MIS 290 Midterm

What Is MIS?

Stands for Management Information Systems; using technology and data to help businesses make decisions

Why Do We Need MIS?

MIS is needed to help business make better decisions. MIS provides access to data, analysis, trends, reports, and more

IS and Business/Managers Relationships

IS gives managers and businesses information to make decisions

Competitive Advantage

When a company can produce goods or sercvices better or cheaper than its competitiors

IS Alignment

Ensuring an organization's IS are strategically aligned with the businesses goals and objectives

IS Maturity

Measure how developed an orgs IT systems are

Business Maturity

company's level of development and stability over time

GM role in IS decisions

ensuring technology aligns with business strategies, providing insights into operations, and making decisions about implementing systems that will drive efficiency, improve customer service, and support strategic goals within the organization

ERP

stands for Enterprise Resource Planning, system that helps businesses manage core processes; systems can automate functions to improve efficiency and reduce errors

IS Strategy Triangle

business strategy, organizational strategy, information strategy

Business Strategy

overarching plan of a company defining its goals, target markets, and competitive approach

IS Strategy

the plan an organization uses to provide information services to achieve goals

Organizational Strategy

the way the organization positions itself in its setting in relation to its stakeholders, given the organization's resources, capabilities, and mission

Social Business Strategy

a plan that leverages social technologies like social media platforms to improve customer engagement, internal collaboration, and overall business operations by facilitating communication, knowledge sharing, and community building across various levels of an organization, ultimately aligning social media initiatives with broader business goals and objectives.

Porter's Four Competitive Strategies

Cost Leadership, Product Differentiation, Focus

Cost Leadership

Aims to produce goods or services at the lowest possible cost, allowing for lower prices compared to competitors while maintaining acceptable quality, often achieved through economies of scale and operational efficiency.

Product Differentiation

Focuses on creating a unique product or service that is perceived as superior by customers, allowing for premium pricing due to its distinct features and value proposition.

Focus

Specifying a target market to sell product to

Risk With Information Resources

potential for harm or loss that can occur due to unauthorized access, misuse, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of an organization's data or information systems, which could lead to negative impacts on operations, reputation, and financial stability.

Information Resources As Strategic Tools

utilizing data, knowledge, and insights derived from information systems to make informed decisions, gain a competitive edge, and achieve long-term business goals

IT Assets and Capabilities

all the tangible and intangible technology components a company uses, like computers, servers, software licenses, data, and network equipment, which collectively form the foundation of an organization's technological capabilities; the specific functions or actions that these assets enable, such as data processing, communication, storage, and application execution, allowing the company to perform various business operations effectively

Resource Baseed View

management framework that helps companies identify their resources and use them to gain a competitive advantage

Co-creating IT and Business Strategy

involving both IT professionals and business stakeholders in a collaborative process to develop a unified strategy where technology solutions directly align with and support the overarching business goals, ensuring that IT initiatives are not implemented in isolation but are strategically aligned with the company's overall direction

Organizational Alignment

a business strategy that unifies a company's vision, resources, and processes to achieve common goals

Organizational Design

the process of structuring a company's roles, responsibilities, and processes to help it achieve its goals; includes decision rights, formal reporting relationships and structure, informal networks

Decision Rights

help outline an organization's hierarchy of decision-makers or decision- making groups

Formal Reporting Relationships and Structure

the established hierarchy within a company, outlining who reports to whom, creating a clear chain of command through defined roles and responsibilities

Informal Netowrks

facilitate continuous learning and knowledge sharing outside traditional training programs or learning management systems

Management Control Systems

a set of tools and processes that help organizations monitor and achieve their goals; ioncludes planning, data collection, performance measurement, evaluation, incentives, and rewards

Planning

the initial phase of designing and implementing a management control system within an organization

Data Collection

the process of gathering information within an organization through established systems to monitor and evaluate performance against set standards

Performance Measurement

the process of assessing how well an organization is performing against its goals

evaluation research

the study of assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of a company's management control systems

Incentives

a system within an organization that uses rewards, like bonuses or promotions, to motivate employees to achieve specific performance goals set by the company, which are monitored and measured through the management control system, ultimately aligning individual actions with the organization's objectives

Rewards

the system within an organization that uses incentives and recognition to motivate employees to achieve desired performance levels, aligning their actions with the company's strategic goals, as monitored and evaluated through the management control system

Internal Cultures

the shared values, beliefs, and norms that guide how people work together in an organization; includes values, locus of control

Values

the shared beliefs and values that guide how people work together in an organization

Locus of Control

individuals within that society generally believe they have a significant degree of personal control over their lives and outcomes, attributing success or failure primarily to their own actions and efforts, rather than external forces like luck, fate, or powerful others

Difference Between Information Technology and Information Systems

information technology (IT)" focuses on the technical aspects like hardware, software, and networks used to manage data, while "information systems" takes a broader view, encompassing not only the technology but also the people, processes, and data within a system designed to achieve specific business goals within an organization

IT drives development of new IS

Technology drives people to develop information systems

IT components = Hardware + Software + Data

What equals IT components

IS = IT + Procedures + People

What equals IS systems

Information System

a group of Components that interact to produce information.

Role of Enterprise Software

managing and automating various business processes across an organization

Managing IS to achieve business strategies

utilizing Information Systems (IS) effectively to align with and support a company's overall business goals and objectives, ensuring that technology is actively contributing to the achievement of strategic plans and desired outcomes across the organization

Components of MIS

(Hardware, Software, Data, Processes, People); elements work together to collect, process, store, and distribute information within an organization to support decision-making.

Hardware

The physical devices like computers, servers, keyboards, monitors, and printers used to input and output data.

Software

The programs needed to capture, store, process, and analyze data, including database management systems, application software, and reporting tools.

Data

This is the core element, including raw business transactions, customer information, sales figures, inventory levels, and financial data.

Processes

The established workflows and procedures within an organization that integrate with the MIS to streamline data collection and analysis

People

The users and analysts who interact with the MIS system, including managers, data entry operators, and system administrators.

Data vs. Information

Data is a collection of raw facts, while information is data that has been processed and organized to provide meaning

Why Business process is important?

they provide a structured framework for completing tasks within an organization, leading to increased efficiency, consistency in quality, reduced costs, improved customer satisfaction, and the ability to adapt to changing market conditions by enabling identification and optimization of key operational areas

What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

a process of collecting, storing, and analyzing data from a company's operations to extract meaningful insights that inform strategic and operational decisions

What is Metadata?

information that describes other data, such as a file, book, or image

Transactional and Relational Databases

A "transactional database" refers to a database designed to handle multiple related operations as a single unit, ensuring data integrity by either completing all operations within a transaction or rolling back entirely, while a "relational database" organizes data into tables with rows and columns, where data points are related to each other through defined relationships, and most commonly used to implement transactional capabilities

GUI

stands for Graphical User Interface, which is a visual way for users to interact with computers and other digital devices.

QBE

offers a variety of insurance products and services to protect individuals and businesses

Database vs. Spreadsheet

Databases are more complex and better for managing large datasets, while spreadsheets are better for smaller datasets and quick data entry

ERD (Entity Relationship Diagram)

a type of flowchart that illustrates how "entities" such as people, objects or concepts relate to each other within a system.

Entities

Tables

Attributes

Fields, column

Entity Instance

Rows or records

Foreign key

a column or columns in a table that references the primary key of another table

Primary Key

a column or columns in a database table that uniquely identify each row

Calculated Field

a formula that uses data from one or more other fields to perform a calculation

Composite Key

a combination of multiple columns in a database table that uniquely identifies a row

DBMS (Database Management System)

a software system for creating and managing databases