Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester II MB0047Management Information Systems

Q.1 What is MIS? Define the characteristics of MIS? What are the basic Functions of MIS? Give some Disadvantage of MIS?

Answer : A management information system(MIS) is a system that provides information needed to manage
organizations effectively. Management information systems involve three primary resources: technology, information, and people. It's important to recognize that while all three resources are key components when studying management information systems, the most important resource is people[according to whom? ]. Management information systems are regarded as a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making. Characteristics of MIS The Basic characteristics of an effective Management Information System are as follows: I. Management-oriented: The basic objective of MIS is to provide information support To the management in the organization for decision making. So an effective MIS should start its journey from appraisal of management needs, mission and goal of the business organization. It may be individual or collective goals of an organization. The MIS is such that it serves all the levels of management in an organization i.e. top, middle and lower level. II. Management directed: When MIS is management-oriented, it should be directed by the management because it is the management who tells their needs and requirements more effectively than anybody else. Manager should guide the MIS professionals not only at the stage of planning but also on development, review and implementation stages so that effective system should be the end product of the whole exercise in making an effective MIS. III. Integrated: It means a comprehensive or complete view of all the sub systems in the organization of a company. Development of information must be integrated so that all the operational and functional information sub systems should be worked together as a single entity. This integration is necessary because it leads to retrieval of more meaningful and useful information. I V. Common data flows: The integration of different sub systems will lead to a common data flow which will further help in avoiding duplicacy and redundancy in data collection, storage and processing. For example, the customer orders are the basis for many activities in an organization viz. billing, sales for cashing, etc. Data is collected by a system analyst from its original source only one time. Then he utilizes the data with minimum number of processing procedures and uses the information for production output documents and reports in small numbers and eliminates the undesirable data. This will lead to elimination of duplication that simplify the operations and produce an efficient information system. V. Heavy planning-element: The preparation of MIS is not a one or two day exercise. It usually takes 3 to 5 years and sometimes a much longer period. So the system expert has to keep 2 things in mind one is that he has to keep future objectives as well as the firms information well in advance and also he has to keep in mind that his MIS will not be obsolete before it gets into action. VI. Sub System concept: When a problem is seen in 2 sub parts, then the better solution to the problem is possible. Although MIS is viewed as a single entity but for its effective use, it should be broken down in small parts or subsystems so that more attention and insight is paid to each sub system. Priorities will be set and phase of implementation

will be made easy. While making or breaking down the whole MIS into subsystems, it should be kept in mind that the subsystems should be easily manageable. VII. Common database: This is the basic feature of MIS to achieve the objective of using MIS in business organizations. It avoids duplication of files and storage which leads to reduction in costs. Common database means a Super file or Master file which consolidates and integrates data records formerly stored in many separate data files. The organization of the database allows it to be accessed by each subsystem and thus, eliminates the necessity of duplication in data storage, updating, deletion and protection. VII. Computerized: MIS can be used without a computer. But the use of computers increases the effectiveness and the efficiency of the system. The queries can be handled more quickly and efficiently with the computerized MIS. The other benefits are accuracy, storage capacity and timely information. VIII. User friendly/Flexibility: An MIS should be flexible i.e. there should be room for further modification because the MIS takes much time in preparation and our environment is dynamic in nature. MIS should be such that it should be used independently by the end user so that they do not depend on the experts. IX. Information as a resource: Information is the major ingredient of any MIS. So, an MIS should be treated as a resource and managed properly Basic Functions of MIS There are many different functions involved in a successful Management Information Systems (MIS) department. There has to be people skilled in both software and hardware installations. All employees must also maintain good people skills. The Surry County MIS Department deals with every department in the County in some form or another. The MIS department is responsible for all computers that are on the Surry County Network. At the present time the number of PCs that are supported by MIS Department is around 300 and is growing everyday. Not only does the MIS department support PCs we also maintain County servers. These servers control the Tax, Finance,E911, Sheriff, EMS, Fire Marshal, and many other departments' daily activities. Without these servers in proper working order things in Surry County would be a lot different than you know them to be. Breakdown Of Departmental Functions There are 10 basic functions of an Management Information Systems department. These functions consist of the following: help desk, support teams, service and support, training, networking, purchasing, installations, research and development, operations, planning, budget. Explaining Each Of The Functions Help Desk: Service support calls and help solve problems. All calls entered into helpdesk database for quick update and retrieval. Support Teams: Teams assigned to different department and projects to better offer ongoing knowledge and expertise in any single area. Service and Support: Repair hardware, software support, warranty service. Provide onsite service to all County sites. Provide phone support. Act as liaison between the department head and the vendor support team. Training: Train employees on computer basics, office productivity software and specialized software individual to each department .Provide training facility for vendor use. Networking: LAN / WAN design, implementation and support. File, print, e-mail, www server support. Backup and antivirus server support. Ethernet, and fiber optic support.

