Revision

Week 13 – Lecture 1

Course structure

You will recall that the course covered three broad areas: 1. Basic concepts in Information Systems2. The technology of Information Systems3. Some managerial aspects of Information

Systems

Assessment

• Final exam worth 60% of the total mark (you must attain a minimum of 40%)

• Two individual assignments, each worth 15% of the final mark

• Two group tutorial presentations, each worth 5% of the final mark.

Exam

• Six questions – each with several parts

• Some questions ask for your knowledge within a context – think about that context first so your answer is relevant.

• Each question has different marks allocated to it – that is an indication of how long and complex your answer needs to be.

Illness or misadventureat the time of an examination

• There are two possibilities:– Sit the exam in which case there is no

possibility of another exam– Miss the exam.

• If your absence is due to circumstances beyond your control, then you may apply for special consideration.

• Subject to supplying acceptable documentation you may be granted a supplementary exam

Applications for special consideration

• The application must be received within 5 days of the exam

• The evidence, medical or otherwise, must make it clear that– The circumstances were beyond your control– The circumstances would have significantly affected your

performance

• The underlying principle is that you HAVE the knowledge, but the circumstances prevented you from demonstrating that.

• Is is NOT that the circumstances prevented you from attaining that knowledge

What is an organisation?

• Identifiable body or institution

• With a defined purpose

• Having resources of land, capital, labour and information/knowledge

• Usually having a defined legal structure

• Sometimes being a part of a larger organisation

StaffCapital

Systems to achieve a PurposeInformation/Knowledge

Legal structure

An organisation is bounded, and exists within an environment.

Customers

Owners

Suppliers

Government

A Business Model

• An abstraction of – what an enterprise (organisation) is, and – how it delivers a product or service, – showing how it creates wealth (L&L page 114)

Four major changes that challenge the business environment

• Globalisation

• Transformation of industrial economies

• Transformation of enterprises

• Emergence of the digital firm

Globalisation

• Globalisation is the free movement of– Capital

– Trade in goods & services

– People

• Implications– Management in a global marketplace

– Global competition

– Global work groups

– Global systems

Transformation of Industrial economies

• Information based – white collar workers in the USA constitute 60% of the workforce (sales, insurance, office, law, healthcare, financial services etc)

• Knowledge is a strategic asset

• Time based competition

• Shorter product life

Transformation of the enterprise

• Flattening of the management structure

• Decentralisation

• Location independent

• Collaborative workgroups – virtual teams

Emergence of the Digital firm

• Digital relationship with customers, suppliers and employees

• E-Commerce• Core business processes accomplished via networks• Knowledge management• Systems extend beyond organisational boundaries

From

To

What is an Information System?

• An information system (IS) is a pre-established set of inter-related components that collect, process, store, and distribute information, to support decision making and control in an organisation. Laudon & Laudon

• Our primary interest in this course is on computer-based IS.

• An IS is almost always a component in a broader system.

Information systems can be:

• Operational – – part of the day to day business

– often part of a larger system that has physical elements – eg a wholesalers delivery system that includes the movement of goods

• Managerial – – A feedback system for managing the business

– A system to support strategic and technical decisions

– A repository of the organisation’s knowledge

General Systems Theory

• Developed by a biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy and published in 1968

• He was reacting against another theory of reductionism

• GST introduces some concepts that are useful to us in studying systems

• He considered the principles of GST applied to all systems – social, biological, technological

What is a system?

A system is something that maintains itsexistence and functions as a whole through the interaction of it parts.

Joseph O’Connor and Ian McDermottThe Art of Systems Thinking

Examples –Your bodyThe environmentThe Federal governmentThe Sydney Train serviceSydney University student enrolment system

Characteristics of all Systems

Interconnected parts

Inputs Outputs

Environment

System-environment boundaryEmergent propertiesFeedback loopsLeverageGoal directedProcess

Interconnected parts

• The interconnected parts function as a whole• The system is changed if parts are added or

removed, or their connections are changed• The arrangement of the parts is crucial• Its behaviour depends on the total structure• Those parts are sometimes systems themselves• It is the input & output of a part that is important,

not how it achieves that output

O’Connor & McDermott

Emergent properties

• Systems have properties above and beyond the properties of the parts that comprise them – they emerge from the system when it is working (piano, human body, The Internet)

• They are often unpredictable and surprising. (although as system designers we expect to predict the outcome)

O’Connor & McDermott

Stability and leverage

• Systems with many parts are usually stable and resistant to change

• If pressure builds up within a system then it can change suddenly and dramatically – the fall of Communism in Europe

• If you can find the right point in a system then again, change can be instigated. You need to understand the system – and the principal of leverage

