Sorokhaibam Thouba Meetei(MCA 4th Semester) Roll No.

521123262

Spring 2013

MCA Semester-IV MC0076 - Management Information Systems Book ID Q1. What do you understand by Information processes data? Ans: - MIS is an Information system which helps in providing the management of an organization with information which is used by management for decision making. A management information system (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems. During the period of preindustrial revolution most of the data processing was done manually. It was after the industrial revolution that the computers slowly started replacing manual labour. The modern digital computer was basically designed to handle scientific calculations. During the period 1940 to 1960 computers were commercially used for census and payroll work. This involved Large amount of data and its processing. Since then the commercial application exceeded the scientific applications for which the computer were mainly intended for. MIS is an Information system which helps in providing the management of an organization with information which is used by management for decision making. The Basic characteristics of an effective Management Information System are as follows: I. Management-oriented: The basic objective of MIS is to provide information support to the management in the organization for decision making. So an effective MIS should start its journey from appraisal of management needs, mission and goal of the business organization. It may be individual or collective goals of an organization. The MIS is such that it serves all the levels of management in an organization i.e. top, middle and lower level. II. Management directed: When MIS is management-oriented, it should be directed by the management because it is the management who tells their needs and requirements more effectively than anybody else. Manager should guide the MIS professionals not only at the stage of planning but also on development, review and implementation stages so that effective system should be the end product of the whole exercise in making an effective MIS. III. Integrated: It means a comprehensive or complete view of all the sub systems in the organization of a company. Development of information must be integrated so that all the operational and functional information sub systems should be worked together as a single entity. This integration is necessary because it leads to retrieval of more meaningful and useful information. V. Common data flows: The integration of different sub systems will lead to a common data flow which will further help in avoiding duplicity and redundancy in data collection, storage and processing. For example, the customer orders are the basis for many activities in an organization viz. billing, sales for cashing, etc. Data is collected by a system analyst from its original source only one time. Then he utilizes the data with minimum number of processing procedures and uses the information for production output documents and reports in small numbers and eliminates the undesirable data. This will lead to elimination of duplication that simplify the operations and produce an efficient information system.

Sorokhaibam Thouba Meetei(MCA 4th Semester) Roll No. 521123262

Spring 2013

MCA Semester-IV MC0076 - Management Information Systems Book ID 2. How do you retrieve information from manual system? Ans:- Information retrieval(IR) is the area of study concerned with searching for documents, for information within documents, and for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching structured storage, relational databases, and the World Wide Web. There is overlap in the usage of the terms data retrieval, document retrieval, information retrieval, and text retrieval, but each also has its own body of literature, theory, praxis, and technologies. IR is interdisciplinary, based on computer science, mathematics, library science, information science, information architecture, cognitive psychology, linguistics, statistics and law. Key Drawbacks in Manual Paper Based Systems No transparency. Limited accountability. Cant retrieve information quickly. Chance of loss. Cant track or monitoring status of file processing. Scope for tampering contents. Not able to answer customer questions. Status of file is not known to the applicant. Entire organization is dependent on the file custodian for answers. Manual processes can be unreliable, slow and error prone. Errors reduce confidence in the organization. Restricted to onsite working hours and geography. Manual data entry, searching for lost files, and manual rework waste time and valuable resources. Papers can be lost at any point along the process, exposing potentially sensitive data. Physical papers can be hard to track and take up physical space for storage. Q3. What are the challenges of information management? Ans: Challenges of Information Management: In identifying their information management requirements, individuals face four major challenges in addition to securing the most appropriate information. First, they must deal with large quantities of information that may create overload. Second, they may face insufficient or conflicting information. Third, they must find ways to enhance their personal productivity. Fourth, they must acquire and maintain the technical skills needed for effective personal information management. Dealing with Quantities of Information: The gap between the amount of information that an organization can collect and the ability of its employees to make sense of that information has been widening rather than narrowing. The early fear that computers would so improve a persons ability to process and manage information that a jobholder would need only one-third to one-half the time to do his or her job has been dispelled The reverse has occurred. Often employees face an infoglut, an overload of information. As individuals move higher in the organizational hierarchy and assume

Sorokhaibam Thouba Meetei(MCA 4th Semester) Roll No. 521123262

Spring 2013

MCA Semester-IV MC0076 - Management Information Systems Book ID more managerial responsibility, information overload become an even more significant challenge. To avoid such overload individuals must carefully asses their information needs and then find effective ways of managing the required and available information. They must also find ways to manage data better. Facing Insufficient or Conflicting Information: Although computers can make large quantities of information available to individuals, such information may not address their needs. Ramesh, ASM of Airtel, may wish to do some library research about competitors products. In spite of the large amount of information in the librarys electronic catalog, she may not be able to secure the precise information she needs. Because computers process input from diverse sources, users may also obtain conflicting information if one source updates information more frequently than another does. Enhancing Personal Productivity: Employees in any organization increasingly use information technology to improve their personal productivity. To ensure high productivity, employees must know how to use computers to facilitate, not hinder, their performance. They must know how to access the information they require and recognize when manual data collection and processing is adequate. Often employees must lobby their employers to add new technology that will help increase personal productivity. The ability to show the cost-effectiveness of additional expenditures for diagnosing and meeting information needs is critical. Employees must also understand and demonstrate when advanced technology is a detriment rather than an asset. Maintaining Technical Skills: Finally, using information technology effectively requires continuous updating of technical skills. Although many companies provide training to their employees, others do not. Ensuring that employees have the appropriate skills has both financial and time cost implications. As a result, employees may find their mobility and productivity limited by the extent to which they can learn new technical skills independently of their employer. Q4. Explain the different components of MIS. Ans :-The physical components of MIS comprise the computer and communications hardware, software, database, personnel, and procedures. Almost all organizations employ multiple computer systems, ranging from powerful mainframe machines (sometimes including supercomputers) through minicomputers, to widely spread personal computers (also known as micro computers). The use of multiple computers, usually inter connected into networks by means of telecommunications, is called Distributed processing. The driving forces that have changed the information processing landscape from centralized processing, relying on single powerful mainframes, to distributed processing have been the rapidly increasing power and decreasing costs of smaller computers. Though the packaging of hardware subsystems differs among the three categories of computers (mainframes, minicomputers, and microcomputers), all of them are similarly organized. Thus, a computer system comprises a central processor (though multiprocessors with several central processing units are also used), which controls all other units by executing machine instructions; a hierarchy of memories; and devices for accepting input (for example, a keyboard or a mouse) and producing output (say, a printer or a video display terminal). The memory hierarchy ranges from a fast primary memory from which the central processor can fetch instructions for execution; through secondary memories (such as disks) where on-line databases are maintained; to the ultra high capacity archival memories that are also employed in some cases.

MCA Semester-IV MC0076 - Management Information Systems Book ID COMPONENT DESCRIPTION Hardware Multiple computer systems: mainframes, minicomputers, personal computers Computer system components are: central processor(s), memory hierarchy, input and output devices Communications: local area networks, metropolitan area networks and wide area networks Software System software and applications software Database Organized collections of data used by applications software Personnel Professional cadre of computer specialists; end users in certain aspects of their work Procedures Specifications for the use and operation of computerized information systems collected in user manuals, operator manuals and similar documents Multiple computer systems are organized into networks in most cases. Various network configurations are possible, depending upon an organizations need. Fast local area networks join machines, most frequently clusters of personal computers, at a particular organizational site such as a building or a campus. The emerging metropolitan area networks serve large urban communities. Wide area networks connect machines at remote sites, both within the company and in its environment. Through networking, personal-computer users gain access to the broad computational capabilities of large machines and to the resources maintained there, such as large databases. This connectivity converts personal computers into powerful workstations. Computer software falls into two classes: systems software and applications software. Systems software manages the resources of the system and simplifies programming. Operating systems (UNIX, for example) control all the resources of a computer system and enable multiple users to run their programs on a computer system without being aware of the complexities of resource allocation. Even if you are just using a personal computer, a complex series of actions takes place when, for example, you start the machine, check out its hardware, and call up a desired program. All of these actions fall under the control of an operating system, such as DOS or IBMOS/2. Telecommunications monitors manage computer communications; database management systems make it possible to organize vast collections of data so that they are accessible for fast and simple queries and the production of reports. Software translators-compilers or interpreters, make it possible to program an application in a higher-level language, such as COBOL or C. The translator converts program statements into machine instructions ready for execution by the computers central processor. Many categories of applications software are purchased as ready-to-use packages. Applications software directly assists end users in their functions. Examples include general-purpose spreadsheet or word processing programs, as well as the so-called vertical applications serving a specific industry segment (for example, manufacturing resource planning systems or accounting packages for small service businesses). The use of purchased application packages is increasing. However, the bulk of applications software used in large organizations are developed to meet a specific need. Large application systems consist of a, number of programs integrated by the database. To be accessible, data items must be organized so that individual records and their components can be identified and, if needed, related to one another. A simple way to organize data is to create files. A

