Master of Business Administratot- MBA Semester 2 MB0047 Management Information System Assignment Set- 1

Q. Explain DFD & Data Dictionary? Explain in detail how the information requirement is determined for an organization? Answer: DFD :-Data flow diagrams represent the logical flow of data within the system. DFD uses few symbols like circles and rectangles connected by arrows to represent data flows. DFD can easily illustrate relationships among data, flows, external entities an stores. DFD can also be drawn in increasing levels of detail, starting with a summary high level view and proceeding o more detailed lower level views. Round rectangle represent process that transform flow of data or work to be done. Rectangle represent external agents the boundary of the system. It is the source or destination of data . The open-end boxes represent the data stores, sometime called file or database . The data stores correspond to all instance of a single entity in a data model . Arrow represent the data flows, input and output to end from the processes. A number of guidelines should be used in constructing DFD. Choose meaningful names for the symbols on the diagram. Number the processes consistently. The numbers do not imply the sequence. Avoid over complex DFD. Make sure the diagrams are balanced. Data Dictionary : The data dictionary is used to create and store definitions of data, location, format for storage and other characteristics. The data dictionary can be used to retrieve the definition of data that has already been used in an application. The data dictionary also stores some of the description of data structures, such as entities, attributes and relationships. It can also have software to update itself and to produce reports on its contents and to answer some of the queries. A schedule is made for the development of the system. While preparing the schedule due consideration is given to the importance of the system in the overall information requirement. Due regard is also given to logical system development. For example, it is necessary to develop the accounting system first and then the analysis. decisions with the financial decisions. The system development schedule is linked with the

information requirements which in turn, are linked with the goals and objectives of the business. The selection of the architecture, the approach to the information system development and the choice of hardware and software are the strategic decisions in the design and development of the MIS in the organisation. The organisations which do not care to take proper decisions in these areas suffer from over-investment, under-utilisation and are not able to meet the critical information requirements. Hardware and Software Plan :Giving due regard to the technical and operational feasibility, the economics of investment is worked out. Then the plan of procurement is made after selecting the hardware and software. One can take the phased approach of investment starting from the lower configuration of hardware going over to higher as development takes place. The process is to match the technical. Q2- What is MIS ? Define the characteristic of MIS ? What are the basic function of MIS? Give some disadvantage of MIS? Ans- The industrial revolution has replaced manual labour with machine, thus paving way for use of computer for data processing. History of MIS: Between 1936 and 1940, computer were used to handle scientific calculation. From 1940 to 1960 computer were used to largely used to process large amount of cencus and payroll data. In 1960 and the 1970 computer could generate information in the form of report like daily sale report , weekly production and account payable /receivable report . These report assist the management to take decision on number of unit produce, how to improve operation and potential problem in payment of money by customer. MIS characteristics . transation handling and record keeping. . Major functional area are taken care of by IDMS. . MIS assemble , processes, stores, retrieve , evaluate, and disseminate information . In any organization managers will have varieties of tasks to manage. MIS is mainly designed to take care of the needs of the managers in the organization. MIS helps in identifying a proper mechanism of storage of data. The data is maintained in such a way that the unnecessary duplication of data is avoided. MIS also helps in establishing mechanism to eliminate redundancies in data. . MIS is divided in subsystem, each subsystem is easier to handle in comparison to entire system Function of MIS The main function of MIS is to help the managers and the executives in the organization in decision making. Data capturing: data capturing is process of gathering data from various source like 1. Output of one system . for ex. Closed order of Sale department bill by finance . 2. From third party such as media . 3. Data from stakeholder such as supplier and vender.

Data Storage : data storage is the process of storing the gathered data in a database or datafile Data processing : Data processing is task of gathering , storing ,transmit into meaningful information . Data and information distribution Predication Planning Control Disadvantages of MIS 1. MIS provide information only to managerial level for decision making not to all employe. 2. MIS implementations require commitment for top management .\ 3. MIS doesnt solve all problem . 4. MIS doesnt update itself for change unless the current input are fed in time to analyse a subject. Q 3- Explain knowledge based system ? Explain DSS and OLAP with example ? Ans- Decision making or problem solving is riddle with uncertainty and complexity dominated by resource constrain and possibility of several goals . Under such circumstance open or flexible system have to be used. Most of such termed as unstructured situation, adopt two method of problem solving, generalized approach or the know based expert system. There are two types of knowledge based. a. Machine readable knowledge bases: The knowledge base helps the computer to process through. It makes the data in the computer readable code which makes the operator to perform easier. Such information sare used by semantic web. Semantic web is a web that will make a description of the system that a system can understand. b. Human readable knowledge bases: They are designed to help people to retrieve knowledge. The information need to be processed by the reader. The reader can access the information and synthesize their own. KBS refers to a system of data and information used for decision making. The system is automated to work on the knowledge based data and information required in a particular domain of management activity. The processing is done based on the past decisions taken under suitable conditions. Decision making is based on the fact that the condition is similar to the past situation hence the decision is also is similar. Examples of KBS are intelligent systems, robotics, neural networks etc. Decision Support Systems (DSS) DSS is an interactive computer based system designed to help the decision makers to use all l the resources available and make use in the decision making. In management many a time problems arise out of situations for which simple solution may not be possible. To solve such problems you may have to use complex theories. The models that would be required to solve such problems may have to be identified.

