SMU BBA 4 BB0020 ASSIGNMENT SOLVED

Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester IV

BB0020 – Managing Information – 4 Credits

(Book ID: B0099)

Assignment Set- 1 (60 Marks)

Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions.

Q 1. a. What are the sources of data from which the manager can collect the data? [2 Marks]

A.1a). Sources of data used by managers can be classified in several ways. Some of these alternative way of classifying sources of data are discussed below:

Internal versus External data: Internal data is the data that is generated within the organisation while external data is generated outside the organization. for example data on the sales of a company is generated within the company and can be extracted from records of the company. But data on total industry sales or sales of a particular competitor is not generated within the company. Such data need to be collected from sources that are external to the company.

Primary versus secondary data: Primary data refers to the data that is collected from direct interview, observation or research carried out by the person for a specific purpose. Secondary data refers to the data that is available to a person from such data compiled, analysed and documented by the person concerned or some other person earlier for a different person. Such secondary data is also available through published sources and information supplied on payment by agencies specializing in collecting and providing such data.

Operational versus special purpose data: Some data used by managers may be generated during the course of normal operations such as selling, purchase, and manufacturing. For example data on actual time taken for machining different components may be collected from the production records. However, the data on machining time for a new component may have to be generated specifically for the use of a manager.

Direction of flow of information: A manager may receive information from superiors, subordinates, or from peers.

Q 1.b. What are the uses of information to any organization? [3 Marks]

A.1b.There are 4 main uses of information in organisations.

Monitoring and control
Decision-making
Measuring performance
Identifying new business opportunities

Monitoring and control Businesses will compare actual performance against its predicted (budgeted) performance. Then they will act upon it.

Decision-making When managers are ready to make tough choices (decisions) they need good, accurate and up-to-date information. If they act without relevant information it could lead to disaster, and failure.

Measuring performance Organisations can compare their sales figures with their competitors or indeed against their own previous years.

Q 1.c. What is the difference between Data, Information and Knowledge? [2 Marks]

A1.c. The Differences Between Data, Information and Knowledge

We frequently hear the words Data, Information and Knowledge used as if they are the same thing. You hear people talking about the Internet as a “vast network of human knowledge” or that they’ll “e-mail through the data.” By defining what we mean by data, information and knowledge – and how they interact with one another – it should be much easier.

Has Anyone Seen My CDs?

A few years ago, the UK Government Tax office lost some CDs containing 25 million people’s records, when they were posted unsecurely. The fear was that there was enough information contained on them to allow criminals to set up bank accounts, get loans, and do their Christmas shopping… all under someone else’s name. In the fallout, the main argument in the press was about security, and inevitably there were many that were using it to attack Government ministers. Anyone who’s ever worked in a bureaucracy will know that this kind of thing goes on more often that we would like to think, as people cut corners. No procedure or official process is water-tight. It’s just this time, they didn’t get away with it.

The media used the terms “data” and “information” interchangeably.

For example, one of the frequent mistakes was that they lost “data.” However, you can’t physically lose data. You can’t physically pick up data, move it about, etc.

Let me explain, but – before we go any further - I should point out that I’m using the Infogineering definitions of the three words (data, information, knowledge) here. They’ve been so muddled up over the past few years that the various definitions don’t match up. So, let me explain how Infogineering views them all.

Knowledge

Firstly, let’s look at Knowledge. Knowledge is what we know. Think of this as the map of the World we build inside our brains. Like a physical map, it helps us know where things are – but it contains more than that. It also contains our beliefs and expectations. “If I do this, I will probably get that.” Crucially, the brain links all these things together into a giant network of ideas, memories, predictions, beliefs, etc. It is from this “map” that we base our decisions, not the real world itself. Our brains constantly update this map from the signals coming through our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin.You can’t currently store knowledge in anything other than a brain, because a brain connects it all together. Everything is inter-connected in the brain. Computers are not artificial brains. They don’t understand what they are processing, and can’t make independent decisions based upon what you tell them.

There are two sources that the brain uses to build this knowledge - information and data.

Data

Data is/are the facts of the World. For example, take yourself. You may be 5ft tall, have brown hair and blue eyes. All of this is “data”. You have brown hair whether this is written down somewhere or not. In many ways, data can be thought of as a description of the World. We can perceive this data with our senses, and then the brain can process this. Human beings have used data as long as we’ve existed to form knowledge of the world. Until we started using information, all we could use was data directly. If you wanted to know how tall I was, you would have to come and look at me. Our knowledge was limited by our direct experiences.

Information

Information allows us to expand our knowledge beyond the range of our senses. We can capture data in information, then move it about so that other people can access it at different times. Here is a simple analogy for you. If I take a picture of you, the photograph is information. But what you look like is data. I can move the photo of you around, send it to other people via e-mail etc. However, I’m not actually moving you around – or what you look like. I’m simply allowing other people who can’t directly see you from where they are to know what you look like. If I lose or destroy the photo, this doesn’t change how you look. So, in the case of the lost tax records, the CDs were information. The information was lost, but the data wasn’t. Mrs Jones still lives at 14 Whitewater road, and she was still born on 15th August 1971. The Infogineering Model (below) explains how these interact…

Q1.d. What is a data bank? Give an example for databank to express your understanding.                                                                                                  [3 Marks]

A1.d. In telecommunications, a data bank is a repository of information on one or more subjects that is organized in a way that facilitates local or remote information retrieval. A data bank may be either centralized or decentralized. In this sense, data bank is synonymous with database. In computers the data bank is the sam as in telecommunication (i.e. it is the repository of data. The data in the data bank can be things such as credit card transactions of a store or it can be any data base of a company where 1000 of queries are being processed on daily bases). Data bank may also refer to an organization primarily concerned with the construction and maintenance of a database Data packages can be uploaded using the Data Stage web module. Submissions can also be made with any other http-compatible language using the Data Bank API, so long as the data is submitted as a .zip file (ideally BagIt or SWORD-2-compliant).  When uploading a data package, the following settings are available:

 • Public: (metadata and data fully accessible by the outside world, from day 1).

