MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

SECTION A
QUESTION 1
Answer.
Define MIS? What are the characteristics of MIS?
An organized approach to the study of the information needs of an organizations
management at every level in making operational, tactical and strategic decisions. Its
objective is to design and implement procedures, processes, and routines that provide suitably
detailed reports in an accurate, consistent and timely manner.
In a management information system, modern, computerized systems continuously
gather relevant data, both from inside and outside an organization. This data is then
processed, integrated, and stored in a centralized database (or data warehouse) where it is
constantly updated and made available to all who have the authority to access it, in
a form that suits their purpose.
What are the characteristics of MIS?
Following are the characteristics of MIS:
It should be based on a long-term planning.
It should provide a holistic view of the dynamics and the structure of the
organization.
It should work as a complete and comprehensive system covering all interconnecting
sub-systems within the organization.
It should be planned in a top-down way, as the decision makers or the management
should actively take part and provide clear direction at the development stage of the
MIS.
It should be based on need of strategic, operational and tactical information of
managers of an organization.
It should also take care of exceptional situations by reporting such situations.
It should be able to make forecasts and estimates, and generate advanced information,
thus providing a competitive advantage. Decision makers can take actions on the
basis of such predictions.

 It should create linkage between all sub-systems within the organization, so that the
decision makers can take the right decision based on an integrated view.
It should allow easy flow of information through various sub-systems, thus avoiding
redundancy and duplicity of data. It should simplify the operations with as much
practicability as possible.
Although the MIS is an integrated, complete system, it should be made in such a
flexible way that it could be easily split into smaller sub-systems as and when
required.
A central database is the backbone of a well-built MIS.
Characteristics of Computerized MIS
Following are the characteristics of a well-designed computerized MIS:
It should be able to process data accurately and with high speed, using various
techniques like operations research, simulation and heuristics.
It should be able to collect, organize, manipulate, and update large amount of raw
data of both related and unrelated nature, coming from various internal and external
sources at different periods of time.
It should provide real time information on on-going events without any delay.
It should support various output formats and follow latest rules and regulations in
practice.
It should provide organized and relevant information for all levels of management:
strategic, operational, and tactical.
It should aim at extreme flexibility in data storage and retrieval.

SECTION A
QUESTION 2

Answer
Explain strategic MIS categories in detail. Give relevant examples.
Strategic MIS is concerned with formulating policies and long term goals. People who make
big decisions for the entire company belong to this level. The information needed at this level
should be a comprehensive, summarised report of the statistics and standing of a company.
The information at this level is a summary of information gathered at tactical level, whose
objective is to meet the goals set by the strategic level. It should present trends over a period
of time that is quarter, a semester or a year. Examples of strategic level management
information systems are Executive Information Systems, Expert System, Executive Support
System, Decision Support Systems, .. These systems present the enterprise wide
performance of the company for executive analysis and decision making.
Below the diagram shows the major types of management information system including
strategic level system as illustrated by Prof. Nishant K. Rai.

Strategic Information System

A Strategic Information System (SIS) is a system to manage information and assist in

strategic decision making. A strategic information system has been defined as, "The
information system to support or change enterprise's strategy."
A SIS is a type of Information System that is aligned with business strategy and structure.
The alignment increases the capability to respond faster to environmental changes and thus
creates a competitive advantage. An early example was the favourable position afforded
American and United Airlines by their reservation systems, Sabre and Apollo. For many
years these two systems ensured that the two carriers' flights appeared on the first screens
observed by travel agents, thus increasing their bookings relative to competitors. A major
source of controversysurrounding SIS is their sustainability.
SISs are different from other comparable systems as:
They change the way the firm competes.
They have an external (outward looking) focus.
They are associated with higher project risk.
They are innovative (and not easily copied).
Executive Information System
Executive Information Systems are strategic-level information systems that are found at the
top of the Pyramid. They help executives and senior managers analyse the environment in
which the organization operates, to identify long-term trends, and to plan appropriate courses
of action. The information in such systems is often weakly structured and comes from both
internal and external sources. Executive Information System are designed to be operated
directly by executives without the need for intermediaries and easily tailored to the
preferences of the individual using them.
Functions of an EIS
EIS organizes and presents data and information from both external data sources and internal
MIS or TPS in order to support and extend the inherent capabilities of senior executives.
Functions of a EIS in terms of data processing requirements
Inputs

