MC0076 - Management Information System.

Assignment answers for SET-1

1(a) Impact of MIS in the area of police Information system:

The term information system refers to information technology that is used by people to accomplish a specified organizational or individual objective. The technology may be used in the gathering, processing, storing, and/or dissemination of information, and the users are trained in the use of that technology, as well as in the procedures to be followed in doing so. The specific technologies that collectively comprise information technology are computer technology and data communications technology. Computers provide most of the storage and processing capabilities, while data communicationsspecifically networksprovide the means for dissemination and remote access of information. Advances in computer hardware, software, and networking technologies have spurred an evolution in the structure, design, and use of corporate information systems. Police information systems are evaluated using both satisfaction and impact measures. Police reported high rates of satisfaction with their systems, but, with the exception of reporting, little or no impact in areas such as productivity, personnel allocation, and other forms of decision making. The dynamics of satisfaction are explored. Nearly half of the departments report that their satisfaction has changed. A new classification is developed that takes into consideration both satisfaction and the nature of the change. It is argued that this measure would help to identify organizations where users are in the process of changing their attitudes toward the system. Implications for the evaluation of information systems are discussed. Information is a key resource for organisations (Levitin & Redman 1998), forming the basis for corrective and preventative actions designed to improve organisational performance (Otley 1999). Designing effective systems for providing this information clearly depends, inter alia, on identifying what information is needed by managers (Ashill & Jobber 2001). Research has approached this issue by focusing on the specification of information characteristics (for example, Gordon, Larcker & Tuggle 1978; Gorry & Scott Morton 1971) and determining which characteristics are important for decision making, under what situations and with what impacts (for example, Bowens & Abernethy 2000; Chenhall & Morris 1986; Gaidiene & Skyrius 2006; Larker 1981; Mangaliso 1995).

Transaction processing systems: These record and track an organization's transactions, such as sales transactions or inventory items, from the moment each is first created until it leaves the system. This helps managers at the day-to-day operational level keep track of daily transactions as well as make decisions on when to place orders, make shipments, and so on. Management information and reporting systems: These systems provide mid-level and senior managers with periodic, often summarized, reports that help them assess performance (e.g., a particular region's sales performance in a given time period) and make appropriate decisions based on that information. Decision support systems: These systems are designed to help mid-level and senior managers make those difficult decisions about which not every relevant parameter is known. These decisions, referred to as semi structured decisions, are characteristic of the types of decisions made at the higher levels of management. Expert systems: An expert system is built by modeling into the computer the thought processes and decision-making heuristics of a recognized expert in a particular field. Thus, this type of information system is theoretically capable of making decisions for a user, based on input received from the user. However, due to the complex and uncertain nature of most business decision environments, expert system technology has traditionally been used in these environments primarily like decision support systemsthat is, to help a human decision maker arrive at a reasonable decision, rather than to actually make the decision for the user.

1(b) The functions and disadvantages of MIS:

Information is a critical resource in the operation and management of organizations. Timely availability of relevant information is vital for effective performance of managerial functions such as planning, organizing, leading, and control. An information system in an organization is like the nervous system in the human body: it is the link that connects all the organization's components together and provides for better operation and survival in a competitive environment. Indeed, today's organizations run on information.

The main functions of MIS are as follows: Data processing: It includes the collection, transmission, storage, processing and output of data.
It simplifies the statistics and reduces to the lowest cost by supplying an unified format.

Function of prediction: It predicts the future situation by applying modern mathematics, statistics
or simulation.

Function of plan: It arranges reasonably the plans of each functional department in accordance
with the restrictions afforded by enterprises and provides the appropriate planning reports according to different management.

Function of control: It monitors and inspects the operation of plans and comprises with the
differences between operation and plan in accordance with the data afforded by every functional department, and be assistant to managers to control timely each method by analyzing the reasons why the differences comes into being.

Function of assistance: It derivates instantly the best answers of related problems by applying
to various of mathematics mode and analyzing a plentiful data stored in computers in the hope of using rationally human resource, financial resource, material resource and information resource for relative abundant economic benefits.

Disadvantages of MIS:
Depending on organization deployment, usage and extraneous factors, some disadvantages related to Management Information Systems can come to the fore. Allocation of budgets for MIS upgrades, modifications and other revisions can be quite tricky at times. If budgets are not allocated uniformly or as per immediate requirements, key functionalities might get effected and benefits might not be realized consistently. Integration issues with legacy systems can affect the quality of output and vital business intelligence reports.