 • Embargoed: metadata is visible but underlying data files are invisible for a period of time (e.g. embargoed until the related thesis has been judged, or paper has been published).

 • Metadata-only: metadata is visible but the data will never be visible (the file is "embargoed" with no end date). All Data Bank submissions are assigned a default 70-year embargo, but the administrator can change default setting.

 • Dark archive: metadata and data completely invisible; only the person who made the deposit, and the silo manager, can ever find it. NOTE: this cannot be achieved on a Data Bank instance in which some metadata or data are public. It requires a separate "dark" Data Bank instance.

Unless the administrator adds a robots file saying they do not want to be crawled, by default all data held in a non-dark instance of Data Bank will be visible to Google and any other web crawlers. Users can make files more visible by including richer metadata in the "manifest.rdf" file (the metadata "label" on the data package).

The following are examples of various database types. Some of them are not main-stream types, but most of them have received special attention (e.g., in research) due to end-user requirements. Some exist as specialized DBMS products, and some have their functionality types incorporated in existing general-purpose DBMSs. Though may differ in nature and functionality, these various types typically have to comply with the usability requirements below to comply as databases.

Examples

Active database - An active database is a database that includes an event-driven architecture which can respond to conditions both inside and outside the database. Possible uses include security monitoring, alerting, statistics gathering and authorization. Most modern relational databases include active database features in the form of database trigger.

Cloud database - A Cloud database is a database that relies on cloud technology. Both the database and most of its DBMS reside remotely, "in the cloud," while its applications are both developed by programmers and later maintained and utilized by (application's) end-users through a web browser and Open APIs. More and more such database products are emerging, both of new vendors and by virtually all established database vendors.

 Data warehouse - Data warehouses archive data from operational databases and often from external sources such as market research firms. Often operational data undergo transformation on their way into the warehouse, getting summarized, anonymized, reclassified, etc. The warehouse becomes the central source of data for use by managers and other end-users who may not have access to operational data. For example, sales data might be aggregated to weekly totals and converted from internal product codes to use UPCs so that they can be compared with ACNielsen data. Some basic and essential components of data warehousing include retrieving, analyzing, and mining data, transforming, loading and managing data so as to make them available for further use. Operations in a data warehouse are typically concerned with bulk data manipulation, and as such, it is unusual and inefficient to target individual rows for update, insert or delete. Bulk native loaders for input data and bulk SQL passes for aggregation are the norm.

Distributed database - The definition of a distributed database is broad, and may be utilized in different meanings. In general it typically refers to a modular DBMS architecture that allows distinct DBMS instances to cooperate as a single DBMS over processes, computers, and sites, while managing a single database distributed itself over multiple computers, and different sites. Examples are databases of local work-groups and departments at regional offices, branch offices, manufacturing plants and other work sites. These databases can include both segments shared by multiple sites, and segments specific to one site and used only locally in that site.

Document-oriented database -  A document-oriented database is a computer program designed for storing, retrieving, and managing document-oriented, or semi structured data, information. Document-oriented databases are one of the main categories of so-called NoSQL databases and the popularity of the term "document-oriented database" (or "document store") has grown with the use of the term NoSQL itself. Utilized to conveniently store, manage, edit and retrieve documents.

Embedded database - An embedded database system is a DBMS which is tightly integrated with an application software that requires access to stored data in a way that the DBMS is “hidden” from the application’s end-user and requires little or no ongoing maintenance. It is actually a broad technology category that includes DBMSs with differing properties and target markets. The term "embedded database" can be confusing because only a small subset of embedded database products is used in real-time embedded systems such as telecommunications switches and consumer electronics devices.

 End-user database - These databases consist of data developed by individual end-users. Examples of these are collections of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, multimedia, and other files. Several products exist to support such databases. Some of them are much simpler than full fledged DBMSs, with more elementary DBMS functionality (e.g., not supporting multiple concurrent end-users on a same database), with basic programming interfaces, and a relatively small "foot-print" (not much code to run as in "regular" general-purpose databases). However, also available general-purpose DBMSs can often be used for such purpose, if they provide basic user-interfaces for straightforward database applications (limited query and data display; no real programming needed), while still enjoying the database qualities and protections that these DBMSs can provide.

Federated database and multi-database - A federated database is an integrated database that comprises several distinct databases, each with its own DBMS. It is handled as a single database by a federated database management system (FDBMS), which transparently integrates multiple autonomous DBMSs, possibly of different types (which makes it a heterogeneous database), and provides them with an integrated conceptual view. The constituent databases are interconnected via computer network, and may be geographically decentralized. Sometime the term multi-database is used as a synonym to federated database, though it may refer to a less integrated (e.g., without an FDBMS and a managed integrated schema) group of databases that cooperate in a single application. In this case typically middleware for distribution is used which typically includes an atomic commit protocol (ACP), e.g., the two-phase commit protocol, to allow distributed (global) transactions (vs. local transactions confined to a single DBMS) across the participating databases.

