Professional Documents
Culture Documents
IS as a Discipline
-
Management Accounting
Behavioural Science
Computer Science
- Communication Technology
- Decision Sciences
- Organisation & Management
IS as a Product
Combination of 5 key elements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Hardware
Software
Telecommunications networks
Data
People
IS Process
Data
Information
- Raw numbers/facts
Personalised info, data r/s
Knowledge
- Formatted data
Job Title
Systems analyst
Develop
Programmer
Job Description
Analyses business requirements and
selecting IS that meet those needs
Coding, testing, debugging, installing
Systems
consultant
IS auditor
Maintain
Manage
Database
administrator
Webmaster
IS manager
IS security
manager
CIO
Uni professor
Study
Govt scientist
programs
Provides IS knowledge to external
clients
Audits IS and operating procedures for
compliance with internal and external
standards
Manages database and database
management software use
Manages the firms website
Manages an existing IS
Manages security measures and
disaster recovery
Highest-ranking IS manager;
responsible for strategic planning and IS
use throughout the firm
Teach students; study the use of IS in
organisations and society
R&D of IS for homeland security,
intelligence and other related
applications
Description
methodologies
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Operational
Managerial
Executive/Strategi
c
By Foreman/Supervisors
By functional (mid-level)
managers
Automate Monitoring &
Controlling of Operating
Activities
For: Organisational
Effectiveness
By Executive-level
Mangers
Aggregate Summaries
of Org-Data & Projects
for Future
For: Organisational
Strategy & Planning
Structured: Budget
Allowance, Short-term
Forecast
Semi: Budget Prep,
Project Scheduling
Unstructured:
Recruiting, Negotiating
Structured: Financial
Management
Automate Routines /
Repetitive Activities (eg.
TPS)
For: Improving
Organisational
Efficiency
Structured:
Accounts/Orders
Semi: Production
Scheduling/Inventory
Unstructured: Buying
Software
Semi: Building, HR
Policies, M&As
Unstructured: R&D,
CSR Planning
Accounting
Financial
HR
Marketing
Operational
LECTURE 2
IS, BUSINESS PROCESSES AND
BUSINESS MODELS
Order-to-Cash
-
Procure-to-Pay
-
Make-to-Stock/Make-to-Order
-
Value-add of IS
3 ways in which IS can be used to add value to an organisation:
1. Automating
- Tasks can be completed faster, cheaper, more accurately, with
greater consistency
2. Informating (Learning)
- Used to learn about processes, improve processes, support
organisational learning
3. Supporting Strategy
- Used to support an organisations strategy and to gain competitive
advantage
Business Model
A business model is a summary of a businesss strategic direction that
outlines how the objectives will be achieved. It identifies how a company
will generate revenue and identifies its product offerings, value-added
services, revenue sources and target customers.
It answers the following questions:
-
Freeconomics
Freeconomics is the leveraging of digital technologies to provide free
gods and services to customers as a business strategy for gain a
competitive advantage.
Any industry that utilises digital technologies will head towards
increasingly lower costs, and ultimately a price of free.
-
Eg. After Yahoo had built its e-mail environment, the cost to provide
the service for each additional person is virtually zero
Thus, the marginal cost is nearly zero while huge profits are made
when more use it
For every additional customer, Yahoo receives payments from
companies placing banner advertisements on pages within its email
service
LECTURE 3
Cost leadership
-
Product differentiation
-
Focus
-
Best-cost provider
-
Cost Leadership
How to
achieve
Risks
Differentiation
- Technical superiority
- Better design and
performance
- Better customer service
- Quality
- Reliability
Implication
Use of IS
Rivalry
Among
Existing Firms
Increased competition in
price, product distribution
and service
Threat Of
New Entrants
Bargaining
Power of
Buyers
Bargaining
Power of
Suppliers
Threat of
Substitute
Goods
Decreased prices
Need for increased
demand quality & service
Increased costs
Reduced quality
E.g. Package deal between airline, telephone carrier, car rental and
hotel service
Growth
-
Innovation
-
LECTURE 4
The value chain refers to the set of activities that add value throughout
the organisation.
Activities include acquiring supplies in a more effective manner, improving
products, and selling more products.
Inboun
d
Logistic
Operatio
ns
Outboun
d
Logistics
Sales &
Marketin
g
Service
5. Customer Service
- Post-sale activities, e.g. maintenance/warranty, recalls/returns
Supporting Activities of the Value Chain
1.
