NPTEL Management Information Systems Comprehensive Revision Flashcards

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, enterprise systems, and frameworks from the NPTEL Management Information Systems lecture bank.

DIKW Hierarchy

A knowledge pyramid describing the upward transformation of raw Data into structured Information, actionable Knowledge, and context-applied Wisdom.

Information System

A set of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and distribute information to support decision making, coordination, and control in an organization.

Servitization

A business transformation driven by automation and integration where a firm shifts from a product-centered model to a service-oriented model, such as selling maintenance contracts instead of standalone equipment.

Primary Key

A unique attribute or combination of attributes within a relational database table that distinctly identifies each individual record.

Foreign Key

A primary key from an external table utilized inside another table as a lookup field to establish relationships between records.

Data Redundancy

The unnecessary duplication of identical data across multiple storage files, typical of traditional file-based processing.

Data Inconsistency

A condition resulting from data redundancy where different copies of the same attribute reflect conflicting values across disparate files.

Database Management System (DBMS)

Software functioning as an interface between application programs and physical data files, centralizing control, reducing inconsistency, and enforcing security.

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

A core Business Intelligence capability enabling multidimensional data analysis across multiple perspectives to support managerial decision-making.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

An integrated enterprise-wide information system built on a single central database and common computing platform to coordinate resources and business processes across functional silos.

SAP

An acronym for Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing, founded in 1972 in Mannheim, Germany, by five former IBM engineers.

SAP R/3 Architecture

A classic three-tier enterprise client/server architecture comprising a presentation layer (GUI), an application layer (business logic), and a database layer.

Availability to Promise (ATP)

An ERP capability enabling a company to verify stock, manufacturing status, and transit inventory to book products and promise firm delivery dates to specific customers.

Upstream Supply Chain

The segment of the supply chain network that encompasses external raw material suppliers and their sub-tier suppliers feeding into the manufacturing firm.

Downstream Supply Chain

The demand-side segment of the supply chain responsible for outbound distribution, delivery logistics, and sales to end customers.

Bullwhip Effect

The amplification and distortion of demand variance as orders travel upstream away from final consumer sales toward raw material suppliers.

Just-in-Time (JIT)

A lean manufacturing strategy requiring components and materials to arrive precisely at the time they are consumed in production, eliminating large inventory buffers.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A comprehensive organizational strategy combining people, processes, and technology to acquire, retain, and service customers while feeding customer insights into operations.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

A hierarchical structured listing of all raw materials, components, assemblies, and quantities required to manufacture a single unit of a finished product.

Master Production Schedule (MPS)

A detailed manufacturing statement and MRP input specifying exactly which finished goods will be produced and the specific timeframe for their completion.

Capacity Requirement Planning (CRP)

The production planning process that checks open shop orders and planned orders against physical machine and labor limits to ensure sufficient execution capacity exists.

Dependent Demand

Demand for raw materials and component parts that is mathematically calculated or derived from the independent demand of parent finished goods via the Bill of Materials.

Independent Demand

Demand for end items or finished goods originating directly from marketplace customer requirements, independent of other component manufacturing schedules.

Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

Software technology enabling engineers to digitally design, model, and simulate physical products and parts prior to manufacturing physical prototypes.

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

A quality-monitoring methodology using graphical control charts with upper and lower statistical limits to identify out-of-control manufacturing conditions requiring correction.

Marketing Intelligence Subsystem

A formal component of an MKIS that continuously and systematically monitors external competitive environments, market developments, and industry trends.

Sales Force Automation (SFA)

Software tools providing mobile sales representatives with real-time access to contact databases, opportunity pipelines, pricing tools, and territory performance metrics.

Business Diamond

An organizational design model emphasizing that People, Structure, Tasks, and Information Control must remain aligned when introducing technology.

Balanced Scorecard (BSC)

A strategic performance management framework tracking organizational vision and operational goals across four balanced perspectives: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Process, and Learning & Growth.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A negotiated formal or informal contract between an organization and a provider defining measurable parameters of performance, availability, billing, and penalty structures.

Ubiquity

An inherent e-commerce attribute describing access to digital marketplaces from any geographical location at any time.

Information Density

An e-commerce characteristic wherein available marketplace information becomes cheaper, more plentiful, and significantly more accurate.

Personalization

An e-commerce marketing technique that dynamically adjusts promotional messages and content displayed to consumers based on their historical clickstream actions.

Customization

The capability of e-commerce systems to allow consumers to modify the physical specifications, features, or styling of the delivered product itself.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

A cloud computing model where the vendor delivers raw virtual servers, networking, and storage, while the customer maintains operating systems and software applications.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

A cloud tier where the service provider supplies the runtime, libraries, security, and hypervisor management, allowing clients to develop and deploy custom applications.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

A cloud deployment model where complete, centrally hosted application software is delivered over the internet directly to end-users on demand.

Sensor

An Internet of Things device designed to detect and measure physical or environmental parameters and convert them into electrical signals.

Actuator

A mechanical or electrical IoT device that receives a control signal and converts it into physical movement, altering its state or the state of surrounding equipment.

Veracity

One of the Big Data 5 Vs representing data trustworthiness, integrity, authenticity, and freedom from noise, gaps, or fraudulent manipulation.

Privacy by Design

A software engineering principle demanding that privacy, confidentiality, and data-protection controls be embedded into systems throughout their architecture from inception.

Forward Chaining

A data-driven inference process in expert systems starting with user-provided factual symptoms and evaluating rules left-to-right to deduce diagnostic conclusions.

Backward Chaining

A goal-driven inference strategy in expert systems starting from an assumed hypothesis and working backwards to seek supporting conditions or user-verified evidence.

Executive Support System (ESS)

A high-level information system delivering aggregated internal and external metrics via digital dashboards and drill-down interfaces to address non-routine executive decisions.

Decision Support System (DSS)

An interactive system coupling data analytical models with what-if and sensitivity capabilities to support managers tackling semi-structured decision environments.

Panopticon Effect

A psychological mechanism causing personnel to strictly self-regulate compliance because of awareness that tracking systems could inspect activities at any random interval.

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

A technical IT contingency plan outlining protocols for restoring corporate computer infrastructure, primary servers, and database records from backups after a crisis.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

A managerial plan defining operational workarounds, manual procedures, and temporary facilities required to maintain mission-critical functions during operational outages.

Pharming

A cyberattack method redirecting network users to fraudulent websites via malicious DNS cache poisoning without relying on user interaction with bogus emails.

Transnational Corporation

A global firm characterized by a decentralized governance model giving overseas subsidiaries localized operational authority while maintaining global efficiency and integration.

In-forming

Thomas Friedman's flattener representing the democratization of global knowledge by allowing individuals to construct personalized information supply chains via search engines.

MOODLE

An open-source Learning Management System standing for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment.