BUS 516

BUS 516
Computer Information Systems
Global E-Business and

Collaboration
What are business processes?
What are business processes?
Collection of activities required to produce a

product or service
Organizations coordinate work, information,

and knowledge through business processes
Business processes are unique to

organizations
Business Processes
Information Technology and
Business Processes
Information technology supports business processes and

makes them more efficient
How does IT do that?
Business software applications (apps) are computer

programs that support a specific task or business
process.
Apps can support a single worker, a department or

division, a functional area, or an entire enterprise.
Apps can support relationships with customers, suppliers,

and other business partners
Business Information Systems
Think about the type / number of Business Information

Systems that NSU uses for managing its operations
Student Information Management System
Human Resources Information System
Operations Management System
Library Resources Management System
These are also integrated with each other

Types of Information Systems and
Support
Information
Systems
Management Operations
Support Support
Systems Systems
Decision Executive Transaction

Management
Support Support Processing
Information
Systems Systems Systems
Systems (MIS)
(DSS) (ESS) (TPS)
Operations Support Systems
Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

Transaction processing systems are designed to process
specific types of data input from ongoing transactions.
TPSs can be manual, as when data is typed into a form on

a screen, or automated by using scanners or sensors to
capture data.
Routine organizational data is processed by a TPS—sales

orders, payroll, accounting, financial, marketing,
purchasing, inventory control, and so on
Transactions are either internal or external
Transactions that originate from within the organization or

that occur within the organization are internal. Examples
are payroll, purchases, budget transfers, and payments
Transactions that originate from outside the organization

are external, for example, from customers, suppliers,
regulators, distributors, and financing institutions.
A TPS for Payroll Processing
TPSs are critical systems. Transactions that do not get

captured can result in lost sales, dissatisfied customers,
and many other types of data errors.
For example, if accounts issues a check as payment for

an invoice (bill), and that transaction is not captured, the
amount of cash on the financial statements is overstated
and the invoice may be paid a second time.
Or if services are provided but not recorded, the company

loses that service revenue.
Batch vs. Online Real-Time Processing
Data captured by a TPS is processed and stored in a

database; it is then available for use by other systems.
Processing of transactions is done in one of two modes:
Batch processing: A TPS in batch processing mode

collects all transactions for a day, shift, or other time
period and then processes and stores the data later.
Payroll processing, which is typically done weekly or

biweekly, is done in batch mode.
Online transaction processing (OLTP) or real-time

processing: The TPS processes each transaction as it
occurs, which is what is meant by the term real-time
processing.
In order for online transaction processing (OLTP) to occur,

the input device or Web site must be directly linked via a
network to the TPS.
Airlines need to process flight reservations in real time to

verify that seats are available.
E-commerce transactions also need to be processed in real

time.
Management Support Systems:
Systems for Business Intelligence
Management Information Systems (MIS): General-purpose
reporting systems are referred to as management
information systems (MIS).
Their objective is to provide reports to managers for

tracking operations, monitoring, and control.
The functional areas or departments—accounting, finance,

production/operations, marketing and sales, human
resource, and engineering and design—are supported by
ISs designed for their particular reporting needs.
How MIS Obtain Data from TPS
Types of Report Produced by MIS
Periodic: These reports are created or run according to a

preset schedule, such as daily, weekly, or quarterly.
Reports are easily distributed via e-mail, blogs, internal

Web sites (called intranets), or other electronic media.
Periodic reports are also easily ignored if workers don’t

find them worth the time to review.
Types of Reports Produced by MIS
Exception: Exception reports are generated only when

something is outside the norm, either higher or lower than
expected.
Sales in hardware stores prior to a hurricane may be

much higher than the norm. Or sales of fresh produce
may drop during a food contamination crisis
Exception reports are more likely to be read because

workers know that some unusual event or deviation has
occurred.
Types of Reports Produced by MIS
Ad hoc: Ad hoc reports are unplanned reports. They are

generated to a screen or in print on an as-needed basis.
They are generated on request to provide more

information about a situation, problem, or opportunity.
Reports of MIS can include tables of data and data charts.

