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ASIA PACIFIC INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY APIIT Diploma

Individual Assignment Managing Information Systems

Prepared By

Nuradha Kanchana (CB003948)

Module Code & Title AICT-002-3-2-MIS Cohort DF01061BA Date of Submission 20 May 2011 Instructor Mr. Eranjan Padumadasa

Word Count: 1100

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Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Mr. Eranjan Padumadasa for his continuous support and guidance in the preparation of this study. Without his invaluable supervision, all my efforts could have been short- sighted. My gratitude also goes to all class friends and colleagues for always being supportive in every aspect. I owe quit to my family who provided me the chance to fulfill my career objectives and for the support throughout my studies. I would like to dedicate this study to them as an indication of their significance in this study as well as in my life.

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Contents
Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................... 2 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4 2.0 Reliability of the Information Systems for 21st Century Business ............................. 6 3.0 Benefits of Implementing an Information system ..................................................... 8 4.0 Criteria elements and issues faced in implementing information system ................. 10 4.1Criteria/ Elements ............................................................................................... 10 4.2 The Challenges in Implementing an Information System .................................... 11 5.0 Conclusion............................................................................................................. 12 6.0 References ............................................................................................................. 13

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1.0 Introduction
In the present world information technology does a major role in day to day activities of an individual to a group of people. In that information systems are the most important part which does the major activities. In the world since information technology changes the information systems keeps changing too. So the business also keeps rapidly changing day by day and hour by hour. The system they used yesterday may be out by a new system. Most of the organizations use information systems to have competitive advantages over the other competitors in this fast moving world. It will be so hard survive without an information system, for any organization who wishes to have a success career. Information system is a concept which was developed over a time period and has effect the global modern business environment in considerable manner. When define in this concept its a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store and distribute information to support decision making, and control in an organization (Laudon and Laudon, 2007, p.14; Alter, 1996, p.56; Anon, 2009, Oz 2002: pg.13). Interrelated components are soft wares, hard wares, infrastructures and trained personals organized to facilitate planning, analyzing, controlling, coordinating and decision making. Overall this concept can be adopted and it changes according to the environment it activates. So the reliability of the information system definitely depends on the above interrelated components. In the modern world managing information system concept is highly adopted in day to day operations such as in decision making since its so efficient and cost effective. Ex: balance sheets and financial statement, attendance marking system, data transaction system. According to Laudon and Laudon (2007, p. 8) specifically, business firms invest heavily in information systems to achieve six strategic business objectives: operational excellence; new products, services, and business models; customer and supplier intimacy; improved decision making; competitive advantage and survival. But before information system was found in early 50 the organization strategies were quite few. So they didnt have any problems except increasing their individual benefits.

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Today the organizations are looking in to virtual business where all the functions such as suppliers, customers and employees of the organization are digitally linked to each other. So the transactions are more visible today and easy than early time. Today virtual organizations give more opportunities to the global organizations such as Virgin Group. They could do their operations from one exact place and control them too.

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2.0 Reliability of the Information Systems for 21st Century Business

Since early 1980s and up to now the organizations have realized the importance of the Information system in day to day operations. In the fast moving competitive world the organizations need to have more effective strategic planning and for that they need to put more attention on accurate decision making. In early time where the human needs were full of simplicity they didnt found any problem in having advantages over another. But with the time changes, when the industrial revolution took place in England in the middle of 1800s everything started changing where; it was something more than machines, factories and increased the efficiency of products (History Guide Corporate Website, 2010). The organizations started thinking in new ways and innovations were high. So they need to keep on innovating new thing to survive in the competitive market. In traditional methodologies where highly time consuming, unnecessary wastage and inefficiency were high but companies quite it intends to use new innovations such as Information systems mainly to have competitive advantages over other. In the modern world computer technology keeps advancing day by day. This has influenced for the advancement of the information technology and it has done a huge effect on the organizations. Information systems, and information technology goes hand in hand with computer technology when the creativity of the people got added with the information technology , they will easily find solutions for the problems which organizations face in the competitive world. So in the present90% of the organizations relies on the Information system. In the United States, more than 23 million managers and 113 million workers in the labor force rely on information systems to conduct business (Laudon and Laudon, 2007, p. 8). But as soon as a business used an Information system it doesnt mean that they find all the solutions for their problems. The technology keeps changing, advancing. The other competitor may use the newer version. Then he might have competitive advantages. So the organizations always need to be in touch with the changing Information technology