Processing

Outputs

External data

Summarising

Summary reports

Internal files

Simulation

Forecasts

Pre-defined models

Drilling down

Graphs/plots

Some examples of EIS

Executive Information Systems tend to be highly individualized and are often custom made
for a particular client group; however, a number of off-the-shelf EIS packages do exist and
many enterprise level systems offer a customizable EIS module.
The role of EIS

Are concerned with ease of use

Are concerned with predicting the future
Are effectiveness orieted
Are highly flexible
Support unstructured decisions
Use internal and external data sources
Used only at the most senior management levels

Executive Support System

Executive support systems are intended to be used by the senior managers directly to
provide support to non-programmed decisions in strategic management.
These information are often external, unstructured and even uncertain. Exact scope and
context of such information is often not known beforehand.
This information is intelligence based:
Market intelligence
Investment intelligence
Technology intelligence
The following are some examples of intelligent information, which is often the source of an
Executive support system:

Market reports
Confidential information about the competitors
Government policies
Speculative information like market conditions
Technical reports from consultants
Financial reports and information
External data bases
Technology reports like patents

Expert System
Expert systems are computer applications that combine computer equipment, software, and
specialized information to imitate expert human reasoning and advice. Prof. Edward
Feigenbaum from Stanford University, a famous researcher on ES defines ES as: "an
intelligent computer programme that uses knowledge and reasoning procedures to solve

difficult problems that need certain expertise to solve the problems. As a branch of artificial
intelligence, expert systems provide discipline-specific advice and explanation to their users.
While artificial intelligence is a broad field covering many aspects of computer-generated
thought, expert systems are more narrowly focused. Typically, expert systems function best
with specific activities or problems and a discrete database of digitized facts, rules, cases, and
models. Expert systems are used widely in commercial and industrial settings, including
medicine, finance, manufacturing, and sales. Some of the examples of expert system
applications are: An Expert System that helps bank managers in making decisions on granting loans. An Expert System that advises bank managers in giving housing loans.
An Expert System that advises insurance companies on the risks involved in insuring
a customer or a company.
An Expert System that helps banks decides on whether a customer is entitled for a
credit card or not.
As a software program, the expert system integrates a searching and sorting program with a
knowledge database. The specific searching and sorting program for an expert system is
known as the inference engine. The inference engine contains all the systematic processing
rules and logic associated with the problem or task at hand. Mathematical probabilities often
serve as the basis for many expert systems. The second component, the knowledge database,
stores necessary factual, procedural, and experiential information representing expert
knowledge. Through a procedure known as knowledge transfer, expertise (or those skills and
knowledge that sustain a much better than average performance) passes from human expert to
knowledge engineer. The knowledge engineer actually creates and structures the knowledge
database by completing certain logical, physical, and psychosocial tasks. For this reason,
expert systems are often referred to as knowledge-based information systems. By widely
distributing human expertise through expert systems, businesses can realize benefits in
consistency, accuracy, and reliability in problem-solving activities.
An expert system is usually designed to have the following characteristics: The Highest Level of Expertise. This characteristic is most useful. This expertise in an
ES comes from the knowledge and problem solving steps provided by the best experts
in their own domains. This will lead towards efficiency, accuracy and imaginative
problem solving.

 Right on Time Reaction. An Expert System must function and interact in a very
reasonable period of time with the user. The total time must be less than the time
taken by an expert to solve the same problem.
Accepting Incorrect Reasoning. This type of application is used when the information
used for the solution is unclear, vague or cannot be obtained and not in a domain that
is very clear.
Good Reliability. The expert system must be reliable and it must be improbable for
the system to make a mistake.
Easily Understood. The Expert System must be able to explain the reasoning steps
during the execution or the inference process for the user to better understand what is
happening. An ES must be able to explain why such actions are taken the same way
an expert would explain the decision he made.
Advantages
Consistency. One of the advantages of an ES is that the results given are consistent.
This might be due to the fact that there are no elements such as exhaustion and
emotions as experienced by humans.
Hazardous Working Environment. Through an ES, we can avoid exposing ourselves
to a toxic or radioactive environment. An ES can take over the place of an expert to
handle problems in a high-risk area such as a nuclear power plant.
Ability to Solve Complex and Difficult Problems. A very difficult problem
encountered by an organisation, if not taken seriously, can cause an adverse impact
such as losses or cancellation of a business deal. Sometimes, the problems need to be
attended to quickly. The problems can become more complicated when individuals or
experts involved in solving them are absent or cannot be contacted. Thus, an ES
serves as an alternative to experts.
Combination of Knowledge and Expertise from Various Sources. ( Rich knowledge
base) This component contains the accumulated knowledge and acquired or
transferred expertise from many experts. Thus, an ES is sometimes more superior
than an expert because its knowledge and expertise have come from many sources.
Training Tool for Trainees. An ES can be used by trainees to learn about the
knowledge-based system. Trainee who uses an ES would be able to observe how an
expert solves a problem.

