Welcome to the course -

Management Information
System
Course Objectives
 Provide basic lessons on Computers and few productivity
tools
 Provide an understanding of
 IS and underlying IT
 Impact on organisations of IS
 Types of IS in (global) organisations
 Provide awareness of the following as a Management
professional
 OLTP, MIS, DSS
 ERP
 E/M Business
 BI and Analytics
 Knowledge Management
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References
 Loudon & Loudon
 Rahul De
 Jawadekar
 Effy Oz.

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Introduction to Computers
Overview of Computers and their
Applications
Learning Objectives
By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
 Explain when and why we need a computer
 Describe Types and building blocks of a
computer
 Explain the concepts of SW and HW
 Explain the basic concept of Operating System
 Understand the ‘Programming paradigm’
 Describe limitations and social & ethical issues
faced
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When do you use a computer?

 Word Processing/Presentations
 Web Surfing
 Instant Messaging/Email/Conferencing
 Music downloads/Games
 Computation and Analysis
 Arithmetic
 Equation solving
 Data analysis and visualization
 Numerical modeling

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When do you use a computer?

Qualities of humans and computers that contribute to synergy

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Why do you use a computer?

 Word Processing/Presentations
 Improved communication
 Web Surfing
 Knowledge acquisition
 Instant Messaging/Email/Conferencing
 Community
 Music downloads/Games
 Entertainment
 Computation and Analysis
 Decision Making
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What do you need in a computer?
 Word Processing
 WYSIWYG
 Attached to printer/Email
 Web Surfing
 Browser
 Network connection
 Instant Messaging/Email
 Network connection
 Music downloads/Games
 Network connection
 Disk space / CD / USB
 Computation and Analysis
 Analytical Ability

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What is a computer?
 Processor brain
 Memory scratch paper
 Disk long term memory
 I/O communication (senses)
 Software reconfigurability

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Types of computer
 Mainframe
 Mini – Computers (Mid-Range)
 Micro – Computers (PC)
 Super computers
 Portables

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What makes a computer special?
 Most complex object made by humans
 Communication mechanism
 Reconfigurability
 Moore’s Law

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More for Less --Moore’s Law
Within 20 years
 $150,000 (now < $1,000)
 Factor of 150
 700 Khz chip (now 1 GHz)
 Factor of 1500
 1 MB memory (now 1 GB)
 Factor of 128
 80 MB disk (now 40 TB)
 Factor of 500
 Communication 9600 bps (now 10 Mbps)
 Factor of 1000
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What do computers actually do?
 Perform arithmetic operations
 Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
 Compare two values
 And decide among alternative courses of action
 If a > b, then do action c
 Move data around internally (memory and
peripherals)
 Input data (keyboard, mouse, sensors, etc.)
 Output data (display, I/O ports, etc.)
And do all of this really fast ….
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 The machine

Power
Disk

RAM

Core Machine
Communications
I/O
Text
Sound
Ports Software
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Computer Block Diagram

Disk Hard drive,

CPU
controller CD/DVD

Video
Memory Display
chipset

USB, Audio
chipset
Speakers
Serial, Ports
Keyboard,
Networking
Mouse, etc. Internet
chipset
Bus

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Memory
 Stores program instructions and
data Memory (8-bit)
Address
 Each location has 10FE 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0

an ‘address’ 10FF 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0

 Each location stores 1100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

the information as ‘bits’

 Binary - Zero or one FFFF
 8 bits is one byte Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

 Information is ‘coded’
 Memory is ‘written’ or ‘read’
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Primary Storage
 RAM  Input area – where the data is stored
when it is read into CPU, awaiting
 ROM processing.
 PROM  Operating system – controls the
 EPROM operation of the computer.
 Working storage – where calculations
are performed and data is stored
temporarily.
 Output area where the information is
stored prior to output. Both the input
and output areas are buffer.
 Application program area – where the
user program is held 18
Difference between ROM and RAM

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Secondary Storage
 HARD DISKS  TAPE STORAGE
 FLOPPY DISKS  CD -ROM

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CPU
 The ‘brain’ of your computer
 Carries out the instructions of your program
 Essential components: CPU
 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
 Does arithmetic and logic functions
 Add and subtract (sometimes ALU
multiply and divide)
 Bit-wise logic:
 AND, OR, NOT, XOR
CU
 Bit shift (left or right)
 Control Unit (CU)
 Controls the actions inside the CPU
Clock Registers
 Registers
 Temporary locations to store data,
instructions, and addresses
Instructions Data
 Clock
 Synchronizes operations in the CPU Memory

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Output Devices Ports
 Printers  Connection to the
 The VDU - Visual Display external world
Unit (Monitor)  USB
 Projector  Keyboard
 VDU - Monitor

Input Devices  Mouse

 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Trackball
 Touchscreen
 Scanner

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Software
 The intermediary between you (the user)
and the hardware
 Operating system (OS)
 Windows, OS X, Linux
 Application programs
 End-user applications
 Word processor, solid modeler, etc.
 Mathcad, Matlab, etc.

 Application development software

(programming languages)
 C, Matlab (sort of), Lab View (sort of), Python, Java,
FORTRAN, etc.
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Operating System (OS)
 A program that:
 Acts as an intermediary between
hardware and application
software
 Provides a consistent, stable way
for applications to interact with
hardware
 APIs, so you don’t have to do it all
yourself
 Examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Operating_system_placement.svg

 Windows XP/Vista
 Linux
 Unix
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Method for Developing a Program
1. Define the problem:
 State the problem you are trying to solve in clear and
concise terms.
2. List the inputs and the outputs
 Inputs: information needed to solve the problem
 Outputs: what the algorithm will produce as a result
3. Describe the steps needed to convert or manipulate the
inputs to produce the outputs (develop the algorithm)
 Begin at a high-level first
 Refine (subdivide the high-level) steps until they are
effectively computable operations.
4. Test the algorithm:
 choose data sets, and verify that your algorithm works!

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Algorithm
 What is an algorithm?
 A recipe
 A procedure
 Definition:
 “well-ordered collection of unambiguous and
effectively computable operations, that when
executed, produces a result and halts in a finite
amount of time.”

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Characteristics of an Algorithm
 Well-ordered:
 the steps are in a clear order
 Unambiguous:
 the operations described are understood by a
computing agent without further simplification
 Effectively computable:
 the computing agent can actually carry out
the operation

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Flowcharts - 1
 Flowcharts
 A graphical tool that diagrammatically depicts
the steps and structure of an algorithm or
program
Symbol Name/Meaning
Process – Any type of internal
operation: data transformation,
data movement, logic operation,
etc.
Input/Output – input or output
of data
Decision – evaluates a condition
or statement and branches
depending on whether the
evaluation is true or false
Symbol Meaning
Connector – connects sections
of the flowchart, so that the
diagram can maintain a smooth,
linear flow
Terminal – indicates start or
end of the program or algorithm
Flow lines – arrows that
indicate the direction of the
progression of the program
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 Flowchart - 2 Start

Declare variables: num, sum

Intialize variables: num = 0, sum = 0

1. Start
2. Declare variables: num, sum
2.1 Initialize both num, sum to 0 Yes Display "Enter
3. while num not equal to -1, continue doing: if num ! = -1 positive integer"

3.1. Display prompt “Enter positive number”

3.2. Read number from the keyboard Read num from
No keyboard
3.3. Display number entered
3.4. if num less than zero, then
3.4.1 continue Display sum Display num

3.5. add to sum

3.5.1 continue
4. Display sum Stop
if num < 0 Yes

What does this do? No

sum = sum + num

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Understanding the limitations of the
computer
 Algorithms for solving simple problems
 Harder problem
 Problems unlikely to be solved in our lifetime
 NP Hard problems – Travelling Salesman problem (finding
the least-cost cyclic route through all nodes of a weighted
graph)
 Undecidable problems
 Problems that probably can never be solved
 Reading one’s mind

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Ethical and Societal Issues
 Privacy
 Systems are not secure
 How much information should be public
 Consumer Privacy
 Organizations collect (and sometimes sell) huge
amounts of data on individuals.
 Employee Privacy
 IT supports remote monitoring of employees,
violating privacy and creating stress.

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Ethical and Societal Issues
 Freedom of Speech
 IT increases opportunities for pornography, hate
speech, intellectual property crime, and other
intrusions; prevention may abridge free speech.
 IT Professionalism
 No mandatory or enforced code of ethics for IT
professionals--unlike other professions.
 Social Inequality
 Less than 20% of the world’s population have ever
used a PC; less than 3% have Internet access.

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Ethical and Societal Issues
 Digital rights management
 Old ideas of copyright law do not work
 When is sharing legal?

 Safe communication
 Should you send your credit card over the internet?

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