K201 Ch. 3-6 (Exam 1)

Information System (IS)

An integrated set of components for collecting, storing, processing, and communicating information. These systems are used by organizations to manage their operations, make decisions, and compete in the marketplace. It bridges the gap between technology and organizational needs, helping people use data effectively to achieve their goals.

Components of an Information System

Hardware, Software, Data, People, Procedures.

Hardware

The physical equipment used in an information system, such as computers, servers, keyboards, printers, and network devices.

Software

The programs and instructions that tell the hardware what to do, including operating systems and applications.

Data

The raw facts and figures that an information system collects, stores, and processes.

Procedures

The steps involved in using an information system to achieve a specific goal.

People

The users who interact with an information system, including employees, customers, and other stakeholders.

Operational Efficiency (Business Value of IS)

How information systems help businesses run more smoothly by automating everyday tasks, saving time, reducing mistakes, and making better use of resources.

Financial Performance (Business Value of IS)

How information systems save businesses money by automating tasks, increase sales through techniques like cross-selling, and provide better visibility into financial performance.

Decision-Making Enhancement (Business Value of IS)

How information systems help managers make better decisions by providing accurate, up-to-date information, tools for insights, predictive capabilities, and "what if" scenario testing.

Customer Experience (Business Value of IS)

How information systems create better experiences for customers by personalizing offerings, improving service, gaining customer insights, and creating smooth experiences across channels.

Strategic Alignment (Business Value of IS)

How information systems support the overall goals of the business, enable growth, help adapt to change, and measure progress towards objectives.

Low-Cost Leader (Competitive Advantage)

Using information systems to manage supply chains efficiently and keep costs lower than competitors (e.g., Walmart)

Product/Service Differentiation (Competitive Advantage)

Using technology to make products or services stand out from the competition (e.g., Netflix's recommendation system).

Early Technology Adoption (Competitive Advantage)

Being first to adopt new technology to establish lasting advantages in scale, brand recognition, and customer data (e.g., Amazon).

Information as a Business Asset

Recognizing that collected information has inherent value beyond operational use, potentially sold as revenue or contributing to network effects and specialized knowledge.

DIKW Pyramid (Data-to-Wisdom Hierarchy)

A hierarchy that helps understand how raw facts become valuable insights for businesses, comprising Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom.

Data (in DIKW)

Raw facts and numbers without any context (e.g., a list of sales transactions).

Information (in DIKW)

Organized data put into context, answering "who," "what," "when," and "where" questions (e.g., store #103 sold 58 umbrellas on a rainy Tuesday).

Knowledge (in DIKW)

Understanding patterns and relationships in information, helping answer "how" questions (e.g., a manager noticing umbrella sales spike on rainy days).

Wisdom (in DIKW)

Using knowledge to make good judgments and strategic decisions based on deep understanding (e.g., expanding a product line based on sales patterns and trends).

Data Management

How businesses handle their data throughout its life cycle, from collecting it to using it and eventually archiving or deleting it.

Data Collection

The process of gathering data from various sources such as sales transactions, customer forms, website visits, and social media interactions.

Data Storage

The process of keeping data safe and accessible, typically in databases or other storage systems, considering space, access, and protection.

Data Quality

Ensuring that data is accurate and reliable by checking for errors, removing duplicates, and ensuring it is complete and up to date.

Data Governance

Setting rules about how data should be managed, including policies on access, retention, and compliance with privacy laws.

Data Security and Privacy

Protecting data from unauthorized access while respecting customer privacy, often involving encryption, secure passwords, and careful handling of sensitive information.

Data Integration

Bringing together data from different sources or systems so it can be used effectively and provide a complete picture.

Data-Driven Decision-Making

Using facts and analysis, rather than intuition or opinion alone, to make business choices

Transaction Processing System (TPS)

Handles the day-to-day basic business transactions that keep a company running; processes routine transactions quickly, accurately, and reliably (e.g., grocery store checkout systems)

Management Information System (MIS)

Takes data collected by TPS and turns it into useful reports that help managers run the business, supporting routine operational decisions (e.g., daily sales reports).

Decision Support System (DSS)

elps managers make better decisions for complex or non-routine problems, allowing interactive data exploration and "what-if" analysis (e.g., analyzing locations for a new store)

Executive Information System (EIS)

Designed specifically for top executives to monitor the overall performance of the organization, providing a high

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System

A comprehensive software platform that integrates all major business functions into a single system with a shared database, creating a single source of truth (e.g., SAP, Oracle).

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

Helps businesses manage all their interactions with current and potential customers, centralizing customer information and supporting sales, marketing, and service (e.g., Salesforce).

Database

An organized collection of data that is stored electronically, allowing for efficient retrieval, management, and updating of data.

Relational Database

A type of database that stores and organizes data in tables (similar to spreadsheets) with rows and columns, where these tables can be connected or related to each other using key fields.

Table (Relational Database)

Collections of related data within a relational database, each focusing on one subject (e.g., "Student" or "Course").

Row (Record)

In a relational database table, each one represents a single record, containing all the information for one item or entity.

Column (Field)

In a relational database table, each one represents a specific attribute or piece of data for the records (e.g., "Name" or "ID Number").

Primary Key

A unique identifier for each record in a table, ensuring no two records are identical (e.g., a student ID number).

