Management Information Systems

Data

Raw facts. For example, a list of items scanned at a supermarket checkout scanner.

Information

Data shaped into a form that is meaningful to human beings. For example, which items are selling well, which aren't, and which need reordering.

Competitive Advantage

The use of information technology in a manner that creates an advantage over competitors because they don’t have the same information-enabled processes. Ideal systems are sustainable, meaning they are very difficult to copy . SISs (Strategic Information Systems) can be built by differentiating service/product, reducing costs, supporting growth, innovating, or forming alliances

Bit

A small 'b' is a single binary digit . There are only 2 possible bit values: 0 or 1.

Byte

A big 'B' is a byte (8 bits), enough information to specify one English letter . There are 2⁸ = 256 possible values: 00000000 to 11111111.

Torrent site

an example of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks where every machine is both a client and a server, allowing users to download files from and upload files to each other's computers. P2P started out in software/game/music/video piracy but is now also used for downloading software updates.

MIPS (Millions of Instructions Per Second)

in the context of Moore's Law in terms of processing power, comparing the number of transistors on a chip to how many millions of instructions per second (MIPS) a processor can execute.

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

An example of a technology standard used for representing alphabets, specifically the English alphabet.

Unicode

An example of a technology standard used for representing most written languages.

Blade format

A type of server machine that is thin and modular, like books in a bookcase, without a dedicated keyboard or monitor . These are often stored in racks . Companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon have server farms with 100,000s of rack or blade servers.

Rack format

A way to store server machines, often as a large number of rack servers . Rack servers are specialized high-end computers. Server farms use racks to store rack or blade servers, taking up the least amount of space.

Server farm

Collections of 100,000s of rack or blade servers stored in racks in large, windowless, air-conditioned rooms, used by companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon . This design takes up the least amount of space.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)

A technique that can be used to improve hard disk performance . It involves using many drives to achieve improvements in reliability, availability, performance, and capacity . There are officially recognized levels (RAID 0 - RAID 6) and many non-standard levels, each with a different balance of these four characteristics. Examples include RAID 0 (disk striping) and RAID 1 (disk mirroring). RAID 2- RAID 6 use parity to detect and possibly correct errors.

MIS (Management Information Systems)

broader than an IS, considering both technical and behavioral issues. The mission of MIS is to improve the performance of people in organizations through the use of information technology (IT) and to automate data gathering, processing, storage, and information distribution. It involves converting business data into information with business intelligence.

TPS (Transaction Processing Systems)

a type of data management system used in business transactions.

ES (Expert System)

a knowledge-based information system that uses its knowledge of a specific, complex application domain to act as an expert consultant to end users.

DSS (Decision Support Systems)

a computerized tool that helps managers and organizations make informed decisions by analyzing data and providing insights.

EIS (Executive Information Systems)

a type of management support system designed to facilitate senior executive information and decision-making. It provides easy access to both internal and external information relevant to an organization's goals.

SIS (Strategic Information Systems)

The use of information technology in a manner that creates a competitive advantage. The ideal SIS is sustainable and difficult for competitors to copy. SISs can be built by finding ways to differentiate, reduce costs, support growth, innovate, or form alliances.

DCGIA "Drunk Camels Get In Accidents"

Framework to assess SIS: Differentiate, Costs, Growth, Innovate, Alliance

Porter’s 5 forces model

This model is mentioned as a consideration when deciding how much to spend on IT infrastructure, specifically as one of the competitive forces. The power of buyers, power of suppliers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, and rivalry among existing firms are the forces to consider.

Value chain model

one of two ways of creating a competitive advantage, along with Porter's Competitive Forces Model.

Alignment/balance

Managing a successful organization requires a balance between strategy, processes, information systems, and people. Organizations struggle when they don’t have effective balance among these four elements.

Diamond model

This refers to the model that represents the balance needed between strategy, processes, information systems, and people for a successful organization. It is visualized as a triangle with people and processes combined in the text but presented as a four-cornered model.

Hub

A network hardware component where data received by the hub is sent to all connected devices.

Router

A network hardware component that is like a switch but connects different networks together. For example, connecting your home network to the Internet.

