Management Information System (MIS) is a planned system of collecting, storing, and

disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management.
ERP is an integrated, real-time, cross-functional enterprise application, an enterprise-wide
transaction framework that supports all the internal business processes of a company.
It supports all core business processes such as sales order processing, inventory management and
control, production and distribution planning, and finance.

Why of ERP?
ERP is very helpful in the follwoing areas:

Business integration and automated data update

Linkage between all core business processes and easy flow of integration

Flexibility in business operations and more agility to the company

Better analysis and planning capabilities

Critical decision-making

Competitive advantage

Use of latest technologies

Features of ERP
The following diagram illustrates the features of ERP:

Scope of ERP

Finance: Financial accounting, Managerial accounting, treasury management, asset

management, budget control, costing, and enterprise control.

Logistics: Production

planning,

material

management,

plant

maintenance,

project

management, events management, etc.

Human resource: Personnel management, training and development, etc.

Supply Chain: Inventory control, purchase and order control, supplier scheduling, planning,
etc.

Work flow: Integrate the entire organization with the flexible assignment of tasks and
responsibility to locations, position, jobs, etc.

Advantages of ERP

Reduction of lead time

Reduction of cycle time

Better customer satisfaction

Increased flexibility, quality, and efficiency

Improved information accuracy and decision making capability

Onetime shipment

Improved resource utilization

Improve supplier performance

Reduced quality costs

Quick decision-making

Forecasting and optimization

Better transparency

Disadvantage of ERP

Expense and time in implementation

Difficulty in integration with other system

Risk of implementation failure

Difficulty in implementation change

Risk in using one vendor

Security of an Information System

Information system security refers to the way the system is defended against unauthorized access,
use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction.
There are two major aspects of information system security:

Security of the information technology used - securing the system from malicious cyberattacks that tend to break into the system and to access critical private information or gain
control of the internal systems.

Security of data - ensuring the integrity of data when critical issues, arise such as natural
disasters, computer/server malfunction, physical theft etc. Generally an off-site backup of
data is kept for such problems.

Guaranteeing effective information security has the following key aspects:

Preventing the unauthorized individuals or systems from accessing the information.

Maintaining and assuring the accuracy and consistency of data over its entire life-cycle.

Ensuring that the computing systems, the security controls used to protect it and the
communication channels used to access it, functioning correctly all the time, thus making
information available in all situations.

Ensuring that the data, transactions, communications or documents are genuine.

Ensuring the integrity of a transaction by validating that both parties involved are genuine,
by incorporating authentication features such as "digital signatures".

Ensuring that once a transaction takes place, none of the parties can deny it, either having
received a transaction, or having sent a transaction. This is called 'non-repudiation'.

Safeguarding data and communications stored and shared in network systems.

Information Systems and Ethics

Information systems bring about immense social changes, threatening the existing distributions of
power, money, rights, and obligations. It also raises new kinds of crimes, like cyber-crimes.
Following organizations promote ethical issues:

The Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)

The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)

The ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness, and dignity in both the process and
products of professional work.

Acquire and maintain professional competence.

Know and respect existing laws pertaining to professional work.

Accept and provide appropriate professional review.

Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer systems and their impacts,
including analysis and possible risks.

Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned responsibilities.

Improve public understanding of computing and its consequences.

Access computing and communication resources only when authorized to do so.

The IEEE Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

IEEE code of ethics demands that every professional vouch to commit themselves to the highest
ethical and professional conduct and agree:

To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of
the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the
environment;

To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to
affected parties when they do exist;

To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

To reject bribery in all its forms;

To improve the understanding of technology, its appropriate application, and potential

consequences;

To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for
others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent
limitations;

To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct
errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age,
or national origin;

To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious

action;

To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them
in following this code of ethics.

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) or Business Continuity and Resiliency Planning (BCRP)
creates a guideline for continuing business operations under adverse conditions such as a natural
calamity, an interruption in regular business processes, loss or damage to critical infrastructure, or a
crime done against the business.

It is defined as a plan that "identifies an organization's exposure to internal and external threats and
synthesizes hard and soft assets to provide effective prevention and recovery for the organization,
while maintaining competitive advantage and value system integrity."
Understandably, risk management and disaster management are major components in business
continuity planning.