Purchasing: Specifying purchasing specs. Maintaining standards for purchases. Provide quote, assist in maintaining fixed assets, assist in grant proposals. Installations: New hardware and software. Research and Development: Review of current trends in the industry, attend training in new technology, and evaluating new systems. Operations: Daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance such as backups, server auditing, and system usage checks. Light data entry and modifications. Planning and Budget: Maintaining relationships with departments and their priority areas. Planning for long and short-term projects and budget review for future years. Disadvantages Depending on organization deployment, usage and extraneous factors, some disadvantages related to Management Information Systems can come to the fore. Allocation of budgets for MIS upgrades, modifications and other revisions can be quite tricky at times. If budgets are not allocated uniformly or as per immediate requirements, key functionalities might get effected and benefits might not be realized consistently. Integration issues with legacy systems can affect the quality of output and vital business intelligence reports. Constant Monitoring Issues Change in management, exits or departures of department managers and other senior executives has a broad effect on the working and monitoring of certain organization practices including MIS systems. Since MIS is a critical component of an organization's risk management strategy and allied systems, constant monitoring is necessary to ensure its effectiveness. Quality of inputs into MIS needs to be monitored; otherwise consistency in the quality of data and information generated gets effected. Managers are not able to direct business, operational and decision-making activities with the requisite flexibility.
Q.2. Explain Knowledge based system? Explain DSS and OLAP with example?

Answer : Knowledge based system are the systems based on knowledge base. Knowledge base is thedatabase maintained for knowledge management which provides the means of data collections,organization and retrieval of knowledge. The knowledge management manages the domain where itcreates and enables organization for adoption of insights and experiences.There are two types of knowledge bases.a. Machine readable knowledge bases: The knowledge base helps the computer to process through. Itmakes the data in the computer readable code which makes the operator to perform easier. Suchinformation sare used by semantic web. Semantic web is a web that will make a description of the system that a system can understand. b. Human readable knowledge bases: They are designed to help people to retrieve knowledge. The information need to be processed by the reader. The reader can access the information and synthesize their own. A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations, and planning levels of an organization and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance. DSSs include knowledge-based systems. A properly designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from a combination of raw data, documents, personal knowledge, or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions. online analytical processing, or OLAP is an approach to swiftly answer multi-dimensional analyticalqueries.[1] OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining.[2] Typical applications of OLAP include business reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process

