Business transactions are accumulated over a period and processed as a single unit.
There is a delay between the event and processing to update records.
Online Transaction Processing (OLTP):
Each transaction is processed immediately.
Data reflects the current status, enabling faster and more efficient service.
Enterprise Systems
Central to individuals and organizations of all sizes.
Ensures information sharing across all business functions and management levels for running and managing a business.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
A set of integrated programs that manage a company's vital business operations for the entire organization.
Business Process: A set of coordinated and related activities that take input(s) and create valuable output for the customer.
Supply Chain Management (SCM)
A system that includes planning, executing, and controlling activities involved in:
Sourcing and procurement of raw materials.
Converting raw materials to finished products.
Warehousing and delivering finished products to customers.
Process for Developing a Production Plan:
Sales forecasting
Sales and operations plan (S&OP)
Demand management
Detailed scheduling
Materials requirement planning (MRP)
Purchasing
Production
Sales ordering
ERP systems do not directly work with production machines; data are passed to ERP accounting modules to keep an accurate count of finished product inventory.
Production quality data can be added based on the results of quality tests, typically including the batch identification number.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Helps a company manage all aspects of customer encounters, including marketing, sales, distribution, accounting, and customer service.
Goal: Understand and anticipate the needs of current and potential customers.
Primarily used in sales, marketing, and service organizations.
Captures and views data about customers and improves communications.
Key Features of a CRM System:
Contact management
Sales management
Customer support
Marketing automation
Analysis
Social networking
Access by mobile devices
Import contact data
Retailers use CRM to monitor customer feedback on social networks due to the popularity of mobile devices for comparing products and prices.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
Enterprise business strategy that creates a common repository of product information and processes.
Supports collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product and packaging definition information.
Product Lifecycle Management Software: Manages data and processes associated with various phases of a product's lifecycle.
Computer-Aided Design (CAD): Software to assist in the creation, analysis, and modification of the design of a component or product.
Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE): Software to analyze the robustness and performance of components and assemblies.
Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM): Software to control tools and machinery in the manufacture of components and products.
In manufacturing, CAD models verified in CAE can be entered into CAM software to control machine tools.
Discrete Manufacturing: Production of distinct items (e.g., autos, airplanes, furniture, or toys) that can be decomposed into basic components.
Process Manufacturing: Production of products from chemical processes (e.g., gasoline, pharmaceutical drugs) that cannot be easily decomposed.
Overcoming Challenges in Implementing Enterprise Systems
Assign a full-time executive to manage.
Appoint an experienced, independent resource to provide project oversight.
Allow sufficient time to transition to the new system.
Allocate sufficient time and money for training.
Define metrics to assess project progress and identify risks.
Keep the project scope well-defined and contained to essential business processes.
Be wary of modifying the enterprise system software to conform to firm’s business practices.
Focus on documenting existing workflows and working directly with key stakeholders.
The best systems require little change to existing workflow as it relates to user input/effort while eliminating the biggest pain points.
Chapter 11: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation
Vision Systems
Hardware and software that permit computers to capture, store, and manipulate visual images and pictures.
Augmented Reality (AR): A type of vision system used widely in the medical field.
Vision system software superimposes computer-generated images on a user's view of the world using specialized glasses or goggles.
AI and Employment
AI technology is being introduced rapidly across industries.
Automation creates fear of job loss.
The World Economic Forum suggests that AI could create up to 58 million new jobs by 2022.
Machine Learning Training
Supervised Learning
Unsupervised Learning
Reinforced Learning
Semi-Supervised Learning
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Involves computer understanding, analyzing, manipulating, and/or generating natural language for processing.
Widely used in search engines to interpret user searches and return relevant results.
Online translators require training beyond word-to-word translations; grammar and punctuation are critical.
Industrial Robots
Designed for speed, accuracy, and safety.
Size and appearance depend on the application.
Cartesian Robots:
Take up a smaller footprint and move in straight lines.
Commonly used for 3D printing.
Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) Robots:
Easier to integrate into complex printing designs.
Have both lateral and rotary movement and can move faster than Cartesian models.
