Roll No: 1302011493 || MBA Semester II Page 1

MBA Semester II
MB0047 Management Information System
Roll No: 1302011493



Question 1: A waiter takes an order at a table, and then enters it online via one of the six terminals
located in the restaurant dining room. The order is routed to a printer in the appropriate preparation
area, the cold item printer if it is a salad, the hot item printer if it is a hot sandwich or the bar printer if
it is a drink. A customers meal check-listing, bills the items ordered and the respective prices are
automatically generated. This ordering system eliminates the old three-carbon-copy guest check
system as well as any problems caused by a waiters handwriting. When the kitchen runs out of a food
item, the cooks send out an out of stock message, which will be displayed on the dining room
terminals when waiters try to order that item. This gives the waiters faster feedback, enabling them
to give better service to the customers. Other system features aid management in the planning and
control of their restaurant business. The system provides up-to-the-minute information on the food
items ordered and breaks out percentages showing sales of each item versus total sales. This helps
management plan menus according to customers tastes. The system also compares the weekly sales
totals versus food costs, allowing planning for tighter cost controls. In addition, whenever an order is
invalidated, the reasons for the invalidation are keyed in. This may help later in management
decisions, especially if the invalidations are consistently related to the food or the service. Acceptance
of the system by the users is exceptionally high since the waiters and waitresses were involved in the
selection and design process. All potential users were asked to give their impressions and ideas about
the various systems available before one was chosen.

A. What is the type of information system the above scenario is referring to?
B. How does this system helps later in management decisions related to food or service based on the
reasons for the invalidation which are stored
C. How this system does help in finding out the performance of the hotel form year to year?

Answers 1:

A) This type of information system is Management Information system. A management
information system (MIS) is an organized combination of people, hardware, communication
networks and data sources that collects, transforms and distributes information in an
organization. An MIS helps decision making by providing timely, relevant and accurate
information to managers. The physical components of an MIS include hardware, software,
database, personnel and procedures.

B) This System helps the staff enter the Stock Out note when the kitchen runs out of ingredients
to prepare certain menu items. This prevents the waiter from taking orders for such items. The
Management can also use it to find who the usual diners at the restaurants are, what do they
order and why do customers change or cancel orders. This aids the owners to frame the menu
and finds way to improve the food quality and service. The information required to make such
decision must be such that it highlights the trouble spots and shows the interconnections with
the other functions. It must summarize all information relating to the span of control of the
manager. The information required to make these decisions can be strategic, tactical or
operational information.
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C) This system helps in cost control and shows the spending of the restaurant on buying the
ingredients, manpower etc V/s the total revenue generated. It depicts the total sales at the end
of the specified time period, sale by each category of items and the contribution of each menu
item to the total sales. As the transactions are taking place every day, the system stores all the
data which can be used later on when the hotel is in need of some financial help from financial
institutes or banks. As the inventory is always entered into the system, any frauds can be easily
taken care of and if anything goes missing then it can be detected through the system. Apart
from this the operational performance can be improved. It reduces the time to wait for the
ordered menu items to arrive at their table. The customers are satisfied as it reduces the time.

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Question 2 (A) with the increase in technology the business processes have been frequently changed
and modified based on the upcoming requirement of the organization. What is this type of concept
called as? (B) Explain reverse engineering. How do you improve a process in BPR?
Answer 2:
(A) Business process reengineering (BPR) was developed to bring about cross-functional integration
among business processes. It aided the organization in reducing repetitive work across functions and
radically improved the effectiveness of business process. This concept was quickly adopted by the IT
industry to develop integrated applications like ERP and SCM to support BPR initiatives. So this is the
type of concept called as Business process reengineering (BPR).
(B) BPR comes into action when major IT projects, such as ERP are undertaken. It results in flatter
organization structure due workforce trimming. Hence, BPR initiatives usually make employees
distrustful of the organization and they may resist its adoption. To apply BPR using IS we use Reverse
engineering. The Reverse engineering, the existing IS analyzed using its program code manually or using
software. Documentation on the code is prepared to understand its functionality. This enables making
changes to it using re-engineering. Here it is the explanation of the reverse engineering in details.
Now, here it is an explanation of the Improving a process in BPR with its diagram in details.
Any organization will have a number of processes aligned with their business activities. For any process
improvements, it is necessary to first observe the existing process, understand, analyze, and set up
suitable performance parameters in order to measure them. The model consists of the following steps:
1) Document the current work process.
2) Measure the process through customer feedback.
3) Follow the process with modifications if required.
4) Measure the performance of the process.
5) Identify the areas that need improvement and implement the process changes.
6) Measure the performance of the new process. Here it is the depicts the improving model of
BPR.