2.
3.
4.
-
Administrative activities
Support of day-to-day operations
Infrastructure activities
Implementation of required hardware and software
HR activities
Employee management (interviews, hiring, payroll, benefits)
R&D activities
Design and development of applications to support the primary
activities
5. Procurement activities
- Purchasing of goods and services (inputs for primary activities)
** Sample Uses of IS to add value (pg95)
Value chain analysis is the process of analysing an organisations
activities to determine where value is added to products/services and
what costs are incurred for doing so.
It has become a popular tool for applying IS for competitive advantage as
IS can help to automate many activities along the value chain.
Steps in Value Chain Analysis:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
IIM diagram
Uses:
-
LECTURE 5
E-commerce vs e-business
e-Commerce
e-Business
EC Business Strategies
Physical
Virtual
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Click only
Brick and
Click and
mortar
mortar
Brick-and-mortar
-
Click-and-mortar
-
Types of EC
Type of EC
Business-to-business (B2B)
Business-to-employee (B2E)
Business-to-consumer (B2C)
Consumer-to-business (C2B)
Consumer-to-consumer
(C2C)
Description
Among businesses
Between businesses and employees
Between businesses and customers
Between customers and businesses
Between people not necessarily working
together
B2B EC is, by far, the largest form of EC in terms of revenue (93% of all
EC).
B2B EC
A collection of companies and processes are involved in moving a product
from the suppliers of raw materials, to the suppliers of intermediate
components, to final production, and ultimately to the customer they are
collectively referred to as a supply chain.
** EDI refer to pg184.
An extranet is a private part of the Internet that enables >=2 firms to do
business together.
-
B2E EC
An intranet consists of a private network to facilitate the secured
transmission of information within an organisation, e.g. project
management, collaboration.
Intranet pages occur behind the companys firewall but nowadays, most
companies also allow access to the intranet via VPNs.
Intranet Applications
Training
o Intranet-based training, multimedia courses (e.g. supervisor
training)
Personalised Intranet Pages
o Employees can only view content relevant to their job
Real-Time Access to Information
o Easier to manage, update, distribute and access corporate
information
o Company can disseminate news in a more timely fashion
while, at the same time, saving millions annually in
distribution costs
o Integration of enterprise search functionality easier for
employees to locate documents increase in employee
productivity
Online Entry of Information
o E.g. Processing HR-related forms; can cut costs from $20 to
$0.05 per form
o Report templates can be centrally managed and modifications
made instantly
o Online forms can be checked for accuracy when the data is
entered
Collaboration
o Facilitates quick communication of activities across different
divisional areas Reduces product development cycles and
stay ahead of market conditions
o Also used for communication outside of traditional workflow,
e.g. employee blogs, polling staff about current issues,
employee forum
o Formation of virtual teams
o Groupware
Class of software that enables people to work together
effectively
Electronic meeting systems (EMS)
** Benefits of groupware table (pg194)
o Videoconferencing
Systems are expensive range from a few thousand
dollars to $500k
B2C EC
Focuses on the retail transactions between a company and its end
customers.
Stages of B2C EC
1. E-Information
a. Dissemination of promotional and marketing material
b. Allows access of information by global users, 24/7/365
2. E-Integration
a. Customers can access dynamic, customised information, eg.
Bank statements
3. E-Transaction
a. Customers get real-time access to info on products and
services
b. Customers can conduct transactions
E-Tailing
-
Benefits of E-Tailing
-
Product Benefits
o No physical restrictions Can offer an unlimited
number/variety of products
o Facilitates comparison shopping for the users
Place Benefits
o Available anywhere, anytime
o Consumers can purchase on a global scale
Price Benefits
o Many consumers Higher inventory turnover Can compete
on price
o No need to rent expensive retail space Can further reduce
prices
Drawbacks to E-Tailing
-
The
The
The
The
website
website
website
website
E-Banking
-
E-Investing
-
People use the Internet to get stock quotes and to manage their
portfolios (online brokerage firms)
C2C EC
Opportunities
Consumers can buy/sell to broader
markets
Eliminates the middleman Lower
prices
Always available, 24/7/365
Threats
No quality control
Higher possibility of fraud
Harder to use traditional
payment methods (checks,
cash, ATM cards)
E-Auctions
-
Internet Marketing
Marketing is always essential, regardless if it is online or brick-and-mortar.
