CHAPTER 1: INFORMATION SYSTEMS: AN OVERVIEW
Computers and Information Systems in Daily Life
Why do companies use computers and information systems?
Reduce cost
Competitive advantage in the market place
How does a computer and information system help organisations?
Assist employees to complete tasks more efficiently
Computers are used in:
Grocery and retail stores as point of sale (POS) – it speeds up service by reading the universal
product codes
Schools and universities – grade papers
Banks – generate monthly statements & running ATM services
Telecommuters: People who perform their jobs from home or do business on the go with PDAs
PDA:
Calendar, address book, task-listing programs
Advanced: Wireless connection to the internet, built in MP3 players
E.g. iPhone, Galaxy, Droid, Blackberry
Computers and Information Technology will help the knowledge workers of the future perform
Computer literacy vs Information Literacy
It is knowledge that is necessary to be competitive in the work environment.
Computer Literacy: Skill in using productive software, such as word processors, spreadsheets,
database management systems, and presentation software as well as having basic knowledge of
hardware and software, the Internet, and a collaboration tools and technologies.
Information Literacy: Understanding the role of information in generating and using business
intelligence.
Business intelligence (BI): Provides historical, current and predictive view of business operation and
environments and gives organisations a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Knowledge workers should know:
Internal and external sources of data
How data is collected
Why data is collected
How data is converted to information and eventually to business intelligence
How data should be indexed and updated
How data and information should be used to gain a competitive advantage
,Transaction Processing Systems
Transaction Processing Systems: Focus on data collection and processing that data.
Payroll was the first application to be automated.
Applied to structured tasks:
Record keeping
Simple clerical operations
Inventory control
When is it used?
When operations are repetitive
Minimal human contact
Automated systems are in place
Beneficial in transaction processing operations. Benefit: It reduces costs
Management Information System
Management Information System; It is an organised integration of hardware and software
technologies, data, processes, and human elements designed to produce timely, integrated, relevant,
accurate and useful information for decision making.
Elements:
Hardware: Input, output & memory devices
Software: In-house development or purchase
Data
Processes: Methods used to execute a task
Human intervention: Users, programmers & system analysts
In designing a management information system, the first task is to clearly define the system’s
objectives. Second, data must be collected and analysed. Finally, information must be provided in a
useful format for decision-making purposes.
Management information systems are used both in private and public sectors.
Major Components of Information Systems
Data
Database
Processing
Information
,Data
Data: Consists of raw data and is a component of an information system. Considered the input to the
system.
Sources of data:
Internal data: Information obtained from within the organisation.
E.g. Sales records, personnel records
External data: Information obtained from outside the organisation.
o Customers, competitors, and suppliers
o Government agencies and financial institutions
o Labour and population statistics
o Economic conditions
The information which users need, impacts the type of data which is collected and used. Data has a
time orientation. Data may be collected in different forms; aggregated or disaggregated.
Database
Database: A collection of all relevant data organised in a series of integrated files. The heart of an
information system.
Benefit: Decreases employee time
What is a database management
system used?
Create,
Organise,
Management of a
database
E.g. Microsoft Access, FileMaker
Pro (Home / office), Oracle or IBM DB2 (Organisations)
Processing
Process: The component of an information system that generates the most useful type of
information for decision making, including transaction-processing reports and models for decision
analysis.
Information which can be generated:
Transaction processing reports
Models for decision analysis
A good information system has models which support all levels of decision-making. An information
system should be able to grow with the business. Users should be able to query an information
system and generate a variety of reports.
, Information
Information: Consists of facts that have been processed / analysed by the process and is an output of
an information system. It is useful to the management information system.
Quality & usefulness of information:
Quality is determined by the usefulness of the information.
Usefulness determines the success of the information system.
Information is useful if it helps users to make correct decisions in a timely manner.
Qualities of useful information:
Timely
Integrated with other data and information
Consistent and accurate
Relevant
Information which does not comply with quality standards leads to:
Wrong decisions
Misallocation of resources
Missed opportunities
If the system cannot give users a minimum level of confidence in its reliability, it will not be used or
users might dismiss the reports it generates. Information must provide either a base for users to
explore different options or insight to tasks.
An information system’s user interface [Graphical user interface (GUI) is mostly used] must be
flexible and easy to use. To be useful the information system should produce information in different
formats, this increases the likelihood of users understanding and being able to use the information.
Example:
Information technologies: Support information systems and use the Internet, computer networks,
database systems, POS systems, and radio-frequency-identification (RFID) tags.
Data vs Information