Objectives of BCP
Following are the objectives of BCP:

Reducing the possibility of any interruption in regular business processes using proper risk
management.

Minimizing the impact of interruption, if any.

Teaching the staff their roles and responsibilities in such a situation to safeguard their own
security and other interests.

Handling any potential failure in supply chain system, to maintain the natural flow of
business.

Protecting the business from failure and negative publicity.

Protecting customers and maintaining customer relationships.

Protecting the prevalent and prospective market and competitive advantage of the business.

Protecting profits, revenue and goodwill.

Setting a recovery plan following a disruption to normal operating conditions.

Fulfilling legislative and regulatory requirements.

Traditionally a business continuity plan would just protect the data center. With the advent of
technologies, the scope of a BCP includes all distributed operations, personnel, networks, power
and eventually all aspects of the IT environment.

Phases of BCP

The business continuity planning process involves recovery, continuation, and preservation of the
entire business operation, not just its technology component. It should include contingency plans to
protect all resources of the organization, e.g., human resource, financial resource and IT
infrastructure, against any mishap.
It has the following phases:

Project management & initiation

Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Recovery strategies

Plan design & development

Testing, maintenance, awareness, training

Project Management and Initiation

This phase has the following sub-phases:

Establish need (risk analysis)

Get management support

Establish team (functional, technical, BCC - Business Continuity Coordinator)

Create work plan (scope, goals, methods, timeline)

Initial report to management

Obtain management approval to proceed

Business Impact Analysis

This phase is used to obtain formal agreement with senior management for each time-critical
business resource. This phase has the following sub-phases:

Deciding maximum tolerable downtime, also known as MAO (Maximum Allowable Outage)

Quantifying loss due to business outage (financial, extra cost of recovery, embarrassment),
without estimating the probability of kinds of incidents, it only quantifies the consequences

Choosing information gathering methods (surveys, interviews, software tools)

Selecting interviewees

Customizing questionnaire

Analyzing information

Identifying time-critical business functions

Assigning MTDs

Ranking critical business functions by MTDs

Reporting recovery options

Obtaining management approval

Recovery Phase
This phase involves creating recovery strategies are based on MTDs, predefined and managementapproved. These strategies should address recovery of:

Business operations

Facilities & supplies

Users (workers and end-users)

Network

Data center (technical)

Data (off-site backups of data and applications)

BCP Development Phase

This phase involves creating detailed recovery plan that includes:

Business & service recovery plans

Maintenance plan

Awareness & training plan

Testing plan

The Sample Plan is divided into the following phases:

Initial disaster response

Resume critical business ops

Resume non-critical business ops

Restoration (return to primary site)

Interacting with external groups (customers, media, emergency responders)

Final Phase
The final phase is a continuously evolving process containing testing maintenance, and training.
The testing process generally follows procedures like structured walk-through, creating checklist,
simulation, parallel and full interruptions.
Maintenance involves:

Fixing problems found in testing

Implementing change management

Auditing and addressing audit findings

Annual review of plan

Training is an ongoing process and it should be made a part of the corporate standards and the
corporate culture.
Supply chain management is the systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business
functions and tactics across these business functions - both within a particular company and across

businesses within the supply chain- all coordinated to improve the long-term performance of the
individual companies and the supply chain as a whole.
In a traditional manufacturing environment, supply chain management meant managing movement
and storage of raw materials, work-in-progress inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to
point of consumption.
It involves managing the network of interconnected smaller business units, networks of channels
that take part in producing a merchandise of a service package required by the end users or
customers.
With businesses crossing the barriers of local markets and reaching out to a global scenario, SCM
is now defined as:
Design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of
creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics,
synchronizing supply with demand and measuring performance globally.
SCM consists of:

operations management

logistics

procurement

information technology

integrated business operations

Objectives of SCM

To decrease inventory cost by more accurately predicting demand and scheduling

production to match it.

To reduce overall production cost by streamlining production and by improving information

flow.

To improve customer satisfaction.

