ITSS 3300 Exam #1 - Sean Owens UTD

What is Information System?

an organized combination of hardware, software, infrastructure, data, and people used to accomplish a specified organizational or personal objective

What is Information Technology

hardware, software and media used to store, organize, retrieve and communicate information 

What is the first and most important step in problem solving?

Defining the problem is crucial for identifying the root cause.

Information systems support decision-making and business processes. By clearly defining the problem first, organizations can determine what information, technology, and processes are needed to create an effective solution

What is information?

Data that is processed or organized to be meaningful and useful for decision-making.

Context given to data

What is Data?

Raw inputs such as facts, figures, words, symbols, numbers, visuals that can be processed to generate information.

What is an example of data?

1600

What is an example of information

1600 Pennysilva Ave

What is business process?

It is a network of linked activities that work together to create value by transforming inputs into ouputs.

What is an example of a business process?

• Input: Customer order

• Activities: Check inventory → Verify credit → Approve order → Fulfill order

• Output: Completed customer order

What is the goal of business process management?

 to improve business processes so they are both effective (achieve organizational goals) and efficient (use resources optimally)

Why does business process design can require people to work in new ways and follow different procedures?

it often changes:

• The sequence of activities

• Employee responsibilities

• How information is shared

• The technology being used

What is intra-company?

All business processes happen within the same company

What is inter-company?

All business processes happen with multiple companies or involve more than 1 company

What is an example of inter-company?

A retailer orders products from a supplier and coordinates delivery with a shipping company.

What is an example of intra company?

HR sends employee information to Payroll within the same organization.

How does an organization’s competitive strategy influence aspects of its business?

The organization's competitive strategy affects resource allocation, process optimization, and decision-making to gain a competitive advantage in the market.

What is industry-wide cost?

Lowest cost across the industryW

What is an example of industry-wide cost?

Walmart

What is a industry-wide differentiation?

Better product/service across the industry

What is an example of industry-wide differentiation?

Ritz Carlton

What is a focus cost?

Lowest cost within an industry segment

What is an example of focus cost?

Spirit Airlines, Dollar Tree, and Academy

What is focus differentiation?

Better product/service within an industry segment

What is an example of focus differentiation?

Apple, Tesla, and Lush

What are Porter’s Five Forces?

• Rivalry among existing firms

• Bargaining power of customers

• Bargaining power of suppliers

• Threat of new entrants

• Threat of substitutions

What are barriers to entry?

Obstacles that make it difficult for new competitors to enter a market

High Barriers to Entry

Difficult for new firms to enter

Low Barriers to Entry

Easy for new firms to enter

What are examples of high barriers to entry?

Professional NFL teams and search engines like Google

What are examples of low barriers to entry?

Corner coffee stands or local small businesses W

What are the effects of high barriers to entry?

• Fewer competitors

• Less rivalry

• Existing firms have more market power

• Usually higher profits

What are the effects of low barriers to entry?

• More competitors

• Greater rivalry

• Increased price competition

• Lower profit potential

How can improving or streamlining a business process contribute to competitive advantage?

By reducing costs, increasing efficiency, improving quality, and enhancing customer service. These improvements help an organization execute its competitive strategy more effectively than competitors. 

How does IS generate competitive advantage through BPM?

Through process implementation and product implantation. Product implementation creates new product or service, enhance existing products or services, and differiete products from competitor while process implementations locks in customers/buyers, lock in suppliers, raise barriers for market entry, establish strategic alliance, and establish costs and decrease errors.

Product Implementations

• Create a new product or service.

• Enhance products or services.

• Differentiate products or services.

• “First mover advantage”: Creating new products doesn't always guarantee an advantage over rivals because of R&D/marketing costs; sometimes “The second mouse gets the cheese.”

Process Implementations

• Lock in customers and buyers. Ex: Phone carriers 

• Lock in suppliers. Ex: 2007-2008 ingredient in beer went up $5 but a brewery locked in with supplier and was guarantee the cheaper price 

• Raise barriers to market entry. Ex: NFL franchise (higher) vs coffee shops (lower) - inventory cost and regulations 

• Establish alliances.