With easy-to-use multimedia technology, reports can also
include video, audio, and links to other reports.
Management Support Systems
Sample MIS Report

Management Support Systems
Sample Report Produced by an MIS

Decision Support Systems
Decision support systems (DSS) are interactive

applications that support decision making.
Configurations of a DSS range from relatively simple

applications that support a single user to complex
enterprise-wide systems
DSS use internal information from TPS and MIS, and

from external sources, such as current stock prices or
product prices of competitors.
A DSS can support the analysis and solution of a specific

problem, evaluate a strategic opportunity, or support
ongoing operations.
These systems support unstructured and semi-structured

decisions, such as whether to make or buy products and
what new products to develop and introduce into existing
markets.
Three Defining DSS Characteristics
An easy-to-use interactive interface
Models that enable sensitivity analysis, what-if

analysis, goal seeking, and risk analysis
Data from both internal databases and external

sources, added to by the decision maker, who may
have insights relevant to the decision situation.
Having models is what distinguishes DSS from MIS.
Decision makers can manipulate models to conduct

experiments and sensitivity, what-if, and goal-seeking
analyses.
What-if analysis refers to changing assumptions or data in

the model to see the impacts of the changes on the
outcome.
For example, if sales forecasts are based on a 5 percent

increase in customer demand, a what-if analysis would
replace the 5 percent with higher and/or lower demand
estimates to determine what would happen to sales if the
demands were different.
A good example is Microsoft Excel application. There are

four tools in Excel that are categorized as What-If or
sensitivity analysis tools.
They are Data Tables, Goal Seek, Scenarios, and Solver.

Further, some Excel experts use the terms sensitivity
analysis model and What-If analysis interchangeably.
With goal seeking, the decision maker has a specific

outcome in mind and needs to figure out how that outcome
could be achieved and whether it’s feasible to achieve that
desired outcome.
A DSS can also estimate the risk of alternative strategies

or actions.
Executive Support Systems
ESS help senior management make non-routine decisions

requiring judgment, evaluation, and insight because there is
no agreed-on procedure for arriving at a solution.
Analyze external events, such as new tax laws or

competitors, but also draw summarized information from
internal MIS and DSS
Often the information is delivered to senior executives

through a portal and/or digital dashboard.
Executive Support Systems
Systems for Linking the Enterprise
Reviewing all the different types of systems we have just

described, you might wonder how a business can
manage all the information in these different systems.
You might also wonder how costly it is to maintain so

many different systems.
And you might wonder how all these different systems

can share information and how managers and employees
are able to coordinate their work.
Getting all the different kinds of systems in a company to

work together has proven a major challenge.
Typically, corporations are put together both through normal

“organic” growth and through acquisition of smaller firms.
Over a period of time, corporations end up with a collection

of systems, most of them older, and face the challenge of
getting them all to “talk” with one another and work together
as one corporate system.
There are several solutions to this problem.

(Solution A: Enterprise Applications)
One solution is to implement enterprise applications, which

are systems that span functional areas, focus on executing
business processes across the business firm, and include
all levels of management.
There are four major enterprise applications:
enterprise systems,
supply chain management systems,
customer relationship management systems, and
knowledge management systems.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems or

Enterprise Systems
ERP systems integrate business processes in

manufacturing and production, finance and accounting,
sales and marketing, and human resources into a single
software system.
Replaces fragmented and time-consuming legacy systems

Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems
Firms use SCM systems to manage relationships with their

suppliers
These systems connect suppliers, purchasing firms,

distributors, and logistics companies
Allow sharing information about orders, production,

inventory levels, and delivery of products
The ultimate objective is to get the right amount of products

from the source to the point of consumption in the least
amount of time and at the lowest cost.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
CRM systems provide information to coordinate all of the

business processes that deal with customers in sales,
marketing, and service
Help to optimize revenue, customer satisfaction, and

customer retention.
This information helps firms identify, attract, and retain the

most profitable customers; provide better service to existing
customers and increase sales.
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
KMS enable organizations to better manage processes for

capturing and applying knowledge and expertise.
Collect all relevant knowledge and experience in the firm,

and make it available wherever and whenever it is needed
to improve business processes and management
decisions.
They also link the firm to external sources of knowledge.

(Solution B: Intranets and Extranets)
Enterprise applications create deep-seated changes in the

way the firm conducts its business, offering many
opportunities to integrate important business data into a
single system.
They are often costly and difficult to implement.
Intranets and extranets can act as alternative tools for

increasing integration and expediting the flow of
information within the firm, and with customers and
suppliers.
(Solution B: Intranets and Extranets)
Intranet: Intranets are internal company Web sites that

are accessible only by employees.
Extranet: Extranets are company Web sites that are

accessible to authorized vendors and suppliers, and
often used to coordinate the movement of supplies to the
firm’s production apparatus.
Systems for Collaboration
Collaboration is working with others to achieve shared and

explicit goals.
Collaboration focuses on task or mission accomplishment

and usually takes place in a business, or other
organization, and between businesses.
Why is collaboration crucial in
today’s business world?
Changing nature of work: fewer work silos; closer
coordination
Growth of professional work: Experts in groups
Changing organization structure: flattened firm
Changing scope of the firm: globalization
Emphasis on Innovation: individual or group?
Changing work culture: Crowdsourcing, teamwork