Features of SCM

Scope of SCM

SCM Processes

Customer Relationship Management

Customer Service Management

Demand Management

Customer Order Fulfillment

Manufacturing Flow Management

Procurement Management

Product Development and Commercialization

Returns Management

Advantages of SCM
SCM have multi-dimensional advantages:

To the suppliers:
o

Help in giving clear-cut instruction

Online data transfer reduce paper work

Inventory Economy:
o

Low cost of handling inventory

Low cost of stock outage by deciding optimum size of replenishment orders

Achieve excellent logistical performance such as just in time

Distribution Point:
o

Satisfied distributor and whole seller ensure that the right products reach the right
place at right time

Clear business processes subject to fewer errors

Easy accounting of stock and cost of stock

Channel Management:
o

Reduce total number of transactions required to provide product assortment

Organization is logically capable of performing customization requirements

Financial management:
o

Low cost

Realistic analysis

Operational performance:
o

It involves delivery speed and consistency.

External customer:
o

Conformance of product and services to their requirements

Competitive prices

Quality and reliability

Delivery

After sales services

To employees and internal customers:

o

Teamwork and cooperation

Efficient structure and system

Quality work

Delivery

Like any other product development, system development requires careful analysis and design
before implementation. System development generally has the following phases:

Planning and Requirement Analysis

The project planning part involves the following steps:

Reviewing various project requests

Prioritizing the project requests

Allocating the resources

Identifying the project development team

The techniques used in information system planning are:

Critical Success Factor

Business System Planning

End/Mean Analysis

The requirement analysis part involves understanding the goals, processes and the constraints of
the system for which the information system is being designed.
It is basically an iterative process involving systematic investigation of the processes and
requirements. The analyst creates a blueprint of the entire system in minute details, using various
diagramming techniques like:

Data flow diagrams

Context diagrams

Requirement analysis has the following sub-processes:

Conducting preliminary investigation

Performing detailed analysis activities

Studying current system

Determining user requirements

Recommending a solution

Defining Requirements
The requirement analysis stage generally completes by creation of a 'Feasibility Report'. This
report contains:

A preamble

A goal statement

A brief description of the present system

Proposed alternatives in details

The feasibility report and the proposed alternatives help in preparing the costs and benefits study.

Based on the costs and benefits, and considering all problems that may be encountered due to
human, organizational or technological bottlenecks, the best alternative is chosen by the end-users
of the system.

Designing System Architecture

System design specifies how the system will accomplish this objective. System design consists of
both logical design and physical design activity, which produces 'system specification' satisfying
system requirements developed in the system analysis stage.
In this stage, the following documents are prepared:

Detailed specification

Hardware/software plan

Building or Developing the System

The most creative and challenging phase of the system life cycle is system design, which refers to
the technical specifications that will be applied in implementing the candidate system. It also
includes the construction of programmers and program testing.
It has the following stages:

Acquiring hardware and software, if necessary

Database design

Developing system processes

Coding and testing each module

The final report prior to implementation phase includes procedural flowcharts, record layout, report
layout and plan for implementing the candidate system. Information on personnel, money,
hardware, facility and their estimated cost must also be available. At this point projected cost must
be close to actual cost of implementation.

Testing the System

System testing requires a test plan that consists of several key activities and steps for programs,
strings, system, and user acceptance testing. The system performance criteria deals with
turnaround time,backup,file protection and the human factors.
Testing process focuses on both:

The internal logic of the system/software, ensuring that all statements have been tested;

The external functions, by conducting tests to find errors and ensuring that the defined input
will actually produce the required results.

In some cases, a 'parallel run' of the new system is performed, where both the current and the
proposed system are run in parallel for a specified time period and the current system is used to
validate the proposed system.

Deployment of the System

At this stage, system is put into production to be used by the end users. Sometime, we put system
into a Beta stage where users' feedback is received and based on the feedback, the system is
corrected or improved before a final release or official release of the system.

System Evaluation and Maintenance

Maintenance is necessary to eliminate the errors in the working system during its working life and to
tune the system to any variation in its working environment. Often small system deficiencies are
found, as system is brought into operation and changes are made to remove them. System planner
must always plan for resources availability to carry on these maintenance functions.
CRM is an enterprise application module that manages a company's interactions with current and
future customers by organizing and coordinating, sales and marketing, and providing better
customer services along with technical support.
Atul Parvatiyar and Jagdish N. Sheth provide an excellent definition for customer relationship
management in their work titled - 'Customer Relationship Management: Emerging Practice,
Process, and Discipline':
Customer Relationship Management is a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring,
retaining, and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the
customer. It involves the integration of marketing, sales, customer service, and the supply-chain

functions of the organization to achieve greater efficiencies and effectiveness in delivering customer
value.

