Information System

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Rakesh S. Pandya
100 years ago
Charles Babbagestated
AT A PERIOD WHEN THE PROGRESS OF PHYSICAL
SCIENCE IS OBSTRACTED BY THAT EXHAUSTING
INTELLECTUAL AND MENTAL LABOR INDISPENSABLE
FOR ITS ADVANCEMENT I THINK THE APPLICATION
OF MACHINERY IN AID OF THE MOST COMPLICATED
AND OBSTRUSE CALCULATIONS CAN NO LONGER BE
DEEMED UNWORTHY OF THE ATTENTION OF THE
COUNTRY . IN FACT THERE IS NO REASON WHY
MENTAL AS WELL AS BODILY LABOR SHOULD NOT BE
ECONOMIZED BY THE AID OF MACHINERY
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Information Systems
Why Do People Need Information?
Individuals - Entertainment and enlightenment
Businesses - Decision making, problem solving &
control
Information and knowledge are so important that
society can be divided up into two groups.
Information rich - you have access to:
many TV and radio channels
books, newspapers and journals
computers and the World Wide Web.
Information poor
tend to not have access to the Web and probably find it
difficult to access relevant books and journals.

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Data-Information-and-Systems
Information Systems includes two words
: Information and Systems where :
Information is processed data that has
meaning and a context where :
Data
A given, or fact; a number, a statement, or a picture
Represents something in the real world
The raw materials in the production of information
Information
Data that have meaning within a context
Data in relationships
Data after manipulation
i.e. A collection of facts organized in such a way that they have
additional value beyond the value of the facts themselves

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Examples
Data thermometer readings of temperature taken every hour:
16.0, 17.0, 16.0, 18.5, 17.0,15.5.



Information todays high: 18.5
todays low: 15.5
Example: customer survey
Reading through data collected from a customer survey with
questions in various categories would be time-consuming and
not very helpful.
When manipulated, the surveys may provide useful
information.

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The process includes to find out the range
Transformation to information
What is a System
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A system is a group of interrelated components
working together toward a common goal by accepting
inputs and producing outputs in an organized
transformation process.
Components and their attribution
Systems structure: relationship between components
Subsystems
Environment and Boundary
Input and Output
S1
S2
S3
S4
Systems structure
Subsystems
Systems Boundary
Environment
Systems Input Output
Abstract Concept of a Systems
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INPUT OUTPUT PROCESS
FEEDBACK
Information System (IS)
Definition
A set of interrelated elements or components that
collect (input), manipulate (process), and
disseminate (output) data and information and
provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective
(IS) Pronounced as separate letters, and short for
Information Systems or Information Services. For
many companies, IS is the name of the department
responsible for computers, networking and data
management. Other companies refer to the
department as IT (Information Technology) and MIS
(Management Information Services).
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Activities of an IS
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Input Processing
Output
Organization
Environment
Feedback
Categorisation of Information
Information can be categorized under several
headings that allow us to determine its overall
usefulness.
Main categories
Source : Primary, Secondary
Nature : Formal or Informal Communication
Level : four levels
Time : Historic(Past), Present, Future
Frequency : Continuous, Periodic,
Use : Planning, Control (different level), Decision
Form : Written, Aural, Visual
Type : Detailed, Sampled, Aggregated
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Characteristics of Information
Availability / Accessibility
Accuracy
Reliability or objectivity
Relevance / Appropriateness
Completeness
Level of Detail / Conciseness
Presentation
Timing
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Characteristics Value and Cost
Value : The relative importance of
information for decision making can increase
or decrease its value to an organization.
Cost : Information should be available within
the set cost levels that may vary dependent
on situation.
The difference between value and cost
Valuable information need not cost much
Information costly to obtain may not have much
value.
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Types of Information Systems
Operational-level Systems

Support operational managers by keeping
track of the elementary activities and
transactions of the organization. The
principle purpose of systems at this level is
to answer routine questions and track the
flow of transactions through the
organization. Covers things such as sales,
receipts, cash deposits, payroll, credit
decisions, flow of materials.
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4 Levels of Information System
Operational-level Systems
Transaction-Processing Systems (TPS)
Basic business systems
Perform daily routine transactions
necessary for business functions
At the operational level, tasks, resources
and goals are predefined and highly
structured
Generally, five functional categories are
identified, as shown in the diagram.
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Transaction-Processing Systems (TPS)
Knowledge-level Systems

