ISM 50 - Business Information SystemsLecture 7Instructors: Mary Doyle, Goeff RyderUC Santa CruzApril 20, 2009Class Announcements Business Paper Proposal Due Wednesday! Wednesday presentation:Juliana Hyun (Alibris Case )Class Announcements Project proposals due in 2 days!!1-2 pagesGive a plan what you will doCite some references, and show that you have started your research!See website for more details.Review of O’Brien Ch 2 Virtual Company Other terminology Reminder of O’Brien casesA Virtual Company A form of Organization …that uses telecommunication and other IT to linkPeopleAssetsIdeasBusiness partners … in order to exploit a business opportunityVirtual Company Positives Move more quickly Combine the products and services of specialized vendors to create something new. Might allow company to focus more on offering solutions (products+services) rather than product itself.Possible Negative Factors Will vendors be low enough cost?What about their bargaining power? Should the skills and knowledge be developed and maintained in-house?Competitive advantageFuture flexibility Explicit knowledgeThat which can be written down Tacit KnowledgeThat which is can not be written downExample: How to Ride a bicycle. Much of a company’s value is in its knowledgePatents, documentsTacit knowledge in employee’s headsOther terms in Chapter 2Other terms in Chapter 2Knowledge-Creating Company Create new business knowledge Disseminate knowledge throughout companyKnowledge Management Systems Facilitate this dissemination Often, like a search engine on a company intranet. Aside: might a knowledge management system affect the negotiating power of employees?O’Brien Ch 2 Cases WESCO Staples Hilton Hotels Ford Motor Co GE AVNET Marshall Cisco Siemens AGApplicationsWhat is an application?Computer software that performs useful capabilities for a user, organization, incorporating storage, manipulation, and communication of information.An organizational applicationSupports an organizationOften called enterprise application(An enterprise is an organization with a commercial mission -but the term is used for non-profit as well)Types of organizational applicationsDepartmentalSupports a single functional departmentExample: An accounts management application for an accounting department.EnterpriseSupport enterprise-wide processes and goals.Example: coordinate information between functional departments involved in fulfilling an order.(or other cross functional process.)Some Types of Organizational ApplicationsWorker Collaboration Example: video conferencing, web conferencingOperations and Logistics Example: coordinate movements of goods between sites.Decision Support Summarize info for executives (e.g., market share, stock price, longitudinal trends - digital dashboard) Knowledge Management (e.g., SME guide) Organize and retrieve knowledge in company’s documents and databases (e.g., data warehouse)ExamplesSoftware Merchant Customer Relationship ManagementMaintain a case file of customer questions and complaints.Website of Freq. Asked Ques. And documentation.Chat application for customers to communicate with tech-support personnel.Problem escalation processExamplesOn-Line Stock TradingInformation Management application for paying customersSpecialized software to interface withcustomersstock exchangeCustomer’s bankExamplesUniversityStudent information systemRegistration, grades, transcripts, classroom schedulingPortalAccount informationSchedule of classesAdvising informationStudent organizationsNewsLearning management system (WebCt)Course syllabusGrading informationOffice hoursSome more termsTransaction Processing Systems record and process data from business transactions.Batch Processing – transactions are accumulated over a period of time and processed periodically.In Online Transaction Processing (OLTP),transactions are processed immediately.Examples of transaction processing BatchYou purchase something with a credit card (or a check) and it is processed with other like transactions once a day OLTP (Real time)You purchase something with a debit card and the amount is immediately deducted from your accountSome More Terms A workflow application supports ongoing repetitive tasks.Example: An application that passes a case summary of a customer from customer service to tech support.Example: An application that moves an admitted student from applicant to enrolled statusExample: A help desk application that tracks a problem from initial report through resolutionWorkflow ApplicationsThe term workflow is used to describe applications that are developed as business processes. (Remember the definition of process?)Workflow applications can include forms routing and approval, document review and publishing, and issue tracking.So what exactly is ERP??Enterprise Resource Planning Automation of core business functions Interoperable software applications Includes hardware and software Integrated database infrastructure Generally supplied by a single vendorEarly MRP MRP (Material or Manufacturing Resource Planning)Take:Product Demand forecastsInventory BalancesReplenishment Lead TimesDevelop a Production schedule for a single plantAt this Point, it is a planning toolLater on More capabilities added Order Processing Product Costing The planning tool begins to take more and more of an active roll in the business processes.A desire to Link Across Functional Departments of firm Each functional department had its own legacyapplicationProgrammed in different languagesDifferent Data formats Often some data was shared between departments by duplicating it or manually reentering it.Why ERP?MRP evolves into ERP A common software architecturewith modules to support different business functions.Accounting, finance, sales, HRM, material management, etc… Key features:Multi –functionalIntegratedModularWhat is software architecture?“The structure of the components of a program/system, their interrelationships, and principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time.”Source: April 1995,IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering Components include: communication protocols, user
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