Server

In terms of hardware, a specialized high-end computer. Examples include mainframes or a large number of rack or blade servers. Server can also refer to software (the server application) or both hardware and software. Dedicated servers include file servers, e-mail servers, database servers, and web servers.

Switch

A network hardware component with many ports that looks at the destination of data and decides which port to send it out on. It connects machines on the same network and forwards data.

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)

Every device connected to the Internet has a unique identifier called its IP address. It is like a telephone number for a cell phone. IP version 4 consists of four 8-bit numbers separated by a dot (e.g., 192.3.15.1).

NIC (Network Interface Card)

Allows a computer to be connected to the network. Examples include Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and near-field communication (NFC).

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

A language used for simple websites, typically static. It is the format for displaying information on the web. Hypertext refers to text containing links, and markup language refers to a way of annotating and presenting text (bold, italics, etc.).

Open source software (OSS)

Software (and its source code) that is available to use, study, modify, and distribute by anyone. Different standards exist, such as the Free Software Foundation (copyleft) and the Open Source Initiative (allowing different licenses). Benefits include lower cost, more security (due to many people inspecting code), flexibility, and transparency, as well as not being reliant on a single vendor. Drawbacks can include being less easy to use, not meeting customer needs, incompatibility with hardware, and lack of support.

Decentralised architecture

One of the four configurations for IT architecture. In a decentralized architecture, each department might have its own IT group.

Centralised architecture

One of the four configurations for IT architecture. In a centralized architecture, there is one overall IT group for the whole company. A challenge is that users often feel one size doesn't fit all.

Software as a service (SaaS)

Using software available from the cloud. Examples include Salesforce.com for CRM and Microsoft 365 (cloud version of Microsoft Office), Google Docs, Gmail.

Cloud computing

An extension of client/server architecture but with a shared pool of resources rather than a single server. These resources include clusters of computers, software (e.g., Gmail, Google Docs), and storage (e.g., iCloud, OneDrive). It allows selling software applications as a service over the internet.

Consumerism of IT (Consumerization)

A contemporary hardware trend describing the trend to redesign corporate systems for smartphones, tablets, and other consumer-oriented devices.

P2P (Peer-to-peer)

A distributed computing architecture where every machine in the network consumes (is a client) and provides service(s) (is a server) at the same time. Examples include torrent sites and systems like Skype or the internet where the network still functions if nodes go down. It started out in software/game/music/video piracy but is now used for software updates

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

Consumerism of IT.

Architecture (IT Architecture)

How the information system is conceptualized. Contemporary architecture views are often organized as centralized, decentralized, service-oriented (or web-based), or software-defined architectures.

Infrastructure (IT Infrastructure)

The shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firm’s information system applications. It includes investment in hardware, software, and services like consulting, education, and training. It has evolved in five stages: mainframe/minicomputer, personal computer, client/server, enterprise computing, and cloud and mobile computing. Infrastructure components include computer hardware platforms, operating system platforms, enterprise applications, data management and storage, network and telecom platforms, internet platforms, and service platforms.

Enterprise Architecture (EA) models

Frameworks that guide the translation from business strategy to IS design. This translation can be simplified by categorizing components into broad classes (platforms, apps, network, data), which make up both IT architecture and infrastructure. Common Enterprise Architectures include TOGAF, Zachman, Gartner, and IBM’s Resolve.

Total cost of ownership (TCO)

Different ways to estimate the total cost of owning IT infrastructure. Acquisition costs for hardware and software represent a portion of the TCO (e.g., 20%). TCO can be broken down into capital expenditure (fixed, one-time cost) and operational expenditure (ongoing expenses). Operational expenditures include technical support, end-user training, downtime, real estate, computer furniture, and utility costs.

Virtualisation

a technology that creates virtual versions of physical resources, like servers, storage, or networks, allowing multiple operating systems or applications to run on a single physical machine.

Entity

In a relational database, a table stores information about entities, which are rows in the table that track data about people, places, things, or events. In an Entity-Relationship (ER) diagram, rectangles represent entities (nouns that we store data about). Examples include Employee, Department, Project.

