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MC0076 - Management Information System. Assignment answers for SET-1

1(a) Impact of MIS in the area of police Information system:The term information system refers to information technology that is used by people to

accomplish a specified organizational or individual objective. The technology may be used in thegathering, processing, storing, and/or dissemination of information, and the users are trained inthe use of that technology, as well as in the procedures to be followed in doing so. The specifictechnologies that collectively comprise information technology are computer technology and datacommunications technology. Computers provide most of the storage and processing capabilities,while data communicationsspecifically networksprovide the means for dissemination andremote access of information. Advances in computer hardware, software, and networkingtechnologies have spurred an evolution in the structure, design, and use of corporate informationsystems.

Police information systems are evaluated using both satisfaction and impact measures.Police reported high rates of satisfaction with their systems, but, with the exception of reporting,little or no impact in areas such as productivity, personnel allocation, and other forms of decisionmaking. The dynamics of satisfaction are explored. Nearly half of the departments report that their

satisfaction has changed. A new classification is developed that takes into consideration bothsatisfaction and the nature of the change. It is argued that this measure would help to identifyorganizations where users are in the process of changing their attitudes toward the system.Implications for the evaluation of information systems are discussed.

Information is a key resource for organisations (Levitin & Redman 1998), forming the basisfor corrective and preventative actions designed to improve organisational performance (Otley1999). Designing effective systems for providing this information clearly depends, inter alia, onidentifying what information is needed by managers (Ashill & Jobber 2001). Research hasapproached this issue by focusing on the specification of information characteristics (for example,Gordon, Larcker & Tuggle 1978; Gorry & Scott Morton 1971) and determining which characteristicsare important for decision making, under what situations and with what impacts (for example,Bowens & Abernethy 2000; Chenhall & Morris 1986; Gaidiene & Skyrius 2006; Larker 1981;Mangaliso 1995).

Transaction processing systems:These record and track an organization's transactions,such as sales transactions or inventory items, from the moment each is first created until it leavesthe system. This helps managers at the day-to-day operational level keep track of dailytransactions as well as make decisions on when to place orders, make shipments, and so on.

Management information and reporting systems: These systems provide mid-level andsenior managers with periodic, often summarized, reports that help them assess performance(e.g., a particular region's sales performance in a given time period) and make appropriatedecisions based on that information.

Decision support systems: These systems are designed to help mid-level and seniormanagers make those difficult decisions about which not every relevant parameter is known. Thesedecisions, referred to as semi structured decisions, are characteristic of the types of decisions

made at the higher levels of management.Expert systems: An expert system is built by modeling into the computer the thought

processes and decision-making heuristics of a recognized expert in a particular field. Thus, thistype of information system is theoretically capable of making decisions for a user, based on inputreceived from the user. However, due to the complex and uncertain nature of most businessdecision environments, expert system technology has traditionally been used in theseenvironments primarily like decision support systemsthat is, to help a human decision makerarrive at a reasonable decision, rather than to actually make the decision for the user.

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1(b) The functions and disadvantages of MIS:Information is a critical resource in the operation and management of organizations. Timely

availability of relevant information is vital for effective performance of managerial functions such asplanning, organizing, leading, and control. An information system in an organization is like the

nervous system in the human body: it is the link that connects all the organization's componentstogether and provides for better operation and survival in a competitive environment. Indeed,today's organizations run on information.

The main functions of MIS are as follows:

Data processing: It includes the collection, transmission, storage, processing and output of data.It simplifies the statistics and reduces to the lowest cost by supplying an unified format.

Function of prediction: It predicts the future situation by applying modern mathematics, statisticsor simulation.

Function of plan: It arranges reasonably the plans of each functional department in accordancewith the restrictions afforded by enterprises and provides the appropriate planning reportsaccording to different management.

Function of control: It monitors and inspects the operation of plans and comprises with thedifferences between operation and plan in accordance with the data afforded by every functionaldepartment, and be assistant to managers to control timely each method by analyzing the reasonswhy the differences comes into being.

Function of assistance: It derivates instantly the best answers of related problems by applyingto various of mathematics mode and analyzing a plentiful data stored in computers in the hope ofusing rationally human resource, financial resource, material resource and information resource for

relative abundant economic benefits.

Disadvantages of MIS:Depending on organization deployment, usage and extraneous factors, some disadvantages

related to Management Information Systems can come to the fore. Allocation of budgets for MISupgrades, modifications and other revisions can be quite tricky at times. If budgets are notallocated uniformly or as per immediate requirements, key functionalities might get effected andbenefits might not be realized consistently. Integration issues with legacy systems can affect thequality of output and vital business intelligence reports.

