BBA-V/UNIT-II/MIS

UNIT II
System
The term is generally used to the group of actions, personnel and procedures used for processing data. It is set of related activities, which may or may not involve computers.

Elements Procedure

Goal
Boundary

System
System provides a meaningful framework for describing, understanding and solutions for the problems. In this sense the term system means policies, procedures, methods and processes used to carry out organizational activities. It is an entity, conceptual or physical, which consists of independent parts or components arranged in an orderly manner to accomplish an objective. System can alternatively be defined as a set of interacting or inter related elements that are joined together to achieve common goals. Each individual component of the system has its own goals, but together these parts work in harmony (with compatibility with whole system) so that the individual goals and the common goals of the system are harmonized. A system may be a part of larger system and at the same time may have its own sub-systems. The system receives inputs form the environment, processes the inputs and offer outputs. The processing takes place as per the procedures laid down. Example A university represents a sub system of the overall education system of the country. This sub system can have its own sub-sub systems such as teaching system, library system, examination system etc. The university system has its defined goals. The individual goals of the subsystems, viz. teaching system, library system, examination system etc may be different but have to be in tandem with the common goals of the University system as a whole. The common goals of the university system need to be in harmony with the goals of the education system of the country as a whole. 1

BBA-V/UNIT-II/MIS

Education System of India

UGC

AICTE

Universities for Formal Education

Universities for Informal Education

I.I.T.s

Engineering Colleges

I.I.Ms

College 1

College 2

College N

Administration System

Admission System

Teaching System

Examination System

Example of a System

Our definition of a system suggests some characteristics that are present in all system. 1. Organization: Organization implies structure and order. It is the arrangement of components that help to achieve objectives. e.g. in the design of a business system, the hierarchal relationships starting with the president on the top and leading downwards to the blue collar workers represents the organization structure. Such an arrangement portrays a system-subsystem relationship, defines the authority structure, specifies the formal flow of communication and formalizes the chain of commands. Likewise, a computer system is designed around an input device, a central processing unit, an output device and one or more storage units. When linked together they work as a whole system for producing information. 2. Interaction: Interaction refers to the manner in which each component functions with other components of the system. In an organization purchasing must interact with production, advertising with sale, and payroll with personnel. In a computer system, the central processing unit must interact with input device; the main memory holds programs and data that are used for computation. 2

BBA-V/UNIT-II/MIS 3. Interdependence: Interdependence means that parts of the organization or computer system depend on one other. They are coordinated and linked together according to a plan. One subsystem depends on the input of another subsystem for proper functioning. 4. Integration: Integration refers to the holism of system. Integration is concerned with how a system is tied together. It means that parts of the system work together within the system even though each part perform a unique function. Successful integration will typically produce a synergistic effect and greater total impact if each component works separately. 5. Central Objective: Objective may be real or stated. Although a stated objective may be real objective, it is not uncommon for an organization to state one objective and operate to achieve another. The important point is that user must know the central objective of a computer application early in the analysis for a successful design and conversion.

Elements of a System
In most cases, systems analysts operate in a dynamic environment where change is a way of life. The environment may be a business firm, business application, or a computer system. To reconstruct a system, the following key elements must be considered: 1. Input: It involves capturing and assembling the elements that enter the system to be processed. E.g. raw material, energy, data and human efforts. 2. Processing: It involves transformation process that converts input into output. e.g. manufacturing process, data manipulation etc. 3. Output: It involves transferring elements that have been produced by the transformation process to their ultimate destination. E.g. finished products, services and management information. 4. Control: The control element guides the system. It is the decision-making subsystem that controls the pattern of activities governing input, processing, and output. In an organizational context, management as a decision-making body controls the inflow, handling, and outflow of activities that affect the welfare of the business. In a computer system, the operating system and the accompanying software influence the behavior of the system. 5. Feedback: Control in a dynamic system is achieved by feedback. Feedback measures output against a standard in some form of cybernetic procedure that includes communication and control. Output information is fed back to the input and/or management. After the output is compared against the performance standards, changes can results in input or processing and consequently the output. Feedback may be positive or negative. Positive feedback reinforces the performance of the system. Negative feedback generally provides the controller with information for action. 6. Environment: The environment is the super system within which an organization operates. It is the source of external elements that affects the system. In fact, it often determines how a system function. 7. Boundaries and Interface: A system should be defined by its boundaries-the limits that identify its components, processes, and interrelationship when it interfaces with another system E.g. a teller system in a commercial bank is restricted to the deposits, withdrawals, and related activities of customers checking and saving accounts. 3