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and it is said the IT is a main effecting factor for business operations. According to Laudon and Laudon (2007, p. 5) in 2006, American businesses will spend $ 1.8 trillion on information systems hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment. The technological developments in the area of information systems have been so rapid that is very difficult sometimes keeping up with the constant need to change and to absorb new ideas (Anon, 2009). In the beginning information systems were built only for service sector purposes. But today the trend has changed. The manufacturing organization are being using Information systems to have more advantages such Economic of scales. According to HBS edu web (2011) Toyota used JIT system in their Toyota Production system (TPS) so they could achieve so many advantages and maximize the profit. According to Gunasekaran et al, (1999) Information technology and systems (IT/IS) permeate almost all business processes and functions including manufacturing within industrialized nations.

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3.0 Benefits of Implementing an Information system

As mentioned above the organization can gain a lot of benefits from implanting a Information system to a business. y Competitive advantage

By implementing a IS to SGM, the organization can do things better than its competitors. According to Power (2007) for example, a data mart may have been built for accessing customer data, a project management system may exist for tracking large-scale projects, or Excel analyses may be routinely used in a specific business decision process. So when they implement a system such as DSS they can gain a lot of competitive advantages. y Reduction in the cost of the organization.

According to Sassone (1988) Cost justification has become one of the most important factors influencing the pace of business automation, particularly end user computing. The primary difficulty in cost justification is the evaluation of benefits. This paper identifies and discusses eight methodologies which have evolved to quantify the benefits of information systems. Since the information is managed properly the organization admin can do an evaluation between the cost and benefits and do an adjustment. y Higher quality and effectiveness in management decisions

When the information is recorded in manner its really easy for the SGM management to have good decisions. They will be quick, efficient and accurate since the information is provided as they required. Verizon Corporation uses a Web-based digital dashboard to provide managers with precise real-time information on customer complains, network performance for each locality served, and line outages (Laudon and Laudon, 2007, p. 12).

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Better service and customer satisfaction

When there is a IS the functions of the SGM wont get that complex. It will make the harder thing easy and have a good quality on the service. Since its efficient and productive the customer satisfaction will be so high and the organizations can have a better relationship with the customer. UPS uses Delivery Information Acquisition Device which has made easy method for customer and the company to do the functions easily. (Laudon and Laudon, 2007, p.12).

Increases the revenue of the company throw reducing wastages.

According to Tate (2008) An information system would improve the bottom line for the Bead Bar company by increased revenue from reduced invoice error, filling orders in a timely manner, reduce the number of new hires needed to process paperwork as the company expands, etc. when a system is maintained the company do not have to spent cost on buying papers and stuff and waiting in queues for approvals. So time waste, money waste will be low.

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4.0 Criteria elements and issues faced in implementing information system

4.1Criteria/ Elements
People

When implementing an Information system the management of SGM needs to consider about the employees in the organization. They must analyze whether they are capable of handling the IS. Otherwise it will be a time of waste. Many organizations require G.C.E (O/L) qualification as a minimum measurement. The knowledge of the employees will effect on the functions and effectiveness of the IS. y Purpose of the system

Before implementing the system SGM needs to identify the problem and purposes of implementing it. Reasonless implementing of an Information System may worth

nothing to a business. The purpose needs to be identified since the IS needs to be prepared according that requirements. y Economical benefits

Companies are concerned about economical benefits such as return on invest (Palmius, 2010). Companies analyze the economically benefits before they implement and IS. They do a project appraisal before and see whether it is worth enough. In SGM case it does make sense and derive so many economical benefits in direct and indirect ways. If the benefits are exceeding the cost then the implementation should be done. y Hardware/ Software/

Hardware and software are the most important part when implementing an IS. The equipments should be there to active the IS. If there are no proper hard wares or soft wares then the organizations cant have enough benefits as they require. y Capacity and processing time

IS needs a certain capacity and a good proceeding time to function as the desired level. If not it will be inefficient.

