cis 465 - review for final exam1 review for final exam

CIS 465 - Review for Final exam 1

Reviewfor

Final Exam


Materials Covered - I

• All Articles on reading List:• Brancheau, et al. (1996) "Key Issues in Information Systems Management: 1994-95

SIM Delphi Results", MIS Quarterly, Vol. 20, Number 2, June 1996.

• Goodwin, Nancy C. (1987), "Functionality and Usability," Communications of the ACM , March 1987, 229-233.

• Gorry and Scott Morton, (1989) "A Framework for Management Information Systems", Sloan Management Review, Spring 1989. (A reprint of the classic article first published in 1971).

• Grudin, (1994) "GroupWare and Social Dynamics: Eight Challenges for Developers", Communications of the ACM, Vol. 37, Number 1, January 1994.

• Van den Hoven, John (1996) "Executive Support Systems & Decision Making" Journal of Systems Management, March/April 1996. 48-55.

• Wetherbe, (1991) "Executive Information Requirements: Getting It Right", MIS Quarterly, Vol. 15, Number 1, March, 1991.


Materials Covered - II

• Lectures/Chapters Since Exam II– Evaluating Information systems– Determining Executive Information Requirements – Alter, Chapter 12 - Much of this is covered in lecture

(but not all!).

• Work-Centered Analysis– Alter - Chapter 2

• Differences Between Information Systems– Chapter 5


Materials Covered - III

• Any question or concept I asked on the first two exams is fair game for the final exam. Please note that I may ask the question in a different context.

• I will not cover a topic on the final that I have not covered here.

• Please realize that if I cover a concept here in the review, it would be a good idea to review any previous discussion of it (e.g. lecture notes, text book).


Suggested Study Approach

• In Groups review all articles. Try to formulate 3 or 4 questions on the primary points of each article.

• Review previous exams. Make sure you understand the concepts being asked, and not just memorizing answers or terms.

• Review WCA concepts. (Alter Chapter 2)

• Last two slide series and Chapter 12.


Gorry and Scott Morton Framework

• Robert Anthony

• Herbert Simon

Information Requirements by Management Level

Characteristicsof Information

OperationalControl

ManagementControl

StrategicPlanning

Source Largely Internal Internal andLargely External

Scope Well defined,narrow

Very wide

Level ofAggregation

Detailed Aggregate

Time Horizon Historical Future

Currency Highly current Need not be up tothe minute

RequiredAccuracy

High Lower, Estimatesare acceptable

Frequency of Use Very frequent Infrequent, ad-hoc

A FRAMEWORK FOR DECISION MAKING

Type ofDecision/Task

OperationalControl

ManagementControl

Strategic Planning Support Needed

Structured1Inventory reordering

2Budget Analysis,short-term forecasting,Make or Buy Analysis

3Plant Location,FinancialManagement(investment),Distribution Systems.

Clerical, MIS, ORModels, TransactionProcessing Systems

Semi-structured

4Bond trading,Production Scheduling

5Credit Evaluation,Budget Preparation,Plant Layout, ProjectScheduling, RewardSystems Design

6Building New Plant,Mergers &Acquisitions, NewProduct Planning,CompensationPlanning, QualityAssurance Planning

Decision SupportSystems

Unstructured

7Selecting a Cover for aMagazine, ApprovingLoans, Buying Software

8Negotiating, RecruitingExecutives, Lobbying

9R & D Planning,New TechnologyDevelopment, SocialResponsibilityPlanning

Human Intuition,Expert Systems,Executive Support Systems

A FRAMEWORK FOR DECISION MAKING

Type ofDecision/Task

Operational Control ManagementControl

Strategic Planning Support Needed

Structured1Inventory reordering

2Budget Analysis,short-termforecasting, Makeor Buy Analysis

3Plant Location,FinancialManagement(investment),DistributionSystems.

