing and delivering even more advanced forms of information
technology: hardware technology; software technology; and network technology. Yet
because no technology implements itself, there is more to MIS than just information
technology. MIS has dimensions. The four interrelated dimensions of MIS are as follows:
First, MIS involves not just information technology, but also its instantiation; second,
MIS involves, as reactive and inextricable elements, both an information system and its
organizational context; third, MIS involves information technology as a form of
intellectual technology; and fourth, MIS involves the activities of a profession or
corporate function which are integral to the essence of what MIS is (Currie & Galliers,
1999).
Dell Computer Corporation Company Background
Dell Computer Corporation is a major manufacturer of personal computers,
computer peripherals, and software. Among the leading producers of computers in the
world, Dell sells its products directly to customers through the Internet and mail-order
catalogs rather than through retail outlets. The company is based in Round Rock, Texas.
At Dell Computers, customers are brought into the product planning and manufacturing
processes, with all employees encouraged having contact with customers. Through
effective collaboration across boundaries, ideas can be shared about product designs and
value propositions. The result is faster and more customer-focused product and service
innovation. To produce the capacity for this, considerable attention must be placed on
organizational structures, processes, skills and culture. Such elements may need a radical
overhaul in established companies (Dennis & Harris, 2002). Dell was founded in 1984 by
Michael Dell. In 1983, during his freshman year at the University of Texas, he bought
excess inventory of RAM chips and disk drives for IBM personal computers from local
dealers. He resold the components through newspaper advertisements at prices far below
retail cost. By 1984, his sales totaled about $80,000 a month. In April 1984, Dell dropped
out of school to launch his company (Ford, Honeycutt, & Simintiras, 2003).
The new company soon began manufacturing its own IBM-compatible computers
under the name PCs Limited. Because Dell sold computers directly to users through
advertisements in magazines and catalogs, the company could price its machines lower
than those sold through retail stores. Sales reached nearly $6 million during the
company’s first year, climbing to $34 million the following year. By 1987, Dell was the
leading mail-order computer company in the United States. In that year, it created a sales
force to target large corporations and began adding international offices to capture the
direct-mail market outside the United States (Ford, Honeycutt, & Simintiras, 2003).
While the company continued to grow rapidly; Dell experienced a series of setbacks that
hurt profits. In 1990, the company began selling computers through retail stores, an effort
it abandoned in 1994. In 1991, Dell launched a line of notebook computers, but quality
problems and inadequate production planning forced the company to stop selling for a
year. In 1994, Dell launched a new line of notebook computers and expanded efforts to
increase overseas sales. Dell also began focusing on the market for servers, which used
the computers to run local area networks. By the late 1990s, Dell was firmly in place as
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the world’s number one direct seller of computers. More than 50 percent of the
company’s computer sales transactions took place via its website, which generated
worldwide sales in excess of $40 million a day (Ford, Honeycutt, & Simintiras, 2003).
Information Processing Tools
Information or Data processing is the analysis and organization of data. It is used
extensively in business, engineering, and science and an increasing extent in nearly all
areas in which computers are used. Businesses use data processing for such tasks as
payroll preparation, accounting, record keeping, inventory control, sales analysis, and the
processing of bank and credit card account statements. Engineers and scientists use data
processing for a wide variety of applications, including the processing of seismic data for
oil and mineral exploration, the analysis of new product designs, the processing of
satellite imagery, and the analysis of data from scientific experiments (Thierauf, 1978).
Data processing is used extensively in business, engineering, and science and to
an increasing extent in nearly all areas in which computers are used. Data processing is
divided into two kinds of processing: database processing and transaction processing. A
database is a collection of common records that can be searched, accessed, and modified,
such as bank account records, school transcripts, and income tax data. In database
processing, a computerized database is used as the central source of reference data for the
computations. Transaction processing refers to interaction between two computers in
which one computer initiates a transaction and another computer provides the first with
the data or computation required for that function. Most modern data processing uses one
or more databases at one or more central sites (Thierauf, 1978).
Transaction processing is used to access and update the databases when users
need to immediately view or add information; other data processing programs are used at
regular intervals to provide summary reports of activity and database status. Examples of
systems that involve all of these functions are automated teller machines, credit sales
terminals, and airline reservation systems (Thierauf, 1978).
The information processing tools that Dell uses include computers, the internet,
maps, spreadsheets, models, and databases. For the operational level of Dell, the most
appropriate tool for information processing is maps. Through the said information
processing tool, decisions on how to operate the organization can be initialized and made.
Maps can be used to determine which country/place information will be acquired from, it
can also assist in determining the demographic level of people and information will be
gathered . Maps can be in the form of charts that can also provide necessary information.
The information gathered in turn can assist in helping to decide how an organization will
be operated. For the tactical level of Dell, the most appropriate tool for information
processing is databases. Through the said information processing tool, the records that
can assist in finding out the strength and weakness of the company can be used to
determine the tactic that will be used by the organization. For the strategic level of Dell,
the most appropriate information processing tool is the internet or World Wide Web.
Through the internet, trends and strategies by other companies can be known. After
analyzing the trends and strategies used by other companies, an appropriate strategy can
be formulated to use by the organization.
Inventory control systems
Individual businesses need, first and foremost, an efficient inventory control
system. This implies the minimum amount of inventory that will provide the consumers
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with what they need whenever and wherever they need it. Effectiveness of the inventory
system means basically having an inventory mix that is most likely successful in
satisfying consumer needs (Samli & Sirgy, 1995). The inventory control systems used by
Dell is up to date and reliable to prevent problems to arise. The inventory system of Dell
makes sure that anything the consumer need will be available to them at any given time.
It is also what the company uses to know if certain products are still available or misuse
of the inventory system may cost problems to the company.
Conclusion
Management information system involves the information system and the
organization. Dell benefits a lot from the management information system. The system
helps the company create strategies that will help the company conquer any problems and
threats from competitors. The system also assists the company in processing the needed
information. Management Information Systems also helps a company to create or update
its inventory control system.
Recommendations
Since the MIS of a company is a vital part of its operations and its survival in the
modern world, it must be well updated and it must compete well with MIS’s competitors.
The MIS of a company should be created from high standards so that it can be of stiff
competition against its counterparts. The MIS system should help the company to
achieve its goals and assist the company in reaching its potential.
Questions:
1. Comment on the MIS in Dell and suggest the positives and negatives of
MIS in Dell?
2. The dell directly sells its computers to the customer whether it will give
them good and reliable information or they are lacking in information
system due to this move?
3. Develop the information flow diagram for dell and suggest some
improvement in the same.
4. MIS is a combination of Management, Information and System otr of
the three parts of the information system in which area does the Dell
lacking?
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MIS AT FEDEX