-
Search Marketing
o Paid search - Bid to appear on the first page of search results
(sponsored search) or to elevate its position in the organic
results (paid inclusion)
o Search engine optimization Companies try to optimise their
search ranking; success is usually limited but worthwhile
Display Ads
o Banner ads; can be contextualised based on the content of the
page
E-mail Marketing
o Low cost
o Effectiveness can be directly measured (via special links)
Social Media
o For interactive communication with customers
Mobile Marketing
o Placing ads in apps (freeconomics model)
Pricing Models
o Pay-per-click models, click-through rate, conversion rate
o Affiliate marketing allows owners to post ads on their pages,
in return for a share of ensuing sales or referrals
o Click Fraud
Network fake clicks to inflate own revenue earned from
advertiser
C2B EC
A model where consumers sell goods/services to businesses.
-
Impact of E-Commerce
Benefits:
-
Increase revenue
o Global reach
o Bypass middleman
Reduce costs
o Reduce communication costs; holding less inventory
Changing revenue models
o Reverse pricing; focus on long tails
Challenges:
-
Technical
o Lack of universally accepted quality, security and reliability
standards
o Compatability problems in integrating with back-end
processing systems
o Different development and project management paradigm
Non-technical
o Legal, ethical issues, e.g. IP rights, fraud
o Distrust of customers
o Restructuring of business processes to go online
LECTURE 6
Mobile Entertainment
-
Payment Services
-
Legal Issues in EC
Taxation
For
Against
E-Government
E-government is the use of IS to provide citizens, organisations and
other governmental agencies with information about public services and
to allow for interaction with the government.
Model
Government-to-citizen
(G2C)
Government-to-business
(G2B)
Government-to-government
(G2G)
Description
Between government and its citizens
Between government and businesses
Among governments
G2C
G2B
G2G
-
Challenges:
-
LECTURE 7
STRATEGIC IT APPLICATIONS IN
ORGANISATION WORK (1)
- INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE
DISCOVERY
Description
Separates program and data Easier to evolve
and alter software
Single copy of data Storage requirements are
minimised
Lower redundancy Reduced inconsistency
Centralised system Easier to share data
Data standards simplify program development
Centralised system standardises standards and
rules
Simplifies enforcement of access restrictions
Due to centralised control, minimised redundancy
and improved data consistency
Centralised system Easier to provide access
Data changed in the central database replicate
seamlessly
Managing a Database
-
Data
o
o
o
o
Model
A map/diagram that represents entities and their relationships
Captures the structure of the data
Can be represented by an entity-relationship diagram
Each attribute is of a certain data type, which helps the DBMS
to organise and sort the data, complete calculation and
allocate storage space
o Normalisation ensures that each table contains only attributes
related to the entity Eliminates data duplication
o If tables are well-designed, they will be easier to update and
vial information can be extracted faster
Data Dictionary
o Contains the format of the data after the data model is
created
o Explains each attribute and the need, how often it should be
updated etc.
o Can be used to enforce business rules e.g. who has the
authority to update a piece of data
Data Entry
-
Data Query
-
Operational System
Informational System
Support managerial
decision making
Historical or point-in-time
Managers, business
Scope of
usage
Design goal
clerks, salespersons,
administrators
Narrow and simple
updates and queries
Performance
Data Warehouses
-
Data Marts
-
Description
Produced at predefined intervals to support
routine decisions
Summary of critical info on a recurring schedule
Report
Exception Report
Drill-down Report
Ad-hoc Queries
Data Mining
-
LECTURE 8
STRATEGIC IT APPLICATIONS IN
ORGANISATION WORK (2)
- BUSINESS ANALYTICS & INFORMATION
VISUALISATION
Business Analytics
-
Architecture of a DSS
o Consists of input, process and output components
o Within the process component, models are used to manipulate
data
o ** Common DSS Models table & Architecture of a DSS
figure (pg286)
Intelligent Systems
-
Challenges
Getting employee buy-in to share
their personal tacit knowledge
assets linked to company culture
Must identify the knowledge first
what, who, why
Huge spending
Having a KMS does not guarantee success in knowledge
management itself
Factors to consider:
o Technological factors KMS may not guarantee success in
knowledge management itself
o Social factors Employees are reluctant or forget to share
Motivations to share:
o Usage of KMS should be integrated into the firms operations
o Organisational incentives encourage/acknowledge/reward
users who learn, teach and share
Digital Dashboards
-
Visual Analytics
-
LECTURE 9
AND ERP