Feedback loops

• Our body/system requires us to drink water.– If we don’t we get thirsty– This reminds us to have a drink– The drink satisfies the thirst when the body has

had enough– No more thirst – we stop drinking

• MIS are primarily feedback systems

Types of Information Systems

KEY SYSTEM APPLICATIONS IN THE ORGANIZATION

Transactionprocessing

DS/ES andcommunication

KM andcommunication

MIS andcommunication

Laudon & Laudon

Transaction processing systems

• Operational level

• High volumes

• Multi-user access

• Increasingly crossing organisational boundaries

• Application integration a big challenge

Management Information Systems

• Management level • Accepts data from multiple TP systems• Summarises and relates data from those internal

sources• Usually both

– Standardised reporting on a periodic basis, and

– One-off query based

• Generates KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

Knowledge Management Systems

• Knowledge workers – management support staff, engineers, researchers etc

• Report/ task orientated e.g. Microsoft Office or Engineering CAD

• Complex data manipulation – text, diagrams, graphics, modelling (what if) etc

• Allows extraction of data from MIS• External data sources• Document management

Decision support/Executive support

• Data analysis tools – – data mining– Multi-dimensional analysis tools– Modelling software

• Grown-ups Excel• Large quantities of data• Econometric model building

• Target – Long term strategic planning• Used by executive support staff• External data sources

The Supply Chain

Our firm

Raw materialsuppliers

Manufacturers

Distributors Retailers Customers

What supply chain management does

• Plan production based on orders

• Decide what to order & produce

• Track status of orders – supplier & customer

• Check and control inventory levels

• Plan transportation

• Track shipments

Customer Relationship management

Laudon & Laudon

What CRM does

• Who are our most loyal customers – it cost 6 times more to sell to a new customer

• Who are our most profitable customers – 80% of profits are earned from 20% of clients – the 80/20 rule

• What do our customers want – can we tailor products to meet their needs better

• Customer satisfaction• Sales staff performance

What HR does

• Personnel management– Performance reviews– Succession planning– Skill database– Employee records – address, next-of-kin etc

• Recruitment– Planning– Managing the recruitment process

• Salaries – sometimes a special system closely integrated

Finance & Accounting

• General ledger – financial reporting

• Accounts payable - debtors

• Accounts receivable – creditors

• Budgeting

• Fixed asset management

• Cash management

Integration – the major challenge

SupplyChain

CRM

HR Financial

Orders, Customer info.

Invoices

Salary summaries

Resourceavailability

SalesStaff

Purchases

The drivers for integration

• Transaction cost reduction in the supply chain – firms can grow and still reduce its workforce

• Reduce internal management costs – increased span of control

• More and faster information enables better decisions

• Enabling faster product cycles• Broader range of information in the MIS

MainframeMinicomputer

IBM PCWindows

TCP/IP

XMLXBRL

Characteristics of e-Commerce

• Direct communication between business partners: DISINTERMEDIATION, removes intermediate layers streamlines process

• Low entry cost and potentially fast return on investments (need to consider total costs though!)

• Vendors can provide information 24 hours a day

• Extends distribution channels• Can reduce transaction costs• Personalisation, one-to-one

Some advantages

• REDUCES INFORMATION ASYMMETRY: Asymmetry exists when one party has more information than other

• INCREASES RICHNESS: Depth & detail of information

• INCREASES REACH: Number of people contacted

Types of e-Commerce• BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER (B2C)

– Information – brochures, specifications– Enquiry on account or delivery status– Product ordering & payment– Browser based

• BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS (B2B)– Information – brochures, specifications, problem solving– Product ordering via browser– System integration– On-line marketplaces e.g. Covisint

• CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER (C2C): – Individuals use Web for private sales or exchange– E-Bay most well known example

Client server model

• Any computer connected to a network is called a host – a host for a process which provides or requests a service

• The client host process requests a service from the server host process

• A process is a program running within a host • The request and service is provided by the

exchange of messages

Operating system

Proc A

Proc B

Proc C

Operating system

Proc X

Proc Y

Proc Z

Clientprocess

Clientprocess

Serverprocess

Serverprocess

Host 1

Host 2

Proc. A asks Proc. X toPerform a service.

Proc. Z asks Proc. C toPerform a service

Host 1 does not ask Host 2 to perform aService

A protocol defines

• the format and order of messages

• exchanged between two communicating entities, and

• the actions taken on receipt or transmission of a message.

What do we want from a communications network?

• We want to – transfer messages from a process in one

computer– to a process in another computer

• reliably

• quickly

• and in an understandable form.

We also know that:

• Messages have to pass through a number of routers and switches from one computer to another, and thus the network has to route messages correctly

• The various links may be of different media at different bandwidths

• The signals carrying data are subject to interference and degradation, and thus messages may be corrupted or lost

• The byte coding structure in one computer may be different from the other

Application ApplicationProcess Message

Transport TransportSegmentHost

Network NetworkHost & Router

Datagram Datagram

Link/Physical Link/Physical

Host, router& switch

Frame Frame

LinkLink LinkLink

LinkNetwork

Switch

Router

Application

Presentation

Session

Transport

Network

Data Link

Physical

To provide application services – FTP, X400, X500

To translate, encryptAnd compress data

Establish and manageConnection.

Provide end-to-enderror free deliveryof messages End-to-end routing of

packets through thenetwork.

