FMIS 2201, Sections 5 & 6Fall Semester, 2006Midterm Exam ReviewChapter 1 Outline What is MIS? Components of an Information Systemo An information system (IS) a group of components that interact to produce information.o It is commonly referred to as a Computer-Based Information System. Development and Use of Information Systemso You need to take an active role in the information system’s development.o It does not matter if you are a programmer or database designer, you must be active in: Specifying the system’s requirements Helping to manage the development project Using the Information System Achieving Business Goals and Objectiveso Businesses themselves do not “do” anything.o Information systems exist to help people in business to achieve goals and objectives of that business. Using the Five-Component Framework The Most Important Component—YOU High-Tech Versus Low-Tech Information Systemso Information systems differ in the amount of work that is moved from the human side. Low tech–email program and addresses only High tech–customer support system Understanding New Information Systemso Use the five-component framework to learn about new systems.o Focus questions on: Hardware needs Programs to license Databases and other data to create Procedures to create or modify System administration Organization impact (people) Components Ordered by Difficulty and Disruptiono Hardware–usually simple to installo Program, database, and procedure development or modification can be difficult. Information Characteristics What Is Information?o Information is defined as:o Knowledge derived from datao Data presented in a meaningful contexto Data processed by summing, ordering, averaging, grouping, comparing, or other similar operationso A difference that makes a difference Information Is Subjective Characteristics of Good Informationo Accurateo Timelyo Relevanto To contexto To subjecto Just barely sufficiento Worth Its Cost Information Technology Versus Information Systems Moore’s Lawo Gordon Moore, cofounder of Intel Corporation, stated that becauseof technology improvements in electronic chip design and manufacturing the number of transistors per square inch on an integrated chip doubles every 18 months, and as a result the speed of computer chip, also doubles  Dramatic Reduction in Price/Performance RatioChapter 2 Outline Information Systems for Competitive Advantageo Businesses continually seek to establish competitive advantage in the marketplace.o There are eight principles: The first three principles concern products. The second three principles concern the creation of barriers. The last two principles concern establishing alliances and reducing costs. Information Systems for Problem Solvingo A Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)o Knowledge Management System (KMS)o A Manufacturing Quality-Control Information System Information Systems for Decision Makingo Decision Level Decisions occur at three levels in organizations. Operational decisions concern day-to-day activities.- Information systems that support operational decision making are called transaction processing systems (TPS). Managerial decisions concern the allocation and utilization of resources.- Information systems that support managerial decision making are called management information systems (MIS). Strategic decision making concern broader-scope organizational issues.- Information systems that support strategic decision making are called executive information systems (EIS).o The Decision Process- Two decision processes (method by which a decision is to be made) are structured and unstructured. Structured decision process is one for which there is an understood and accepted method for making the decision. Unstructured process is one for which there is no agreed on decision making process. The terms structured and unstructured refers to the decision process-not the underlying subject.o The Relationship Between the Decision Type and the Decision Process Chart with Structured and Unstructured along with TPS, MIS and Strategic Levelso Different Types of Information Systems for Different Types of Decisions Automated information systems are those by which the computer hardware and program components do most of the work.- Humans start the programs and use the results.  Augmentation information systems are those in which humans do the bulk of the work.- These systems augment, support, or supplement the work done by People (email, instant messaging, video-conferencing, etc) to aid in decision makingo Information Systems and Decision Steps- There are five steps Intelligence gathering Alternative formulation Choice Implementation ReviewChapter 3 Outline Essential Hardware Terminology- Input, Processing, Output, and Storage Hardware- Representing Computer Instructions and Datao Computers represent data using binary digits, called bits. A bit is either a zero or a one. Bits are used for computer data because they are easy to represent physically. A switch can either be closed or open. Bits are grouped into 8-bit chunks called bytes Knowledge for the Informed Professionalo You have two choices: You can tell the people in the IS department to specify what they think is best; Or, with a little bit of knowledge on your part, you can work with the IS department to ask intelligent questions about the relationship of these computers to the kind of work your department does- CPU and Memory Usageo The central processing unit (CPU) reads instructions and data from main memory, and it writes data to main memory via a data channel, or bus.o Main memory is also called RAM memory, or just RAM. RAM stands for random access memory. The term random is used to indicate that the computer does not need toaccess memory cells in sequence; rather, they can be referenced in any order. Memory is used for three purposes:- It holds instructions of the operating system- It holds instructions for application programs such as Excel or Acrobat.- It holds data.- Work at the CPUo The term volatile is used to indicate that data will be lost when the computer is not powered. Main memory is volatile. Magnetic and optical disk are nonvolatile. Factors that Affect Computer Performance- The CPU and Memoryo The CPU reads instructions and data from memory via the