Why CRM?

To keep track of all present and future customers.

To identify and target the best customers.

To let the customers know about the existing as well as the new products and services.

To provide real-time and personalized services based on the needs and habits of the
existing customers.

To provide superior service and consistent customer experience.

To implement a feedback system.

Scope of CRM

Advantages of CRM

Provides better customer service and increases customer revenues.

Discovers new customers.

Cross-sells and up-sells products more effectively.

Helps sales staff to close deals faster.

Makes call centers more efficient.

Simplifies marketing and sales processes.

Disadvantages of CRM

Some times record loss is a major problem.

Overhead costs.

Giving training to employees is an issue in small organizations.

Decision support systems (DSS) are interactive software-based systems intended to help
managers in decision-making by accessing large volumes of information generated from various
related information systems involved in organizational business processes, such as office
automation system, transaction processing system, etc.
DSS uses the summary information, exceptions, patterns, and trends using the analytical models. A
decision support system helps in decision-making but does not necessarily give a decision itself.
The decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge,
and/or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.

Programmed and Non-programmed Decisions

There are two types of decisions - programmed and non-programmed decisions.
Programmed decisions are basically automated processes, general routine work, where:

These decisions have been taken several times.

These decisions follow some guidelines or rules.

For example, selecting a reorder level for inventories, is a programmed decision.

Non-programmed decisions occur in unusual and non-addressed situations, so:

It would be a new decision.

There will not be any rules to follow.

These decisions are made based on the available information.

These decisions are based on the manger's discretion, instinct, perception and judgment.

For example, investing in a new technology is a non-programmed decision.

Decision support systems generally involve non-programmed decisions. Therefore, there will be no
exact report, content, or format for these systems. Reports are generated on the fly.

Attributes of a DSS

Adaptability and flexibility

High level of Interactivity

Ease of use

Efficiency and effectiveness

Complete control by decision-makers

Ease of development

Extendibility

Support for modeling and analysis

Support for data access

Standalone, integrated, and Web-based

Characteristics of a DSS

Support for decision-makers in semi-structured and unstructured problems.

Support for managers at various managerial levels, ranging from top executive to line
managers.

Support for individuals and groups. Less structured problems often requires the involvement
of several individuals from different departments and organization level.

Support for interdependent or sequential decisions.

Support for intelligence, design, choice, and implementation.

Support for variety of decision processes and styles.

DSSs are adaptive over time.

Benefits of DSS

Improves efficiency and speed of decision-making activities.

Increases the control, competitiveness and capability of futuristic decision-making of the

organization.

Facilitates interpersonal communication.

Encourages learning or training.

Since it is mostly used in non-programmed decisions, it reveals new approaches and sets
up new evidences for an unusual decision.

Helps automate managerial processes.

Components of a DSS
Following are the components of the Decision Support System:

Database Management System (DBMS): To solve a problem the necessary data may
come from internal or external database. In an organization, internal data are generated by
a system such as TPS and MIS. External data come from a variety of sources such as
newspapers, online data services, databases (financial, marketing, human resources).

Model Management System: It stores and accesses models that managers use to make
decisions. Such models are used for designing manufacturing facility, analyzing the financial
health of an organization, forecasting demand of a product or service, etc.
Support Tools: Support tools like online help; pulls down menus, user interfaces, graphical
analysis, error correction mechanism, facilitates the user interactions with the system.

Classification of DSS
There are several ways to classify DSS. Hoi Apple and Whinstone classifies DSS as follows:

Text Oriented DSS: It contains textually represented information that could have a bearing
on decision. It allows documents to be electronically created, revised and viewed as
needed.

Database Oriented DSS: Database plays a major role here; it contains organized and
highly structured data.

Spreadsheet Oriented DSS: It contains information in spread sheets that allows create,
view, modify procedural knowledge and also instructs the system to execute self-contained
instructions. The most popular tool is Excel and Lotus 1-2-3.