Other main disadvantages are:

Highly senstive requires constant monitoring. Buddgeting of MIS extremely difficult. Quality of outputs governed by quality of inputs. Lack of flexiblity to update itself. Effectiveness decreases due to frequent changes in top management Takes into account only qualitative factors and ignores non-qualitative factors like morale of worker, attitude of worker

2 (a) A scenario which shows the applications of OLAP systems:

Although OLAP applications are found in widely divergent functional areas, all require the following key features: Multidimensional views of data Calculation-intensive capabilities Time intelligence

Senario of Business Intelligence is as follows:

Online analytical processing (OLAP) is a multidimensional, multiuser, client-server computing environment for users who need to analyze enterprise data. Finance departments use OLAP for applications such as budgeting, activity-based costing (allocations), financial performance analysis, and financial modeling. Sales departments use OLAP for sales analysis and forecasting. Marketing departments use OLAP for market research analysis, sales forecasting, promotions analysis, customer analysis, and market/customer segmentation. Typical manufacturing OLAP applications include production planning and defect analysis. Important to all of these applications is the ability to provide managers the information that they need to make effective decisions about an organization's strategic directions. A successful OLAP application provides information as needed; that is, it provides just-in-time information for effective decision-making.

Providing such information requires more than a base level of detailed data. Just-in-time information is computed data that usually reflects complex relationships and is often calculated on the fly. Analyzing and modeling complex relationships are practical only if response times are consistently short. In addition, because the nature of data relationships may not be known in advance, the data model must be flexible. A truly flexible data model ensures that OLAP systems can respond to changing business requirements as needed for effective decision making.

2 (b) Information technology influences organizations goals:

Internet has transformed our lives and the way we communicate, how we learn, how we work and spend free time, in essence it has more or less changed every aspect of human society one can think of. This paper deals with the influence of Internet and information technology on work and human resource management. It observes main novelties and (inevitably coming) changes in areas of staffing, motivating and leading and discusses possible adaptations of organization and business. To discover the mentioned changes and consequences, firstly we try to broadly assert present condition in the field, both globally and in Slovenia, and outline promising future trends. Finally, combining that with elements of human resource management we try to predict basic consequences that IT will have on the way employees are rewarded and the way new employees are acquired. To identify the organizational factors which influence the diffusion of end user online literature searching, the computer-based patient record, and electronic mail systems in academic health sciences centers in the United States. The implementation of information technology systems in the health care arena holds great promise for improving efficiency but can also result, according to Anderson et al., in unforeseen costs and organizational consequences and even failure. 1 Implementation needs to be done wisely, with attention paid to organizational as well as technologic issues. Rosabeth Moss Kanter has stated this more dramatically: `Let a thousand flowers bloom.' This slogan, designed to awaken an entire nation to new ideas, offers an apt metaphor for innovation. Innovations, like flowers, start from tiny seeds and have to be nurtured carefully until they blossom; then their essence has to be carried elsewhere for the flowers to spread. And some conditionssoil, climate, fertilizer, the layout of the gardenproduce larger and more abundant flowers.2 The slogan was actually, Let a hundred flowers blossom; it marked the beginning of the Hundred Flowers Campaign in China in 1956.3 The purpose of the present study is to identify what organizational attributes influence the diffusion of information technology innovations at academic health sciences centers, and so Kanter's metaphor is appropriate. In other words, what particular soil and climate conditions are needed to nurture a glorious blossoming?

3 The features contributing to success and failures of MIS models:

Desirable features of an MIS Be flexible - allowing for different ways of analysing data and evaluating information. Provide interpersonal communication with other people in the organisation. Not require extensive periods of concentration as managers switch between different tasks. Make it easy to interrupt the work and return to it at a later time Protect a manager, from information overload. There are a number of ways that computer projects can be managed. We will look at Systems life cycle The waterfall model Prototyping.

The Systems life cycle was the traditional way in which projects were carried out. Each stage was completed before the next was started.