• Reduce costs (increases profit margins and decreases errors).

What is the relationship between competitive strategy, business processes, and information systems?

Competitive Strategy determines what the company wants to achieve.

Business Processes determine how the company operates to achieve that strategy.

Information Systems support and improve those processes.

What is an example of the relationship between competitive strategy, business processes, and information systems?

Concrete Example: Walmart

1. Competitive Strategy: Cost Leadership
   
   

   • Walmart wants to be the low-cost provider.

2. Business Processes:
   
   

   • Efficient inventory management

   • Fast product replenishment

   • Streamlined supply chain

3. Information Systems:
   
   

   • Inventory tracking systems

   • Point-of-sale (POS) systems

   • Supply chain management software

Result: Walmart keeps costs low and can offer lower prices than competitors.

What are the three factors for database?

Metadata

Relationship

Tables

What is the purpose of a database query

Is to retrieve search and filler data from a database and return information that matches specified criteria. It is to basically organize and keep track of things and multiple themes

What can a query do?

search data in a database, retrieve records that match certain criteria, display the matching results to the user, and help users find specific information without looking through every record manually.

What is a data model?

a logical representation of data that describes the data and the relationships among the data

What is an example of a data model?

 For a university database:

• Student (StudentID, Name, Major)

• Course (CourseID, CourseName)

• Enrollment links Students and Courses

The data model describes:

1. What data is stored (students, courses, enrollments)

2. How the data is related (students enroll in courses)

What is a relationship?

A connection or association between two or more entities in a data model that shows how the data is associated with one another.

What is an example of a relationship?

Department ↔ Adviser

A department can have many advisers.

Adviser ↔ Student

An adviser can advise many students, and depending on the model, a student may have one or many advisers.

What is a field?

Columns of database = group of bytes

that represent a specific attribute of an entity in a data model.

For example, in a Student entity, the fields could include StudentID, Name, and Major.

What is a record?

Columns or fields are grouped into rows

What is a table?

a collection of records that are organized in rows and columns. It represents an entity in a database, where each row corresponds to a single record and each column corresponds to a field.

What is a database?

A self-describing collection of integrated records. It follows a specific hierarchy of data elements.

It includes entities, attributes, and relationships, enabling organized storage and efficient retrieval of information.

What is primary keys?

A field or combination of fields that uniquely identifies each record in a table. Primary keys ensure that no two records have the same identifier, maintaining data integrity. a field in a table used for key fields (makes a table unique)

What is an example of primary keys?

Student ID

What is normlization?

the process of converting poorly structured tables into two or more well-structured tables.

What is the goal of normalization?

Construct tables with a single theme or entity

What is the purpoe of normalization

Minimize data integrity problems

When do data integrity problems occur?

when duplicated data leads to incorrect or inconsistent information. Users lose confidence in systems with poor data integrity

What is the implementation of normalization?

 Entities are represented by tables, identifiers become keys, and attributes become columns. Relationships are represented using foreign keys; N:M relationships require additional intersection tables.

What is a database management system (DBMS) used for?

is a licensed or open-source software program used to create, process, and administer a database. 

What is Structured Query Language (SQL)

An internal standard for processing a database and used by nearly all DBMS to process a database by retrieving, inserting, updating, and deleting data.

What is an example of SQL

Talks to the database

SELECT - What fields do you want to see 

FROM - Source Tables for Fields 

WHERE - Operations and Conditions on Fields 

• =(equals sign) - establish relationship (can also use JOIN) 

• AND/OR - combine conditions 

ORDER BY - Sorting 

What is a one-to-one relationship?

A type of relationship in a database where each record in one table corresponds to exactly one record in another table. This ensures that for every instance in one table, there is a unique instance in the related table.

Entity A is associated with one occurrence of Entity B, and one occurrence of Entity B is associated with one occurrence of Entity A.

What is an example of one-to-one relationship?

One student can have one scholarship. One scholarship is assigned to one student

It usually shown on a diagram as: ||

What is a one-to-many (1:N) relationship?