Graph database - A graph database is a kind of NoSQL database that uses graph structures with nodes, edges, and properties to represent and store information. General graph databases that can store any graph are distinct from specialized graph databases such as triple stores and network databases.

Hypermedia databases - The World Wide Web can be thought of as a database, albeit one spread across millions of independent computing systems. Web browsers "process" these data one page at a time, while web crawlers and other software provide the equivalent of database indexes to support search and other activities.

Hypertext database - In a Hypertext database, any word or a piece of text representing an object, e.g., another piece of text, an article, a picture, or a film, can be linked to that object. Hypertext databases are particularly useful for organizing large amounts of disparate information. For example they are useful for organizing online encyclopedias, where users can conveniently jump in the texts, in a controlled way, by using hyperlinks.

In-memory database - An in-memory database (IMDB; also main memory database or MMDB) is a database that primarily resides in main memory, but typically backed-up by non-volatile computer data storage. Main memory databases are faster than disk databases. Accessing data in memory reduces the I/O reading activity when, for example, querying the data. In applications where response time is critical, such as telecommunications network equipment, main memory databases are often used.

Knowledge base - A knowledge base (abbreviated KB, kb or Δ[5][6]) is a special kind of database for knowledge management, providing the means for the computerized collection, organization, and retrieval of knowledge. Also a collection of data representing problems with their solutions and related experiences.

Operational database -These databases store detailed data about the operations of an organization. They are typically organized by subject matter, process relatively high volumes of updates using transactions. Essentially every major organization on earth uses such databases. Examples include customer databases that record contact, credit, and demographic information about a business' customers, personnel databases that hold information such as salary, benefits, skills data about employees, Enterprise resource planning that record details about product components, parts inventory, and financial databases that keep track of the organization's money, accounting and financial dealings.

 Parallel database - A parallel database, run by a parallel DBMS, seeks to improve performance through parallelization for tasks such as loading data, building indexes and evaluating queries. Parallel databases improve processing and input/output speeds by using multiple central processing units (CPUs) (including multi-core processors) and storage in parallel. In parallel processing, many operations are performed simultaneously, as opposed to serial, sequential processing, where operations are performed with no time overlap.  The major parallel DBMS architectures (which are induced by the underlying hardware architecture are:

Shared memory architecture, where multiple processors share the main memory space, as well as other data storage.

 Shared disk architecture, where each processing unit (typically consisting of multiple processors) has its own main memory, but all units share the other storage.

 Shared nothing architecture, where each processing unit has its own main memory and other storage.

 Real-time database -If a DBMS system responses users' request in a given time period, it can be regarded as a real time database.

Spatial database - A spatial database can store the data with multidimensional features. The queries on such data include location based queries, like "where is the closest hotel in my area".

Temporal database - A temporal database is a database with built-in time aspects, for example a temporal data model and a temporal version of Structured Query Language (SQL). More specifically the temporal aspects usually include valid-time and transaction-time.

Unstructured-data database- An unstructured-data database is intended to store in a manageable and protected way diverse objects that do not fit naturally and conveniently in common databases. It may include email messages, documents, journals, multimedia objects etc. The name may be misleading since some objects can be highly structured. However, the entire possible object collection does not fit into a predefined structured framework. Most established DBMSs now support unstructured data in various ways, and new dedicated DBMSs are emerging.

Q.2 a. Bring out the difference between Paper based records and Computer based

information                                                                                                        [5 Marks]

A.2 a. When businesses first began using computers in large numbers, pundits heralded the coming of the "paperless society." The computer revolution still has a way to go to deliver on that particular promise. Nevertheless, traditionally paper-based processes--both business and personal--continue to migrate to more computerized forms, and for some very good reasons.

Documents The computer has brought great ease and flexibility to the creation and editing of documents. In contrast to a typewriter, computerized word processing programs offer an almost limitless choice of styles, typefaces and formats for documents. Typing errors can be easily corrected onscreen without the need for correction fluid or correction tape. Whole blocks of text can be easily copied from one document to another without the need for any retyping. Photos and other graphics can be included in the document with very little effort.

Sharing  Sharing documents with a computerized system is simple. There is no need to make physical copies of the document and then mail or fax them to the recipients. A document on file in a computerized system can be shared with anyone else who has access to that system simply by having them display the document on their own computer screen. Documents can be shared outside the company by simply attaching the document to an email sent to the recipient.

Filing The purpose of filing is not just to store documents, but to also make them easily accessible. The computer excels in this in a way that the simple filing cabinet never could. Documents filed in a computerized system are automatically indexed by the computer's file control system. These indexes are automatically updated and maintained by the system no matter how often the document may be moved or edited. Documents can even be located by having the computer search large numbers of documents for specific words or phrases. Additionally, computerized filing systems can store a huge number of documents in a tiny fraction of the space required by physical filing cabinets.

Functionality Far from being simply an electronic representation of a static paper document, an electronic document can become a truly interactive entity. An electronic version of a fill-in form, for instance, can allow the entry of data directly into the document with real time error checking and verification. Calculations and functionality can be built directly into the document. For example, an existing customer can be listed on an electronic document by having the document use the computer's customer database file to allow the user to simply select the customer's name from a list of all customers in the file. The logic built into the document will then automatically transfer the customer's information into the document, including addresses, customer accounting numbers, or any other desired data.