Disadvantages
Not Widely Used. ES is not widely used in business firms or organisations. Due to
limited usage, firms are still in doubt about the capability and, most definitely, the
high cost involved in investing in an ES.
Difficult to Use. Using an ES is very difficult and learning and mastering it requires a
long time. This discourages managers from using ES. In one aspect, developing an
ES that is user-friendly is the biggest challenge for ES developer.

 Limited Scope. This is the most obvious weakness in an ES, its scope is very limited
to its field only. In the development aspect, the ES built is best developed because of
its high accuracy. However, usage-wise decision makers face constantly changing
problems which involve different fields that are inter-related.
Probable Decision Error. The main source of the knowledge is experts. Humans make
mistakes. If the experts input wrong information into the Expert system, this will
have a negative impact on the results produced.
Difficult to Maintain. The information in ES must be constantly updated to solve new
problems. Every new problem that occurs needs new knowledge and expertise. This
means that there must be an on-going relationship between the domain experts and
the ES developer. This situation requires the domain experts update the source of
knowledge and expertise to suit the current situation.
Costly Development. The cost to consult a group of experts is not cheap, what if ES
was built traditionally without involving the use of an Expert System shell? On the
other hand, programming cost is high because the artificial intelligence technique is
difficult to master and needs a very skilful programmer.
Legal and Ethical Dilemma. We must be responsible for our actions and decisions.
An expert has to take responsibility for the information he or she provides. . The
difficult question here is who should shoulder the responsibility if a decision
suggested by ES results in a negative outcome.

Strategic Support System (SSS)

A strategic support system (SSS) is a personal computer based automated information system
that is designed to expedite and lessen the cost of decision support information retrieval for
(or by) managers. The purpose is to provide managers with the information to make optimal
decisions about issues that are of significance to the organisation.
The system is designed around the organisations mission, goals and objectives. A strategic
support system provides a meaningful synthesis of operational data relative to the
organisations mission. The SSS measures can be viewed as a family or families of vital
measures about the organisation and its performance relative to its stated goals and
objectives. It is a repository for historical and contemporary organisational measures that can
be quickly be retrieved and displayed in both text and graphic formats.
The operational data that feed SSS can come from any number of management information
system (MIS). Strategic systems integrate a wide array of data elements from different MIS.
For example, a single SSS can contain information that is routinely extracted from sales,
marketing and production MIS. Data element integration permits a systematic view of
organisational measures and an assessment of the relationships among these measures.
Management cannot easily acquire a systematic view of operational MIS data without an
integrative vehicle such as a SSS. The integration of data elements from different operational
MIS ensures that system users are provided with the necessary contexts.

A strategic system is designed to provide on-demand access to the kind of information

managers need to monitor and evaluate performance in their specific areas of responsibility
and provide support for policy formulation and policy impact assessment.
A strategic system can contribute to managements ability to ensure quality planning because
it will place a multitude of relevant information at their disposal. Strategic systems provide
managers with a tool with which to monitor their organisations performance. The ability to
monitor an organisation can provide managers with a better understanding of whether there is
compliance with existing strategic goals, whether policies are having their intended impact,
whether policies are in need of modifications, or whether new policies or plans are needed.

Decision Support System

A Decision Support System can be seen as a knowledge based system, used by senior
managers, which facilitates the creation of knowledge and allow its integration into the
organization. These systems are often used to analyze existing structured information and
allow managers to project the potential effects of their decisions into the future. Such systems
are usually interactive and are used to solve ill structured problems. They offer access to
databases, analytical tools, allow "what if" simulations, and may support the exchange of
information within the organization.
Functions of a DSS
DSS manipulate and build upon the information from a MIS and/or TPS to generate insights
and new information.
Functions of a DSS in terms of data processing requirements
Inputs
Internal transactions
Internal files
External information?

Processing
Modelling
Simulation
Analysis
Summarising

Some examples of DSS

Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS)

Computer Supported Co-operative work (CSCW)
Logistics systems
Financial Planning systems
Spreadsheet Models?

The role of DSS

Support ill- structured or semi-structured decisions
Have analytical and/or modelling capacity

Outputs
Summary reports
Forecasts
Graphs/ Plots

 Used by more senior managerial levels

Are concerned with predicting the future
Are effectiveness oriented?