Often used in the biomedical field for faster movement and wider range.
Articulated Robots:
Function like a human arm.
May have ten or more rotary joints.
Frequently used in industrial manufacturing, such as automotive lines, due to speed and precision.
Chapter 12: Strategic Planning and Project Management
Strategic Planning
Provides a framework and direction for decision-making.
Ensures effective use of resources by focusing on key priorities.
Enables proactive responses to opportunities and trends.
Fosters collaboration toward common goals.
Provides measures for judging organizational and personal performance.
Improves communication with stakeholders.
Analyze Situation
Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model: Used for assessing competition.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Matrix: Used to analyze an organization's internal assessment and external environment.
User Satisfaction and Technology Acceptance
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM):
Specifies factors leading to better attitudes about using a new information system, as well as higher acceptance and usage.
Perceived usefulness (U) and perceived ease of use (E) strongly influence IS adoption; management can improve perception through demonstrations and training.
Diffusion of Innovation Theory
Developed by E.M. Rogers to explain how a new idea or product gains acceptance and spreads through a population.
Adoption does not happen all at once; it is a drawn-out process with different adoption rates.
Project Variables
Scope:
Defines which tasks are included and which are not.
Cost:
Includes all capital, expenses, and internal cross-charges.
Time:
Timing is a critical constraint; projects often have fixed completion dates.
Quality:
The degree to which the project meets user needs.
User Expectations:
Stakeholders form expectations about the project's conduct and impact.
Schedule Management
Defining an achievable and acceptable completion date
Developing a workable project schedule
Ensuring the timely completion of the project
Identifying specific tasks
Sequencing these tasks
Estimating resources required
Estimating elapsed time to complete each task
Analyzing all data to create a project schedule
Controlling and managing changes
Time Management
Gantt Chart: A graphical tool used for planning, monitoring, and coordinating projects, listing activities and deadlines.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Outline of the work to be done to complete the project.
Project Resource Management
Activities to identify, acquire, and manage project resources; estimating, acquiring equipment, materials, and staff; improving team communication; tracking performance; resolving issues
Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing-Adjourning Model: A useful model to describe how teams develop and evolve; forming an effective team is a challenge.
Chapter 13: System Acquisition and Development
Subscribe vs. Buy vs. Build
Subscribe:
Pros: Cost-effective for small, temporary needs; vendor handles updates and support.
Cons: Cannot be modified; recurring licensing costs.
Buy:
Pros: Quick deployment; can test drive before acquiring.
Cons: May not match needs perfectly; maintenance costs can be excessive.
System Development: Activities involved in building information systems to meet user needs, ranging from small to large projects.
Waterfall System Development Process
Sequential, multistage process where each stage must be completed and approved before the next begins.
Six Phases:
Investigation
Analysis
Design
Construction
Integration and Testing
Implementation
System Investigation
Purpose: Gain a clear understanding of the problem or opportunity.
Review systems investigation request
Identify and recruit team leader and members
Develop budget and schedule for investigation
Perform investigation
Joint application development
Functional decomposition
Perform preliminary feasibility analysis
Technical economic, legal, operational, and schedule
Prepare draft of investigation report
Review results of investigation with steering team
Agile Development
Iterative process with sprints lasting two weeks to two months, maximizing the team's ability to deliver quickly and respond to emerging requirements.
Scrum: Method to keep the Agile system development effort focused and moving quickly.
The Scrum master coordinates all activities.
Chapter 1: Information Systems: People, Technology, Processes, and Structure
Leavitt’s Diamond
Proposes that every organizational system operates within a context composed of people, technology infrastructure, processes, and human structure.
People:
The most important element of information systems.
Employee requirements: Training, understanding, motivation, and access to support.
Technology Infrastructure:
Includes hardware, software, databases, networks, facilities, and third-party services.
Required to meet the needs of customers, suppliers, partners, regulatory agencies, and employees.
Forms the foundation of every computer-based information system.
Processes:
A structured set of related activities that takes input, adds value, and creates an output.
Procedure describes steps to follow to achieve a specific end result.
Using an information system involves setting up and following many procedures.