Clerical, MIS, ORModels, TransactionProcessing Systems

Semi-structured4Bond trading, ProductionScheduling

5Credit Evaluation,BudgetPreparation, PlantLayout, ProjectScheduling,Reward SystemsDesign

6Building NewPlant, Mergers &Acquisitions, NewProduct Planning,CompensationPlanning, QualityAssurancePlanning

Decision Support Systems

Unstructured7Selecting a Cover for aMagazine, ApprovingLoans, Buying Software

8Negotiating,RecruitingExecutives,Lobbying

9R & D Planning,New TechnologyDevelopment,SocialResponsibilityPlanning

Human Intuition,Expert Systems,ExecutiveInformation/SupportSystems

Support Needed MISManagement ScienceOR Models

ManagementScienceDSS,EIS, ES

EIS,Neural Networks,Executive MentalModels


Building and Maintaining Information systems

• What are the phases in building and maintaining information systems?

Phases in Building and Maintaining Systems


IT-Based Innovation

• What are some of the areas in which IT-based innovations have affected the following functional areas of business?


IT-Based Innovation

• What are some of the areas in which IT-based innovations have affected the following functional areas of business?– Product design systems– procurement systems– manufacturing systems– sales and marketing systems– delivery systems– customer service systems– finance systems


Technology Trends

• How technology trends enabled IT-based innovation in business?


Technology Trends

• How technology trends enabled IT-based innovation in business?– Greater miniaturization, speed and portability– greater connectivity and continuing convergence

of computing and communications– greater use of digitized information and

multimedia– better software techniques and interfaces with

people.


Obstacles to IT-Based Innovation

• What obstacles to real world limitations have slowed the pace of implementation for IT-based innovations?


Obstacles to IT-Based Innovation

• What obstacles to real world limitations have slowed the pace of implementation for IT-based innovations?– Unrealistic expectations and techno-hype– difficulty building and maintaining information systems.– Difficulty integrating IT-based systems.– Organizational inertia, resistance and problems with

change– genuine difficulty anticipating what will happen


Work Systems

• What six elements can be used to summarize any work system?


Work Systems


Work Systems

• What is the relationship between information systems and work systems?


Work Systems


Work Systems

• What five perspectives can be used for thinking about work systems?


Five Perspectives for Understanding a Work System

ARCHITECTURE•What are the components of the system that performs the work and who uses the work product?•How are the components linked?•How do the components operate together?

PERFORMANCE•How well do the components operate individually?•How well does the system operate? (How well is the work performed?)•How well should the system operate?

INFRASTRUCTURE•What technical and human infrastructure does the work rely on? •In what ways does infrastructure present opportunities or obstacles?

CONTEXT•What are the impacts of the organizational and technical context?•In what ways does the context present opportunities or obstacles?

RISKS•What foreseeable things can prevent the work from happening, can make the work inefficient, or can cause defects in the work product?•What are the likely responses to these problems?


Work Systems

• What is the relationship between process architecture, process performance, and product performance?


Work Systems

• What is the relationship between process architecture, process performance, and product performance?– Improvements in a work system are usually related to the

links between the architecture and the performance perspectives.

– Customer satisfaction is largely determined by product performance.

– Product performance is determined by a combination of product architecture and the internal work system performance


From work system architecture to customer satisfaction


Systems Analysis

• What are the steps in systems analysis and how can business professionals apply these steps?


Systems Analysis


The 10 Issues in the Work-Centered Analysis Method

Systems analysis step

1. Define the problem

2. Describe the current work system in enough depth

and

3. Design potential improvements

4.Decide what to do

Corresponding issues for thinking about a system

Issue 1: Problem Definition

Issue 2: Improvements from product changesIssue 3: Improvements from process changesIssue 4: Improvements related to work system participantsIssue 5: Improvements from better informationIssue 6: Improvements from better technologyIssue 7: Improvements from shared infrastructureIssue 8: Improvements related to the business contextIssue 9: Improvements from risk reduction

Issue 10: Recommendation


Business Processes

• What is the role of data flow diagrams in process modeling?


