Tunku Abdul Rahman University College

Diploma in Science
Principles of Information Systems
AACS1143

Tutorial 1
Organisations and Information Systems

Question 1
A business organisation is set up to conduct some kind of business, whether for profit or not.
(a) Briefly describe each of the main types of business organisations.
● Manufacturers
● wholesaler/ distributors
● retailers
-Manufactures: Produces good (from raw materials) that are sold to other business or
individual consumer. Goods may be final product or components
-Wholesaler/Distributors: Purchase large quantities of goods from manufacturer and
store them in warehouse and then sell smaller quantities to retailers
-Retailers: Purchase quantities of goods from wholesaler or manufacturer. They keep
goods at store or other retail location and resell them one at a time or small quantities to
individual consumer. They can also act as distributor or manufacturers
(b) What is the difference between a profit-making organization and not-for-profit organization?
Give an example for each type of these organizations.
Not-for-profit organization provide goods or services without the intent of making profit, most non-
profit organization provide services, such as medical care, education, and etc…
Profit-making organization provide goods or services with the intent of making profit from consumer.
Example: Adidas,Nike and etc…

Question 2
In some industries, wholesalers are not used; the retailer buys directly from the manufacturer. In other
industries, wholesalers are used extensively.
Why would a manufacturer want to use a wholesaler to sell and distribute its products instead of
selling directly to a retailer?
So that manufacturer doesn’t need to look for consumer (retailer) by them self, manufacture can focus
on making goods and instead of selling it to many different retailer with smaller quantities they can
just sell the goods to few amount of wholesaler in a very large quantities of goods

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Question 3
Information systems are now widely used in most organisations.
(a) What is an information system? With an aid of a diagram, describe the 4 main functions of an
information system.
Information system is a collection of components that work together to provide information to help in
the operations and management of an organization.

(b) Describe the four functions include input function, process function, output function and
storage function performed when a bank customer withdraws cash from ATM.
Input function: it accept user input data(6 digit pin code) from outside system
Processing function: it verify the pin code from the storage
Storage function: Keeps all the details of the user,including pin code
Output function: if the pin code is matched,it will produces results

Question 4
The BuyBuyCart Inc. is a multinational convenience store which sells various products ranging from
food, drink, electronics, etc. BuyBuyCart Inc. has set up multiple payment counters for cashiers in
handling customer payments.

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(a) Identify ONE (1) suitable information system that can be used by BuyBuyCart Inc. at the
payment counters.
Point of sales system

(b) Prepare a table as below to describe the FIVE (5) components of an information system.
Provide ONE (1) example for each component of the information system that given in Q4(a)..

Component Description Example

Hardware Monitor, Barcode scanner

Software OS, Point of sales software

People Cashier
girl,customer,supervisor

Procedure User manual

Stored data Price, quantity, sales amount