SECTION A
Question three
Write a detailed note on the planning and development of MIS?
Answer.
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
The first step in the planning and development of MIS is to carry out a systems analysis
seconded by systems design using Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). SDLC puts
emphasis on decision making processes that affect system cost and usefulness. These
decisions must be based on full consideration of business processes, functional requirements,
economic and technical feasibility. The primary objectives of any SDLC is to deliver quality
system which meets or exceed customer expectations and within cost estimates, work
effectively and efficiently within the current and planned infrastructure, and is an inexpensive
to maintain. SDLC establishes a logical order of events for conducting system development
that is controlled, measured, documented, and ultimately improved. Any software is not all
complete and there are enough rooms to add new features to existing software. Below are
different phases and the related activities of system development life cycle in detail:1. Systems Analysis and Planning
System Study
Preliminary system study is the first stage of system development life cycle. This is a brief
investigation of the system under consideration and gives a clear picture of what actually the
physical system is? In practice, the initial system study involves the preparation of a System
proposal which lists the Problem Definition, Objectives of the Study, Terms of reference for
Study, Constraints, Expected benefits of the new system, etc. in the light of the user
requirements. The system proposal is prepared by the System Analyst (who studies the
system) and places it before the user management. The management may accept the proposal
and the cycle proceeds to the next stage. The management may also reject the proposal or
request some modifications in the proposal. System study phase passes through the following
steps:
Problem identification and project initiation
Background analysis
Inference or findings
Feasibility Study
In case the system proposal is acceptable to the management, the next phase is to examine the
feasibility of the system. The feasibility study is basically the test of the proposed system in
the light of its workability, meeting users requirements, effective use of resources and of

course, the cost effectiveness. These are categorized as technical, operational, economic,
schedule and social feasibility. The main goal of feasibility study is not to solve the problem
but to achieve the scope. In the process of feasibility study, the cost and benefits are estimated
with greater accuracy to find the Return on Investment (ROI). This also defines the resources
needed to complete the detailed investigation. The result is a feasibility report submitted to
the management. This may be accepted or accepted with modifications or rejected. Below are
details of feasibility study:
Economic feasibility - The likely benefits outweigh the cost of solving the problem which is
generally demonstrated by a cost/ benefit analysis. This includes employee training, are they
read for change, will it increase business profit, the cost of hardware and software.
Operational feasibility - Whether the problem can be solved in the users environment with
existing and proposed system workings?
Organizational feasibility Whether the proposed system is consistent with the
organizations strategic objectives?
Technical feasibility - Whether the problem be solved using existing technology and
resources available? Reliability and capability of proposed hardware and software, can they
be acquired within required timeframe.
Social feasibility Whether the problem be solved without causing any social issues?
Whether the system will be acceptable to the society?
Detailed System Study
The detailed investigation of the system is carried out in accordance with the objectives of the
proposed system. This involves detailed study of various operations performed by a system
and their relationships within and outside the system. During this process, data are collected
on the available files, decision points and transactions handled by the present system.
Interviews, on-site observation and questionnaire are the tools used for detailed system study.
Using the following steps it becomes easy to draw the exact boundary of the new system
under consideration:
Keeping in view the problems and new requirements
Workout the pros and cons including new areas of the system
All the data and the findings must be documented in the form of detailed data flow diagrams
(DFDs), data dictionary, logical data structures and miniature specifications. It includes
planning for the new system, analysis of requirement, system constraints, functions and
proposed system architecture, prototype of the proposed system and its analysis.
System Analysis
Systems analysis is a process of collecting factual data, understand the processes involved,
identifying problems and recommending feasible suggestions for improving the system
functioning. This involves studying the business processes, gathering operational data,