In the Waterfall model, it is possible to rework earlier stages in the light of experience gained at a later stage. Each stage is signed off and the next stage is proceeded with. However the end user is rarely involved in the development stage, even though they may well be involved in signing off. It is therefore critical that the analysts and the programmers understand the end-users

The waterfall model has disadvantages, which can be overcome using prototyping, in which a model of the system is developed in partnership with the end-user. The features are worked out with the end user using a prototype, and the end user can have a considerable input into the development of a project. The approach is shown below:

Benefits are: Misunderstandings are detected at early stages the user will notice any missing functions, incomplete or inconsistent requirements. can be built quickly to demonstrate systems it can be used for training before the system is finished Drawbacks are: Project management can be discoordinated or even sloppy. Meetings with end users can become time consuming. The final result could be completely different to what was requested in the first place. There are several different ways of prototyping: Piloting Test the feasibility of the design proposal Modelling building to develop an understanding of the users requirements Throw-away prototyping Pilot and modelling are throw away types Evolutionary prototyping each prototype built is a step closer to solution. Why an MIS Might Fail MIS systems are complex and expensive pieces of software, and many people are involved with the design both within the organisation and from outside. Often they are built by software houses to the precise requirements of the organisation. So the client organisation needs to be very clear as to what it wants, and the software house analysts need also to be very clear about the requirements. MIS failures can be expensive and bring bad publicity to all parties. They can arise due to: Inadequate analysis - problems, needs and constraints arent understood in the early stages. Lack of management involved in the design wrong expectations of a new system / no-one understands the system.

Emphasis on the computer system Need procedures for handling input and output / select the right hardware and software Concentration on low-level data processing Information must be easily accessible and understood Lack of management knowledge of ICT systems and capabilities managers know what they want from the system but dont understand the technology Lack of teamwork An ICT manager must co-ordinate the accounts, marketing, sales etc. departments and help everyone understand the benefits of the system Lack of professional standards All systems need clear documentation that all users can understand (not just the ICT literate)

Organisations can judge how successful the implementation of an MIS system has been by applying the following evaluations: High level of use - Is it actually used? Some systems dont become operational for reasons such as it taking too long to enter data. High level of user satisfaction - Do users like the systems? Accomplishment of original objectives - Have the objectives specified in the analysis stage been achieved? Appropriate nature of use - Is the software being correctly used? Has proper training been given? Institutionalisation of the system - Has it been taken on board enthusiastically?

4 The relationship between artificial intelligence and neural networks with help of a scenario. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that
aims to create it. Textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents," where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success. John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956, defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines." The field was founded on the claim that a central property of humans, intelligencethe sapience of Homo sapienscan be so precisely described that it can be simulated by a machine. This raises philosophical issues about the nature of the mind and limits of scientific hubris, issues which have been addressed by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity.[6] Artificial intelligence has been the subject of optimism, but has also suffered setbacks[8] and, today, has become an essential part of the technology industry, providing the heavy lifting for many of the most difficult problems in computer science. AI research is highly technical and specialized, deeply divided into subfields that often fail to communicate with each other. Subfields have grown up around particular institutions, the work of individual researchers, the solution of specific problems, longstanding differences of opinion about how AI should be done and the application of widely differing tools. The central problems of AI include such traits as reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, communication, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects. General intelligence (or "strong AI") is still a long-term goal of (some) research. Traditionally, the term Neural Network had been used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons[citation needed]. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes.

Thus the term has two distinct usages:

1.Biological neural networks are made up of real biological neurons that are connected or functionally related in the peripheral nervous system or the central nervous system. In the field of

neuroscience, they are often identified as groups of neurons that perform a specific physiological function in laboratory analysis. 2.Artificial neural networks are made up of interconnecting artificial neurons (programming constructs that mimic the properties of biological neurons). Artificial neural networks may either be used to gain an understanding of biological neural networks, or for solving artificial intelligence problems without necessarily creating a model of a real biological system. The real, biological nervous system is highly complex and includes some features that may seem superfluous based on an understanding of artificial networks.

Many models are used in the field, each defined at a different level of abstraction and trying to model different aspects of neural systems. They range from models of the short-term behaviour of individual neurons, through models of how the dynamics of neural circuitry arise from interactions between individual neurons, to models of how behaviour can arise from abstract neural modules that represent complete subsystems. These include models of the long-term and shortterm plasticity of neural systems and its relation to learning and memory, from the individual neuron to the system level. Rainfall forecasting plays many important role in water resources studies such as river training works and design of flood warning systems. Recent advancement in artificial intelligence and in particular techniques aimed at converting input to output for highly nonlinear, non-convex and dimensionalized processes such as rainfall field, provide an alternative approach for developing rainfall forecasting model. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), which perform a nonlinear mapping between inputs and outputs, are such a technique. Current literatures on artificial neural networks show that the selection of network architecture and its efficient training procedure are major obstacles for their daily usage. In this paper, feed-forward type networks will be developed to simulate the rainfall field and a so-called back propagation (BP) algorithm coupled with genetic algorithm (GA) will be used to train and optimize the networks. The technique will be implemented to forecast rainfall for a number of times using rainfall hyetograph of recording rain gauges in the Upper Parramatta catchment in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Results of the study showed the structuring of ANN network with the input parameter selection, when coupled with GA, performed better compared to similar work of using ANN alone.