Reliable transfer ofa frame of data between two devices

Transmits bits acrossa physical medium

The interface

Comparing The Internet & OSI

Key points about a layered approach

• The source process only wants to know that the message it sent gets to the destination process – it does not need to know how

• The Network “stack” is implemented in the operating system of both hosts and the various switches & routers

• As such the software in each operating system will be different code – – but implementing the same protocol

Task management(scheduler)

Memory management

Device drivers

Command language(Shell)

MiddlewareDBMS

Application processes

TCP/IP

EthernetATM etc

Filemanager

XML

• Is not a single pre-defined language but a language for describing other customised languages

• It allows the creation of DTDs (Document Type Descriptions) or Schemas

• A DTD consists of a DOCTYPE and ELEMENT definitions

• These allow a program to validate the syntax of a document

XML

• The data is all ANSII text thus can be read by any machine

• Parsers can be written in any language• Tags can be created for the definition,

transmission, validation and interpretation of data

• However XML by itself does not provide all of the elements needed

Industry groups are developing their own schemas

• XBRL – Business Reporting Language

• Rosetta Net

• These allow data to be transferred across organisation boundaries

RosettaNet

• 400+ companies in the Electronic component and Information Technology industries

• Uses XML & XML Schemas• Business & technical data dictionaries• Implementation framework• Partner Interface Processes (PIPs)

– Product (GTINs) and company codes (DUNS)– Defined processes and outcomes– Clearly defined units of work

Dell & Australia Post

• Article from SMH• The process is

– Dell accepts order– Order converted to RosettaNet format and sent to

Australia Post– Australia Post packs and send the goods on to customer– Customer receives goods – delivery confirmed by

scanning and sent back to Australia Post– Australia Post updates Dell systems– Order closed

TCP/IP, Internet & The WWW

• TCP/IP are two protocols at the Transport and Network levels

• The Internet is a “Network or Networks” that use TCP/IP as key layers in its protocol stack

• The World Wide Web is an application that runs on the Internet

TCP/IP

• TCP (Transmission Control Protocol• IP (Internet Protocol)• Developed at the same time as OSI, but as a

product not an international standard• Developed for the ARPANET – Dept of Defence,

defence contractors, Universities and the Military• To enable communication across analogue lines,

packet radios and Ethernet networks• To be a Network of networks

The Principles set out for TCP/IP

• Autonomy – a network should be able to work on its own without change

• Best effort service – Lost messages would be retransmitted

• Stateless servers – Routers should not need to maintain the state of a connection

• Decentralised control – No global control over the Internet

TCP – Reliable transmission service

• Implemented in end points only• To provide a reliable data transmission service it

needs:• An error detection mechanism. This is based on a checksum

calculation

• A receiver feedback mechanism. The receiver sends an ACK(nowledge) when an error free packet is received, and sends a NAK when the packet has errors.

• A retransmission service is a packet is damaged or not received

• A flow control mechanism

UDP• At the Transport layer it does very little. Passes

the message straight to the IP packet service• It is connectionless

• No overhead in handshaking• No connection state in end systems

• It has a smaller packet overhead• No congestion control• Trades off risk of data loss against higher

throughput• Used in multimedia – telephony, video• Some apps. provide own error control

IP

• Implemented in host and each router

• Provides a connectionless datagram service

• Primary role is to route the datagram through the network

• Routers use the IP addresses together with their internal routing tables to direct datagram down the appropriate links

The WAN - provided by Telcos

Telstra

Optus

AT&T

NTT

IP Links are router to router

Router

Switch

We tend to think the public Internet and the Web are

dominant.But most large organisations

have their own WAN.

An Organisation’s network can be:

• Leased channels

• VPN Virtual Private Network

• VPN on Public network

• Public Network

• Combination of some or all or these

Quality of Service

• One drawback with the Internet is that it is democratic, and all packets are treated as important as any other.

• It provides “best effort” service• IPv4 has no mechanism to provide priority• This is needed for time critical applications such

as telephony, real time conferencing and high performance transaction processing

• QoS aims for a predictable and specifiable bandwidth and latency

QoS the key to one network

• When packet switched networks can offer the QoS of switched circuits, that will be the day when all major users stop having two networks

• Service providers are aware of this• The network must be able to differentiate

between delay sensitive and delay insensitive applications

QoS requires:

• The ability to reserve resources (Buffers & Bandwidth)

• Prioritisation where network traffic is classified and priority is given according to bandwidth management policy

• These features could be applied to:• An individual data stream

• In aggregate, to flows of a particular type

The DBMS (Data Base Management System)

• Sits on top of the O/S File System• Defines the structure in which the

data is to be organised• Adds and changes data in the DB• Maintains the integrity of the data• Finds and presents data to a

process

Task management(scheduler)

Memory management

Device drivers

Command language(Shell)

MiddlewareDBMS

Application processes

TCP/IP

EthernetATM etc

Filemanager

System Issues in DBMS

• Database design – The Entity/Relationship model• Islands of Information• Need for an organisation wide data dictionary• Database tuning• Design for

– Update – Transaction processing

– Read – Data warehousing

• Distributed databases