understand the information flow, finding out bottlenecks and evolving solutions for
overcoming the weaknesses of the system so as to achieve the organizational goals. System
Analysis also includes subdividing of complex process involving the entire system,
identification of data store and manual processes.
The major objectives of systems analysis are to find answers for each business process:
What is being done?
How is it being done?
Who is doing it?
When is he doing it? Why is it being done?
How can it be improved?
It is more of a thinking process and involves the creative skills of the System Analyst. It
attempts to give birth to a new efficient system that satisfies the current needs of the user and
has scope for future growth within the organizational constraints. The result of this process is
a logical system design. System analysis is an iterative process that continues until a
preferred and acceptable solution emerges.
2. System Design and Development
System Design
Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of a new system, the new system
must be designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is the most crucial phase in the
development of a system. The logical system design arrived at as a result of system analysis
and is converted into physical system design. In the design phase the SDLC process
continues to move from the what questions of the analysis phase to the how. The logical
design produced during the analysis is turned into a physical design - a detailed description
of what is needed to solve original problem. Input, output, databases, forms, codification
schemes and processing specifications are drawn up in detail. In the design stage, the
programming language and the hardware and software platform in which the new system will
run are also decided. Data structure, control process, equipment source, workload and
limitation of the system, Interface, documentation, training, procedures of using the system,
taking backups and staffing requirement are decided at this stage.
Coding
The system design needs to be implemented to make it a workable system. This demands the
coding of design into computer language that is programming language. This is also called
the programming phase in which the programmer converts the program specifications into
computer instructions, which we refer to as programs. It is an important stage where the
defined procedures are transformed into control specifications by the help of a computer
language. The programs coordinate the data movements and control the entire process in a
system. A well written code reduces the testing and maintenance effort. It is generally felt that

the programs must be modular in nature. This helps in fast development, maintenance and
future changes, if required. Programming tools like compilers, interpreters and language like
c, c++, and java etc., are used for coding .with respect to the type of application. The right
programming language should be chosen.
Testing
Before actually implementing the new system into operations, a test run of the system is done
removing all the bugs, if any. It is an important phase of a successful system. After codifying
the whole programs of the system, a test plan should be developed and run on a given set of
test data. The output of the test run should match the expected results. Sometimes, system
testing is considered as a part of implementation process.
Using the test data following test run are carried out:
Program test
When the programs have been coded and compiled and brought to working conditions, they
must be individually tested with the prepared test data. All verification and validation be
checked and any undesirable happening must be noted and debugged (error corrected).
System Test
After carrying out the program test for each of the programs of the system and errors
removed, then system test is done. At this stage the test is done on actual data. The complete
system is executed on the actual data. At each stage of the execution, the results or output of
the system is analysed. During the result analysis, it may be found that the outputs are not
matching the expected output of the system. In such case, the errors in the particular
programs are identified and are fixed and further tested for the expected output. All
independent modules be brought together and all the interfaces to be tested between multiple
modules, the whole set of software is tested to establish that all modules work together
correctly as an application or system or package.
When it is ensured that the system is running error-free, the users are called with their own
actual data so that the system could be shown running as per their requirements
Implementation
After having the user acceptance of the new system developed, the implementation phase
begins. Implementation is the stage of a project during which theory is turned into practice.
The major steps involved in this phase are:

Acquisition and Installation of Hardware and Software

Conversion
User Training
Documentation

The hardware and the relevant software required for running the system must be made fully
operational before implementation. The conversion is also one of the most critical and

expensive activities in the system development life cycle. The data from the old system needs
to be converted to operate in the new format of the new system. The database needs to be
setup with security and recovery procedures fully defined.
During this phase, all the programs of the system are loaded onto the users computer. After
loading the system, training of the user starts. After the users are trained about the
computerized system, working has to shift from manual to computerized working. The
process is called Changeover. This can be done either through direct changeover, parallel run
or pilot run.
The documentation of the system is also one of the most important activity in the system
development life cycle. This ensures the continuity of the system. Generally following two
types of documentations are prepared for any system.
User Documentation
The user documentation is a complete description of the system from the users point of view
detailing how to use or operate the system. It also includes the major error messages likely to
be encountered by the user.
System Documentation
The system documentation contains the details of system design, programs, their coding,
system flow, data dictionary, process description, etc. This helps to understand the system and
permit changes to be made in the existing system to satisfy new user needs.
Maintenance
Maintenance is necessary to eliminate errors in the system during its working life and to tune
the system to any variations in its working environments. It must meet the scope of any future
enhancement, future functionality and any other added functional features to cope up with the
latest future needs. It also means the review of the system from time to time. The review of
the system is done for:
knowing the full capabilities of the system
knowing the required changes or the additional requirements
Studying the performance.
The system should be cybernetic so that it is self-regulatory. For instance in a bank if the
policy is not to give loans to people whose annual income is below $1000, then on its own its
suppose to reject all those with an annual income of $999 and below.