Other main disadvantages are:

Highly senstive requires constant monitoring. Buddgeting of MIS extremely difficult. Quality of outputs governed by quality of inputs.

Lack of flexiblity to update itself.

Effectiveness decreases due to frequent changes in top management

Takes into account only qualitative factors and ignores non-qualitative factors like morale ofworker, attitude of worker

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2 (a) A scenario which shows the applications of OLAP systems:Although OLAP applications are found in widely divergent functional areas, all require the followingkey features:

Multidimensional views of data Calculation-intensive capabilities

Time intelligence

Senario of Business Intelligence is as follows:

Online analytical processing (OLAP) is a multidimensional, multiuser, client-servercomputing environment for users who need to analyze enterprise data. Finance departments use

OLAP for applications such as budgeting, activity-based costing (allocations), financial performanceanalysis, and financial modeling. Sales departments use OLAP for sales analysis and forecasting.Marketing departments use OLAP for market research analysis, sales forecasting, promotionsanalysis, customer analysis, and market/customer segmentation. Typical manufacturing OLAPapplications include production planning and defect analysis.

Important to all of these applications is the ability to provide managers the information thatthey need to make effective decisions about an organization's strategic directions. A successfulOLAP application provides information as needed; that is, it provides just-in-time information foreffective decision-making.

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Providing such information requires more than a base level of detailed data. Just-in-timeinformation is computed data that usually reflects complex relationships and is often calculated onthe fly. Analyzing and modeling complex relationships are practical only if response times areconsistently short. In addition, because the nature of data relationships may not be known inadvance, the data model must be flexible. A truly flexible data model ensures that OLAP systemscan respond to changing business requirements as needed for effective decision making.

2 (b) Information technology influences organizations goals:Internet has transformed our lives and the way we communicate, how we learn, how we work andspend free time, in essence it has more or less changed every aspect of human society one canthink of. This paper deals with the influence of Internet and information technology on work andhuman resource management.

It observes main novelties and (inevitably coming) changes in areas of staffing, motivatingand leading and discusses possible adaptations of organization and business. To discover thementioned changes and consequences, firstly we try to broadly assert present condition in thefield, both globally and in Slovenia, and outline promising future trends. Finally, combining thatwith elements of human resource management we try to predict basic consequences that IT will

have on the way employees are rewarded and the way new employees are acquired.To identify the organizational factors which influence the diffusion of end user online

literature searching, the computer-based patient record, and electronic mail systems in academichealth sciences centers in the United States.

The implementation of information technology systems in the health care arena holds greatpromise for improving efficiency but can also result, according to Anderson et al., in unforeseencosts and organizational consequences and even failure.1 Implementation needs to be donewisely, with attention paid to organizational as well as technologic issues. Rosabeth Moss Kanterhas stated this more dramatically: `Let a thousand flowers bloom.' This slogan, designed toawaken an entire nation to new ideas, offers an apt metaphor for innovation. Innovations, likeflowers, start from tiny seeds and have to be nurtured carefully until they blossom; then theiressence has to be carried elsewhere for the flowers to spread. And some conditionssoil, climate,fertilizer, the layout of the gardenproduce larger and more abundant flowers.2 The slogan wasactually, Let a hundred flowers blossom; it marked the beginning of the Hundred FlowersCampaign in China in 1956.3 The purpose of the present study is to identify what organizationalattributes influence the diffusion of information technology innovations at academic health sciencescenters, and so Kanter's metaphor is appropriate. In other words, what particular soil and climateconditions are needed to nurture a glorious blossoming?

3 The features contributing to success and failures of MIS models:Desirable features of an MIS

Be flexible - allowing for different ways of analysing data and evaluating information.

Provide interpersonal communication with other people in the organisation.

Not require extensive periods of concentration as managers switch between different tasks.

Make it easy to interrupt the work and return to it at a later time

Protect a manager, from information overload.

There are a number of ways that computer projects can be managed. We will look at Systems life cycle The waterfall model Prototyping.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61499/#ref1http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61499/#ref2http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61499/#ref3http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61499/#ref1http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61499/#ref2http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61499/#ref3

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The Systems life cycle was the traditional way in which projects were carried out. Each stagewas completed before the next was started.

