Short Questions with Answers on MIS

1-      Describe the relationship between TPS, MIS, and ESS.

Answer:

-          The relationship between TPS, MIS, and ESS: TPS are typically a major source of data for other systems, data also be exchanged to MIS to produce reports, whereas ESS are primarily a recipient of date from lower-level systems.

2-      List and describe the information systems serving each of the major functional areas of a business.

Answer:

-          Sale and Marketing Systems:

System	Description	Organizational Level
Order processing	Enter, process, and track orders	Operational
Pricing analysis	Determine prices for products and services	Management
Sale and forecasting	Prepare 5 years sales forecasts	Strategic

-          Manufacturing and Production Systems

System	Description	Organizational Level
Machine control	Control the actions of machines and equipment	Operational
Production planning	Decide when and how many products should be produced	Management
Facilities location	Decide where to locate new production facilities.	Strategic

-          Finance & Accounting Systems

System	Description	Organizational Level
Account Receivable	Tracks money owed the firm	Operational
Budgeting	Prepares short-term budgets	Management
Profit planning	Plans long-term profits	Strategic

-          Human Resource Systems

System	Description	Organizational Level
Training and Development	Tracks employee training, skills, and performance appraisals	Operational
Compensation analysis	Monitors the rang and distribution of employee wages, salaries, and benefits	Management
Human Resource planning	Plans the long-term labor force needs of the organization	Strategic

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3-      What is a business process? Give two examples of processes for functional areas of the business and one example of a cross functional process.

Answer:

-          Business process refer to sets of logically related activities for accomplishing a specific business result, and also refer to the unique ways in which organization and management coordinate these activities.

-          Example for functional area of business process: (Finance and Accounting: paying creditors, creating financial statements and managing cash accounts); (Human Resources: hiring employees, evaluating employees’ job performance and enrolling employees in benefits plans)

-          Example of a cross functional process: Order fulfillment process (Sales Department: Generate order and submit order; Accounting Department: Check credit and approve credit and then Manufacturing & Production department: Assemble product and ship product, and finally Accounting Department: Generate invoice).

4-      Why are organizations trying to integrate their business processes? What are the four key enterprise applications for organization-wide process integration?

Answer:

-          Organizations are trying to integrate their business processes because they want to enhance the performance of the organizations as a whole. The system takes advantage of corporate intranets and web technologies that enable the efficient transfer of information within the firm and to partner firms. And these systems are inherently cross-level, cross-functional, and business process oriented.

-          The four key enterprise applications: Enterprise Systems, Supply Chain Management Systems, Customer Relationship Management Systems, and Knowledge Management Systems.

5-      What are enterprise systems? How do they change the way an organization work?

Answer:

-          Enterprise Systems, also known as enterprise resource planning systems, provide a single information system for organization-wide coordination and integration of key business processes.

-          Information that was previously fragmented in different systems can seamlessly flow throughout the firm so that it can be shared by business processes in manufacturing, accounting, human resources, and other areas.

6-      What are supply chain management systems: How do they benefit business?

Answer:

-          Supply chain management systems are more outward facing, focusing on helping the firm manage its relationship with suppliers to optimize the planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery of products and services. Theses systems provide information to help suppliers, purchasing firms, distributors, and logistics companies coordinate, schedule, and control business processes for procurement, production, inventory management, and delivery or products and services.

-          Benefit to business: Decide when and what to produce, store, and move; Rapidly communicate orders; Track the status of orders; Check inventory availability and monitor inventory levels; Reduce inventory, transportation, and warehousing costs; Track shipments; Plan production based on actual customer demand; Rapidly communicate changes in product design.

7-      What are customer relationship management systems? How do they benefit business?

Answer:

-          Customer Relationship Management Systems focus on coordinating all of the business processes surrounding the firm’s interactions with its customers in sales, marketing, and service to optimize revenue, customer satisfaction, and customer retention.

-          Users can manage and evaluate marketing campaigns across multiple channels, including e-mail, direct mail, telephone, the web, and wireless message.

8-      What is the role of knowledge management systems in the enterprise? What organizational processes are supported by knowledge management applications?

Answer:

Role of Knowledge Management Systems:

-          Collects relevant knowledge and make it available wherever and whenever it is needed.

-          Support business processes and management decisions

-          Also link the firm to external sources of knowledge

-          Support processes for acquiring, storing, distributing, and applying knowledge.

Organizational process that supported by KM applications:

-          Acquiring knowledge

-          Storing knowledge

-          Distributing knowledge

-          Apply knowledge

9-      What are the challenges posed by the existence of various types of information systems in the enterprise? How can these challenges be addressed?

Answer:

Challenges:

-          Integration and the whole firm view: Given the different interests and perspectives within a firm, it is difficult to achieve consensus about the need for the whole firm viewpoint.

-          Management and employee training: Training a large number of employees on many systems in a large organization involves commensurately large investments.

-          Accounting for the cost of systems and managing demands for systems: Given the large number of different types of systems in a firm, and the large number of people involved with using them. It is a complex task to understand which systems are truly necessary and productive with high returns on investment.

Challenges be addressed:

-          Inventory the firm’s information systems: Develop a list of firm-wide information requirements to give a 360-degree view of the most important information needs of the firm.

-          Employee and Management education: Ensure that you understand how much training is required.

-          Account for the costs and benefits: Develop an accounting system for information services firm-wide.