Safety The physical safety of a company's files is of utmost importance. Files must be secured against physical damage or destruction. Access to files by unauthorized personnel must also be prevented. A computerized filing system simplifies these tasks. Copies of computerized files can easily be created and stored in various locations, both in multiple computer platforms within the network or on removable data media for off-site physical storage. Files in the computer system can also be encrypted to render them unreadable by those without authorized permission to view the files.

b. What are the pre requisites for establishing National Information? [5 Marks]

A2.(b). The fundamental premise of an overall national information policy is that any economic, social and political system will perform more efficiently if a mechanism is provided which will ensure that government officials, decision-makers, managers and researchers have timely access to up-to-date, relevant and reliable data and information.

Unesco, the chief promoter of the establishment of national information systems, advocates that an overall national information policy, fully incorporated into the national development plan, is essential for rational socio-economic development. Many countries around the world, developed as well as developing ones, have been concerned with the co-ordination of their various information systems and services so that all the information resources can be channeled into a national information system - composed of sectoral information systems, specialized libraries, data banks and other information services - which can respond to the information needs of all citizens.

In most countries there exist constitutional acts, policies, and legislation of various kinds relating in varying degrees to the provision of information. But the interrelationships which exist between issues concerning information communication, information technology, information economics, information management, information privacy and confidentiality, and the right to information signal the need for an

overall comprehensive approach to the problem.

In addition, the very fact that sound decision-snaking and planning in the world of to-day necessitates data and information of all kinds, such as financial, social, scientific, from national as well as foreign

sources, makes it essential that an overall basic policy statement be adopted. Such a statement should be comprehensive, sufficiently sensitive to the development of new technologies, responsive to the implications of the "Information Age" and formulated in broad terms to minimize the need for frequent

revisions as circumstances evolve. Explicit in the statement of a national information policy is the need for an effective co-ordinating mechanism.

Q.3 a. Explain the different media from which you can obtain and share information in the daily life and compare each one of them with a justification [5 Marks]

A.3.a In business there are the same media forums that most people are familiar with these days. The first would be to look at publications such as pamphlets. Perhaps your company wants to get word out about a new product. Having a flyer that details information about the product is one form of media. The Internet has websites that may be used by a business as a public forum for sharing information. The Internet is world wide and can reach many people.  A newsletter can be sent through the mail or by e-mail to stakeholders and others. The information could be well planned and reach many people easily. Television is a media often used for advertising a product. In the case of BP it was used for public relations following the oil spilling into the gulf incident.

b. Write short notes on Business Process Re-engineering and record

management [5 Marks]

A.3(b)  Business process re-engineering is a business management strategy, originally pioneered in the early 1990s, focusing on the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization. BPR aimed to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. In the mid-1990s, as many as 60% of the Fortune 500 companies claimed to either have initiated reengineering efforts, or to have plans to do so. BPR seeks to help companies radically restructure their organizations by focusing on the ground-up design of their business processes. According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering emphasized a holistic focus on business objectives and how processes related to them, encouraging full-scale recreation of processes rather than iterative optimization of sub processes. Business process re-engineering is also known as business process redesign, business transformation, or business process change management.

The most notable definitions of reengineering are:

"... the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary modern measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed."

 "encompasses the envisioning of new work strategies, the actual process design activity, and the implementation of the change in all its complex technological, human, and organizational dimensions."

BPR is different from other approaches to organization development (OD), especially the continuous improvement or TQM movement, by virtue of its aim for fundamental and radical change rather than iterative improvement. In order to achieve the major improvements BPR is seeking for, the change of structural organizational variables, and other ways of managing and performing work is often considered as being insufficient. For being able to reap the achievable benefits fully, the use of information technology (IT) is conceived as a major contributing factor. While IT traditionally has been used for supporting the existing business functions, i.e. it was used for increasing organizational efficiency, it now plays a role as enabler of new organizational forms, and patterns of collaboration within and between organizations. BPR derives its existence from different disciplines, and four major areas can be identified as being subjected to change in BPR - organization, technology, strategy, and people - where a process view is used as common framework for considering these dimensions.

Records management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organization from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal. This may include classifying, storing, securing, and destruction (or in some cases, archival preservation) of records. A record can be either a tangible object or digital information: for example, birth certificates, medical x-rays, office documents, databases, application data, and e-mail. Records management is primarily concerned with the evidence of an organization's activities, and is usually applied according to the value of the records rather than their physical format. In the past, 'records management' was sometimes used to refer only to the management of records which were no longer in everyday use but still needed to be kept - 'semi-current' or 'inactive' records, often stored in basements or offsite. More modern usage tends to refer to the entire 'lifecycle' of records - from the point of creation right through until their eventual disposal. The ISO 15489-1: 2001 standard ("ISO 15489-1:2001") defines records management as "[the] field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including the processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records". The ISO 15489-1:2001 defines records as "information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business". While there are many purposes of and benefits to records management, as both this definition highlights, a key feature of records is their ability to serve as evidence of an event. Proper records management can help preserve this feature of records. It should be noted that the format and media of records is generally irrelevant for the purposes of records management. The ISO considers management of both physical and electronic records. Also, section DL1.105 of the United States Department of Defense standard DoD 5015.02-STD (2007) defines Records Management as "[t]he planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promoting, and other managerial activities involving the life cycle of information, including creation, maintenance (use, storage, retrieval), and disposal, regardless of media."