5 (a) The role of systems analyst in SDLC. Explain with a scenario.

The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), or Software Development Life Cycle in systems engineering and software engineering, is the process of creating or altering systems, and the models and methodologies that people use to develop these systems. The concept generally refers to computer or information systems.

In software engineering the SDLC concept underpins many kinds of software development methodologies. These methodologies form the framework for planning and controlling the creation of an information system: The software development process: Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) adheres to important phases that are essential for developers, such as planning, analysis, design, and implementation, and are explained in the section below. There are several Systems Development Life Cycle Models in existence. The oldest model, that was originally regarded as "the Systems Development Life Cycle" is the waterfall model: a sequence of stages in which the output of each stage becomes the input for the next. These stages generally follow the same basic steps but many different waterfall methodologies give the steps different names and the number of steps seem to vary between 4 and 7. There is no definitively correct Systems Development Life Cycle model, but the steps can be characterized and divided in several steps. The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) phases serve as a programmatic guide to project activity and provide a flexible but consistent way to conduct projects to a depth matching the scope of the project. Each of the SDLC phase objectives are described in this section with key deliverables, a description of recommended tasks, and a summary of related control objectives for effective management. It is critical for the project manager to establish and monitor control objectives during each SDLC phase while executing projects. Control objectives help to provide a clear statement of the desired result or purpose and should be used throughout the entire SDLC process. Control objectives can be grouped into major categories (Domains), and relate to the SDLC phases as shown in the figure.[9]

To manage and control any SDLC initiative, each project will be required to establish some degree of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to capture and schedule the work necessary to complete the project. The WBS and all programmatic material should be kept in the Project

Description section of the project notebook. The WBS format is mostly left to the project manager to establish in a way that best describes the project work. There are some key areas that must be defined in the WBS as part of the SDLC policy. The following diagram describes three key areas that will be addressed in the WBS in a manner established by the project manager

5 (b) A data flow diagram for an hospital management system.

The phrase, hospital information system, is frequently used in discussions about the flow of information throughout a hospital with the assumption that everybody has the same concept in mind. Hospitals are the key institutions in providing relief against sickness and disease. They have become an integral part of the comprehensive health services in India, both curative and preventive. Significant progress has been made in improving their efficiency and operations.

Effectiveness of a health institution - hospitals or nursing homes, depends on its goals and objectives, its strategic location, soundness of its operations, and efficiency of its management systems. The administrator's effectiveness depends upon the efficiency with which he is able to achieve the goals and objectives. Some of the major factors determining the effectiveness of a

health institution includes patient care management and patient satisfaction. Hospitals are very expensive to build and to operate. Administrators and professionals have to be extremely cost conscious. Effective computerised systems and procedures need to be implemented to ensure proper utilisation of limited resources toward quality health care. It becomes even more important when an in-house medical facility is provided by an industry for its employees, as is the case for Tata Steel. Patient care management in Tata Steel has fully utilised the power of computers in Medicare, whereby network of integrated systems maintaining patient database for the hospital services in the areas of Pathology, Radiology, Medical Research, In-patient Admissions and Billing, Medical Stores & Pharmacy are operational. The implementation of the above modules have evolved user-friendly computerized systems which are loved and cared by all. This paper tries to cover giving an insight to the Hospital Information system implemented at the Tata Main Hospital, which is being fully utilised to provide quality service. The computerised system has enabled the medics to serve their customers with a smile and to meet the corporate objective set by the founder. We do not claim to be unselfish, more generous or more philanthropic than other people. But we think we started on sound and straight forward business principles, considering the interests of the shareholders our own, and the health and welfare of the employees the sure foundation of our prosperity, - JN Tata

