ASSIGNMENT

Module I: MIS

1. Identify at least two trends in the global business environment that have
made information systems so important?
Business Information System makes it simple to store operational data,
revision histories, communication records and documents. The storing of data
manually involves a lot of time and money. A sophisticated Information system
stores the information in the database which simplifies the process of finding
the data easily.

Simplified Decision Making: Business Information System, eases the process of

decision making and simplifies the process of delivering the required
information and hence assists in taking better decisions instantly.

Behavioral Change: Business Information System can be effectively

implemented to help communication better between the employers and the
employees. Information Systems work better as it stores documents and files
in folders that can be accessed and shared by the employees. This ensures to
oversee the flow of information between the management and the lower-level
employees. This also allows the the front-line employees to be a part of the
decision making process and hence feel motivated and committed towards
doing a task.
In today’s continuously changing and fast moving world, customers’
requirements and preferences are always evolving. The only businesses that
can hope to remain competitive and continue to function at the performance
levels that match their customers’ expectations are those that embrace
innovation. In the recent past, any business success has been pegged on the
information technology quality that the business has employed and the
capability to correctly use such information.

Information systems (IS) importance has increased dramatically, and most

businesses have been prompted to introduce it to keep their competitive
edge. Today, nobody can envisage a business without an effective digital
information system. Introduction of an information system to a business can
bring numerous benefits and assist in the external and internal processes that
a business encounters daily, and decision-making for the future. Some of the
benefits of an information system include:

New Products and Services: Any company looking to improve and secure the
future has to establish a broader perspective with the use of a well-designed
and coordinated information system. The IS makes it easier to analyze
independent processes such as information to produce valuable products or
services and organized work activities. Therefore, an IS can give a company the
competitive advantage by analyzing how a company creates, produce, and sell
their products or services. This means that the focus will be put on the main
goal ahead.

Information Storage
Every organization needs records of its activities, to find the cause of problems
and proper solutions. Information systems are useful for storing operational
data, communication records, documents, and revision histories. Manual data
storage will cost the company lots of time, especially when it comes to
searching for specific data. A quality information system stores data in a
comprehensive and sophisticated database which makes the process of finding
it much more convenient. With such information, a company can analyze how
certain actions affected the business, as well as prepare cost estimates and
forecasts.

Easier Decision Making

Without an information system, a company can take a lot of time and energy
in the decision-making process. However, with the use of IS, it’s easier to
deliver all the necessary information and model the results to make better
decisions. The management team can use the information system to choose
the best course of action and carry out the tasks. When there are several
appealing alternatives, the information system can be used to run different
scenarios by calculating key indicators such as costs, sales, and profits. This
way, you can determine the alternative with the most beneficial results.

Behavioral Change: Employers and employees can communicate rapidly and

more effectively with an information system. While emails are quick and
effective, the use of Information Systems is more efficient, since documents
are stored in folders that can be shared and accessed by employees. This
implies that information flows from the management to lower-level
employees and vice versa. Also, the lower-level employees get enlightened
and involved in important decision making, and this eliminates the need for
middle managers. Employees who are directly involved in the decision-making
process are motivated and dedicated to their tasks.

2. What are the key management challenges involved in building, operating

and maintaining information systems today?

If all the existing barriers are divided into humanistic, organizational and
environmental factors, the major drawbacks and the reasons of failure
and using MIS in public organizations are as following:

Humanistic factors: The lack of understanding of the needs of the users by

designers (the lack of correct definition of the needs
and their analysis). The lack of information of the managers and users as
they don’t know exactly what they want and what their information needs
are. The lack of participation of the managers and users in system design.
The lack of understanding of the managers of software and information
systems. The lack of accuracy in the data collected.
Environmental factors:
 The lack of procedures and methodology and stages of creating the
system. The lack of suitable consultants for designing the system and
software. The lack of evaluation of environmental aspects in management
information systems. The lack of serious consideration and adequate
investment in this regard.

Organizational factors: The lack of good conditions for participation and

collaboration of the managers, users and system directors. The lack of
existing systems and methods analysis before the system design. The lack
of evaluation of the existing power. Bad condition of educating the
specialized forces. Unsuitable implementation of the system.

3. Elucidate how digital convergence is used to digitize the types of media and
communication.

The term "digital convergence" refers to the ability to view the same
multimedia content from different types devices and thanks to the
digitization of content (movies, pictures, music, voice, text) and the
development of connections methods. Read emails on your TV via a
connected smartphone, stream a movie and play it on your home theatre.
Whatever your need, digital convergence can simplify and diversify your
entertainment experience. Previously, each device operated independently
and networks were not interconnected. Today, information flows on the
same network and are stored, read, viewed or listened via same types of
equipment. Networks, technologies and content converge on a single
device. With these in mind, convergence media can thus be seen as a cross-
platform media, one which has conventionally associated with a certain
platform or device but through digital convergence can now be accessed
and distributed through another platform of device. This convergence
represents more than just a one-dimensional technological question as it
also incorporates structural changes in the economic field where
 information services play a significant part and the convergence of
industries as well. Digital convergence is enabling companies to merge and
produce much better and efficient services. From electronic media
perspective, digital convergence significantly transforms media
communication and changes the way, in which we create, consume, learn
and interact with one another. Digital convergence has also enabled the
expansion of mobility into areas of imaging, games, music and media by
enabling content to be accessed anytime and from anywhere. Digital
convergence is also playing an important role in the area of imaging. There
is no doubt that the increasing convergence of the various modes of
information and communication has changed the way in which we interact
and communicate with one another. With digital convergence,
communication has become easier and quicker as audiences can
communicate directly with each other and with the creators and publishers
of mass media content via email. social medias, online forums, and other
interactive media. The audience can create mass communication content
themselves and reach for larger audiences at a relatively lower cost than
with the traditional media.