SECTION A
Question five

Answer.
Explain the challenges before an E-business management.
All businesses work differently, but the leaders in their respective fields all have one thing in
common - they must give their customers more than the competition does.
And although e-business is still relatively early in adoption rates, there are early success
stories - amazon.com, eBay, eToys and Dell to name a few. All these companies automated
their businesses (not just computerised them) and they provide good value to their customers.
This fundamental business principle was addressed early on in the development of their ebusiness. To do this, you need to consider six fundamental challenges:
Become customer-centric.
Recognise the death of mass marketing.
Identifying the right tasks to automate.
Emulate the best practices of your top performers.
Get everyone to work together.

Adopt an integrated approach.

Becoming customer-centric
In order to develop an effective e-business strategy, a company must make the shift from
being product-centric to becoming customer-centric. By placing customer needs at the centre
of every decision and tactic, the entire e-business strategy will become more effective and
profitable for the company, by fostering an atmosphere of customer loyalty and long-term
relationships.
A company which fails to become customer-centric will make decisions that do not make it
easier for their customers to do business with them - and the sad result will be that their
customers may well turn around and do business with one of their competitors. After all, all
they have to do is type in a new URL to get to a competitor's website.

The death of mass marketing

The age of mass marketing is coming to a close - long gone are the days of revising
campaigns and strategies on an annual basis. Companies need to act and react instantaneously
in this new frontier because they are effectively working with target markets of one. Today,
the popular buzzwords are 'one-to-one' and 'speed' marketing. This new reality poses exciting
opportunities for today's business, but it brings with it the fear of operating in unknown
territory.
Identifying the right tasks to automate

An e-business strategy, combined with a comprehensive e-business system can automate the
majority of repetitive and manual tasks performed by sales and marketing personnel every
day. But take care to ensure that the processes and tasks you automate represent your
company's best practices and reflect a truly customer-centric approach. If you automate a bad
process, you just end up doing the wrong thing a lot faster.
Emulating best practices
Two primary reasons for poor Web sales performance are incorrect prospect targeting and
ineffective sales support while customers are trying to buy. To go beyond electronic
catalogues and help solve a customer's problem, a website must provide guidance and advice
to help customers define their problem or question and evaluate potential solutions.
Therefore, if your website uses technologies to emulate the skills of your top salespeople, you
will be more effective in generating revenue.
Getting everyone to work together
Who owns customer information? Who owns the website? These are questions which many
companies are struggling with, and you need to answer them to carry out an effective ebusiness strategy. An e-business initiative typically involves participation and buy-in from
sales, marketing, customer support, accounting, MIS, and senior management. Everyone must
agree on the overall goals of the project, including the shift towards becoming a customercentric organisation.
Adopting an integrated approach
One of the biggest challenges facing companies today is the temptation to isolate
Internet/Web marketing and website initiatives (and also the whole e-business strategy) from
traditional, or off-line marketing strategies. To succeed, you must integrate your e-business
activities with other traditional sales and marketing activities, from telephone sales to print
advertising.
Other challenges
The rapidly changing business environment has lead several companies to adopt
e-commerce. E-business brings about a lot of changes in the way firms work. It
also throws up challenges that they have to meet in order to reap the benefits of
e-commerce. The various challenges to business include technological
challenges, legal and regulatory challenges, behavioural and educational
challenges, and other miscellaneous challenges. Various issues pertaining to the
implementation of new technology include security issues, choice of Internet
payment instrument and its inter-operability, inter-operability of technology and
technological application, comparative buying capabilities, richness and depth of
information available over the internet, lack of reliable network infrastructure,
lack of e-commerce standards, deployment of public key infrastructure to enable
identity authentication, technical integration of new technology with existing
applications and high cost of bandwidth. Challenges associated with legal and
regulatory framework include the difficulty in regulating and enforcing standards,
due to lack of consistent rules and policies; customs and taxation uncertainties
and government intervention.

Changes in attitudes of consumers result in behavioural challenges to

businesses. These challenges include lack of trust of customers and their fear of
intrusion of privacy which makes them reluctant to involve in e-transactions. In
addition, the rampant frauds taking place over the Internet and lack of
awareness of customers about the availability of services poses a challenge to
businesses. Miscellaneous challenges such as channel conflict, the problem of
attracting and retaining a critical mass of customers, and the need to improve
the order fulfilment process, are the other aspects that have become a cause of
worry to businesses.
Having addressed these fundamental business issues, your business will then be
able to incorporate e-business readily and successfully into its existing
processes.