BBA-V/UNIT-II/MIS Each system has boundaries that determine its sphere of influence and control. Recently, system design has been successful in allowing the automatic transfer of funds from a bank account to pay bills and other obligations to creditors, regardless of distance or location. This means that in system analysis, knowledge of the boundaries of a given system is crucial in determining the nature of its interface with other systems for successful design.

Types of System
Abstract and Physical Systems Systems can be categorized as abstract systems and physical systems. There can be misunderstandings if one person talks about an information systems as a set of concepts, ideas or characteristics (abstract) and his listener perceives it as an operational system of people, equipment and reports (physical). An abstract or conceptual systems is an orderly arrangement of interdependent ideas or constructs, which may or may not have any counterpart in the real world. For example, a system of theology is an example of abstract system, which is an orderly arrangement of ideas about God and the relationship of human to God. On the other hand, physical systems are generally concrete operational systems made up of people, materials, machines, energy and other physical things. Physical systems are more than conceptual constructs; they display some activity or behavior. The elements in such a system interact to achieve a common objective. For example, the circulatory system, transportation system, computer system and others. Deterministic and Probabilistic Systems A deterministic system is one in which the occurrence of all events is known with certainty. In such a system, given a description of the system state at a particular point of time of its operation, the next state can be perfectly predicted. An example of such a system is a correct computer program which performs exactly according to a set of instructions. A probabilistic system is one in which the occurrence of events cannot be perfectly predicted. Though the behavior of such a system can be described in terms of probability, a certain degree of error is always attached to the prediction of the behavior of the system. An example of such a system is a set of instructions given to a person who may not follow the instructions exactly as given. Another example is a warehouse and its content. Given a description of the contents at a given point of time, the average demand, the length of time taken to process orders, etc., the contents at the next point in time could not be perfectly predicted. In our daily life, we usually have to deal with such probabilistic systems. Open and Closed Systems An open system is one that interacts with its environment and thus exchanges information, material, or energy with the environment, including random and undefined inputs. Open systems are adaptive in nature as they tend to react with the environment in such a way, so as to favour their continued existence. Such systems are self-organising, in the sense that they change their organization in response to changing conditions. All living systems (e.g. human, plants, cells etc.) are open systems. They attempt to maintain equilibrium by homeostasis, the process of 4

BBA-V/UNIT-II/MIS adjusting to keep the system operating within prescribed limits. An organization which is sensitive to changes in customer tastes, preferences, likings, disliking, demands etc., and in consequence adjusts its prices, changes its product mix or looks for new markets, is an open organization. All organizations essentially are open systems as they cannot work in isolation. Thus, the systems analyst usually deals with adaptive, open systems. A closed system is one which does not interact with its environment. Such systems in business world are rare, but relatively closed systems are common. Thus, the systems that are relatively isolated from the environment but not completely closed, are termed as closed systems (which actually means a relatively closed system). For example, a computer program is a relatively closed system because it accepts and processes previously defined inputs and provides outputs too in a previously defined way. In other words, we may say that a relatively closed system is one which controls its inputs, and outputs and is protected from the environmental disturbances. User-Machine System Most of the physical systems are user-machine (or Human-machine) systems. It is difficult to think of a system composed only of people who do not utilize equipment of some kind to achieve their goals. In user-machine systems, both, i.e. human as well as machine perform some activities in the accomplishment of a goal (e.g. decision-making). The machine elements (may be computer hardware and software), are relatively closed and deterministic, whereas the human elements of the system are open and probabilistic. No doubt, some small systems that are purely mechanical, do exist, but they are usually a part of a larger system involving people. Various combinations of human and machine are possible. For instance in a system, the computer plays a major role and human simply monitors the machine operation. At the other extreme, the machine performs a supporting role while the human performs the significant work. The division between human and machine will thus vary from system to system.