rules is known as decision support system. It is a flexible system which can be customized to suit the organization needs. It can work in the interactive mode in order to enable managers to take quick decisions. You can consider decision support systems as the best when it includes highlevel summary reports or charts and allow the user to drill down for more detailed information. A DSS has the capability to update its decision database. Whenever manager feels that a particular decision is unique and not available in the system, the manager can chose to update the database with such decisions. This will strengthen the DSS to take decisions in future.. depending upon the model adopted to solve the problem. You can summarize the benefits of DSS into following: Improves personal efficiency Expedites problem solving Facilitates interpersonal communication Promotes learning or training Increases organizational control Generates new evidence in support of a decision Creates a competitive advantage over competition Q 4- What are the value chain analysis & describe its significance in MIS ? Example what is meant by BRP ? what is it significance ? How data warehousing & data mining is useful in term of MIS? Ans: The activities performed by a particular enterprise can be analyzed into primary activities, which directly adds value to the enterprises factors of production, which are together referred to as the value chain, and supporting activities. Figure: Product Differentiation and Value Chain representation Porters Enterprise Value-Chain Valueaddition activities like production, marketing delivery, and servicing of the product. These activities are connected in a chain. Support activities include those providing purchased inputs, technology, human resources, or overall infrastructure functions to support the primary activities. It is possible to reduce the transaction cost by proper coordination of all the activities. It should be possible to gather Business Process Re-engineering The existing system in the organization is totally reexamined and radically modified for incorporating the latest technology. This process of change for the betterment of the organization is called as Business process re-engineering. This process is mainly used to modernize and make the organizations efficient. BPR directly affects the performance. It is used to gain an understanding the process of business and to understand the process to make it better and redesigning and thereby improving the system. BPR is mainly used for change in the work process. Latest software is used and accordingly the business procedures are modified, so that documents are worked upon more easily and efficiently. This is known as workflow management.

BRP: Technology is order of the day and business use technology for the development of the organization and the economy. Initially business process were evaluated and wherever possible change for the progress of the organization were made. This is business process reengineering. BPR attempts to bring in efficiency in the performance and operation . The existing system is redesigned and mapped to achieve the above outcome. Workflow management is brought through change in the process of work . To achive this, examine the process detail . Then document it discuss and after a lot of thought , redesign may require a change in the existing IS may make it easier for for the management to effect this change throughout the organization . Significance of BPR Business process are a group of activities performed by various departments, various organizations or between individuals that is mainly used for transactions in business. There may be people who do this transaction or tools. We all do them at one point or another either as a supplier or customer. You will really appreciate the need of process improvement or change in the organizations conduct with business if you have ever waited in the queue for a longer time to purchase 1 kilo of rice from a Public Distribution Shop (PDS-ration shop). The process is called the check-out process. It is called process because uniform standard system has been maintained to undertake such a task. The above activities takes place between the customer and supplier which forms the process steps this example explains the business process. The business process may be getting admission to the college and graduating from the college, building house, and implementing new technology to an organization. Data Warehousing Data Warehouse is defined as collection of database which is referred as relational database for the purpose of querying and analysis rather than just transaction processing. Data warehouse is usually maintained to store heuristic data for future use. Data warehousing is usually used to generate reports. Integration and separation of data are the two basic features need to be kept in mind while creating a data warehousing. The main output from data warehouse systems are; either tabular listings (queries) with minimal formatting or highly formatted "formal" reports on business activities. This Data warehouse Architecture: Data Mining Data mining is primarily used as a part of information system today, by companies with a strong consumer focus -retail, financial, communication, and marketing organizations. It enables these companies to determine relationships among "internal" factors such as price, product positioning, or staff skills, and "external" factors such as economic indicators, competition, and customer demographics. And, it enables them to determine the impact on sales, customer satisfaction, and corporate profits. Finally, it enables them to "drill down" into summary information to view detail transactional data. With data mining, a retailer could use point-of-sale records of customer purchases to send targeted promotions based on an individual's purchase history. By mining demographic data from comment or warranty cards, the retailer could develop products and promotions to appeal to specific customer segments.