ASSIGNMENT B
Question One
What is an internet? Explain the differences between internet, intranet
and extranet.
Answer.
The Internet

Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information

along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access
information from a vast array of available servers and other computers by moving
information from them to the computer's local memory. The same connection allows that
computer to send information to servers on the network; that information is in turn accessed
and potentially modified by a variety of other interconnected computers. A majority of widely
accessible information on the Internet consists of inter-linked hypertext documents and other
resources of the World Wide Web (WWW). Computer users typically manage sent and
received information with web browsers; other software for users' interface with computer
networks includes specialized programs for electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and file
sharing.
The movement of information in the Internet is achieved via a system of interconnected
computer networks that share data by packet switching using the standardized Internet
Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of private and
public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked
by copper wires, fiberoptic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies.
Differences between internet, intranet and extranet
Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks. It is not controlled by a

central entity and therefore relies on network devices and accepted conventions and protocols
to relay the data traffic until it gets to its destinations. Some countries have imposed rules to
censor or otherwise control what kind of content is accessible by its citizen (i.e. China).
However, except for the management of Internet Protocol addresses and the Domain Name
System by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the Internet
remains unregulated and uncensored.
The beginnings of the Internet can be traced back to the 1960s when the United States funded
research by its military agencies to develop a fault-tolerant and robust distributed network of
computers. The Internet is now global and in theory can be accessed by anyone who can get
access from an Internet service provider.
Intranet
On the other hand, an intranet is a private network that is setup and controlled by an
organization to encourage interaction among its members, to improve efficiency and to share
information, among other things. Information and resources that are shared on an intranet
might include: organizational policies and procedures, announcements, information about
new products, and confidential data of strategic value.
An intranet is a restricted-access network that works much like the Internet, but is isolated
from it. As is the case with the Internet, an intranet is based on TCP/IP protocols. Therefore, a
web page in an intranet may look and act just like any other webpage on the Internet, but
access is restricted to authorized persons and devices. In some cases, access to an intranet is
restricted by not connecting it to other networks, but in other cases a firewall is used to deny
access to unauthorized entities.
The difference between an intranet and the Internet is defined in terms of accessibility, size
and control. Unless content filters are being used or the government is censoring content, all
the Internets content is accessible to everyone. On the other hand an intranet is owned and
controlled by a single organization that decides which members are allowed access to certain
parts of the intranet. In general, an intranet is usually very small and is restricted to the
premises of a single organization.
Extranet
An extranet is an extended intranet. In addition to allowing access to members of an
organization, an extranet uses firewalls, access profiles, and privacy protocols to allow access
to users from outside the organization. In essence, an extranet is a private network that uses
Internet protocols and public networks to securely share resources with customers, suppliers,
vendors, partners, or other businesses.
Both intranets and extranets are owned, operated and controlled by one organization.
However, the difference between intranets and extranets is defined in terms of who has access
to the private network and the geographical reach of that network. Intranets allow only
members of the organization to access the network, while an extranet allows persons from
outside the organization (i.e. business partners and customers) to access the network. Usually,
network access is managed through the administration of usernames and passwords, which
are also used to determine which parts of the extranet a particular user can access.

Summary
The Internet, extranets, and intranets all rely on the same TCP/IP technologies. However, they
are different in terms of the levels of access they allow to various users inside and outside the
organization and the size of the network. An intranet allows for restricted access to only
members of an organization; an extranet expands that access by allowing non-members such
as suppliers and customers to use company resources. The difference between the Internet
and extranets is that while the extranet allows limited access to non-members of an
organization, the Internet generally allows everyone to access all network resources.
For better comprehension below is the diagram.

ASSIGNMENT B
Question 2

Explain the application of MIS by taking either materials management

or production planning system in a manufacturing industry or service
organization.
Answer.
Production Planning in Manufacturing Industry

In the manufacturing industry, production planning is a very important thing to do so as to

increase profits and maximize wealth. The use of MIS at various departments or stages of
manufacturing plays a vital role in production planning. Selection of Manufacturing Software
Package integrating production, quality, costing and financial information. Many alternatives
could be evaluated. This can be done in several ways as explained below;
Enterprise Resource Planning
Implement an Enterprise Resources Planning ERP application which is fundamentally
operationally oriented. It covers Marketing Management, sales Management, Logistics and
Inventory Management, Purchasing Management, Manufacturing Management, Costing,
Financial Management and Human Resources.
Supplement ERP with Supply Chain Management SCM with its global logistics view
merged with new constrained-based optimization solutions called Advanced Planning
System APS. Alternatively, Customer Relation Management CRM to deal with strategic
planning as well as scheduling capabilities. As they focus on enterprise efficiency and
competitiveness.
Practical application of MIS in production planning
Marketing Information Systems is used to process orders from other organizations for the
firms products. On the basis of these orders, the production/operations section assess
available inventory so as to ascertain whether or not it will be adequate to produce to meet
orders. If not, an order is made to the firms suppliers for inventory. This is done with the help
of logistics management information system. Also, with the use of resources management
information systems, the firm is able to assess itself in terms of its people, know-how, plant
facilities and equipment hence is able to tell whether or not it has the capacity to produce to
meet the orders placed for its products. When the firm acquires adequate inventory, the
production/operation section goes into production as scheduled. Then, business acquisition
management information systems are used to handle information related to markets,
competitors, sales etc. Logistics management information systems are used to help with
accounting for inventory.