Solver Oriented DSS: It is based on a solver, which is an algorithm or procedure written for
performing certain calculations and particular program type.

Rules Oriented DSS: It follows certain procedures adopted as rules.

Rules Oriented DSS: Procedures are adopted in rules oriented DSS. Export system is the
example.

Compound DSS: It is built by using two or more of the five structures explained above.

Types of DSS
Following are some typical DSSs:

Status Inquiry System: It helps in taking operational, management level, or middle level
management decisions, for example daily schedules of jobs to machines or machines to
operators.

Data Analysis System: It needs comparative analysis and makes use of formula or an
algorithm, for example cash flow analysis, inventory analysis etc.

Information Analysis System: In this system data is analyzed and the information report is
generated. For example, sales analysis, accounts receivable systems, market analysis etc.

Accounting System: It keeps track of accounting and finance related information, for
example, final account, accounts receivables, accounts payables, etc. that keep track of the
major aspects of the business.

Model Based System: Simulation models or optimization models used for decision-making
are used infrequently and creates general guidelines for operation or management.

All the systems we are discussing here come under knowledge management category. A
knowledge management system is not radically different from all these information systems, but it
just extends the already existing systems by assimilating more information.
As we have seen, data is raw facts, information is processed and/or interpreted data, and
knowledge is personalized information.

What is Knowledge?

Personalized information

State of knowing and understanding

An object to be stored and manipulated

A process of applying expertise

A condition of access to information

Potential to influence action

Sources of Knowledge of an Organization

Intranet

Data warehouses and knowledge repositories

Decision support tools

Groupware for supporting collaboration

Networks of knowledge workers

Internal expertise

Definition of KMS
A knowledge management system comprises a range of practices used in an organization to identify,
create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption to insight and experience. Such insights and
experience comprise knowledge, either embodied in individual or embedded in organizational
processes and practices.

Purpose of KMS

Improved performance

Competitive advantage

Innovation

Sharing of knowledge

Integration

Continuous improvement by:

o

Driving strategy

Starting new lines of business

Solving problems faster

Developing professional skills

Recruit and retain talent

Activities in Knowledge Management

Start with the business problem and the business value to be delivered first.

Identify what kind of strategy to pursue to deliver this value and address the KM problem.

Think about the system required from a people and process point of view.

Finally, think about what kind of technical infrastructure are required to support the people
and processes.

Implement system and processes with appropriate change management and iterative
staged release.

Level of Knowledge Management

The term 'Business Intelligence' has evolved from the decision support systems and gained
strength with the technology and applications like data warehouses, Executive Information Systems
and Online Analytical Processing (OLAP).

Business Intelligence System is basically a system used for finding patterns from existing data from
operations.

Characteristics of BIS

It is created by procuring data and information for use in decision-making.

It is a combination of skills, processes, technologies, applications and practices.

It contains background data along with the reporting tools.

It is a combination of a set of concepts and methods strengthened by fact-based support

systems.

It is an extension of Executive Support System or Executive Information System.

It collects, integrates, stores, analyzes, and provides access to business information

It is an environment in which business users get reliable, secure, consistent,

comprehensible, easily manipulated and timely information.

It provides business insights that lead to better, faster, more relevant decisions.

Benefits of BIS

Improved Management Processes.

Planning, controlling, measuring and/or applying changes that results in increased revenues
and reduced costs.

Improved business operations.

Fraud detection, order processing, purchasing that results in increased revenues and
reduced costs.

Intelligent prediction of future.

Approaches of BIS
For most companies, it is not possible to implement a proactive business intelligence system at one
go. The following techniques and methodologies could be taken as approaches to BIS:

Improving reporting and analytical capabilities

Using scorecards and dashboards

Enterprise Reporting

On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) Analysis

Advanced and Predictive Analysis

Alerts and Proactive Notification

Automated generation of reports with user subscriptions and "alerts" to problems and/or
opportunities.

Capabilities of BIS

Data Storage and Management:

o

Data ware house

Ad hoc analysis

Data quality

Data mining

Information Delivery
o

Dashboard

Collaboration /search

Managed reporting

Visualization

Scorecard

Query, Reporting and Analysis

Ad hoc Analysis

Production reporting

OLAP analysis