A type of relationship in a database where a record in one table can be associated with multiple records in another table, but a record in the second table can only associate with one record in the first table.

 One occurrence of Entity A can be associated with many occurrences of Entity B, but each occurrence of Entity B can be associated with only one occurrence of Entity A.

What is an example of one-to-many relationship?

Adviser → Student

• One Adviser can advise many Students

• Each Student has one Adviser

• This is a common relationship in databases where a single entity, such as an Adviser, can be linked to multiple instances of another entity, like Students. In diagrams, it is often represented with a crow's foot notation.

What is a many-to-many relationship?

A type of relationship in a database where multiple records in one table can be associated with multiple records in another table. Each occurrence of Entity A can relate to many occurrences of Entity B and vice versa.

It is represented using a diamond shape or crow's foot notation on both ends to signify the connection between the two entities

What is an example of many-to-many relationship (N:M)?

• A Student can have multiple Advisors and an Advisor can advise multiple Students.

• Additionally, a Student can enroll in multiple Departments, while a Department can have many Students.

What is metadata

Refers to data that provides information about other data. It helps in understanding the context, purpose, and structure of the data, allowing for easier management and retrieval.

What is the importance of metadata?

Makes the database “self-describing” by providing data that describes the data within the system. It is DATA about DATA. 

If attackers gain access to metadata, they can learn how a database is organized, what fields exist, which data is most important, and potentially use that knowledge to target sensitive information.

When is a database more appropriate?

When organizing and tracking multiple themes. It is required to maintain organization and integrity. 

When is a spreadsheet more appropriate?

When organizing and tracking a single theme

What is a information silo?

a system or repository where data is stored in isolation, making it inaccessible to other systems or users. This can lead to inefficiencies, data redundancy, and lack of collaboration across departments.

How do information silo exists?

When data is isolated in separate systems or databases, preventing sharing and integration among different platforms or teams.

What kind of organizational problems exists from information silos?

• Data duplicated (data integrity problem)

•  Data inconsistency

•  Data isolated and inefficient

•  Disjointed processes

•  Lack of integrated enterprise information

• Inefficiency - decisions made in isolation

• Increased cost for organization

What is collaboration?

People working together to achieve a common goal through feedback and iteration. A key element of collaboration is constructive criticism. 

What is the difference between collaboration and cooperation?

Collaboration involves working together towards a shared goal, emphasizing feedback and iteration, while cooperation involves individuals or groups working independently towards their own goals while still contributing to a common effort.

Cooperation lacks lacks a feedback and iteration loop.

What are the important components to consider when selecting collaboration tools?

Key components include communication needs, content-sharing requirements, task-management capabilities, desired features, cost, ease of use, professional value, and tool limitations

• Communication 

• Content Sharing 

• Task Management 

• Nice-to-have features 

• Cost 

• Ease of use 

• Value to Future Professionals 

• Limiations
  
  

What is the importance of giving and receiving cirtical feedback?

Effective collaboration requires team members to give and receive constructive criticism, remain open to different or unpopular viewpoints, and avoid groupthink. 

Constructive feedback helps team members learn from one another and improve outcomes, while openness and critical evaluation of ideas lead to better decision-making and stronger team performance.

What is the correct example of giving constructive crictism?

Be specific

Offer suggestions

Avoid personal comments

Set positive goals

What is the correct example/way of receiving constructive crictism?

Question your emotions

Do not dominate

Demonstrate commitment to the group

What is synchronous communication?

refers to real-time interactions where participants are engaged simultaneously and working on the same time, such as in video conferences, phone calls, or instant messaging. It allows for immediate feedback and dynamic conversation.

What is asynchronous communication?

refers to communication where participants do not engage simultaneously and working on their own time, allowing for a delay in response, such as through emails, recorded messages, or forum posts. This form of communication permits thoughtful feedback and flexible participation.

What is examples of asynchronous communication?

Email, Discussion forums, Team surveys

What are the characteristics of effective collaborators?