Support knowledge and data workers in an
organisation. The purpose of these systems is
to help the organisation discover, organise
and integrate new and existing knowledge in
to the business, and to help control the flow
of paperwork. These systems, specially in the
form of collaboration tools, workstations, and
office systems, are the fastest growing
applications in business today.
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4 Levels of Information System
Knowledge Work Systems (KWS)

Targeted at meeting the knowledge needs of
knowledge workers within the organisation
In general, knowledge workers hold degree-level
professional qualifications (e.g. engineers,
scientists, lawyers), their jobs consist primarily
in creating new information and knowledge
KWS, such as scientific or engineering design
workstations, promote the creation of new
knowledge, and its dissemination and integration
throughout the organisation.
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Knowledge-level Systems
Office Automation Systems (OAS)
Targeted at meeting the knowledge needs
of data workers within the organisation
Data workers tend to process rather than
create information. Primarily involved in
information use, manipulation or
dissemination.
Typical OAS handle and manage
documents, scheduling and communication.
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Management-level Systems
Designed to serve the monitoring, controlling,
decision-making, & administrative activities of
middle managers. These typically provide
periodic reports rather than instant
information on operations. Some of these
systems support non-routine decision-making,
focusing on less-structured decisions for which
information requirements are not always
clear. This will often require information from
outside the organisation, as well as from
normal operational-level data.
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4 Levels of Information System
Management-level Systems
Management Information Systems (MIS)

MIS provide managers with reports and, in some
cases, on-line access to the organisations current
performance and historical records
Typically these systems focus entirely on internal
events, providing the information for short-term
planning and decision making.
MIS summarise and report on the basic operations
of the organisation, dependent on the underlying
TPS for their data.
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Management Information Systems (MIS)
Decision-Support Systems (DSS)

As MIS, these serve the needs of the management
level of the organisation
Focus on helping managers make decisions that are
semi-structured, unique, or rapidly changing, and
not easily specified in advance
Use internal information from TPS and MIS, but also
information from external sources
Greater analytical power than other systems,
incorporate modelling tools, aggregation and
analysis tools, and support what-if scenarios
Must provide user-friendly, interactive tools
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Voyage-estimating Decision Support System
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Strategic-level Systems

Help senior management tackle and address
strategic issues and long-term trends, both
within the organisation and in the external
environment. Principal concern is matching
organisational capability to changes, and
opportunities, occurring in the medium to
long term (i.e. 5 - 10 years) in the external
environment.
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4 Levels of Information System
Typically, an organisation might have operational,
knowledge, management and strategic level systems
for each functional area within the organisation. This
would be based on the management model adopted
by the organisation, so, while the most commonly-
adopted systems structure would simply follow the
standard functional model, structures reflecting
bureaucratic, product and matrix models are also
possible.

As identified before, enterprise level information
systems attempt to encompass the whole organisation
in one system.
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Strategic-level Systems
Executive Support/Information Systems
(ESS/EIS)
Serve the strategic level of the
organisation
ESS/EIS address unstructured decisions and
create a generalised computing and
communications environment, rather than
providing any fixed application or specific
capability. Such systems are not designed
to solve specific problems, but to tackle a
changing array of problems
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ESS/EIS are designed to incorporate data about
external events, such as new tax laws or
competitors, and also draw summarised
information from internal MIS and DSS
These systems filter, compress, and track critical
data, emphasising the reduction of time and effort
required to obtain information useful to executive
management
ESS/EIS employ advanced graphics software to
provide highly visual and easy-to-use
representations of complex information and
current trends, but they tend not to provide
analytical models
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4 Levels of Information System
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Characteristics of Information Processing Systems
Inter-relationships & inter-dependencies between IS types
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Information Flow
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Executive Information System
Executives
MIS
TPS
PCS
Operational Systems and Staff
DSS
Managers
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System
Information
Flow
Information
Exchange/
Communication
Information Flow
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Executive Information System
Executives
MIS
TPS
PCS
Operational Systems and Staff
DSS
Managers
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Management
Operations
Organizations and Information Systems
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Organization:
Formal collection of people and other resources established to
accomplish a set of goals
A system
Constantly uses money, people, materials, machines and other
equipment, data, information, and decisions
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Organizations and Information Systems
Thank you ?
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