Q.4 a. What are the disadvantages of Questionnaire method of data collection? [5

Marks]

A.4 a. Disadvantages of questionnaires:

1. Questionnaires, like many evaluation methods occur after the event, so participants may forget important issues.
2. Questionnaires are standardised so it is not possible to explain any points in the questions that participants might misinterpret. This could be partially solved by piloting the questions on a small group of students or at least friends and colleagues. It is advisable to do this anyway.
3. Open-ended questions can generate large amounts of data that can take a long time to process and analyse. One way of limiting this would be to limit the space available to students so their responses are concise or to sample the students and survey only a portion of them.
4. Respondents may answer superficially especially if the questionnaire takes a long time to complete. The common mistake of asking too many questions should be avoided.
5. Students may not be willing to answer the questions. They might not wish to reveal the information or they might think that they will not benefit from responding perhaps even be penalised by giving their real opinion. Students should be told why the information is being collected and how the results will be beneficial. 6. They should be asked to reply honestly and told that if their response is negative this is just as useful as a more positive opinion. If possible the questionnaire should be anonymous.

b. What is the use of documentation? [5 Marks]

A.4.b Documentation is a rather general activity meaning recording in a document form any useful information. Thus documents refer to any recorded information. Traditionally documents referred to the paper records of any information such as contracts, certificates, forms and other papers used in routine business documents, and manuals. However, with the increasing usage of computers, the documents can also be in the form of electronic records. The purpose of documentation in general is to make record information for use whenever required. The documents may be used for a one time and immediate specific use. For example a purchase order is a document used in this way. Other documents may be used for referring again and again. User manuals is an example of such documents. Still other type of documents are created and preserved for possible future use. For example, at the close of project, some history of the project may be documented just in case someone wants to study it in future. Documents are also used a a proof of truth of certain facts such as decisions taken, instructions given and agreements reached. These documents are used as reference and for establishing the facts if and when required.

Q.5 Explain the different types of information search in detail. [10 Marks]

A 5 An information system is a collection of hardware, software, data, people and procedures that are designed to generate information that supports the day-to-day, short-range, and long-range activities of users in an organization. Information systems generally are classified into five categories: office information systems, transaction processing systems, management information systems, decision support systems, and expert systems. The following sections present each of these information systems.

1. Office Information Systems An office information system, or OIS (pronounced oh-eye-ess), is an information system that uses hardware, software and networks to enhance work flow and facilitate communications among employees. Win an office information system, also described as office automation; employees perform tasks electronically using computers and other electronic devices, instead of manually. With an office information system, for example, a registration department might post the class schedule on the Internet and e-mail students when the schedule is updated. In a manual system, the registration department would photocopy the schedule and mail it to each student’s house. An office information system supports a range of business office activities such as creating and distributing graphics and/or documents, sending messages, scheduling, and accounting. All levels of users from executive management to no management employees utilize and benefit from the features of an OIS. The software an office information system uses to support these activities include word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentation graphics, e-mail, Web browsers, Web page authoring, personal information management, and groupware. Office information systems use communications technology such as voice mail, facsimile (fax), videoconferencing, and electronic data interchange (EDI) for the electronic exchange of text, graphics, audio, and video. An office information system also uses a variety of hardware, including computers equipped with modems, video cameras, speakers, and microphones; scanners; and fax machines.

2. Transaction Processing Systems A transaction processing system (TPS) is an information system that captures and processes data generated during an organization’s day-to-day transactions. A transaction is a business activity such as a deposit, payment, order or reservation. Clerical staff typically performs the activities associated with transaction processing, which include the following:

1. Recording a business activity such as a student’s registration, a customer’s order, an employee’s timecard or a client’s payment.

2. Confirming an action or triggering a response, such as printing a student’s schedule, sending a thank-you note to a customer, generating an employee’s paycheck or issuing a receipt to a client.

3. Maintaining data, which involves adding new data, changing existing data, or removing unwanted data.

Transaction processing systems were among the first computerized systems developed to process business data – a function originally called data processing. Usually, the TPS computerized an existing manual system to allow for faster processing, reduced clerical costs and improved customer service.

The first transaction processing systems usually used batch processing. With batch processing, transaction data is collected over a period of time and all transactions are processed later, as a group. As computers became more powerful, system developers built online transaction processing systems. With online transaction processing (OLTP) the computer processes transactions as they are entered. When you register for classes, your school probably uses OLTP. The registration administrative assistant enters your desired schedule and the computer immediately prints your statement of classes. The invoices, however, often are printed using batch processing, meaning all student invoices are printed and mailed at a later date.

Today, most transaction processing systems use online transaction processing. Some routine processing tasks such as calculating paychecks or printing invoices, however, are performed more effectively on a batch basis. For these activities, many organizations still use batch processing techniques.

3. Management Information Systems While computers were ideal for routine transaction processing, managers soon realized that the computers’ capability of performing rapid calculations and data comparisons could produce meaningful information for management. Management information systems thus evolved out of transaction processing systems. A management information system, or MIS (pronounced em-eye-ess), is an information system that generates accurate, timely and organized information so managers and other users can make decisions, solve problems, supervise activities, and track progress. Because it generates reports on a regular basis, a management information system sometimes is called a management reporting system (MRS). Management information systems often are integrated with transaction processing systems. To process a sales order, for example, the transaction processing system records the sale, updates the customer’s account balance, and makes a deduction from inventory. Using this information, the related management information system can produce reports that recap daily sales activities; list customers with past due account balances; graph slow or fast selling products; and highlight inventory items that need reordering. A management information system focuses on generating information that management and other users need to perform their jobs. An MIS generates three basic types of information: detailed, summary and exception. Detailed information typically confirms transaction processing activities. A Detailed Order Report is an example of a detail report. Summary information consolidates data into a format that an individual can review quickly and easily. To help synopsize information, a summary report typically contains totals, tables, or graphs. An Inventory Summary Report is an example of a summary report. Exception information filters data to report information that is outside of a normal condition. These conditions, called the exception criteria, define the range of what is considered normal activity or status. An example of an exception report is an Inventory Exception Report is an Inventory Exception Report that notifies the purchasing department of items it needs to reorder. Exception reports help managers save time because they do not have to search through a detailed report for exceptions. Instead, an exception report brings exceptions to the manager’s attention in an easily identifiable form. Exception reports thus help them focus on situations that require immediate decisions or actions.