Sorokhaibam Thouba Meetei(MCA 4th Semester) Roll No. 521123262

Spring 2013

Sorokhaibam Thouba Meetei(MCA 4th Semester) Roll No. 521123262

Spring 2013

MCA Semester-IV MC0076 - Management Information Systems Book ID file is a collection of records of the same type. For example, the employee file contains employee records, each containing the same fields (for example, employee name and annual pay), albeit with different values. Multiple files may be organized into a database, or an integrated collection of persistent data that serves a number of applications. The individual files of a database are interrelated. Professional MIS personnel include development and maintenance managers, systems analysts, programmers, and operators, often with highly specialized skills. The hallmark of the present stage in organizational computing is the involvement of end users to a significant degree in the development of information systems. Procedures to be followed in using, operating, and maintaining computerized systems are a part of the system documentation. Q5 Explain various Organizational limits to relational Decision Making. Ans :- Organizational Limits to Rational Decision Making: The rational model of organizational decision making reflects only some aspects of the decision-making environment: those that lend themselves most readily to receiving support from information systems. Other aspects include incrementalism, chance-driven choice making, political/ competitive behavior, and programmed choice making. As you shall see, most of these decision-making behaviors are rooted in the divergent interests of the people involved in making a decision. Therefore, various types of group decision support systems (GDSSs) can help these groups to negotiate, foresee, and manage a crisis, or to look at a broad array of alternatives before arriving at a decision. Charles Lindblom analyzed how the decision-making process, particularly in large organizations (including governments), differs from the rational model. He contended that decision making in large organizations under ordinary circumstances is a process of "muddling through"-making small, incremental changes from existing actions and policies. The important criteria in this decision-making mode are avoiding the uncertainty of major changes and maintaining the consensus of all involved. Making a decision is not concluded by the "choice" of an alternative; it is rather a continuous process, during which any chosen course of action may be modified as it is implemented. The more recent, and most pessimistic, so-called garbage can theory of organizational decision making is based on the premise that not all organizations are destined to succeed-many companies (even those considered excellent at some point) will fail. These firms are unable to adapt to the changing environment, and much of their decision making consists of attaching solutions to problems in a rather random manner. In one sense, garbage-can" decision making is present to some extent in all companies: because of the difficulty in forecasting outcomes, chance does playa role in providing a solution to many an organizational problem. Other aspects of organizational decision making are reflected by what George Huber called the political/competitive model. A decision process generally includes several participants, each of whom may seek to influence the decision in a direction favorable to themselves or to the unit they represent. For example, several studies of budget development clearly point to it being a political process. The need to reconcile the diverging interests of various stakeholders (for example, senior management, labor, government, and others) often leads participants to avoid making major departures from current policies-and is thus one of the reasons for incremental decision making.

Sorokhaibam Thouba Meetei(MCA 4th Semester) Roll No. 521123262

Spring 2013

MCA Semester-IV MC0076 - Management Information Systems Book ID Rational decision making in organizations is also limited by programmed behavior. When decision makers engage in this type of behavior, they follow standard operating procedure, which constrains their choices and prevents creative problem solving as they opt for the "safe and tried." An analysis of the results of previous choices, assisted by information systems, may help decision makers relax the constraints of programmed choice making. Q.6 Write a note Ethical and Social issues with E-Commerce. Ans :- Ethical and Social issues with E-Commerce i. ii. iii. iv. v. Internet can be used in illegal ways, as there are no laws related to its use. Many servers contain illegal, immoral, defamatory information (which cannot be legally communicated using facilities like TV, radio, etc.). There is minimal or no control over the Internet (unlike telephone, radio, TV, etc.). Limited banning of material in Internet is not possible i.e. all-or-none rule. Free speech advocates say that screening of incoming material is the responsibility of the receiving end There is no law against Spamming i.e. sending unsolicited mail Massive flaming of large quantity of e-mail to one address. The question arises Is sending/receiving large quantity of mail ethical.