management (BPM),[3] budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting and similar areas, with new applications coming up, such asagriculture.[4] The term OLAP was created as a slight modification of the traditional database term OLTP(Online Transaction Processing). 3. What are Value Chain Analysis & describe its significance in MIS? Explain what is meant by BPR? What is its significance? How Data warehousing & Data Mining is useful in terms of MIS? Answer : The value chain is a systematic approach to examining the development of competitive advantage. It was created by M. E. Porter in his book, Competitive Advantage (1980). The chain consists of a series of activities that create and build value. They culminate in the total value delivered by an organisation. The 'margin' depicted in the diagram is the same as added value. The organisation is split into 'primary activities' and 'support activities. Business process re-engineering is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization. According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering is the basis for many recent developments in management. The cross-functional team, for example, has become popular because of the desire to re-engineer separate functional tasks into complete crossfunctional processes. How Data warehousing & Data Mining is useful in terms of MIS? Data mining is primarily used as a part of information system today, by companies with a strong consumer focus - retail, financial, communication, and marketing organizations. It enables these companies to determine relationships among "internal" factors such as price, product positioning, or staff skills, and "external" factors such as economic indicators, competition, and customer demographics. And, it enables them to determine the impact on sales, customer satisfaction, and corporate profits. Finally, it enables them to "drill down" into summary information to view detail transactional data. With data mining, a retailer could use point-of-sale records of customer purchases to send targeted promotions based on an individuals purchase history. By mining demographic data from comment or warranty cards, the retailer could develop products and promotions to appeal to specific customer segments. Data Mining is a collaborative tool which comprises of database systems, statistics, machine learning, visualization and information science. Based on the data mining approach used, different techniques form the other discipline can be used such as neural networks, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, knowledge representation, high performance computing and inductive logic programming. Data Warehouse is defined as collection of database which is referred as relational database for the purpose of querying and analysis rather than just transaction processing. Data warehouse is usually maintained to store heuristic data for future use. Data warehousing is usually used to generate reports. Integration and separation of data are the two basic features need to be kept in mind while creating a data warehousing. The main output from data warehouse systems are; either tabular listings (queries)with minimal formatting or highly formatted "formal" reports on business activities. This becomes a convenient way to handle the information being generated by various processes. Data warehouse is an archive of information collected from wide multiple sources, stored under a unified scheme, at a single site. This data is stored for a long time permitting the user an access to archived data for years. The data stored and the subsequent report generated out of a querying process enables decision making quickly. Q.4. Explain DFD & Data Dictionary? Explain in detail how the information requirement is determined for an organization? Answer : A data dictionary is a structured repository of data about data. It is a set of rigorous definitions of all DFD data elements and data structures. Most of the data flow in the DFD are specified here. Some of the most obvious ones are not shown here. The data dictionary entry for weekly timesheet specifies that this data flow is composed of three basic data entities - the employee name, employee ID and many

occurrences of the two - tuple consisting of regular hours and overtime hours. The data dictionary for this DFD is shown below: Weekly timesheet = Emplyee_Name + Employee_ID + {Regular_hours + overtime_hours}Pay_rate = {Horly | Daily | Weekly} + Dollar_amountEmployee_Name = Last + First + Middle_InitialEmployee_ID = digit + digit + digit + digitOnce we have constructed a DFD and its associated data dictionary, we have to somehow verify that theyare "correct". There can be no formal verification of a DFD, because what the DFD is modeling is notformally specify anywhere against which verification can be done. Human processes and rule of thumbmust be used for verification. In addition to the walkthrough with the client, the analyst should look forcommon errors. Some common errors are1. Unlabeled data flows.2. Missing data flows: Information required by a process is not available. Extraneous data flows: Some information is not bein used in the process4. Consistency not maintained during refinement5. Missing processes6. Contains some control informationThe DFDs should be carefully scrutinized to make sure that all the processes in the physical environmentare shown in the DFD. It should also be ensured that none of the data flows is actually carrying controlinformation. Q.5. What is ERP? Explain its existence before and its future after? What are the advantages &Disadvantages of ERP? What is Artificial Intelligence? How is it different from Neural Networks? Answer : Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrates internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, CRM,etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application. Its purpose is tofacilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of theorganization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders, ERP came to represent a largerwhole, reflecting the evolution of application integration beyond manufacturing.[7] Not all ERP packageswere developed from a manufacturing core.Vendors variously began with accounting, maintenance and human resources. ERP systems initiallyfocused on automating back office functions that did not directly affect customers and the generalpublic.Advantages of ERPThe fundamental advantage of ERP is that integrating the myriad processes by which businesses operatesaves time and expense. Decisions can be made more quickly and with fewer errors. Data becomesvisible across the organization. Tasks that benefit from this integration include[23]: Sales forecasting, which allows inventory optimization Order tracking, from acceptance trough fulfillment Revenue tracking, from invoice through cash receipt Matching purchase orders (what was ordered), inventory receipts (what arrived), and costing (what the vendor invoiced)Disadvantages of ERP Customization is problematic. Reengineering business processes to fit the ERP system may damage competitiveness and/or divert focus from other critical activities ERP can cost more than less integrated and/or less comprehensive solutions. High switching costs increase vendor negotiating power vis a vis support, maintenance and upgrade expenses. Overcoming resistance to sharing sensitive information between departments can divert management attention. Integration of truly independent businesses can create unnecessary dependencies. Extensive training requirements take resources from daily operations.

