U25294 Operations

Management
Foundations of Information Systems

Dr Adrian Benfell
Aim of this Lecture

To understand fully the concept of an Information System

(IS), its key concepts in terms of a central database (as a
data structure) and the support they provide to people in
many different ways in both personal and working contexts.

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Introduction:
To achieve the aim of this lecture, the following is
discussed:
History of Information Systems.
The meaning of an Information System:
Input, Transformation process, Output and Data Structures.
Focus upon the concept of Transformation Process.
How to support business operations using Information Systems.

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History of Information Systems

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Then it moved to this:

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The aim was to have access to types of
Information Systems like this:

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So how was it achieved?

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Information Systems, as applications (apps),
evolved to be supported on:

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Information Systems support the following:

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The Meaning of Information System?
A set of interacting and interrelated components forming a
whole;
Various components that are Information Technology
orientated;
An organised set of interrelated ideas or principles;
A human organisation with fundamental social order.
All these definitions result in complexity.

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High degrees of complexity -

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Complexity and Information Systems
Complexity results in the combination of all resources
(including people) to coordinate useful activity.
Activity can be understood in many different ways, but with
General Systems Theory:
One of the methods (such as operations research, systems analysis,
systems dynamics) used to understand complex phenomenon and
problems. GST focuses upon the a systems structure instead of
systems functionality. It suggests that complex systems share some
basic organising principles regardless of their purpose. Introduced by
Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901-72) and by a UK economist Kenneth
Boulding (1910-93) around 1955.

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An Information System is therefore:
A combination of
People and their roles;
Interaction;
Management;
Improvement;
Productivity;
Decision making
all supported by an Information Technology
component.
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Conceptually an Information System is:

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In summary, Information Systems are
A system can be defined as:
A number of components that interact with each other in order to
transform a given input into a desired output .

Types of system (combinations are possible):

Natural; Designed; Social and Cultural; Human Activity.

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Example Systems:

And many more 16

Question -

What about Information?

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Regarding Information, systems have two
things in common
1. They store data (formalised as a data structure) in a
database.
2. They process data in a database.
Processed data results in information.

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Example of Processing Data as Business
Operations

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Example
Data
Structure

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Processing Data to Obtain Information
Input to Outputs
Actor (input by a user) -> Actor (output to a user)
Transformation Process:
A set of interrelated components that communicate.
A Transformation Process therefore forms a whole system by
including sub-systems.
Question what is a sub-system?

The need to review and understand General Systems

Theory and the Formal Systems Model.

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Why consider the FSM?
General Systems Theory (GST emerged in the 1960s)
leading to the development of the Formal Systems Model
(FSM);
To develop an IS it is important understand the nature of
systems (all systems do not exist in isolation);
Many of the concepts from the FSM filter through to up-to-
date IS development and deployment activities.
The Formal Systems Model (FSM)

Monitoring
System (or Subsystem)
(Sampling)

Transformation
Process.
Input(s) Output(s)
(Externally Corrective Action (converted input(s)
Invoked) after Transformation
(To remedy issues)
Process)
Feedforward
(information Control
supplied to control Feedback
mechanism) (information
(a mechanism by which
supplied to control
corrective actions are authorised)
mechanism)

<Environment>
System Boundary (External influences on the system)
(To show encapsulated services)
The Formal Systems Model Explained Further
Input
All systems are activated by an input.

Output
All systems usually produce output(s);
An output is a converted input, therefore.
A transformation process exists to convert an input to an output.

Transformation Process (TP):

The TP is activated by an input;
The systems TP works to achieve the conversion of an input to an output;
 System Boundary:
Contains all the elements that belong to the system;

Environment:
A system contained within a boundary has to exist within an environment.

Control Mechanism
Monitoring: The outputs of a system must be monitored as part of the controlling mechanism of a
system.
Feedback/Feedforward: Information or data supplied as part of the controlling mechanism.
Control: Standards which have been set must be achieved.
Corrective Action: Action taken to ensure that the standards set are always achieved.
Conclusion
To understand fully the concept of an Information System
(IS), its key concepts in terms of a central database (as a
data structure) and the support they provide to people in
many different ways in both personal and working contexts.

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