Business Processes

• What is the role of data flow diagrams in process modeling?– Represent the flow of data between different

processes in a work system.– They reflect nothing on decision criteria, timing

of sub-processes, and other details.– Context diagram is a first-level DFD.


Business Processes

• What business process characteristics can be used to describe system design choices impacting business process success?


Business Processes

• Seven Characteristics that often affect business process performance:– Degree of Structure– Range of Involvement– Level of Integration– Complexity– Degree of Reliance on Machines– Attention to Planning, Execution, and Control– Treatment of Exceptions, Errors, and Malfunctions


Business Processes

• What are different levels for imposing structure on work?


Business Processes

• What are different levels for imposing structure on work?

DEGREE TO WHICH STRUCTURE IS IMPOSED

Highest: Substitution of technology for people

High: Enforcement of rules or procedures

Low: Access to information or tools


Business Processes

• What are the five possible levels of integration of business processes?– Level of integration - the level or degree of

mutual cooperation or responsiveness between distinct activities or processes.


Management Support

• In what ways do information systems support various management roles?


Information systems related to Mintzberg’s management roles


Common Sources of Management Information

FORMAL, COMPUTER-BASED

Internal sources: Key indicators generated by internal tracking systems

External sources: Public databases

FORMAL, DOCUMENT-BASED

Internal sources: Planning reports, internal audits

External sources: Industry reports, books, magazines

FORMAL, VERBAL

Internal sources: Scheduled meetings

External sources: Industry forums

INFORMAL

Internal sources: Lunch conversations, gossip, management-by-walking-around

External sources: Trade shows, personal contacts


Data Modeling

• What is the role of entity-relationship diagrams in data modeling?


Data Modeling

• What is the role of entity-relationship diagrams in data modeling?– From a user’s perspective, most issues about

organizing and accessing information boil down to:• What information is in the system?• How is the information Organized?• How can users obtain whatever information they need?• Important aspects of E-R diagrams are entities,

relationships, and attributes.


Data, Information, and Knowledge

• What is the relationship between data, information, and knowledge?


Data, Information, and Knowledge


Multidimensionality

• What role does dimensional modeling play for senior management?

• What are typical dimensions in a business?

• What are typical facts or measures?

• How does this relate to drill-down analysis?


Dimensional Modeling

• Dimensional Modeling gives us a way to visualize data.• The CEO’s perspective:

– “We sell products in various markets, and we measure our performance over time.”

• From the data warehouse designer’s perspective, we hear three dimensions:

– We sell Products– in various Markets– and measure performance over time.


Dimensional Model of the Business

Product

Market

Ti

me


Typical Dimensional Model

Time_keyday-of-weekmonthquarteryearholiday_flag

Time_keyproduct_keystore_keydollars_soldunits_solddollars_cost

Product_keydescriptionbrandcategory

Store_keystore_nameaddressfloor_plan_type

Sales Fact

Time Dimension

Product Dimension

Store Dimension


Fact Table

• Fact Table is where numerical measurements of the business are stored.

• Each measurement is taken at the intersection of all the dimensions.

• The “best” facts are numeric, continuously valued and additive.

• For every query made against the fact table may use hundreds of thousands of individual records to construct an answer set.


Dimension Tables

• Dimension tables are where textual descriptions of the business are stored.

• Each textual description helps to describe a member of the dimension.

• Example: each member in the product dimension is a specific product. The product dimension database has many attributes to describe the product. A key role of the dimension table attribute is to serve as the source of constraints in a query.


Example

Brand

AxonFramisWidgetZapper

Dollar Sales

780104421395

Unit Sales

26350944439


Example Query

• Find all product brands that were sold in the first quarter of 1995 and present the total dollar sales as well as the number of units.