Stand-alone applications
o Not designed to communicate with other systems
o Enable departments to conduct daily business activities
efficiently, but are not helpful for other areas of the firm
Proprietary systems
o Purchased from software vendors; not designed to share data
with other vendors systems
o Results in the problem of knitting together a messy portfolio of
discordant proprietary applications into an integrated system
Legacy system
o An old stand-alone system that is approaching or beyond the
end of their useful life
o Can prove problematic when info from multiple departmental
systems is required to support business processes
o If the data is not integrated, it might require 2 separate
applications or a custom interface to pull information from
both systems
o Results in a highly inefficient process for operations personnel
o ** Information flows using legacy systems table
(pg320)
Packaged software
o Written by 3rd-party vendors for many different users and
organisations
o Useful for standardised, repetitive tasks
o Cost-effective as the developmental costs are spread over a
number of users
o E.g. Microsoft Office
Custom software
o Developed exclusively for a specific organisation
o Much higher developmental costs due to the customisation
o Needs to be maintained internally when changes are required
Managers must consider if packaged software can meet the
business and requirements, and if not, conduct a cost-benefit
Vanilla version
o Contains features and modules that an enterprise system
comes with out of the box
o Certain processes might not be supported
Customised version
o Contains additional software or changes to the vanilla version
o Can be costly and maintaining it is troublesome new vanilla
versions must be continually upgraded to accommodate
company-specific customisations
Order-to-Cash
o Process varies greatly on the industry simple for retail, not
for distributor
o Different modules of the financial and operations
management components must work together
o Financial checking credit limits, billing, processing incoming
payments
o Operations sales, price quotation, stock allocation, pricing,
shipping etc.
Procure-to-Pay (pg333)
Make-to-Stock/Make-to-Order
o MTS typically used for commodities
o MTO used for highly customisable goods
Other Business Processes
o ERP systems typically enable a variety of other generic as well
as industry-specific business processes
ERP Installation
-
ERP Limitations
-
ERP Implementation
Big Bang
-
Phased
-
LECTURE 10
SCM AND CRM
Bullwhip Effect
-
Product Recalls
o Many opportunities where shortcuts are being taken and
quality standards are not met along the supply network
o Important to have a clear picture of the supply chain so that
the problem can be identified as quickly as possible
o Singling out the source helps to save goodwill and limit costs
of a recall
Sustainable Business Practices
o Growing emphasis, e.g. ethical treatment, environmental
practices
o Other companies try to portray a green image requires a
clear view of their supply chain to provide convincing numbers
to support their claim
Key Uses
Forecast and plan demand for products
and forecasting
Safety stock
planning
Distribution
planning
Supply network
collaboration
Materials
management
Manufacturing
execution
Order promising
Transportation
execution
Warehouse
management
Supply chain
analytics
Challenges
-
SCM Architecture
Supply chain planning (SCP) involves the development of various
resource plans to support the efficient and effective production of goods
and services. 4 key processes: (ref pg354 fig)
1. Demand Planning and Forecasting
- Historical data is examined to develop the most accurate forecasts
- Supports collaborative demand and supply planning between
companies
- Leads to the development of the overall demand forecast
2. Distribution Planning
- Focuses on delivering products or services to consumers as well as
warehousing, delivering, invoicing, and payment collection
- Leads to the development of the overall transportation schedule
3. Production Scheduling
Supplier portals
Customer portals
B2B marketplaces
These provide an alternative to proprietary supply linkages, e.g.
using EDI
Operational CRM
-
Collaborative CRM
-
CRM Implementation
-
Obstacles
o Technology Difficult to use due to its complexity
o Social Employees need to shift from product-oriented to
customer-oriented
o Personal Failure of staff to log correctly
Solutions
o Provide training for employees in new roles, responsibilities
and skills
o Develop methods of measuring and compensating job
performance
o Follow-up resolution tracking
Summary
SCM and CRM can be stand-alone systems or integrated into an enterprise
system.
A tight ERP/SCM/CRM integration can reap great benefits.
ERP systems optimise business processes within the organisation.
SCM improves business processes that span organisational boundaries.
CRM keeps track of customers through orders and related information
from SCM and payments from ERP.