1. Is enthusiastic about the subject of collaboration.

2. Is open-minded and curious.

3. Speaks his or her mind even if it’s an unpopular viewpoint.

4. Gets back to team members in a timely way.

5. Is willing to enter into difficult conversations.

6. Is a perceptive listener.

7. Is skillful at giving/receiving negative feedback.

8. Is willing to put forward unpopular ideas.

9. Is self-managing and requires "low maintenance."

10. Is known for following through on commitments.

11. Is willing to dig into the topic with zeal.

12. Thinks differently / brings different perspectives.

What is workgroup information systems?

Tools and platforms utilized by a group of individuals to collaborate and manage shared tasks and projects efficiently. They facilitate communication, data sharing, and coordination among team members, enhancing productivity and collaboration.

How does workgroup IS support one or more processes within a workgroup?

By providing tools that enable collaboration, streamline task management, and enhance communication among members, ensuring that project goals are met efficiently.

What are the common workgroup processes?

• Sales and Marketing: Lead generation, lead tracking, customer management, sales forecasting, product/brand management.

• Operations: Order entry, order management, finished goods inventory management.

• Manufacturing: Inventory (raw materials, goods-in-process), planning, scheduling, operations.

• Customer Service: Order tracking, account tracking, customer support.

• Human Resources: Recruiting, compensation, assessment, HR planning.

• Accounting: General ledger, financial reporting, cost accounting, accounts receivable/payable, cash management, budgeting, treasury management.

What are the challenges involved in transitioning from a workgroup system to an enterprise system?

1. Collaborative management.

2. Requirements gaps.

3. Transition problems.

4. Employee resistance.

5. New technology.

How can enterprise systems support business processes?

By executing processes, providing information and data, automating activities, capturing and storing process data, and monitoring performance.

What is a hybrid model?

a system that integrates both on-premises and cloud-based resources, allowing organizations to benefit from the flexibility of the cloud while maintaining control over certain critical data and applications in-house.

cloud adoption

What is customer relationship management (CRM)?

A suite of applications and a database designed to manage through all the four phases of Customer Life Cycle

1. Marketing: Attract customers (Solicitation processes).

2. Customer Acquisition: Sell to prospects (Lead-tracking processes).

3. Relationship Management: Support and resell (Relationship management processes).

4. Loss/Churn: Categorize and attempt to "win back" high-value customers.

5. Supports a customer-centric organization 

What is the impacts of expected growth in data?

impacts businesses by increasing the demand for data storage, analytics, and processing capabilities. It encourages investment in infrastructure, drives the need for data governance and security, and fosters innovation in data management technologies.

What is structured processes?

Support operational and structured managerial decisions and activities, are standardized, are usually formally defined and documented, have exceptions that are rare and not (well) tolerated, and have a process structure that changes slowly and with organizational agony.

What is a dynamic process?

Support strategic and less structured managerial decision and activities, are less specific and fluid, are usually informal, have exceptions that are frequent and expected, and are adaptive processes that change structure rapidly and readily.

What is an example of structured processes?

Customer returns, order entry, purchasing, payroll

What is a example of dynamic processes?

Collaboration, social networking, ill-defined, ambiguous situations are typically seen in scenarios like project management, strategic planning, and brainstorming sessions.

What is operational decision making?

Routine, day-to-day decisions that follow established procedures and are usually highly structured.

What is managerial decision-making?

Decisions made by middle managers to coordinate resources, monitor performance, and solve business problems. They are moderately structured.

What is strategic decision-making?

Long-term decisions that affect the overall direction and competitive position of the organization. They are usually unstructured and complex.

What is an example of operational decision making?

Deciding when the project team will meet each week, assigning a task to a team member, updating a task list, or checking whether a document was submitted on time.

What is an example of managerial decision making

Determining who should work on each part of the project, allocating the project budget, deciding which collaboration tools (Teams, Google Drive, SharePoint) the team will use, or revising the project schedule.

What is an example of strategic decision making?

Deciding whether the organization should adopt Microsoft 365 instead of Google Workspace, whether to allow remote work permanently, or whether to invest in AI-powered collaboration tools for the future.