Document the
current process.
Measure the
process (feedback)
Follow the process. Measure the
performance.
Identify and
implement
improvement.
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This process of management is called work flow management. Most of the companies want to
improve the quality in every field. The following methods are used to improve a process:
1) A concept of total quality management,
2) Another method to improve is benchmarking. Benchmarking is setting standards for products,
services and other activities, and then measuring the performance against the standards.
3) Customer focus- a process may be redesigned to meet the customer demand in terms of service,
product features and quality.
4) Shorter cycle time- it eliminates many hidden costs arising out of errors in the process. Here it is
an explanation of the Improving a process in BPR.


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Question 3 (A) while implementing MIS in any organization change can occur in number of ways. List
and explain the steps in the process as suggested by Levins model. (B) Comparison between
prototype approach and life cycle approach.
Answer 3:
(A) While implementing MIS in any organization change can occur in number of ways. Here it is an
explanation of the three steps in the process as suggesting by the lewins model. The lewins model
suggests three steps in the process.
1) The first step is to communicate openly within the organization. This makes everyone in the
organization look forward to the new system or the changes with a sense of pride.
2) The second step is to outline a list of activities specifying when they begin and reach the desired
level of stability.
3) The third step is refreezing and reinforcing. This process is often implemented through an
external change agent, such as a consultant playing the role of catalyst.
The significant problem in this model is the resistance to change. The resistance can occur due to three
reasons, which are the internal factors, design factors and user attitude. Users resist change as they are
habituated to the system. If they are asked to use another system which they are not familiar with, then
opposition emerges. It is here, that education, training and motivation will help. Here it is an explanation
of the three steps in the process as suggested by lewins model in details.
(B) Here it is the comparison between prototyping approach and life cycle approach. Here it is,
Prototyping approach Life cycle approach
1) Open system with a high degree of uncertainty
about the information needs.
1) Closed systems with little or no uncertainty
about the information needs. The system remains
valid for a long time with no significant change.
The design would remain stable.
2) Necessary to try out the ideas, application and
efficiency of the information as decision support.
2) No need to try out the application of the
information as it is already stable.
3) Necessary to control the cost of design and
development before the scope of the system and
its application is fully determined. Experimentation
is necessary.
3) Scope of the design and the application is fully
determined with clarity and experimentation is not
necessary.
4) Users of the system try out the system before
they commit to the specification and the
information requirements.
4) Users are confident and confirm the
specification and the information needs.


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Question 4: Quality is abstract in nature. It varies among users and across industries. List and explain
the quality parameters with suitable examples. Also explain the effect of each quality parameters on
information processing.

Answer 4:
Authority/Verifiability: Authority refers to the expertise or recognized official status of a source. Consider
the reputation of the author and publisher. When working with legal or government information, consider
whether the source is the official provider of the information. Verifiability refers to the ability of a reader to
verify the validity of the information irrespective of how authoritative the source is. To verify the facts is
part of the duty of care of the journalistic deontology, as well as, where possible, to provide the sources of
information so that they can be verified
Scope of coverage: Scope of coverage refers to the extent to which a source explores a topic. Consider
time periods, geography or jurisdiction and coverage of related or narrower topics.
Composition and Organization: Composition and Organization has to do with the ability of the
information source to present its particular message in a coherent, logically sequential manner.
Objectivity: Objectivity is the bias or opinion expressed when a writer interprets or analyzes facts.
Consider the use of persuasive language, the sources presentation of other viewpoints, its reason for
providing the information and advertising.