Relationship

In a relational database context, information is related (e.g., customers make purchases, purchases list products). In an ER diagram, diamonds represent relationships between entities. We sometimes store data about the relationship, such as StartDate or Hours. Examples of relationships include supervises, works_for, manages, works_on, controls.

Attribute

A property an entity might have or a field; represented as a column in a table. Examples include student number, given name, family name. In an ER diagram, ovals represent attributes that we store about entities or their relationships.

Tupple

When rows in a table are unique, they are called a tupple. In a relational database, a row in a table stores information about an entity, which can be called a tupple.

Primary key

An attribute or a set of attributes that uniquely identifies each row in a table. In an ER diagram, primary keys for each entity are underlined in the ovals.

Foreign key

A foreign key is an attribute (or set of attributes) in one table that references the primary key of another table, establishing a link between the two.

Normalisation

A process of organising data for use in a relational database to avoid problems when running queries and minimize storage space. It involves structuring data for a relational database. There are 5 "normal forms," but for the course, 3NF is generally sufficient.

Relation

In the context of relational databases, a table stores information about entities. The terms relation and table are often used interchangeably.

Tacit knowledge

What employees know that has not been documented. It is knowledge held in the minds of employees, informal and uncodified, including values, perspectives, culture, and memories. Accounts for about 80% of knowledge.

Explicit knowledge

Knowledge that has been documented somewhere (reports, policies, manuals, emails, databases, books). It is formal or codified. Accounts for about 20% of knowledge.

Knowledge transfer

Leveraging knowledge transfer from one to many is an objective of Knowledge Management. KM aims to connect those who know to those who need to know.

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

2FA (Two-Factor Authentication)

Using two different authentication approaches (e.g., password and a code from a security token).

Authentication

Assurance that the other party is the one claimed (not an imposter). Methods include something you know (password), something you have (smart card, security token), or something you are (biometrics).

Security principles

six security service definitions: authentication, access control, data confidentiality, data integrity, availability, and non-repudiation.

Digital signature

Used to verify the legitimacy of a certificate.

Algorithm (Encryption Algorithm)

The method or procedure used for encryption and decryption. The source mentions RSA as an example of how encryption and decryption can be done.

Key (Encryption Key)

Used in encryption and decryption to render a message unreadable and retrieve the original message. The strength of encryption depends on the number of possible keys.

Worm

Similar to a virus but runs on its own (does not need to attach to other programs) and uses a computer network to spread.

Malware (Malicious Software)

Software designed to cause damage to or loss of control of a computer or network. Includes computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, ransomware, denial of service attacks, sniffing, and botnets.

Trojan horse

A software program that appears to be benign but does something unexpected behind the scenes. The user has to launch them, and they cannot replicate on their own.

Certificate authority (CA)

A trusted entity that verifies the legitimacy of a digital signature and hence the legitimacy of a certificate, which contains the public key of the certificate holder.

Asymmetric encryption (Public Key Encryption)

Uses a pair of keys: a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. The public key can be shared with anyone, but only the holder of the private key can decrypt messages encrypted with the corresponding public key.

Symmetric encryption

Uses a single, shared key for both encryption and decryption.

Types of IP (Intellectual Property)

Includes trade secrets, copyright, and patents.

NORA (Nonobvious Relationship Awareness)

A technology that combines information from various sources (e.g., telephone listings, customer lists, credit card purchases, data brokers) to create a more detailed profile of each person.

Web beacons

Small, often invisible pictures on websites or in emails that can tell websites that you’ve viewed a certain item, like an ad.

Cookies

A unique bit of data that a website stores on your device to track your activity on their website.

PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act)

A Canadian law that establishes principles for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information.

PI (Personal Information)

Includes demographics (age, income, etc.), internet-related data (e-mail, IP address), physical attributes (age, medical records), and financial details (purchases, banking information, SIN). Organizations in Canada need informed consent to collect and use customer data (PI).

Descarte’s rule of change

a method for determining the maximum number of positive and negative real roots of a polynomial equation.