4. Decision Support Systems Transaction processing and management information systems provide information on a regular basis. Frequently, however, users need information not provided in these reports to help them make decisions. A sales manager, for example, might need to determine how high to set yearly sales quotas based on increased sales and lowered product costs. Decision support systems help provide information to support such decisions. A decision support system (DSS) is an information system designed to help users reach a decision when a decision-making situation arises. A variety of DSSs exist to help with a range of decisions. A decision support system uses data from internal and/or external sources. Internal sources of data might include sales, manufacturing, inventory, or financial data from an organization’s database. Data from external sources could include interest rates, population trends, and costs of new housing construction or raw material pricing. Users of a DSS, often managers, can manipulate the data used in the DSS to help with decisions. Some decision support systems include query language, statistical analysis capabilities, spreadsheets, and graphics that help you extract data and evaluate the results. Some decision support systems also include capabilities that allow you to create a model of the factors affecting a decision. A simple model for determining the best product price, for example, would include factors for the expected sales volume at each price level. With the model, you can ask what-if questions by changing one or more of the factors and viewing the projected results. Many people use application software packages to perform DSS functions. Using spreadsheet software, for example, you can complete simple modeling tasks or what-if scenarios. A special type of DSS, called an executive information system (EIS), is designed to support the information needs of executive management. Information in an EIS is presented in charts and tables that show trends, ratios, and other managerial statistics. Because executives usually focus on strategic issues, EISs rely on external data sources such as the Dow Jones News/Retrieval service or the Internet. These external data sources can provide current information on interest rates, commodity prices, and other leading economic indicators. To store all the necessary decision-making data, DSSs or EISs often use extremely large databases, called data warehouses. A data warehouse stores and manages the data required to analyze historical and current business circumstances.

5. Expert Systems An expert system is an information system that captures and stores the knowledge of human experts and then imitates human reasoning and decision-making processes for those who have less expertise. Expert systems are composed of two main components: a knowledge base and inference rules. A knowledge base is the combined subject knowledge and experiences of the human experts. The inference rules are a set of logical judgments applied to the knowledge base each time a user describes a situation to the expert system. Although expert systems can help decision-making at any level in an organization, no management employees are the primary users who utilize them to help with job-related decisions. Expert systems also successfully have resolved such diverse problems as diagnosing illnesses, searching for oil and making soup. Expert systems are one part of an exciting branch of computer science called artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the application of human intelligence to computers. AI technology can sense your actions and, based on logical assumptions and prior experience, will take the appropriate action to complete the task. AI has a variety of capabilities, including speech recognition, logical reasoning, and creative responses. Experts predict that AI eventually will be incorporated into most computer systems and many individual software applications. Many word processing programs already include speech recognition.

6. Integrated Information Systems With today’s sophisticated hardware, software and communications technologies, it often is difficult to classify a system as belonging uniquely to one of the five information system types discussed. Much of today’s application software supports transaction processing and generates management information. Other applications provide transaction processing, management information, and decision support.

Q.6 Define Information Society. Describe the impact of information society on

information profession. [10 Marks]

A.6 There is currently no universally accepted concept of what exactly can be termed information society and what shall rather not so be termed. Most theoreticians agree that a transformation can be seen that started somewhere between the 1970s and today and is changing the way societies work fundamentally. Information technology goes beyond the internet, and there are discussions about how big the influence of specific media or specific modes of production really is. In 2005, governments reaffirmed their dedication to the foundations of the Information Society in the Tunis Commitment and outlined the basis for implementation and follow-up in the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. In particular, the Tunis Agenda addresses the issues of financing of ICTs for development and Internet governance that could not be resolved in the first phase. Some people, such as Antonio Negri, characterize the information society as one in which people do immaterial labour. By this, they appear to refer to the production of knowledge or cultural artifacts. One problem with this model is that it ignores the material and essentially industrial basis of the society. However it does point to a problem for workers, namely how many creative people does this society need to function? For example, it may be that you only need a few star performers, rather than a plethora of non-celebrities, as the work of those performers can be easily distributed, forcing all secondary players to the bottom of the market. It is now common for publishers to promote only their best selling authors and to try to avoid the rest—even if they still sell steadily. Films are becoming more and more judged, in terms of distribution, by their first weekend's performance, in many cases cutting out opportunity for word-of-mouth development. Considering that metaphors and technologies of information move forward in a reciprocal relationship, we can describe some societies (especially the Japanese society) as an information society because we think of it as such as letters.

Impact

In the modern world, information has the power to transform the lives of people and nations. National development is influenced by the amount of available information. The idea of an "information society" is connected to this fact. There are different definitions of "Information Society." Access to information is crucial, and it is influenced by many factors. Balance among the factors is essential to shrink the digital divide (Rao, 2006).

Martin (1995) defined an information society as a society in which the quality of life, as well as prospects for social change and economic development, depends increasingly upon information and its exploitation. In such a society, living standards, patterns of work and leisure, the education system and the marketplace are influenced markedly by advances in information and knowledge. This is evidenced by an increasingly array

of information-intensive products and services, communicated through a wide range of media, many of them electronic in nature.