Structure:
Defines relationships between organization members, necessary roles, responsibilities, and lines of authority.
Employees must understand and accept their roles and responsibilities.
Roles and responsibilities often change with the introduction of a new information system.
Types of Information Systems
Personal Information System: Improves productivity of individual users.
Workgroup Information System: Enables people to work together effectively.
Enterprise Information System: Facilitates organization-wide business needs.
Interorganizational IS: Enables the sharing of information across organizational boundaries.
Chapter 2: Secure Information Systems
Types of Attack Vectors
Advanced Persistent Threat: An intruder gains access to a network and stays there undetected to steal data over a long period.
Blended Threat: Combines features of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other malicious code.
Phishing: Fraudulently using email to get the recipient to reveal personal data.
Rootkit: Enables a user to gain administrator-level access without consent; obscures presence from administrators.
Smishing: Phishing using texting.
Social Engineering: Deception to trick individuals into divulging data.
Spam: Sending unsolicited email to large numbers of people.
Trojan Horse: A seemingly harmless program with hidden malicious code.
Virus: Programming code that causes a computer to behave unexpectedly.
Vishing: Similar to smishing, using voice mail messages.
Worm: Harmful program that resides in memory and duplicates itself without human intervention.
The CIA Security Triad
CIA Security Triad: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability
Layered security solution design makes cyberattacks difficult; the attacker eventually gives up or is detected before harm is inflicted.
Implementing CIA at the Network Level
Authentication Methods:
Something you know (password)
Something you possess (smart card)
Something you are (biometrics)
Use two-factor authorization
Biometric Authentication: Physiological or behavioral measurements are used, requiring a reference model of unique characteristics stored digitally.
Encryption: Scrambles messages or data; only authorized parties can read it.
Encryption key: A value applied to plaintext to produce ciphertext; required to decipher ciphertext.
Encryption algorithms: Symmetric and asymmetric.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES): Common symmetric algorithm, used by the WPA2 security protocol.
Chapter 4: Hardware and Software
Current Operating Systems
Server Virtualization: Logically dividing a single physical server’s resources to create multiple logical servers.
Virtual machines act as their own dedicated machines.
Hypervisor: A virtual server program that controls the host processor and resources, allocates resources to each virtual machine, and ensures that they do not disrupt each other.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to subscribers over the Internet.
Advantages: Available from any computer or device; SaaS provider handles upgrades and patches; lower software licensing costs; SaaS provider manages service levels and availability.
Chapter 5: Database Systems and Data Management
Database Activities
Storing and Retrieving Data: DBMS function; interface between application program and database.
Concurrency Control: Addresses situations where multiple users or applications access the same record simultaneously.
SQL Databases
SQL: Special-purpose programming language used for accessing and manipulating relational database data.
SQL databases conform to ACID properties (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability).
Guarantees reliable processing of database transactions and ensures data integrity.
Chapter 6: Business Intelligence: Big Data and Analytics
Big Data
Enormous (terabytes or more) and complex (sensor data to social media data).
Traditional processes are incapable of dealing with them.
Many clients request and receive services from servers on the network.
Domain Name System (DNS): Maps the name people use to locate a Web site to the IP address that a computer uses to locate a Web site.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL): Web address specifying the exact location of a Web page using letters and words that map to an IP address and a location on the host.
Chapter 8: Cloud Computing and the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT)
A network of physical objects (i.e., things) embedded with sensors, processors, software, and network connectivity capability.
Enables data exchange with the manufacturer of the device, device operators, and other connected devices.
Sensor: A device capable of sensing something about its surroundings (pressure, temperature, humidity, pH level, motion, vibration, or level of light).
Business Benefits of IoT: Reduce costs, deepen understanding of consumer behavior, improve customer service, and improve workplace safety.
Chapter 9: E-Commerce
Electric Payment Systems
Authentication Technologies: Used by many organizations to confirm the identity of a user requesting access.
Digital Certificate: An attachment to an e-mail message or data embedded in a Web site that verifies the identity of a sender or Web site.
Certificate Authority (CA): Trusted third-party organization that issues digital certificates.S