In the Waterfall model, it is possible to rework earlier stages in the light of experience gained ata later stage. Each stage is signed off and the next stage is proceeded with. However the enduser is rarely involved in the development stage, even though they may well be involved in signingoff. It is therefore critical that the analysts and the programmers understand the end-users

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The waterfall model has disadvantages, which can be overcome using prototyping, in which amodel of the system is developed in partnership with the end-user. The features are worked outwith the end user using a prototype, and the end user can have a considerable input into thedevelopment of a project. The approach is shown below:

Benefits are: Misunderstandings are detected at early stages the user will notice any missing functions, incomplete or inconsistent requirements. can be built quickly to demonstrate systems it can be used for training before the system is finished

Drawbacks are: Project management can be discoordinated or even sloppy. Meetings with end users can become time consuming. The final result could be completely different to what was requested in the first place.

There are several different ways of prototyping: Piloting Test the feasibility of the design proposal Modelling building to develop an understanding of the users requirements Throw-away prototyping Pilot and modelling are throw away types Evolutionary prototyping each prototype built is a step closer to solution.

Why an MIS Might FailMIS systems are complex and expensive pieces of software, and many people are involved with the

design both within the organisation and from outside. Often they are built by software houses tothe precise requirements of the organisation. So the client organisation needs to be very clear asto what it wants, and the software house analysts need also to be very clear about therequirements.MIS failures can be expensive and bring bad publicity to all parties. They can arise due to:

Inadequate analysis - problems, needs and constraints arent understood in the early stages. Lack of management involved in the design wrong expectations of a new system / no-one

understands the system.

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Emphasis on the computer system Need procedures for handling input and output / select theright hardware and software

Concentration on low-level data processing Information must be easily accessible andunderstood

Lack of management knowledge of ICT systems and capabilities managers know what theywant from the system but dont understand the technology

Lack of teamwork An ICT manager must co-ordinate the accounts, marketing, sales etc.departments and help everyone understand the benefits of the system

Lack of professional standards All systems need clear documentation that all users canunderstand (not just the ICT literate)

Organisations can judge how successful the implementation of an MIS system has been byapplying the following evaluations: High level of use - Is it actually used? Some systems dont become operational for reasons such

as it taking too long to enter data. High level of user satisfaction - Do users like the systems? Accomplishment of original objectives - Have the objectives specified in the analysis stage

been achieved? Appropriate nature of use - Is the software being correctly used? Has proper training been given? Institutionalisation of the system - Has it been taken on board enthusiastically?

4 The relationship between artificial intelligence and neural networks withhelp of a scenario.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science thataims to create it. Textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents," wherean intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize itschances of success. John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956, defines it as "the science andengineering of making intelligent machines."

The field was founded on the claim that a central property of humans, intelligencethesapience of Homo sapienscan be so precisely described that it can be simulated by a machine.This raises philosophical issues about the nature of the mind and limits of scientific hubris, issueswhich have been addressed by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity.[6] Artificial intelligencehas been the subject of optimism, but has also suffered setbacks[8] and, today, has become anessential part of the technology industry, providing the heavy lifting for many of the most difficultproblems in computer science.

AI research is highly technical and specialized, deeply divided into subfields that often fail tocommunicate with each other. Subfields have grown up around particular institutions, the work ofindividual researchers, the solution of specific problems, longstanding differences of opinion abouthow AI should be done and the application of widely differing tools. The central problems of AIinclude such traits as reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, communication, perception and theability to move and manipulate objects. General intelligence (or "strong AI") is still a long-termgoal of (some) research.

Traditionally, the term Neural Networkhad been used to refer to a network or circuit of biologicalneurons[citation needed]. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks,which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes.

Thus the term has two distinct usages:1.Biological neural networks are made up of real biological neurons that are connected orfunctionally related in the peripheral nervous system or the central nervous system. In the field of

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neuroscience, they are often identified as groups of neurons that perform a specific physiologicalfunction in laboratory analysis.2.Artificial neural networks are made up of interconnecting artificial neurons (programmingconstructs that mimic the properties of biological neurons). Artificial neural networks may either beused to gain an understanding of biological neural networks, or for solving artificial intelligenceproblems without necessarily creating a model of a real biological system. The real, biological

nervous system is highly complex and includes some features that may seem superfluous based onan understanding of artificial networks.

Many models are used in the field, each defined at a different level of abstraction and tryingto model different aspects of neural systems. They range from models of the short-term behaviourof individual neurons, through models of how the dynamics of neural circuitry arise frominteractions between individual neurons, to models of how behaviour can arise from abstract neuralmodules that represent complete subsystems. These include models of the long-term and short-term plasticity of neural systems and its relation to learning and memory, from the individualneuron to the system level.