Foreign Key

A field in one table that links to a primary key in another table, establishing a relationship between the two tables.

SQL (Structured Query Language)

The language used by relational databases to manage and manipulate data, enabling users to retrieve, update, and organize information stored in tables.

Normalization (Relational Databases)

The process of splitting data into separate tables based on related entities to avoid data redundancy and maintain data consistency.

Data Integrity

The overall completeness, accuracy, and consistency of data, enforced in relational databases through primary keys, foreign keys, data types, and validation.

Query (Database)

A request for information from a database, used to retrieve specific data sets and answer important questions.

Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)

A software system designed to create, manage, store, and retrieve data organized in a relational data model (e.g., MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2).

Microsoft Access

A desktop relational database management system (RDBMS) combining a database engine with a graphical user interface, commonly used for small to medium-sized database solutions

Database Objects (MS Access)

The fundamental building blocks of a database application, including tables, forms, queries, and reports.

Datasheet View (MS Access)

A view that displays table data in rows and columns, similar to a spreadsheet, for viewing and entering records.

Design View (MS Access)

A view where the structure of a table is defined, including field names, data types, and field properties.

Data Type (Database Field)

Determines the kind of values that can be held in a column (field) and governs how data is stored, validated, and handled in a relational database.

Benefits of Data Type Selection

Ensures data consistency and validation, optimizes storage, improves query performance, enhances space efficiency, ensures compatibility, and supports data integrity constraints.

Short Text Data Type (Access)

Stores alphanumeric values up to 255 characters.

Long Text Data Type (Access)

Stores longer alphanumeric values, sentences, and paragraphs, up to 1 gigabyte.

Number Data Type (Access)

Used for both integer and decimal values; its "Size property" (e.g., Byte, Integer, Long, Single, Double) determines the amount of memory reserved.

AutoNumber Data Type (Access)

Automatically generates a unique long integer value for each new record.

Date/Time Data Type (Access)

Stores date and time values, which are internally represented as numeric serial values (number of days from December 30, 1899).

Metadata (Database)

Information about the data and the structure of the database components (e.g., field names, data types, descriptions, keys, properties).

Table Relationship

A connection between two tables established using a common field, typically a primary key in one table and a foreign key in the other.

One-to-Many Relationship

The most common type of relationship where one record in the "one" table can be associated with many records in the "many" table (e.g., one employee processes many transactions)

Referential Integrity

A system of rules that Access uses to ensure that relationships between records in related tables are valid and that you don't accidentally delete or change related data.

Many-to-Many Relationships

A conceptual relationship where many records in one table can relate to many records in another table (e.g., many employees can take many classes)

Junction Table (Linking Table)

A third table used to resolve a many-to-many relationship by containing foreign keys from the two tables it connects, creating one-to-many relationships with each

Composite Primary Key

A primary key that consists of two or more fields whose combined values uniquely identify each record in a table and can enforce specific business rules.

Dirty Data

Data in database tables that is incomplete, inaccurate, inconsistent, outdated, duplicated, or missing.

Field Properties

Parameters used to further define characteristics or behavior of data in a field, such as its size, format, default values, or validation rules.

Field Size Property

Restricts the maximum number of characters allowed in a Short Text field or defines the storage capacity for a Number data type.

Caption Property

Allows for a descriptive, user-friendly label to be displayed as a column heading in place of the actual field name in Datasheet View

Format Property (Field)

Alters how data values are displayed in a field without changing the actual stored value (e.g., > for uppercase text, Medium Date for dates).

Default Value Property

A value that is automatically entered into a field when a new record is created, unless the user provides a different value.

Date() Function (Access)

A function that returns the current system date, often used in Default Value properties (e.g., Date()-1 for yesterday's date)

Validation Rule Property (Field)

An expression that defines what values are allowed to be entered into a field (e.g., >=#1/1/1995#, Between 0 And 3000).

Validation Text Property (Field)

A custom message displayed to the user when data entered into a field violates the Validation Rule.

Required Property

A field property that, when set to "Yes," ensures a value must be entered into that field for every record.

Allow Zero Length Property

For Short Text fields, must be set to "No" in conjunction with the Required property to prevent users from entering an empty string ("") as a value.

Record Validation (Table Level)

A validation rule applied to the entire table that checks a submitted record to verify that its field values meet specified criteria, potentially involving multiple fields.

Lookup Field

A field that provides a dropdown list of values for users to select from, improving data consistency and reducing entry errors.

Value List Lookup (Lookup Field Type)

A lookup field where the user manually types in the list of predefined values for selection.

Multi-field Lookup (Lookup Field Type)

A lookup field that retrieves values from another table or query and can display multiple fields (e.g., EmployeeID, First Name, Last Name) in the dropdown list

Enforce Referential Integrity (Relationship Option)

Ensures data consistency by preventing the creation of "orphan records" and restricting deletion of records that have related entries in other tables.

Cascade Update Related Fields (Relationship Option)

If the primary key value in the "one" side of a relationship is changed, Access automatically updates the foreign key values in all related records in the "many" side.

Cascade Delete Related Records (Relationship Option)

If a record in the "one" side of a relationship is deleted, Access automatically deletes all related records in the "many" side (rarely used, especially not in this course).