FDX Corp. is a new $15 billion holding company, provides transportation, logistics and
supply chain management solutions. FDX Corp. subsidiaries are Federal Express Corp.
(FedEx), the world’s largest express transportation company; RPS, Inc., business-to-
business ground small package carrier; Roberts Express, Inc., critical-shipment carrier;
Viking Freight, Inc., supplier of western U.S. freight services; Caliber Logistics, Inc.,
contract logistics provider; and Caliber Technology, Inc., supplier of information service.

Federal Express realized early on that for a speed-hungry world, information about
package delivery was as important as the delivery itself. So, it pioneered the use of bar-
code technology, put computers in delivery vans and shared its software with customers.
In doing so, the company turned package tracking into a high art and gave new meaning
to the term "customer service" by empowering customers to serve themselves. Giving
customers access to FedEx information systems raised performance and lowered costs on
both sides.

With annual revenues of $20 billion, FedEx Corp. is the premier global provider
of transportation, e-commerce and supply-chain management services. The company
offers integrated business solutions through a network of subsidiaries operating
independently, including FedEx Express, the world's largest express transportation
company; FedEx Ground, North America's second-largest provider of small-package
ground delivery service; FedEx Freight, a leading provider of regional less-than-
truckload freight services; FedEx Custom Critical, the world's largest provider of
expedited, time-critical shipments; and FedEx Trade Networks, a provider of customs
brokerage, consulting, information technology and trade facilitation solutions.

Internet solutions company Ampersand Software, Glendale, Calif., has announced that
zeroCode, Ampersand's browser-based development environment that automatically
builds Web-based applications from database schemas, was used by FedEx to develop a
tracking system, saving the company 94 percent of its development time.
Ampersand enables its customers to harness the power of technology to build outstanding
business solutions. The company constructs e-business enabling systems for its enterprise
customers, while providing product co-development services for technology companies.
It provides software services that span custom application development, e-business
consulting, eCRM & SCM implementation services, mCommerce application
development and re-engineering services in communications, distribution, entertainment
and health care.
FedEx selected zeroCode to create a system to track maintenance records and
performance statistics for fleets of various airlines, including Northwest, Delta, United,
FedEx and UPS. FedEx will use an existing application to populate this database with
raw information, while the zeroCode-built Web-based application allows all participating
companies to view and interact with the data.
Using zeroCode, FedEx engineer Richie Bailey spent a total of 51 hours developing the
tracking system -- 30 hours of which were spent transforming the existing database from
Microsoft Access to Oracle and refining the graphical HTML front-end.
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"Using traditional programming tools, this project would've probably taken 800 hours to
complete," said Bailey. "4GL tools could have cut that time down to half, possibly;
zeroCode took only a little over 50 hours, including training. zeroCode saved me 85
percent to 94 percent of my development time on this project, and helped me quickly and
easily design a top-quality, reliable database system."
Bailey further elaborated, "This application works out to about 120 function points,
which would normally mean a nearly five man-month development effort. With
zeroCode, I completed the whole project in just over a man-week, and that includes the
learning curve on a product I never touched before."
Previously this year, zeroCode won the prestigious Java Developer's Journal "World
Class Product" award. The publication deemed zeroCode "a significant step toward the
goal of developing applications with minimal handwritten

code."

Question:

1. “In the transportation, logistic service providing company’s information

play an important role” Evaluate the MIS at FEDEX and comment on
the performance of MIS at FEDEX?
2. How an inbuilt Information system is better in comparison of the
outsourcing the information system? Explain in case of a logistic
service provider?
3. The most important part of any effective management Information
system is to catch the external environment information.”. Explain up to
what level FEDEX was able to cash the same?
4. Draw the information flow diagram for FEDEX?
5. “The most important and difficult part of any MIS is to calculate the
benefit in the monetary value from the MIS”. Does the cost benefit
analysis for MIS for FEDEX?