6 The limitations of ERP systems and How ERP packages help in overcoming theses limitations:
Many problems organizations have with ERP systems are due to inadequate investment in ongoing training for involved personnel, including those implementing and testing changes, as well as a lack of corporate policy protecting the integrity of the data in the ERP systems and how it is used. Limitations of ERP include: Success depends on the skill and experience of the workforce, including training about how to make the system work correctly. Many companies cut costs by cutting training budgets. Privately owned small enterprises are often undercapitalized, meaning their ERP system is often operated by personnel with inadequate education in ERP in general, such as APICS foundations, and in the particular ERP vendor package being used. o Personnel turnover; companies can employ new managers lacking education in the company's ERP system, proposing changes in business practices that are out of synchronization with the best utilization of the company's selected ERP. o Customization of the ERP software is limited. Some customization may involve changing of the ERP software structure which is usually not allowed. o Re-engineering of business processes to fit the "industry standard" prescribed by the ERP system may lead to a loss of competitive advantage. o ERP systems can be very expensive to install often ranging from 30,000 to 500,000,000 for multinational companies. o ERP vendors can charge sums of money for annual license renewal that is unrelated to the size of the company using the ERP or its profitability. o Technical support personnel often give replies to callers that are inappropriate for the caller's corporate structure. Computer security concerns arise, for example when telling a nonprogrammer how to change a database on the fly, at a company that requires an audit trail of changes so as to meet some regulatory standards. o ERPs are often seen as too rigid and too difficult to adapt to the specific workflow and business process of some companiesthis is cited as one of the main causes of their failure. o Systems can be difficult to use. o Systems are too restrictive and do not allow much flexibility in implementation and usage.

o The system can suffer from the "weakest link" probleman inefficiency in one department or at one of the partners may affect other participants. o Many of the integrated links need high accuracy in other applications to work effectively. A company can achieve minimum standards, then over time "dirty data" will reduce the reliability of some applications. o Once a system is established, switching costs are very high for any one of the partners (reducing flexibility and strategic control at the corporate level). o The blurring of company boundaries can cause problems in accountability, lines of responsibility, and employee morale. o Resistance in sharing sensitive internal information between departments can reduce the effectiveness of the software. o There are frequent compatibility problems with the various legacy systems of the partners. o The system may be over-engineered relative to the actual needs of the customer. Most ERP security audits today are performed using a manual approach. There is little automation beyond the use of native tools that come standard with ERP packages. Most ERP native security reporting tools are designed with the purpose of assisting security administrators in validating the accuracy of security configurations. Although they are not meant for security audit per se, IT auditors with appropriate skills and knowledge can exploit these tools in extracting information about who has access to critical transactions. For each transaction to be tested, the IT auditor must set up different queries in the reporting tool and extract the output separately. The output is usually stored electronically and will later be processed using a computer-aided auditing tool such as ACL or a spreadsheet. Once the output is parsed and formatted to allow easier analysis, the auditor has a report that lists the users or roles that have the ability to perform a particular transaction, which will be validated by corroboration with management or company policies and procedures. This process needs to be repeated for every transaction included in the audit plan. The approach is based on the premise that IT auditors can use technology to partially automate ERP security audit processes showing how does these ERP packages help in overcoming theses limitations. Steps in the approach are as follows:

1. Understand the security concepts and mechanisms of the specific ERP system being audited. To understand how to audit, it is necessary to understand how a particular user or role
gains access to perform an action in the ERP system. In the context of SAP R/3, a user is assigned a specific set of authorization objects to gain access to perform an action or create a transaction. To audit those who have access to perform a particular transaction, it is necessary to research which authorization objects are required to access the transaction.

2. Study the back-end components of the ERP system, such as tables and programs, that facilitate operation of the ERP security mechanism. Since SAP R/3 stores information in
a relational database, security configuration data can be found on a number of tables. In particular, it is important to identify tables storing information about users, roles, authorization objects and the tables that map relationships among these entities (e.g., which user has which role and which authorization objects are assigned to which roles).

3. Design an ad hoc tool that emulates the back-end components of the ERP system and produces reports depicting the current security configuration. As understanding of the
tables that contain the security configurations is gained, these tables can be extracted from the ERP system and placed into an external, ad hoc database.

4.

Create queries and reports that identify users who have potential SOD conflicts.

Using the criteria identified in the previous step, an extension is developed within the ad hoc tool to automate and simultaneously run queries required for identifying SOD conflicts.