The information society is driven by information and communication technologies (ICT), along with new skills for the population, government support, and sustainability (Rao, 2006). Rao notes that

ICTs can be seen as an instrument or an industry. ICTs are expanding into developing countries, but there is a large gap between those who can afford it and those who cannot. ICTs can have a positive impact on development and help close the gap.

Technology can be both a tool of development and a divider of the populace. It also can be misused. ICTs can strengthen education, public service, government, agriculture, and other industries.

Implementation of the Information Society

In developed countries, the Internet is a mainstream medium, but this is still not the case in developing countries. There are 500 million Internet users in the world, and 80 percent are in the developed world, while in developing countries only two percent of the population has access to the Internet (Rao, 2006). There is both anecdotal and theoretical evidence about the impact of the Internet and other features of the information society (Rao, 2006).

Political Implications

Governments are the largest producers and consumers of information. Governments organize and disseminate statistical data, which is used for decision-making. E-government allows direct participation by citizens in matters of public interest. Although the pace of change to e-government is not as quick as it could be, particularly in developing countries, changes are inevitable.

ICTs influence the lives of poor people in developing countries in different ways. It might take time before the impact is visible. Implementation has different implications for different areas of a country, and these factors must be taken into account when attempting to measure impact. The Internet has hosted social networks, activism, community networks, and e-government initiatives. Challenges include inadequate access, poor electricity, high costs, and lack of skills, infrastructure, and sustainability

(Neelameghan, 1999). Governments accustomed to tight media control may be surprised by the instant global dissemination of information. This has resulted in Internet filtering in a number of cases. Also, despite the new opportunities for industry and culture, there is concern about the hegemony of Western culture enabled by globalization.

ICTs must be incorporated in the development plans of a country. ICT should ideally be driven by the government, with a clear ICT policy that contributes to the eradication of poverty. The policy should cover knowledge creation, transfer, and innovation. There must also be people in government who understand the ICT and can move it forward (Geldof, 2005). The use of ICT can influence the delivery of government services, as well as access to them and participation by citizens. Models of e-government include the wider dissemination model, and the service delivery model. One issue of particular concern related to e-government is Internet governance, including not only ownership, but also governance of and on the Internet. This is a complex issue which can be politically sensitive.

Social Implications

ICT has affected all aspects of life in both positive and negative ways. This has led to

consideration of information ethics. Geldof (2005) observes that introducing ICTs is a social process. The social implications are as important as the technology. ICT is transforming communication. ICT can have a significant impact on the position of women in society. ICT has the potential to help poor women to improve their lives, but women are also often vulnerable, and may need protection from the negative aspects of ICT, as with human trafficking via the Internet. Social and cultural norms may constrain

women’s participation in ICT, as so a lack of literacy and education, language, infrastructure, as well as high costs (Geldof, 2005).

ICT can have an important impact on poor and marginalized people, and can improve education, training and employment. ICT can be used to alleviate poverty. There are still concerns about the social impact of ICT. If the digital divide becomes more severe, new generations could become estranged from

their own culture.

Moral Implications

Froehlich (2004) notes that information ethics has grown as a discipline in library and information science, and has been embraced by many other disciplines, including journalism and business. Important work in the field has been done by Robert Hauptman, Barbara J. Kostrewski, and Charles Oppenheim, among others. The development of the Internet has had a profound impact on the field of information ethics.

Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester IV

BB0020 – Managing Information – 4 Credits

(Book ID: B0099)

Assignment Set- 2

Q.1 a. What are the advantages of information retrieval?

Ans. Full text retrieval systems are designed to retrieve information from a database made of any kind text or data.  This capability, in fact, widened the scope of application of text retrieval system.  In fact, text retrieval packages are useful for any kind of organization.  Major areas are:

Administrative

Correspondence tracking

Manual preparation

Proposals and procedures

Financial

Credit history

Capital budget requests

Business plans

Legal

Litigation support

Control analysis

Brief preparation

Regulatory findings

Legislative tracking

Manufacturing

Project control and planning

Process description

Vendor information

Specifications

Quality assurance procedures

Marketing

Competitor analysis

Customer tracking

Attitude survey

Questionnaire analysis

Product descriptions

Personnel

Skills inventory

Resume tracking

Employee benefit policies

Self-instruction programs

Performance reviews

Scientific and engineering

Technical abstracts

Journal articles

Research cross-references

Patent information

Reaction results

A closer look through the above list would reveal that text retrieval systems are applicable virtually to every area of an organization.

b. What are the problems of full text retrieval systems?

Ans. Problems of full text retrieval systems

· Full text retrieval systems are designed to display, as the result of a successful search, the 'facts' directly on the screen from a single source. The major problem of a full text database is that the text should be in ASCII or EBCDIC format, which is intelligible to the database handler.

· Acquisition of complete text in the database is often a major problem of full text systems.  Keyboarding the whole lengthy text is not only a time consuming job, but is also quite expensive. An attractive way of entering full texts may be to use the method of Optical Character Recognition (OCR). However, this requires the original text in quite clean and standard fonts.

· Another problem of full text systems arises from the time and resources taken up in updating with additions of new materials. Need for updating is not quite unexpected given the large size of the text data and the auxiliary files, but it does make frequent-amendments and thus quite costly in terms of computer resources. Some other difficulties associated with text retrieval systems could be

-Different database designers or online services often handle the same publication differently, which may confuse the user community. Again, some services include selected part of the texts for economic use of disk space, but this may hamper user's interest.