Rainfall forecasting plays many important role in water resources studies such as rivertraining works and design of flood warning systems. Recent advancement in artificial intelligence

and in particular techniques aimed at converting input to output for highly nonlinear, non-convexand dimensionalized processes such as rainfall field, provide an alternative approach for developingrainfall forecasting model. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), which perform a nonlinear mappingbetween inputs and outputs, are such a technique. Current literatures on artificial neural networksshow that the selection of network architecture and its efficient training procedure are majorobstacles for their daily usage. In this paper, feed-forward type networks will be developed tosimulate the rainfall field and a so-called back propagation (BP) algorithm coupled with geneticalgorithm (GA) will be used to train and optimize the networks. The technique will be implementedto forecast rainfall for a number of times using rainfall hyetograph of recording rain gauges in theUpper Parramatta catchment in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Results of the studyshowed the structuring of ANN network with the input parameter selection, when coupled with GA,performed better compared to similar work of using ANN alone.

5 (a) The role of systems analyst in SDLC. Explain with a scenario.The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), or Software Development Life Cycle in systemsengineering and software engineering, is the process of creating or altering systems, and themodels and methodologies that people use to develop these systems. The concept generally refersto computer or information systems.

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In software engineering the SDLC concept underpins many kinds of software developmentmethodologies. These methodologies form the framework for planning and controlling the creationof an information system:

The software development process:Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) adheres to important phases that are essential for

developers, such as planning, analysis, design, and implementation, and are explained in thesection below. There are several Systems Development Life Cycle Models in existence. The oldestmodel, that was originally regarded as "the Systems Development Life Cycle" is the waterfallmodel: a sequence of stages in which the output of each stage becomes the input for the next.These stages generally follow the same basic steps but many different waterfall methodologies givethe steps different names and the number of steps seem to vary between 4 and 7. There is nodefinitively correct Systems Development Life Cycle model, but the steps can be characterized anddivided in several steps.

The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) phases serve as a programmatic guide toproject activity and provide a flexible but consistent way to conduct projects to a depth matchingthe scope of the project. Each of the SDLC phase objectives are described in this section with keydeliverables, a description of recommended tasks, and a summary of related control objectives foreffective management. It is critical for the project manager to establish and monitor control

objectives during each SDLC phase while executing projects. Control objectives help to provide aclear statement of the desired result or purpose and should be used throughout the entire SDLCprocess. Control objectives can be grouped into major categories (Domains), and relate to theSDLC phases as shown in the figure.[9]

To manage and control any SDLC initiative, each project will be required to establish somedegree of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to capture and schedule the work necessary tocomplete the project. The WBS and all programmatic material should be kept in the Project

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Description section of the project notebook. The WBS format is mostly left to the project managerto establish in a way that best describes the project work. There are some key areas that must bedefined in the WBS as part of the SDLC policy. The following diagram describes three key areasthat will be addressed in the WBS in a manner established by the project manager

5 (b) A data flow diagram for an hospital management system.The phrase, hospital information system, is frequently used in discussions about the flow of

information throughout a hospital with the assumption that everybody has the same concept inmind. Hospitals are the key institutions in providing relief against sickness and disease. They havebecome an integral part of the comprehensive health services in India, both curative andpreventive. Significant progress has been made in improving their efficiency and operations.

Effectiveness of a health institution - hospitals or nursing homes, depends on its goals andobjectives, its strategic location, soundness of its operations, and efficiency of its managementsystems. The administrator's effectiveness depends upon the efficiency with which he is able toachieve the goals and objectives. Some of the major factors determining the effectiveness of a

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health institution includes patient care management and patient satisfaction. Hospitals are veryexpensive to build and to operate. Administrators and professionals have to be extremely costconscious. Effective computerised systems and procedures need to be implemented to ensureproper utilisation of limited resources toward quality health care. It becomes even more importantwhen an in-house medical facility is provided by an industry for its employees, as is the case forTata Steel. Patient care management in Tata Steel has fully utilised the power of computers in

Medicare, whereby network of integrated systems maintaining patient database for the hospitalservices in the areas of Pathology, Radiology, Medical Research, In-patient Admissions and Billing,Medical Stores & Pharmacy are operational. The implementation of the above modules haveevolved user-friendly computerized systems which are loved and cared by all.This paper tries to cover giving an insight to the Hospital Information system implemented at theTata Main Hospital, which is being fully utilised to provide quality service. The computerised systemhas enabled the medics to serve their customers with a smile and to meet the corporate objectiveset by the founder.We do not claim to be unselfish, more generous or more philanthropic than other people. But wethink we started on sound and straight forward business principles, considering the interests of the

shareholders our own, and the health and welfare of the employees the sure foundation of ourprosperity, -JN Tata

6 The limitations of ERP systems and How ERP packages help in overcomingtheses limitations:

Many problems organizations have with ERP systems are due to inadequate investment in ongoingtraining for involved personnel, including those implementing and testing changes, as well as a lackof corporate policy protecting the integrity of the data in the ERP systems and how it is used.