Integrity: Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character
1. The state of being whole, entire, or undiminished
Comprehensiveness
1. Of large scope; covering or involving much; inclusive: a comprehensive study.
2. Comprehending mentally; having an extensive mental grasp.
3. Insurance. Covering or providing broad protection against loss.
Validity: Validity of some information has to do with the degree of obvious truthfulness which the
information caries
Uniqueness: As much as uniqueness of a given piece of information is intuitive in meaning, it also
significantly implies not only the originating point of the information but also the manner in which it is
presented and thus the perception which it conjures. The essence of any piece of information we process
consists to a large extent of those two elements.
Timeliness: Timeliness refers to information that is current at the time of publication. Consider
publication, creation and revision dates. Beware of Web site scripting that automatically reflects the
current days date on a page.
Reproducibility: (utilized primarily when referring to instructive information) Means that documented
methods are capable of being used on the same data set to achieve a consistent result.
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Question 5: Write Short Notes on Neural Network.
A) Neural Network (B) B2B Model (C) DSS Models (D) Administrative Control (E) Distributed
Database.

Answer 5:

Neural Network: It is modeled on the basis of the neuron structure of the human
brain. A neuron is a micro cell which is connected to thousands of other micro cells in the brain and all
the other parts of the human body containing nerves. It is a system which tries to learn from the
database and the manager then decides what the right answer is. The entire neural network
is realized in the form of software. The software renders the computer as a problem solver.

B2B Model: Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as
between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Contrasting terms
are business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-government (B2G). B2B branding is a term used
in marketing. Example: For example, toilet paper, a typical B2C product, can be seen as a B2B product if
it is bought in larger quantities by a hotel for guestrooms.

DSS Models: DSS is an interactive, flexible computer based information system. It uses rules and
models for processing data, to support various managerial levels, ranging from top executives to
mangers, in their decision-making. It supports all phases of decision-making intelligence, design,
choice and implementation. The components of a DSS include a database of data used for query and
analysis, software with models, data mining and other analytical tools and a user interface.

Administrative Control: Systems analysts are actually responsible for designing and implementing but
these people need the help of the top management in executing the control measure. Top executives
provide leadership in setting the control policy. Without their full support, the control system cannot
achieve its goal. In addition to this , managers must be involved in functions such as effecting a control
policy, selecting and assigning personnel, fixing responsibilities, preparing job description, setting
standards ,preparing a strategic information plan and acquiring adequate insurance.

Distributed Database: It is a database in which storage devices are not all attached to a common
processing unit such as the CPU, controlled by a distributed database management system (together
sometimes called a distributed database system). It may be stored in multiple computers, located in the
same physical location; or may be dispersed over a network of interconnected computers. Unlike
parallel systems, in which the processors are tightly coupled and constitute a single database system, a
distributed database system consists of loosely-coupled sites that share no physical components.


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Question6: As per given question in Internal assignment paper, (a) Draw a PERT Network? (b) The
expected time and variance for each activity? (c) Determine earliest and latest occurrence time of
each event? (d) Determine the critical path for the network? A-6 Using the
formula we can calculate expected activity times and variance as depicted below,

Answer 6:

D (bar) = (a+b+4m)/6
And
V= ((b-a)/6) ^2
Earliest and latest Expected time for events:
Activity A B M V
1-2 5 10 8 7-8 0.696
1-3 18 22 20 20-00 0.444
1-4 26 40 33 33-0 5.429
2-5 16 20 18 18-0 0.443
2-6 15 25 20 20-0 2.780
3-6 6 12 9 9-0 1.000
4-7 7 12 10 9-8 0.694
5-7 7 9 8 8-0 0.111
6-7 3 5 4 4-0 0.111

Forward pass: E1=0, E2=7.8, E3= 20, E4= 33, E5= 25.8, E6= 29, E7= 42.8.
Backward pass: L7= 42.8, L6= 38.8, L5= 34.8, L4= 33.0, L3= 29.8, L2= 16.8, L1= 0.
The E-values and L-values are depicted like this as shown in figure:
9
4
and 20 20
7.8
18 8
33 9.8

1
2
5
7
3 6
4
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The critical path is shown by thick line in the figure. The critical path is 1-4-7 and the earliest completion
time for the project is 42.8 weeks.
The last event will occur only after 42.8 weeks. For this we require only the duration of critical activities.
This will help us in calculating the standard duration of the last event.
Expected length of critical path= 33 + 9.8= 42.8
Variance of article path length= 5.429+0.694= 6.123
Here we can see the correct network diagram, the expected time and variance time for each activity, the
earliest and latest occurrence time for each event, and the correct critical path of the network





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