• Brand is a collection of individual products.• To construct:

– A. Drag attribute brand from product dimension. Place as Row Header.

– B. Drag Dollar Sales and Units Sold from the Fact Table, and place to the right of the Brand row header.

– C. Specify row constraint “1st Q 1995” on the quarter attribute in the Time Dimension Table.


Multi-dimensional database


Transaction Processing Systems

• What are some characteristics of transaction processing systems?

• How does this relate to the Gorry Scott -Morton Framework?


Transaction Processing System


Management Information System

• What are characteristics of Management Information Systems?

• How do they relate to the Gorry Scott Morton Framework?


Management Information System


Decision Support Systems

• Characteristics?– Models that are semi-structured and

unstructured.


Models

• Classifications of Models


Models

• Pounds– Historical - expectation based on extrapolation of past

experience.– Planning - the plan is the expectation– Inter-organizational - Models of other people in the organization

(e.g. superiors, subordinates, other departments, etc.)– Extra-organizational - models where the expectations are

derived from competition, customers, professional organizations, etc.

• Another:– Iconic Models - Analog Models– Mathematical Models - Mental Models


Decision-Making

• What is a model of decision-making?

• Decision-making Concepts– Knowledge of Outcomes– Rationality vs. Satisficing– bounded rationality


Applications Development

• Traditional Systems Development Method

• Prototyping


Communications

• Basic Concepts– Social Context– Personal, Impersonal, Anonymous– Time, Place, Direction– Approaches for Improving Communication


Groupware

• Basic Model classification groupware applications

• Theoretical Foundation for groupware or electronic meeting systems

• Issues and Challenges for Designers– note - some of these relate to advantages and

disadvantages of working in groups.

Common Communications Classified By Time and Place

Common Communications Classified By Time and Place

SAMEPLACE

DIFFERENTPLACE

SAME TIME DIFFERENT TIME

Presentation SystemsCopyboardsPC ProjectorsFacilitation ServicesPolling SystemsGroup Decision Rooms

Transaction databasesShared FilesElectronic MailVoice Mail

Shift Work Communications

Typical TelephoneVideo Telephone Video ConferencingLive Radio TV Broadcast

EDIElectronic MailComputer ConferencingVoice MailFax

Theoretical Foundations for Electronic Meeting Systems

Theoretical Foundations for Electronic Meeting Systems

Group

Task

Context

Technology

Process Outcome


Theoretical FoundationsTheoretical Foundations

• Meeting outcomes (e.g. efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, etc.) depend on the interaction within the meeting process of four things:– the group members – working on a task at hand– context factors – with the technology of the electronic

meeting system and the components of the technology the group uses (e.g. anonymity).


Theoretical Foundations: Group CharacteristicsTheoretical Foundations: Group Characteristics

• Group Size• Group Proximity• Group Composition (peers or hierarchical)• Group Cohesiveness, etc.


Foundations: Task CharacteristicsFoundations: Task Characteristics

• Activities to accomplish the task (idea generation, decision choice, etc)

• Task complexity, equivocality, structure, analyzability, importance, etc.

• Task Type:

– Creativity– Intellective– Preference– Planning– Cognitive Conflict– Mixed Motive


Foundations: Context CharacteristicsFoundations: Context Characteristics

• Environment:

– competition,– uncertainty,– time pressure,– evaluative tone (critical vs. supportive)

• Organizational:– information system– age– culture– reward structure (none vs. individual vs. group)

– power structure


Foundations: Technology CharacteristicsFoundations: Technology Characteristics

• The Technology used– (the computer-mediated communication system,– The GDSS– The EMS– How it was designed, its structures, its features etc).

• In other words, the design of the technology is important.

• Example: Try comparing 2 simple e-mail systems,


Group ProcessesGroup Processes

• Certain processes improve outcomes while others impair outcomes

• Meeting outcomes depend on the processes losses and gains

cis 465 - review for final exam1 review for final exam

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