Q2. What are the different types of trade and product bulletins? Explain in brief.

Ans. Types of Trade and Product Bulletins

The format and design of trade and product bulletins seems to be governed by the psychology and economics of advertising and selling rather than by considerations of their use and preservation. In-spite of the wide variety of physical characteristics of trade bulletins, a few, basis types may be examined in some detail in the following sections.

Some of the types of trade and product bulletins are:

· House journals;

· Advertisements and supplements in technical journals and trade magazines;

· Special issues and supplements of journals;

· Manufacture's catalogues and data sheets;

· Product descriptions supplied at trade fairs, conventions, exhibitions

· Directories of products and companies; and

· Trade catalogues service.

Q3. What are the different types of attacks on information you will find in your daily life? Explain in brief.

Ans. We have noted that computer and communications technologies have propelled us into the Information Age. These advances have also made business susceptible to new and dangerous kinds of invisible attacks, popularly generalized as computer crime and are probably a real threat to businesses. But as of 1989, the most significant threats to critical business information continue to come from the mental or written form. A secondary risk is from trusted insiders, who purposely expose or destroy information.

The answer to these kinds of threat is simple and obvious. Better training, supervision, and motivation for employees and procedures are the alternative to minimize errors and safeguard valuable information. Unfortunately, the regularity and frequency of cases involving exposure or loss of sensitive information show that in many companies, management has not bothered to address the matter effectively.

Risk to business information other than carelessness with paper and loose talk is far less frequent and has less impact. But the potential for information exposure or loss sensitive information show that in many companies, management has not bothered to address the matters effectively.

Q.4 Take a scenario of your choice and explain in your own words how one can think of taking care of information security.

Ans. The following are areas to watch:

Press releases: The competitive intelligence people before going out should check sensitive press releases.  Is the information being let out worth the cost of having the competition know it? In some cases, a little pruning may be necessary.

Public filings: The same goes for public filings with federal, state, and local agencies.  It's illegal not to provide the requested information, but the form should be checked to make sure you haven't "overfilled," given more information than necessary. Indeed, the information that is left out should be noted so that the competitive intelligence unit knows what puzzle pieces are out there and available to the competitor. While the competitor may have some information about you, the idea is to keep them from having all the pieces needed to make a strong analysis. Keeping away from having that critical mass of information takes skill and experience.

For example, on blueprints submitted for a city building permit, are machinery positions required to be included? What's the least amount of information you can supply about the machine's description?

Technical Papers: One of the main leaks from companies is through technical papers delivered at conferences by engineers and researchers. While a free exchange of ideas benefits everyone, the papers should be examined to make sure that strategic plan or other confidential information isn't being broadcasted or telecasted inadvertently.

Speeches and presentations: The same holds true for speeches by the CEO or other top managers. While no one will purposely give away confidential information, it's important to check speeches for certain pieces of information that could help a competitor analyse something and give them a competitive advantage.

Plant tours: Using the old methods of security, all plant tours would be considered off limits.  Today companies are to fulfil civic duties or business obligations by allowing visitors in their facilities. However, visitors should be kept to areas with little strategic value to competitors.  They should be escorted and not allowed to roam free.

Q.5 Explain Knowledge Management Cycle with a neat diagram.

Ans. Knowledge Management Cycle

The KM cycle can be represented as below in the figure 1. KM cycle has four activities, which are almost interrelated to each other.

Figure 1

Planning                     Collecting

 

Dissemination             Analysis

Planning: This requires a three phased approach and this encompass the following process.

1. Clear understanding of user needs, including the time constraints of user.

2. Understand business environment

3. Understand customer need

4. Understand competitors’ activities

5. Establish a collection and analysis plan

6. Keep the user informed.

Collection: This process involves collection of various

1. Types of information

2. Primary Secondary and Tertiary

3. Now and later types of information (refers to information required for immediate and later use)

4. Easy v/s difficult

5. Public domain information (Government information)

6. Trade Association

7. Databases both In-house and external.  The external database can be either free or paid in nature.

8. Internet

9. Non public domain information

· Sales people

· Observation

· Trade shows

Analysis:

Knowledge is analysed information, which is ready to perceive and take decision on that. The concept of analysis became popular after the World War II. US is the first to become leader in analysis concept and as such information analysis to generate knowledge.

"Analysis is the process of taking information often seemingly unconnected information and turning it into knowledge. One should understand that analysis is a skill, which one has to develop. Intelligence Agencies look for good analyst for predictions because they make remote relationships from things they have learned and know about from outside the realm of their immediate investigation. They relate this outside information to what is going on with in their own organization.

Q.6 Explain the need for an information policy and national information

Policy.

Ans. Need for an Information Policy and National Information Policy

Information is for use. Which encompasses a whole range of information transfer processes, stemming from the recognition that information is a basic resource that transforms natural resources into value added powerful wealth. The value and importance of information and knowledge, therefore, demand their care, harnessing management and exploitation for use.  The ultimate purpose of information and knowledge is to put them to use, and in turn, to provide for a higher quality of life to people. The vital role of information in national development has to be seen in this perspective.

The primary objective of a National Information Policy is to achieve a progressive up-liftment of the socio-economic development of the country through the provision of access to and availability of information and knowledge with speed and efficiency to all those who are involved in activities for national development. In the context of India, a National Information Policy must necessarily be governed by and form an integral and harmonious part of the social, economic, educational, research and development and other related policies which get formulated at various stages of our national development. Further, the Information Policy needs to be properly made compatible with the five year National Plans of the country.