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4.2 The Challenges in Implementing an Information System

When an organization comes up with a new system they face some amount of challengers. Such as,  Cost factor This is the major challenge when implementing a new information system to SGM. In first few years they have bare high initial cost to develop and maintain the new system. Therefore they can out source this facility from another company to overcome this challenge. But the cost will be relatively high.  Training employees Most of the employees do not have sufficient knowledge about computer technology. Therefore SGM needs to train their employees, but this is costly and takes some time to get adjusted.  Customer dissatisfaction When implementing a new system customer might have some dissatisfaction since its new and he will think it is time consuming. But time go on when the customer got used to it, it will be fine.  Problems due to failure Due to poor service and product quality customers will have dissatisfaction about the service. As an example one survey approximates that 75% of system developments not completed or not used (Gladden, 1982, cited Bondarouk, 2004).  Low productivity Low productivity has been recognized due to software crisis, as indicated by the development backlog and maintenance problems (cf. Brooks 1975; Boehm and Papaccio 1988; Jeffrey 1987, cited Anon, 2010).

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5.0 Conclusion
Throughout this report the author has explained the importance of Information technology and Information system to a business in a modern world, 21st century. Here it is mentioned the challenges, trends benefits faced by the organization when implementing a information system. In the modern business world any organization cannot survive with a proper Information system since its all about defeating the others and being the 1st in the market. It not enough only to have just a Information system, but also it needed to be up to date to have more advantages.

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6.0 References
Alter, S. (1996) Information System, 2nd edition, Singapore: Cummings Publishing Company. Anon. (2009) Information System, [Online], available: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/287895/information-system, [Accessed on 5th May 2011]. Anon. (2010) Problems in information system development [Online], available: http://users.jyu.fi/~jpt/doc/thesis/ime-1_1.html, [Accessed on 3rd May 2011]. Gunasekaran, A., McGaughy, Ronald, E. (1999) Information technology/information systems in 21st century manufacturing [Online], available: http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Engineering-and-manufacturing-industries/Informationtechnology-information-systems-in-21st-century-manufacturing.html#ixzz11PViyJux, [Accessed on 04th May 2011]. History Guide Corporate Website (2010) The Origins of the Industrial Revolution in England [Online], available: http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture17a.html, [Accessed on 3rd May 2011]. HBS Edu web (2011) Toyota Just in Time system [Online], available: www.hbs.edu/research/facpubs/workingpapers/papers2/.../02-043.doc [Accessed on 11th May 2011]. Laudon, K. & Laudon, J. (2007) Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 10th edition, New Jersey: Prentice- Hall. Lipnack, J. & Stamps, J (1993) "Virtual teams: The new way to work", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 27 Iss: 1, pp.14 19. Oz, E, 2002. Management Information Systems. 4th ed. 25 Thomson Place, Boston: Course Technology Palmius, J (2007) 11th May 2011]. Power, D (2007) Gaining Competitive Advantage with Computerized Decision Support [Onlie], available: http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/6501, [Accessed on 3rd May 2011]. Criteria for measuring and comparing Information Systems

[Online], available: http://www.palmius.com/joel/text/IRIS-30-final.pdf, [Accessed on

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Ruel- Bondarouk, T (2004) Using group learning to enhance the implementation of information technology [Online], available:

http://doc.utwente.nl/41717/1/thesis_Bondarouk.pdf , [Accessed on 11th May 2011]. Sassone, P.G, 1988. Cost benefit analysis of information systems. a survey of methodologies, [Online]. . Available at: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=45410.45424&coll=DL&dl=GUIDE&CFID=2216 7165&CFTOKEN=10656296 [Accessed on 10th May 2011]. Tate, A (2008) What Are the Benefits of an Information System for the Bead Bar [Online], available: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/556845/what_are_the_benefits_of_an_inform ation.html, [Accessed on 10th May 2011].

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