Limitations of ERP include: Success depends on the skill and experience of the workforce,including training about how to make the system work correctly. Many companies cut costs bycutting training budgets. Privately owned small enterprises are often undercapitalized, meaningtheir ERP system is often operated by personnel with inadequate education in ERP in general, suchas APICS foundations, and in the particular ERP vendor package being used.

o Personnel turnover; companies can employ new managers lacking education in the

company's ERP system, proposing changes in business practices that are out of synchronizationwith the best utilization of the company's selected ERP.o Customization of the ERP software is limited. Some customization may involve changing of

the ERP software structure which is usually not allowed.o Re-engineering of business processes to fit the "industry standard" prescribed by the ERP

system may lead to a loss of competitive advantage.o ERP systems can be very expensive to install often ranging from 30,000 to 500,000,000 for

multinational companies.o ERP vendors can charge sums of money for annual license renewal that is unrelated to the

size of the company using the ERP or its profitability.

o Technical support personnel often give replies to callers that are inappropriate for thecaller's corporate structure. Computer security concerns arise, for example when telling a non-programmer how to change a database on the fly, at a company that requires an audit trail ofchanges so as to meet some regulatory standards.o ERPs are often seen as too rigid and too difficult to adapt to the specific workflow and

business process of some companiesthis is cited as one of the main causes of their failure.o Systems can be difficult to use.

o Systems are too restrictive and do not allow much flexibility in implementation and usage.

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o The system can suffer from the "weakest link" probleman inefficiency in one department

or at one of the partners may affect other participants.o Many of the integrated links need high accuracy in other applications to work effectively. A

company can achieve minimum standards, then over time "dirty data" will reduce the reliabilityof some applications.o Once a system is established, switching costs are very high for any one of the partners

(reducing flexibility and strategic control at the corporate level).o The blurring of company boundaries can cause problems in accountability, lines of

responsibility, and employee morale.o Resistance in sharing sensitive internal information between departments can reduce the

effectiveness of the software.o There are frequent compatibility problems with the various legacy systems of the partners.

o The system may be over-engineered relative to the actual needs of the customer.

Most ERP security audits today are performed using a manual approach. There is little automationbeyond the use of native tools that come standard with ERP packages. Most ERP native securityreporting tools are designed with the purpose of assisting security administrators in validating theaccuracy of security configurations. Although they are not meant for security audit per se, IT

auditors with appropriate skills and knowledge can exploit these tools in extracting informationabout who has access to critical transactions. For each transaction to be tested, the IT auditor mustset up different queries in the reporting tool and extract the output separately. The output isusually stored electronically and will later be processed using a computer-aided auditing tool suchas ACL or a spreadsheet. Once the output is parsed and formatted to allow easier analysis, theauditor has a report that lists the users or roles that have the ability to perform a particulartransaction, which will be validated by corroboration with management or company policies andprocedures. This process needs to be repeated for every transaction included in the audit plan.

The approach is based on the premise that IT auditors can use technology to partially automateERP security audit processes showing how does these ERP packages help in overcoming theseslimitations. Steps in the approach are as follows:

1. Understand the security concepts and mechanisms of the specific ERP system being

audited.To understand how to audit, it is necessary to understand how a particular user or rolegains access to perform an action in the ERP system. In the context of SAP R/3, a user isassigned a specific set of authorization objects to gain access to perform an action or create atransaction. To audit those who have access to perform a particular transaction, it is necessaryto research which authorization objects are required to access the transaction.

2. Study the back-end components of the ERP system, such as tables and programs,

that facilitate operation of the ERP security mechanism.Since SAP R/3 stores information ina relational database, security configuration data can be found on a number of tables. Inparticular, it is important to identify tables storing information about users, roles, authorizationobjects and the tables that map relationships among these entities (e.g., which user has whichrole and which authorization objects are assigned to which roles).

3. Design an ad hoc tool that emulates the back-end components of the ERP system

and produces reports depicting the current security configuration. As understanding of thetables that contain the security configurations is gained, these tables can be extracted from theERP system and placed into an external, ad hocdatabase.

4. Create queries and reports that identify users who have potential SOD conflicts.Using the criteria identified in the previous step, an extension is developed within the ad hoctoolto automate and simultaneously run queries required for identifying SOD conflicts.