ITM 100 Chapter 2 Notes

How Businesses Use Information

Examples of business processes

• Manufacturing and production (Assembly, quality check, bills)
• Sales (Identify market, make market aware, sell product)
• Finance and accounting (Pay creditors, statements, manage accounts)

Business processes

• Management
• Support
• Operations

How IT improves business processes

• Automation of process
• Better access to information for everyone
• Replace sequential steps with simultaneous ones

Types of information Systems

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

• Keeps track of sales
• Receipts
• Cash deposits
• Payroll
• Credit decision
• Flow of factory materials
• Tracks transactions

Business Intelligence Systems

Management Information Systems (MIS):Designates specific category of information meant to serve middle management. It includes things such as

• Performance reports
• Basic operations from TPS and made into reports (We sold X amount of Y)

Decision Support Systems:Focus on problems that are unique and rapidly changing. Finding the solution may not be fully predefined in advance.

• Impact on production schedules if sales doubled?
• Competitor data included as well as stock prices

Executive Support systems:Used to help executive level managers make decisions and address non routine decisions requiring judgement, evaluation and insights

Portal: Web interface which presents integrated personalized business content

Digital Dashboard:Displays on a screen graphs and charts of key performance indicators for management

Systems for linking the enterprise

Enterprise applications:

• Systems that span functional areas
• Focus on executing business processes across firm
• Includes all levels of management
• Coordinates processes

Enterprise Systems:Enterprise Resource Planning systems used to integrate business processes in manufacturing/production, A&F, S&M, HR

Supply Chain Management Systems:

• Purchasing firms
• Helps distributors and logistics companies share order info
• Informs on production, inventory, and services

Customer Relationship Management Systems:

• Manages relationships with customers
• Sales, marketing
• Optimize revenue / Customer satisfaction
• Identify, attract, and maintain profitable customers
• Provide better service to customers

Knowledge Management Systems:

• Better capturing and applying knowledge
• Collect relevant knowledge and make it available
• Think of it as google

Intranet:Internal network. Internal company websites accessible only by employees

Extranet:an intranet that can be partially accessed by authorized outside users, enabling businesses to exchange information over the Internet securely.

E business:Refers to the use of digital technology and the internet to execute the major business processes of an enterprise

E commerce:Buying and selling goods and services over the internet. Also encompasses

• Marketing
• Support
• Security
• Delivery
• Payment

E government:Use of internet and networking technologies to digitally enable government and public sector agencies and their relationships with citizens. Allows public easier access to info

Collaboration:Working with others to achieve shared and explicit goals

Collaboration and teamwork are important because

• The changing nature of work
• Growth of professional work
• Changing organization of the firm
• Changing scope of the firm
• Emphasis on innovation
• Changing culture of work and business

Social Business:Enhancing collaboration through the use of social media such as Fb, twitter, linkedin.

Applications of social business

• Social Networks
• Crowdsourcing
• Shared workspaces
• Blogs and wikis
• Social commerce
• File sharing
• Social Marketing
• Communities/Forums

Benefits of Collaboration and Social Business

• Productivity
• Quality
• Innovation
• Customer Service
• Financial Performance

Building Collaborative Culture and social business

• Senior managers must rely on on teams of employees to achieve and implement the results
• Everything is more dependent on teams at all levels of organizations
• Teams are rewarded for performance, individuals rewarded within the team for performance
• Middle managers build teams, coordinate work, monitor performance

Tools and technologies for collaboration and social business

• Email
• Wikis
• Virtual Worlds
• Collaboration/Social Business Platforms

Virtual Meeting systems:Videoconferencing and web conferencing technologies. Virtual meetings allow better allocation of time, and less travel.

Telepresence:Integrated audio and visual environment giving the appearance of being present at a current location other than their true location

Google Apps/Cloud collaboration services

• Calendar
• Gmail
• Talk
• Sites
• Drive

Cyberlocker:Online filing sharing services that allow users to upload and access files.

Microsoft Sharepoint:Browser based collaboration and document management ft search engine installed onto corporate servers

Lotus Notes:Groupware, a collaborative software system with capabilities for sharing calendars

Enterprise Social Networking Tools:Specialized tools for creating values by connecting members of an organization through profiles

Information systems function in business:

Information Systems Department:Formal organization unit responsible for IT services. Responsible for

• Maintaining the hardware software data storage and networks

Programmers:Highly trained technical specialists who write software instructions for computers

Systems Analysts:Constitute the principal liaisons between the information systems group and the rest of the organization. Translate business problems and requirements into information requirements and systems

Information Systems Managers:Leaders of teams of programmers and analysts, project managers, physical facility managers, telecommunications managers, database specialists. Managers of computer operations and data entry staff

CSO Chief Security Officer:In charge of information systems security for the firms (Sometimes called CISO)

CPO Chief privacy Officer:Responsible for company complying with existing data privacy law

CKO Chief Knowledge Officer:Is responsible for the firm's knowledge management program

End Users:Representatives of departments outside of information systems group for whom applications are developed

IT governance:Includes strategy and policies for using IT within an organization.