PAPA

the framework for thinking about ethical issues (Privacy, Accuracy, Property, Accessibility)

Kant’s imperative (Categorical Imperative)

encourages ethical decision-making by focusing on universalizability and treating individuals (including users and stakeholders) as ends in themselves, not just means.

Privacy paradox

describes the discrepancy between people's stated concerns about privacy and their actual behaviors in online environments, where they often disclose personal information despite expressing concern.

GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation

Levels of management

different groups in a firm have different information needs (e.g., senior management for long-range planning vs. operational workers for day-to-day transactions).

Logical schema (External Schema)

How the data is displayed to a particular user. Different user groups can have different views, and the rest of the database is hidden from that user (e.g., Payroll sees net pay, IT does not).

Physical schema (Physical View)

How the data is physically stored and organized. This includes what data is in which file on which disk

1NF (First Normal Form)

all rows in the relation must be unique (when rows are unique, they are called a tupple).

2NF (Second Normal Form)

it must take the whole key to determine a non-key field. This means that every non-key attribute must be fully functionally dependent on the primary key.

3NF (Third Normal Form)

it can’t be possible to know the value of a non-key field knowing another non-key field. More formally, every non-key attribute is non-transitively dependent on the primary key; it depends only on the candidate key(s)

DBMS (Database Management System)

A collection of programs that manipulate a database. It sets up storage structures, performs updates on the data, and processes queries from applications and users. The DBMS provides a central point of access to the data. It helps provide data integrity, data independence, security, concurrent access, crash recovery, and centralized data administration. It also reduces application development time because standard software packages exist.

DML (Data Manipulation Language)

the set of commands used to manipulate data in the database (e.g., SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE).

DDL (Data Definition Language)

A language used to clearly define the contents of a database, specifying the type of each attribute/field/column heading. For example, the CREATE TABLE command in SQL is a DDL command.

ER Diagram (Entity-Relationship Diagram)

A diagram that allows us to draw an informative picture of the structure of a database. Rectangles represent entities, diamonds represent relationships, and ovals represent attributes. Primary keys are underlined in ovals, and double ovals indicate multivalued attributes. ER diagrams are used to capture data requirements and are converted into tables.

Cardinality

In the context of ER diagrams and relationships between entities, cardinality refers to the number of instances of one entity that can be associated with another entity. 1:N (one to many) and N:M (many to many) relationships in an ER diagram.

Functional dependency (FD)

A → (B, C) means the value of A determines the values of B and C. The values of B and C depend on the value of A. Knowing the value of A, there is only one possible value for B and for C in the database. It is a key concept in normalization.

1:n (one-to-many relationship)

Shown in the example ER diagram where one department manages many employees. One instance of the first entity can be related to zero, one, or many instances of the second entity.

m:n (many-to-many relationship)

Shown in the example ER diagram where many employees work on many projects. Many instances of the first entity can be related to many instances of the second entity.

1:1 (one-to-one relationship)

Shown in the example ER diagram where one department controls one location. One instance of the first entity can be related to at most one instance of the second entity, and vice versa.

Data mart

Departmental subsets of a data warehouse that focus on selected subjects, e.g., a marketing data mart focusing on customers, products, and sales.

Data warehouse

Collects information about multiple subjects that span the entire organization. It requires historical data (up to 5-10 years), consolidates data from many operational systems and external sources, and has data quality considerations. It is used to find relationships, patterns, and trends in data to provide insights for decision making.

OLAP (Online Analytical Processing)

We characterize each dimension by measures (numerical values) such as revenue, cost, profit, quantity, defect rate. Dimensions can be broken down into smaller units, forming hierarchies (e.g., countries into regions, time into years/months). OLAP enables different levels of detail for analysis.

Data mining

Techniques used to find patterns and relationships in large databases to predict future behaviour. Examples include associations (if customers buy X, they likely buy Y), sequences (events linked over time), classifications (discover properties of predefined groups), clusters (discover properties, classifications not predefined), and forecasts (predict future values).

Topology (network topology)

computers are linked together to share resources7 ... and the components involved (hubs, bridges, switches, routers). the arrangement of the elements of a communication network. Ring, Star, Bus

Protocol

A set of rules governing how data is exchanged in a network.