CASE STUDY

Answers.
Discuss:
1. The general conditions of the Chain now and in the immediate future.
The general condition of the chain is good for now. This is demonstrated in the percentage
increase in sales of 120% and addition of stores from 3 to 8 over the last three years.
However, the situation can be much better. As the chain plans to expand within the next five
years, its focus should be on investing in modern retail business software applications and
maintaining existing infrastructure and equipment, be abreast with changes in the industry
with regard to its competitors and the current broken down systems should therefore be
improved or replaced.
2. What are the problems, the Chain is facing. List them in order of
priority.
-

System failure to copy up with increase in business activity.

Decentralised nature of the system
Lack of expertise or know-how on the part of workers to develop, operate or maintain
the system leading to breakdown.
Inadequate computers for the stores.
Inability to process data in real time.
Non availability of stores information.
Managerial practices should be revisited; managers need time to address strategic
issues rather than current practice where individual managers collect credit sales.

3. Suggest a solution to overcome the problems as listed by you.

Management should ensure that the current business growth rate is maintained. While doing
this, it should also engage the services of management information systems experts to
develop improved systems for efficient functioning and train staff to better operate and
maintain the improved system. In order to efficiently manage the chain of stores Mr Bawa
needs a centralised information system that would furnish him with accurate information on
stocks in all the stores in real time. One of the software applications that can help to solve
problems mentioned in 2 above is web-based point of sale. Web based point of sale may
benefit the chain of stores in the following way:Enhanced Inventory Management
With a web-based POS system, you can track your inventory in real-time, rather than seeing
numbers that are updated hourly or daily, like most traditional systems. , if your business runs
at multiple locations, you can easily check inventory at other stores. This allows you to place
orders for all stores from one location, saving you from having to essentially draft orders for
the same item multiple times
Off-Site Access

Web-based POS gives you an opportunity to monitor and manage your business from home.
In addition to tracking sales, you can also update pricing and place orders. This ability means
that going on a business trip doesn't create a temporary disconnect between you and your
employees. Whether you're in the cafe across the street, or halfway across the globe, you have
the exact same information as if you were in your office.
Improved Sales
Web-based POS software allows sales associates to immediately access customer information
from other locations. They can use this information to quickly make valuable inferences as to
what a customer's preferences might be, by looking at what they've bought in the past. This
allows the associate to provide service that is tailored to each customer, and dramatically
increases their opportunities for both up-selling and cross-selling.
Reduced Paperwork
With a web-based POS system, sales for all stores can be tracked in the same database,
meaning that each store is not required to generate their own individual paperwork in regards
to sales. As well, since orders for multiple stores can be placed together, fewer invoices are
generated, which can help the accounting process operate more smoothly.
Quick and Comprehensive Reporting
As a result of the instantaneously updated inventory amounts, a web-based POS system can
produce remarkably accurate reports, telling you by the week, day, or hour how your business
is doing. Overall sales, profit after markup, sales attributed to each employee, and many more
specifications can all be monitored
Easier Customer Management
Information regarding purchases a customer made at other stores is easily accessible with a
web-based POS system. This relieves headaches in regard to the return and exchange
processes, resulting in quicker transactions and happier customers.
Faster, Easier and Cheaper Installation
The cost is significantly less than you would have paid for a traditional system. Web-based
POS can run from virtually any computer with an active Internet connection, a quality which
by itself saves thousands of dollars that you may have needed to have invested in new
equipment.

SECTION C
Multiple Choice
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

B
D
C
C
B
B
B
C

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

B
D
A
B
B
D
C
B

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

D
B
C
B
A
B
A
D

25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

C
B
D
A
A
A

30. SYSTEMS INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

31. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
33. IBM and ORACLE
34. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (USA)
35. ONLINE SHOPPING
36. KNOWLEDGE ASSETS

33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

A
D
A
C