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents"[2] where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success.[3] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956,[4] defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines. Theoretical and computational neuroscience is the field concerned with the theoretical analysis and computational modeling of biological neural systems. Since neural systems are intimately related to cognitive processes and behavior, the field is closely related to cognitive and behavioral modeling. The aim of the field is to create models of biological neural systems in order to understand how biological systems work. To gain this understanding, neuroscientists strive to make a link between observed biological processes (data), biologically plausible mechanisms for neural processing and learning (biological neural network models) and theory (statistical learning theory and information theory).

Q.6. Distinguish between closed decision making system & open decision making system? What is What if analysis? Why is more time spend in problem analysis & problem definition as compared to the time spends on decision analysis? Answer: CLASSIFICATION OF DECISION MAKING SYSTEMS The decision making systems can be classified in a number of ways. There are two types of systems based on the managers knowledge about the environment. A. Closed decision making system: If the manager operates in a known environment then it is a closed decision making system. The conditions of the closed decision making system are:(a) The manager has a known set of decision alternatives and knows their outcomes fully in terms of value, if implemented.(b) The manager has a model, a method or a rule whereby the decision alternatives can be generated, tested, and ranked.(c) The manager can choose one of them, based on some goal or objective. A few examples are:1. a product mix problem,2. an examination system to declare pass or fail, or3. an acceptance of the fixed deposits. B. Open decision making system: If the manager operates in an environment not known to him, then the decision making system is termed as an open decision making system. The conditions of this system are: (a) The manager does not know all the decision alternatives. (b) The outcome of the decision is also not known fully. The knowledge of the outcome may be a probabilistic one. No method, rule or model is available to study and finalize one decision among the set of decision alternatives. (d) It is difficult to decide an objective or a goal and, therefore, the manager resorts to that decision, where his aspirations or desires are met best. Deciding on the possible product diversification lines, the pricing of a new product, and the plant location, are some decision making situations which fall in the category of the open decision making systems. The MIS tries to convert every open system to a closed decision making system by providing information support for the best decision. The MIS gives the information support, whereby the manager knows more and more about the environment and the outcomes, he is able to generate the decision alternatives, test them and select one of them. A good MIS achieves this.

What if analysis The real power in Excel comes in its ability to perform multiple mathematical calculations for you. One of the tools in Excel that you can use to perform these calculations is a Data tool called What-If Analysis. What-If analysis allows you to see the effect that different values have in formulas. Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Process: Problem solving is a process in which we perceive and resolve a gap between a present situation and a desired goal, with the path to the goal blocked by known or unknown obstacles. In general, the situation is one not previously encountered, or where at least a specific solution from past experiences is not known. In contrast, decision making is a selection process where one of two or more possible solutions is chosen to reach a desired goal. The steps in both problem solving and decision making are quite similar. In fact, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Personality Type and Problem Solving: Researchers have investigated the relationship of Jung's theory of individuals' preferences and their approach to problem solving and decision making The following is a summary of their findings. When solving problems, individuals preferring introversion will want to take time to think and clarify their ideas before they begin talking, while those preferring extraversion will want to talk through their ideas in order to clarify them. In addition, Is will more likely be concerned with their own under standing of important concepts and ideas, while Es will continually seek feedback from the environment about the viability of their ideas. Sensing individuals will be more likely to pay attention to facts, details, and reality. They will also tend to select standard solutions that have worked in the past. Persons with intuition preferences, on the other hand, will more likely attend to the meaningfulness of the facts, the relationships among the facts, and the possibilities of future events that can be imagined from these facts. They will exhibit a tendency to develop new, original solutions rather than to use what has worked previously. Individuals with a thinking preference will tend to use logic and analysis during problem solving. They are also likely to value objectivity and to be impersonal in drawing conclusions. They will want solutions to make sense in terms of the facts, models, and/or principles under consideration. By contrast, individuals with a feeling preference are more likely to consider values and feelings in the problemsolving process. They will tend to be subjective in their decision making and to consider how their decisions could affect other people. The final dimension to be considered describes an individual's preference for either judging (using T or F)or perceiving (using S or N). Js are more likely to prefer structure and organization and will want the problem-solving process to demonstrate closure. Ps are more likely to prefer flexibility and adaptability. They will be more concerned that the problem-solving process considers a variety of techniques and provides for unforeseen change.