Virtual Collaboration
Leading businesses are quickly realizing the benefits of e-

collaboration
Information Sharing Between Retailers and Their Suppliers:

P&G and Walmart
Lower Transportation and Inventory Costs and Reduced

Stockouts: Unilever
Reduction of Product Development Time: Caterpillar, Inc

Social Business
Social Business is the use of social networking platforms

such as Facebook, Twitter, and internal corporate social
tools to engage employees, customers, and suppliers.
The goal of social business is to deepen interactions with

groups inside and outside of the firm.
A key word in social business is “conversations.”

Social Business
Customers, suppliers, employees, managers, and even

oversight agencies continually have conversations about
firms, often without the knowledge of the firm or its key
actors (employees and managers)
Tight bonds among consumers, suppliers, and employees.
Social business: Good or bad?

Social Business
Information transparency: Good or bad?
People need to share opinions and facts with others quite

directly, without intervention from executives or others
Employees get to know directly what customers and other

employees think;
Suppliers will learn very directly the opinions of supply chain

partners
Managers presumably will learn more directly from their

employees how well they are doing
Tools for Collaboration and Social
Business
Email & IM
Wikis
Virtual worlds – Second Life
Collaboration & Social Business Platforms
• Virtual meeting systems – Telepresence
• Cloud Collaboration Services – Google tools and cyberlockers

(Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive)
• MS SharePoint – browser based collaboration and document

management platform
• IBM Notes
• Enterprise Social Networking Tools – Salesforce Chatter, Microsoft’s

Yammer, Jive, and IBM’s Connections.
Can technology do it alone?
IS Function in Business
IS Department – Programmers, Systems analysts,

Information Systems Managers
Chief Information Officer (CIO) – senior manager with

business and IS knowledge
Chief Security Officer (CSO)
Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)
End Users
The question of how the information systems

department should be organized is part of the larger
issue of IT governance.
IT Governance
IT governance includes the strategy and policies for using

information technology within an organization.
How much should the information systems function be

centralized?
What decisions must be made to ensure effective

management and use of information technology, including
the return on IT investments?
Who should make these decisions? How will these

decisions be made and monitored?

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Computer Information Systems

Global E-Business and

Collection of activities required to produce a

Organizations coordinate work, information,

Business processes are unique to

Information technology supports business processes and

How does IT do that?

Business software applications (apps) are computer

Apps can support a single worker, a department or

Apps can support relationships with customers, suppliers,

Think about the type / number of Business Information

Student Information Management System

Human Resources Information System

Operations Management System

Library Resources Management System

These are also integrated with each other

Decision Executive Transaction

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

TPSs can be manual, as when data is typed into a form on

Routine organizational data is processed by a TPS—sales

Transactions are either internal or external

Transactions that originate from within the organization or

Transactions that originate from outside the organization

TPSs are critical systems. Transactions that do not get

For example, if accounts issues a check as payment for

Or if services are provided but not recorded, the company

Batch vs. Online Real-Time Processing

Data captured by a TPS is processed and stored in a

Processing of transactions is done in one of two modes:

Batch processing: A TPS in batch processing mode

Payroll processing, which is typically done weekly or

Online transaction processing (OLTP) or real-time

In order for online transaction processing (OLTP) to occur,

Airlines need to process flight reservations in real time to

E-commerce transactions also need to be processed in real

Their objective is to provide reports to managers for

The functional areas or departments—accounting, finance,

Periodic: These reports are created or run according to a

Reports are easily distributed via e-mail, blogs, internal

Periodic reports are also easily ignored if workers don’t

Exception: Exception reports are generated only when

Sales in hardware stores prior to a hurricane may be

Exception reports are more likely to be read because

Ad hoc: Ad hoc reports are unplanned reports. They are

They are generated on request to provide more

Reports of MIS can include tables of data and data charts.

Sample MIS Report

Sample Report Produced by an MIS

Decision support systems (DSS) are interactive

Configurations of a DSS range from relatively simple

DSS use internal information from TPS and MIS, and

A DSS can support the analysis and solution of a specific

These systems support unstructured and semi-structured

Three Defining DSS Characteristics

An easy-to-use interactive interface

Models that enable sensitivity analysis, what-if

Data from both internal databases and external

Having models is what distinguishes DSS from MIS.

Decision makers can manipulate models to conduct

What-if analysis refers to changing assumptions or data in

For example, if sales forecasts are based on a 5 percent

A good example is Microsoft Excel application. There are