4. Most of the studies suggest that the use of IT without concomitant

organizational changes is unlikely to yield significant gains in terms of
organizational performance. Comment.?

It is obvious that one of the greatest challenges facing managers

today is ensuring that their companies do indeed obtain meaningful returns
on the money they spend on information systems. It’s one thing to use
information technology to design, produce, deliver, and maintain new
products. It’s another thing to make money doing it. Most companies
lack a clear-cut decision-making process for deciding which
technology investments to pursue and for managing those
investments. Despite heavy information technology investments, many
organizations are not realizing significant business value from their
systems, because they lack—or fail to appreciate—the
complementary assets required to make their technology assets
work. The power of computer hardware and software has grown much
more rapidly than the ability of organizations to apply and use this
technology. To benefit fully from information technology, realize
genuine productivity, and become competitive and effective, many
organizations actually need to be redesigned. They will have to make
changes in employee and management behavior, develop new business
models, retire obsolete work rules, and eliminate the inefficiencies of
outmoded business processes and organizational structures. New
technology alone will not produce meaningful business benefits. The rapid
growth in international trade and the emergence of a global economy call
for information systems that can support both producing and selling goods
in many different countries. In the past, each regional office of a
multinational corporation focused on solving its own unique
information problems. Given language, cultural, and political differences
among countries, this focus frequently resulted in chaos and the failure of
central management controls. To develop integrated, multinational,
information systems, businesses must develop global hardware, software,
and communications standards; create cross-cultural accounting and
reporting structures; and design transnational business processes. Many
companies are saddled with expensive and unwieldy information
technology platforms that cannot adapt to innovation and change.
Their information systems are so complex and brittle that they act as
constraints on business strategy and execution. Meeting new business and
technology challenges may require redesigning the organization and
building a new information technology infrastructure. Rating the IT
infrastructure for a digital firm is an especially formidable task. Most
companies are crippled by fragmented and incompatible computer
hardware, software, telecommunications networks, and information
systems that prevent information from flowing freely between
different parts of the organization. Although Internet standards are
solving some of these connectivity problems, creating data and
computing platforms that span the enterprise—and, increasingly, link
the enterprise to external business partners—is rarely as seamless as
promised. Many organizations are still struggling to integrate their islands
of information and technology. A major management challenge is
to make informed decisions that are sensitive to the negative
consequences of information systems as well to the positive ones.
Managers face an ongoing struggle to maintain security and control. Today,
the threat of unauthorized penetration or disruption of information
systems has never been greater. Information systems are so
essential to business, government, and daily life that organizations must
take special steps to ensure their security, accuracy, and reliability.

5. Describe why you need Information Systems.

Management information systems provide the owner and other decision-

makers at a business with the data needed to make informed decisions for
the company. A MIS provides background, current data and trend analysis
so you have ready information on all areas of the business. You can use this
detailed data on the company environment and finances to improve
business performance in the long- and short-term. Following are some of
the reasons why we need Management Information Systems in the
business:
Managing Business Data: Business owners and managers need to be
informed about the overall operation of a company and key areas of
responsibility. If the president calls and wants to know how much sales
have increased in each of the last four years, the sales manager must
provide the information. Management information systems give you access
to key data about your department and about the company in general. If
the manager needs reference information for a bid or for regulatory
purposes, management information systems are a good source.

Informing Business Decisions: Decisions are only as valid as the information

on which they are based. Management information systems improve your
decision-making, because they provide information that is accurate, timely,
relevant and complete. Self-checking and cross-checking features in
management information systems reduce errors, and IT professionals
design the systems to offer a complete picture of a situation or highlight
that specific information is missing. Companies that use management
information systems ensure that all managers work from the same set of
data and make their decisions based on identical information.

Analyzing Business Trends: A key part of management's responsibilities is

preparing forecasts for strategic planning and budgets. Management
information systems contain past data for fundamental company functions
such as sales, production and customer service. They include information
on revenue, expenses and investments, broken down into separate
components. You can search for trends by asking the systems to project
past performance patterns into the future.

Examining Strategy and Scenarios: Sometimes, the information and trends

display an evolving situation that the company wants to change.
Management information systems can evaluate different possibilities and
all you to examine scenarios. What-if scenarios are a powerful tool that
help you decide on the best strategy for the company. Management
information systems calculate what happens based on their collection of
data on how the company operations performed in the past.