Q-5 Distinguish between closed decision making system & open decision making system? What is What if analysis? Why is more time spend in problem analysis & problem definition as compared to the time spends on decision analysis ? Ans: Closed decision-making system: The decision-making systems can be classified in a number of ways. There are two types of systems based on the manager's knowledge about the environment. If the manager operates in a known environment then it is a closed decisionmaking system. The conditions of the closed decision-making system are: a) The manager has a known set of decision alternatives and knows their outcomes fully in terms of value, if implemented. b) The manager has a model, a method or a rule whereby the decision alternatives can be generated, tested, and ranked for selection. c) The manager can choose one of them, based on some goal or objective criterion. Few examples are a product mix problem, an examination system to declare pass or fail, or an acceptance of the fixed deposits. Open decision-making system If the manager operates in an environment not known to him, then the decision-making system is termed as an open decision-making system. The conditions of this system in contrast closed decision-making system are: a) The manager does not know all the decision alternatives. b) The outcome of the decision is also not known fully. The knowledge of the outcome may be a probabilistic one. c) No method, rule or model is available to study and finalise one decision among the set of decision alternatives. d) It is difficult to decide an objective or a goal and, therefore, the manager resorts to that decision, where his aspirations or desires are met best. Deciding on the possible product diversification lines, the pricing of a new product, and the plant location, are some decision-making situations which fall in the category of the open decisionmaking systems. The MIS tries to convert every open system to a closed decision-making system by providing information support for the best decision. The MIS gives the information support, whereby the manager knows more and more about environment and the outcomes, he is able to generate the decision alternatives, test them and select one of them. A good MIS achieves this. What if analysis Decisions are made using a model of the problem for developing various solution alternatives and testing them for best choice. The model is built with some variables and relationship between variables. In reality, the considered values of variables or relationship in the model may not hold good and therefore solution needs to be tested for an outcome, if the considered values of variables or relationship change. This method of analysis is called 'what if analysis.' For example, in decision-making problem about determining inventory control parameters (EOQ, Safety Stock, Maximum Stock, Minimum Stock, Reorder level) lead time is assumed fairly constant and stable for a planning period. Based on this, the inventory parameters are calculated. Inventory manager wants to know how the cost of holding inventory will be affected if lead time is reduced by one week or increased by one week. The model with changed lead time would compute the cost of holding inventory under new conditions. Such type of analysis can be

done for purchase price change, demand forecast variations and so on. Such analysis helps a manager to take more learned decisions. What if analysis creates confidence in decisionmaking model by painting a picture of outcomes under different conditions? Decision Analysis A decision is made but such decision needs to be analysed for conditions and assumptions considered in the decision model. The process is executed through analytical modelling of problem and solution. Problem Definition The starting point of a problem definition is the information gathered in the problem analysis stage. The different aspects surrounding the design problem have been analysed and should be taken into account in the problem definition. For defining a problem this implies that it is not sufficient to describe the existing state. Therefore, we speak consciously of the situation someone is or is not content with. A description of the situation is therefore a description of a state plus the relevant causal model(s), including the assumed patterns of behavior of the people and organizations involved. A situation is only a problem if the problem-owner wishes to, and wants to do something about it. This implies that a situation must be conceivable that is more desirable than the present one: the goal situation. The existing situation, however, can also be formulated in such a manner that a problem does arise. A problem definition is usually set up at the end of the problem analysis phase. Problem Analysis You can use problem analysis to gather information that helps you determine the nature of a problem encountered on your system. The problem analysis information is used to: Determine if you can resolve the problem yourself. Gather sufficient information to communicate with a service provider and quickly determine the service action that needs to be taken. The method of finding and collecting error information depends on the state of the hardware at the time of the failure Q-6 What is ERP? Explain its existence before and its future after? What are the advantages & Disadvantages of ERP? What is Artificial Intelligence? How is it different from Neural Networks? Ans: Let us look at how ERP system came into existence . The earlier precursor of the ERP system was the material requirement planning (MPS) system . It was popular in the 1970s as it support the production and operation function is finding . . Stock level using the inventory record . The product that could be made using MPS . Detail of product using bill of material (BOM)

ERP Before and After Before : Before ERP organization utilized separate IS for each function .these system were known as functional IS and generated information silos. This create duplicate data in different function and create insufficiencies in customer service. Customer has to intract with different department to resolve their issue as none of the department had the complete the data. After: the deployment of ERP system allow the organization to focus on business process rather than function . This provide integrated view of the business to impart the knowledge, respond to the market place,track resources and find the business status . Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages In the absence of an ERP system, a large manufacturer may find itself with many software applications that do not talk to each other and do not effectively interface. Tasks that need to interface with one another may involve: A totally integrated system The ability to streamline different processes and workflows The ability to easily share data across various departments in an organization Improved efficiency and productivity levels Better tracking and forecasting Lower costs Improved customer service Change how a product is made, in the engineering details, and that is how it will now be made. Effective dates can be used to control when the switch over will occur from an old version to the next one, both the date that some ingredients go into effect, and date that some are discontinued. Part of the change can include labelling to identify version numbers. Disadvantage Here are some most common obstacle experience . Customization in many situation is limited . The need to re-engineer business process . ERP system can be cost prohibitive to install and run . technical support can be shoddy